A vehicle air conditioner includes a heat pump system and an air conditioner ECU that controls the heat pump system. An operation mode of the heat pump system includes an air cooling mode, an air heating mode, a serial dehumidification air-heating mode, a parallel dehumidification air-heating mode, a battery-only cooling mode, and an air-cooling battery-cooling mode. The air conditioner ECU separately sets conditions for permitting cooling of a battery, depending on the operation mode.

A heat pump system may include a cooling apparatus configured to include a radiator, a first water pump, a first valve, a second valve, and a reservoir tank which are connected through a coolant line; a battery cooling apparatus including a battery coolant line connected to the coolant line through the first valve, and a second water pump and a battery module which are connected through the battery coolant line to circulate the coolant in the battery module; a heating apparatus including a heating line connected to the coolant line through the second valve and a third water pump provided on the heating line, and a heater; a chiller provided in the battery coolant line between the first valve and the battery module, connected to a chiller connection line through the second valve connected to the chiller connection line, and connected to a refrigerant line of an air conditioner through a refrigerant connection line.

Disclosed is a heat pump system for a vehicle, providing for selective heat-exchanging heat energy generated from a coolant with a coolant upon condensing and evaporation of the coolant to control an internal temperature of the vehicle using the heat-exchanged coolant of a low temperature or a high temperature. The heat pump system adjusts a temperature of a battery module by using one chiller that performs heat exchange between a refrigerant and a coolant and improves the heating efficiency of the vehicle using a waste heat of an electrical component and a battery module.

A vehicle air conditioner includes: a coolant-path coupled with a cooling-portion of a heat-generating component of a vehicle, for circulating a coolant; and a refrigerant-path for circulating a refrigerant. The conditioner Further includes: a first water-refrigerant heat exchanger for vaporizing the refrigerant by thermal-exchange between the coolant and a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant; a second water-refrigerant heat exchanger for condensing the refrigerant by a thermal-exchange between the coolant and a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant; and a heater core for heating air to be blown into the vehicle's interior. The coolant-path includes: a branching-portion for causing a coolant's flow to branch off; a joining-portion for causing the branched flows to join; and first and second parts that branch off at the branching-portion and join at the joining-portion. The first and second water-refrigerant heat exchangers are disposed in the first and second parts of the coolant-path, respectively.

A thermal management system for a vehicle includes an enclosure containing an air-handling unit, a first circuit, a second circuit, and a control interface module. The air-handling unit includes a housing and a variable speed blower configured to provide a flow of air through the housing. The first circuit includes a compressor, a condenser in thermal communication with the air-handling unit, a receiver-drier, an expansion valve, and a chiller, in series. The second circuit includes a first loop including the chiller of the first circuit, a second loop including a radiator in thermal communication with the air-handling unit, and a third loop including a heater. The control interface module is configured to control each of the air-handling unit, the first circuit, and the second circuit.

The present invention makes it possible to integrate and control in one circuit the systems, such as electric power components, a driving motor, a stack, and an AC condenser which have the maximum enthalpy under similar operational temperature and use conditions, by using an integrated radiator. Therefore, it is possible to minimize air-through resistance of the radiator for cooling the stack and the electric power components and ensure smooth and stable cooling performance of the stack, electric power components, and AC condenser while improving fuel efficiency by reducing the condensation pressure of the air conditioner. Further, it is possible to improve cooling efficiency by non-repeatedly arranging heat exchangers, and reduce the weight of a vehicle, volume of the parts, and the manufacturing cost, by avoiding using too many parts, such as a radiator, a water pump, and a reservoir tank.

The present disclosure provides an accumulating/receiving device for a heat pump system. The accumulating/receiving device includes a body, an inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet. The body defines therein a space. The body is disposed downstream of an outside heat exchanger. The inlet is connected to the outside heat exchanger through a first conduit. The first outlet is connected to an inside heat exchanger through a second conduit. The second outlet is connected, through a bypass conduit, to a third conduit. A liquid of the refrigerant flows out of the body through the first outlet in a cooling mode. A vapor of the refrigerant flows out of the body through the second outlet in a heating mode.

A multi-mode vehicle thermal management system is provided that allows efficient thermal communication between a refrigerant-based thermal control loop and three non-refrigerant-based thermal control loops, where one of the non-refrigerant-based loops provides temperature control over the vehicle's passenger cabin, a second of the non-refrigerant-based control loops is thermally coupled to the vehicle's battery system and the third of the non-refrigerant-based control circuits is thermally coupled to the vehicle's drive train. The refrigerant-based control loop may be operated either in a heating mode or a cooling mode and is coupled to the vehicle's HVAC system using a refrigerant-air heat exchanger, and to the battery thermal control loop using refrigerant-fluid heat exchangers. A valve assembly is used to couple and/or decouple the battery and drive train thermal control loops, thereby allowing these two thermal control loops to operate either in parallel or in series.

A multi-mode vehicle thermal management system is provided that allows efficient thermal communication between a refrigerant-based thermal control loop and three non-refrigerant-based thermal control loops, where one of the non-refrigerant-based loops provides temperature control over the vehicle's passenger cabin, a second of the non-refrigerant-based control loops is thermally coupled to the vehicle's battery system and the third of the non-refrigerant-based control circuits is thermally coupled to the vehicle's drive train. The refrigerant-based control loop may be operated either in a heating mode or a cooling mode and is coupled to the vehicle's HVAC system using a refrigerant-air heat exchanger, and to the battery thermal control loop using refrigerant-fluid heat exchangers.

A multi-mode vehicle thermal management system is provided that allows efficient thermal communication between a refrigerant-based thermal control loop and two non-refrigerant-based thermal control loops, where one of the non-refrigerant-based loops is thermally coupled to the vehicle's battery system and the other of the non-refrigerant-based control circuits is thermally coupled to the vehicle's drive train. The refrigerant-based control loop may be operated either in a heating mode or a cooling mode and is coupled to the vehicle's HVAC system using a refrigerant-air heat exchanger, and to the battery thermal control loop using refrigerant-fluid heat exchangers. A valve assembly is used to couple and/or decouple the battery and drive train thermal control loops, thereby allowing these two thermal control loops to operate either in parallel or in series.