A vehicle has a climate control system using a heat pump having a condenser heat exchanger that exchanges heat between refrigerant and working fluid within a hot fluid chamber, and an evaporator heat exchanger that exchanges heat between refrigerant and working fluid within a cold fluid chamber. A super-heated fluid pressure vessel may be in fluid communication with the cold fluid chamber by way of a heat exchanger and an electrically controlled variable delivery valve, and has an electric heater that may be powered by a drivetrain battery or by a shore power source. The hot fluid chamber provides heat to at least one cabin heat exchanger and to at least one ambient air heat exchanger. The cold fluid chamber is connected to at least one vehicle interior cooling module, to a waste heat source, and to a cold fluid chamber to outside heat exchanger.

Disclosed is a heat pump system including a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a four-way valve configured to switch a flow direction of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger and an indoor heat exchanger each having one side connected to the four-way valve, an auxiliary heat exchanger connected to the four-way valve by an accumulation pipe and having an internal space filled with a refrigerant from the accumulation pipe, an outdoor pipe extending from the other side of the outdoor heat exchanger, an indoor pipe extending from the other side of the indoor heat exchanger, and a flow pipe branched from an outdoor branch point of the outdoor pipe and extending to an indoor branch point of the indoor pipe.

A heat exchange system for a vehicle including a battery, an electric motor, and a transmission system is provided. The heat exchange system includes a heat pump, and a heat exchanger. The heat pump is used for air conditioning. The heat pump includes an electric compressor that compresses a refrigerant. The electric compressor is configured to be driven with electric power from the battery. The heat exchanger is configured to exchange heat between the refrigerant and lubricating oil that lubricates the transmission system.

When an A/C switch is ON and a predetermined dehumidification condition is met, an ECU determines whether or not HV travel is selected. When the HV travel is selected, the ECU controls an air conditioning facility so that a heat pump cycle performs a cooling operation (dehumidification) and hot-water heating is used for the heating capability. When the EV travel is selected, the ECU controls the air conditioning facility so that the heat pump cycle performs dehumidification heating.

A vehicle includes a vapor-injection heat pump having a refrigerant loop with an evaporator configured to cool cabin air, the evaporator coupled to an electronically controllable pressure regulating valve having a fully-open position with near-zero pressure drop, and a cabin conditioning coolant loop having a heater core configured to selectively heat the cabin air. A controller is configured to control the valve to maintain temperature and pressure of the refrigerant loop above a freezing threshold to inhibit or prevent evaporator icing. The valve may be controlled to throttle flow during a parallel dehumidification mode and to fully open to minimize pressure drop during other operational modes, such as a cooling mode, heating mode, de-icing mode, and series dehumidification mode.

A control system method is disclosed for air-conditioning a vehicle by a heat pump system, wherein one of multiple operating modes is automatically set, depending on the air-conditioning requirement. The passenger space is cooled by an air-conditioning evaporator and/or is heated by a heating heat exchanger. The heating heat exchanger is arranged in a heating branch of a coolant circuit and is provided with heat via a heat pump. If cooling is required, the heating branch is opened and the heating pump is deactivated. If heating is required, the heating branch is closed and heat is fed to the heating heat exchanger via the heat pump. In order to remove heat from the heating branch, same is opened and a low-temperature cooler, the condenser and the heating heat exchanger are operated connected in series.

A refrigeration cycle device includes a compressor, an air-refrigerant heat exchanger that exchanges heat between air and refrigerant, an expansion valve decompressing the refrigerant, a heat medium-refrigerant heat exchanger that exchanges heat between a heat medium and the refrigerant, a cold-heat utilization device that utilizes cold heat of the heat medium, and a hot-heat utilization device that utilizes hot heat of the heat medium. A refrigerant flow switching valve is provided to switch between a heat-medium cooling mode of cooling the heat medium in the heat medium-refrigerant heat exchanger, and a heat-medium heating mode of heating the heat medium in the heat medium-refrigerant heat exchanger. In addition, a heat medium flow switching device is provided such that, in the heat-medium cooling mode, the heat medium circulates between the heat medium-refrigerant heat exchanger and the cold-heat utilization device, and that in the heat-medium heating mode, the heat medium circulates between the heat medium-refrigerant heat exchanger and the hot-heat utilization device.

A method for operating a coolant circuit of a vehicle cooling system in an AC mode and in a heating mode, implemented by a heat pump function, having an evaporator branch including an evaporator and a first expansion element, a coolant compressor, an AC and heat pump branch, having an outer condenser or gas cooler, as a heat pump evaporator having a second expansion element. The AC and heat pump branch is connected to the coolant compressor via a first blocking element and to the evaporator branch via the second expansion element, a heating branch having an inner heating condenser or heating gas cooler and a second blocking element, connected downstream thereto.

The present invention relates to a vehicular heat pump system and, more specifically, to a vehicular heat pump system having a chiller for heat exchanging cooling water circulating through vehicle electrical equipment (200), a refrigerant discharged from an outdoor heat exchanger so as to flow through a first bypass line (R1), and a refrigerant discharged from an indoor heat exchanger, thereby: in the air conditioner mode, increasing sub-cool while the refrigerant discharged from the indoor heat exchanger is first cooled at the chiller and then is second cooled at the outdoor heat exchanger such that the flow rate of refrigerants increases and cooling performance is improved; in the heat pump mode, allowing the refrigerant discharged from the indoor heat exchanger to ensure sub-cool in the chiller so as to increase the flow rate of refrigerants, and allowing the refrigerant discharged from the outdoor heat exchanger to receive an additional heating source from the chiller so as to improve heating performance; and, even in the defrost mode carried out because of frost on the outdoor heat exchanger, ensuring an additional heating source in the chiller so as to minimize a change in indoor discharge temperature because of a lack of heating sources.

An air-conditioning device includes: a compressor; an outdoor heat exchanger; an evaporating unit configured to evaporate refrigerant a heater unit configured to heat the air by using the heat of the refrigerant a liquid receiver arranged at the downstream side of the outdoor heat exchanger and a restrictor mechanism provided between the heater unit and the outdoor heat exchanger, wherein, in an operation state in which the flow of the refrigerant is restricted by the restrictor mechanism and heat is released in the heater unit, a first operation mode and a second operation mode are switched, the first operation mode being set such that the liquid-phase refrigerant is stored in the liquid receiver and the gaseous-phase refrigerant is guided to the compressor and the second operation mode being set such that the liquid-phase refrigerant stored in the liquid receiver is guided to the evaporating unit.