VEHICLE AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM THEREOF

Abstract

The disclosure relates to the technical field of air conditioning of vehicles, and in particular provides a vehicle and an air conditioning system thereof. The air conditioning system comprises: an air handling unit having a chamber, the air handling unit being capable of regulating the temperature of air entering the chamber; and an air duct group comprising an air supply duct in communication with an in-cabin space of the vehicle, the air supply duct comprising at least a back-row air duct that releases air to a back-row space in the in-cabin space. The air conditioning system further comprises a bypass air duct, at least part of which does not have an intersecting portion with the air handling unit so as to reduce, at least in part, the resistance due to air having to flow through the air handling unit on the premise of allowing the air to enter the back-row space via the bypass air duct. With such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the resistance when the air is released to the back-row space so as to plan the amount of air to be released to target regions in the in-cabin space.

Claims

1. An air conditioning system of a vehicle, the air conditioning system comprising: an air handling unit having a chamber, the air handling unit being capable of regulating the temperature of air entering the chamber; and an air duct group comprising an air supply duct in communication with an in-cabin space of the vehicle, the air supply duct comprising at least a back-row air duct that releases air to a back-row space in the in-cabin space; wherein the air conditioning system further comprises: a bypass air duct, at least part of which does not have an intersecting portion with the air handling unit so as to reduce, at least in part, the resistance due to air having to flow through the air handling unit on the premise of allowing the air to enter the back-row space via the bypass air duct.

2. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the bypass air duct comprises a first portion and a second portion as viewed in a direction of air flowing to the back-row air duct, wherein at least the second portion does not have an intersecting portion with the air handling unit.

3. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the air handling unit comprises an evaporator, and the first portion has an intersecting portion with at least part of the evaporator.

4. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the air handling unit further comprises a compressor, a throttling component and a condenser, and the compressor, the evaporator, the throttling component and the condenser form a refrigerant circulation circuit.

5. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the air handling unit comprises an independent heating component capable of increasing the temperature of the air entering the chamber.

6. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the first portion has an intersecting portion with the portion of the evaporator close to the lower side.

7. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein a mounting structure is formed in the first portion, and the evaporator is fixed to the vehicle by means of the mounting structure.

8. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein a switching component is provided in the second portion, wherein the first portion is in communication with the back-row air duct via the second portion and/or the air handling unit by means of the switching component.

9. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the switching component comprises a first switching component, which is movably arranged in the second portion, and based on which the state of communication between the second portion and the back-row air duct is switched.

10. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the first switching component is provided with a driving mechanism, and the first switching component is rotatably arranged in the second portion by means of the driving mechanism.

11. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the switching component comprises a second switching component, which is movably provided at the first portion and/or the second portion, and based on which the proportion of air entering the second portion and the chamber can be adjusted.

12. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the second portion has a cross section that is of a structure closed along the circumference, and the first portion has a cross section that is at least partially of a structure having an open portion along the circumference.

13. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the maximum dimension of the cross section of the bypass air duct in the height direction of the vehicle is ≥30 mm.

14. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein at least part of the dimension of the cross section of the first portion in the height direction of the vehicle is greater than at least part of the dimension of the cross section of the second portion in the height direction of the vehicle.

15. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the first portion and the second portion are in communication with each other in series and/or the second portion and the back-row air duct are in communication with each other.

16. The air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the back-row air duct comprises a back-row face-blowing air duct and a back-row foot-blowing air duct, and a downstream end of the bypass air duct is connected to the back-row face-blowing air duct.

17. A vehicle, comprising an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0079] The air conditioning system of the disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and on the basis that the switching component comprises only the first switching component. In the accompanying drawings:

[0080] FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural view of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0081] FIG. 2 shows a first schematic cross-sectional view of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure, in which an evaporator, a condenser, etc. of an air handling unit are not removed;

[0082] FIG. 3 shows a second schematic cross-sectional view of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure, in which an evaporator, a condenser, etc. of an air handling unit are removed;

[0083] FIG. 4 shows a schematic enlarged view of part A in FIG. 3;

[0084] FIG. 5 shows a schematic structural view of an air duct group of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0085] FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the velocity of air flowing through different portions of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0086] 100. air conditioning system; 11. blower; 12. evaporator; 121. air filter element; 13. condenser; 14. PTC; 2. air duct group; 21. front-row air duct; 22. back-row air duct; 221. back-row face-blowing air duct; 222. back-row foot-blowing air duct; 3. bypass air duct; 31. first portion; 32. second portion; 321. damper; 322. electric motor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0087] Preferred embodiments of the disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that these implementations are only used to explain the technical principles of the disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the disclosure. Although this embodiment is described with the switching component comprising only a rotatable damper as the first switching component, obviously, it is also possible to use another structure as the first switching component or additionally provide a second switching component in addition to the first switching component, etc.

[0088] It should be noted that in the description of the disclosure, the terms, such as “center”, “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “inner” and “outer”, that indicate directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings only for convenience of description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be construed as limitation to the disclosure. In addition, the terms “first”, “second”, and “third” are for descriptive purposes only, and may not be interpreted as indicating or implying relative importance. The terms “a/an” and “this” in the singular form may also include the plural form.

[0089] In addition, it should also be noted that, in the description of the disclosure, the terms “mount”, “engage” and “connect” should be interpreted in a broad sense unless explicitly defined and limited otherwise, which, for example, may mean a fixed connection, a detachable connection or an integral connection; or may mean a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; or may mean a direct connection, an indirect connection by means of an intermediary, or internal communication between two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above-mentioned terms in the disclosure can be interpreted according to the specific situation.

[0090] In addition, for better description of the disclosure, many details are provided in the following specific implementations, and those skilled in the art should understand that, without some specific details, the disclosure can still be implemented. In some instances, the operating principles and the like of the air conditioning system well known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail in order to highlight the gist of the disclosure.

[0091] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural view of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 2 shows a first schematic cross-sectional view of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 3 shows a second schematic cross-sectional view of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 4 shows a schematic enlarged view of part A in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 shows a schematic structural view of an air duct group of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, an air conditioning system 100 of a vehicle mainly comprises an air handling unit, an air duct group 2 and a bypass air duct 3. The air handling unit is mainly used to regulate the temperature of air delivered into an in-cabin space of the vehicle, the air duct group is mainly used to deliver air to a target region in the in-cabin space, and the bypass air duct is mainly used to regulate the air volume of a back-row region in the in-cabin space.

[0092] In a possible embodiment, the air handling unit mainly comprises a housing in which a chamber is formed, and functional components of the air handling unit mainly include a blower 11, a compressor, a throttling component (e.g., an electronic expansion valve), an evaporator 12, and a condenser 13, with the evaporator being provided with an air filter element 121 on the side close to the blower, and the compressor, the condenser, the electronic expansion valve, the evaporator and the compressor are sequentially connected to form a refrigerant circulation circuit. In this way, air enters the chamber under the action of the blower, and when the air flows over a surface of the evaporator, it is possible to reduce the temperature of the air to be delivered to the in-cabin space. The air conditioning system further comprises an independent heating component PTC 14 that is mainly used to increase the temperature of the air to be delivered to the in-cabin space by means of directly heating the air.

[0093] In a possible embodiment, the air duct group 2 mainly comprises an air supply duct in communication with the in-cabin space of the vehicle, and the air supply duct comprises front-row air ducts 21 that release air to a front-row space in the in-cabin space and back-row air ducts 22 that release air to a back-row space in the in-cabin space. In this example, the front-row air ducts include four front-row air ducts, V1, V2, V3, and V4, and the back-row air ducts 22 include a back-row face-blowing air duct 221 and a back-row foot-blowing air duct 222. In this example, the back-row face-blowing air duct 221 is an air duct V5 (the foot-blowing air duct is omitted in the example shown in FIG. 5).

[0094] In a possible embodiment, the bypass air duct 3 comprises a first portion 31 and a second portion 32, and the entire bypass air duct is located at a position close to the lower side of the air handling unit. The first portion 31 is located at a position close to the lower side of the air handling unit and has a certain intersection with the evaporator 12 in the first portion. Specifically, there is an overlapping portion between the portion of the evaporator 12 close to the lower side and the projection of the first portion 31 along the axial direction of the first portion 31. The second portion 32 is completely located below the air handling unit, and thus has no intersecting portion with the evaporator 12, the condenser 13, etc. inside that may cause the generation of air resistance.

[0095] In this example, the specific structural form of the first portion 31 having a certain intersecting portion with the evaporator 12 is as follows: a part of mounting structure corresponding to the evaporator 12 is formed in the first portion 31, and another part of mounting structure of the evaporator 12 is located at a position close to the upper side of the housing, the two parts of mounting structure forming a mounting space for the evaporator 12. The specific structural form in which the second portion 32 does not have an intersecting portion with the air handling unit is as follows: a part of mounting structure corresponding to the condenser 13 is formed at an outer wall close to the top of the second portion 32, and another part of mounting structure of the condenser 13 is located at a position close to the upper side of the housing, the two parts of mounting structure forming a mounting space corresponding to the condenser 13.

[0096] In a possible embodiment, a damper 321 as the first switching component is provided in the second portion 32, the damper is provided with an electric motor 322, and the electric motor 322 drives the damper 321 to be rotatably arranged in the second portion 32, so as to adjust the state of communication of the second portion 32, for example, to be switched among a fully communicating state, a partially communicating state (e.g., 30%, 50%, and 70%) and a non-communicating state.

[0097] In a possible embodiment, the first portion 31 has a cross section that is of a structure having an open portion along the circumference, specifically, the portion close to the upper side is open. The second portion 32 has a cross section that is of a structure closed along the circumference, for example, that is substantially circular.

[0098] In this example, the dimension of the cross section of the first portion 31 in the height direction (the Z-direction) of the vehicle is relatively large, and the dimension of the cross section of the second portion 32 in the Z-direction is relatively small. It is determined by analysis that the maximum dimension of the cross section of the first portion 31 in the Z-direction should not be less than 30 mm.

[0099] Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the velocity of air flowing through different portions of an air conditioning system of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the disclosure. It is assumed that the blower speed is 3200 rpm, the damper 321 in the second portion 32 is fully open, and the back pressure at an outlet of the air duct is 0 Pa. As shown in FIG. 6, during the delivery of air to the in-cabin space, the velocity of air flowing through the air handling unit is significantly less than the velocity of air flowing through the bypass air duct 3. The higher velocity indicates less air resistance when air flows through this place, and with less air resistance, it is desired that a larger percentage of air is available here. For example, when air flows through the roughly middle portion of the second portion 32, the air volume detected here is 142.5 m.sup.3/h.

[0100] The technical effect of the air conditioning system of a vehicle according to the disclosure due to the addition of the bypass air duct 3 will be further verified below based on the comparison of a set of data.

[0101] Table 1 shows the detected air volume at V1-V5 and the calculated percentage of air volume distribution when the damper 321 is in a closed state.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Air volume and percentage when a damper is in a closed state Position Air volume (m.sup.3/h) Percentage (%) V1 131.6 18.20% V2 148.2 20.60% V3 143.9 19.90% V4 128.2 17.80% V5 169.3 23.50% Total air volume 721.2

[0102] It can be seen that the total air volume of the front-row air duct 21 accounts for nearly 80% when the damper 321 is closed. Specifically, at this time, since the air can only pass through the air handling unit when the air reaches V5, and since the blower is closer to V1-V4, a smaller percentage of the air volume can be distributed to the back-row air duct. In addition, since there will be an equivalent level of air resistance when air is delivered to any of V1-V5, the total air volume is 721.2 m.sup.3/h.

[0103] Table 2 shows the detected air volume at V1-V5 and the calculated percentage of air volume distribution when the damper is in a fully opened state. That is the air volumes and relationship of the air ducts in the working conditions corresponding to FIG. 6.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Air volume and percentage when the damper is in a fully opened state Position Air volume (m.sup.3/h) Percentage V1 126.6 16.40% V2 144 18.70% V3 138.4 18.00% V4 125.1 16.20% V5 236.7 30.70% Total air volume 770.6

[0104] It can be seen that the total air volume of the back-row air duct 22 accounts for nearly 30% when the damper is closed. Specifically, at this time, since the air only passes through the evaporator 12 in the air handling unit when the air reaches V5, the air resistance is significantly reduced, the percentage of the air reaching V5 is significantly increased, and the total air volume is increased to 770.6 m.sup.3/h.

[0105] In addition, since the air reaching V5 only passes through a small part of the evaporator 12, it is not possible to generate the same temperature rise as that at V1-V4 due to heat exchange. At this time, it is possible to make adjustment as follows: in the case where the back-row air duct 22 comprises a back-row face-blowing air duct 221 and a back-row foot-blowing air duct 222, only the bypass air duct 3 is in communication with the back-row face-blowing air duct 221. In this way, it is expected to achieve different temperatures in the face-blowing region (achieved through the back-row face-blowing air duct) and in the foot-blowing region (achieved through the back-row foot-blowing air duct) in the back-row space. For example, 18-25° C. air that is more comfortable is provided in the face-blowing region, and air with a temperature up to 40° C. can be provided in the foot-blowing region, so that on the premise of increasing the air volume proportion, the differentiated temperature control is achieved for the face-blowing region and the foot-blowing region, thereby improving the user comfort in the back-row space.

[0106] Heretofore, the technical solutions of the disclosure have been described with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, those skilled in the art can readily understand that the scope of protection of the disclosure is apparently not limited to these specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the related technical features without departing from the principle of the disclosure, and all the technical solutions with such changes or substitutions shall fall within the scope of protection of the disclosure.