MODULAR ROOF-MOUNTED AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM

Abstract

A modular, roof-mounted air-conditioning system for a vehicle includes at least two similar air-conditioning modules for air-conditioning areas within the vehicle, wherein the air-conditioning modules are combined to form a functional assembly, and wherein the assembly can be installed on a roof of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system for a vehicle, the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system comprising: at least two similar air-conditioning system modules for air-conditioning spatial areas within the vehicle, and wherein the air-conditioning system modules are combined to form a functional assembly, wherein the assembly can be installed on a roof of the vehicle.

2. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein at least one air-conditioning system module has at least one evaporator unit, at least one condenser unit, at least one evaporator fan, and at least one condenser fan.

3. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein at least one air-conditioning system module has at least one compressor unit and/or at least one chiller unit and/or at least one heater unit.

4. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein at least two air-conditioning system modules are fluidically connected to at least one common compressor unit.

5. A modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system for a vehicle, the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system comprising: at least two similar air-conditioning system modules for air-conditioning spatial areas within the vehicle, and wherein at least one air-conditioning system module has at least one first submodule and at least one second submodule, wherein the first submodule has at least one first connecting section, wherein the second submodule has at least one second connecting section, wherein the first submodule and the second submodule can be connected via the first connecting section and the second connecting section, wherein the first submodule is formed for exchanging heat energy between the air-conditioning system module and an external environment of the vehicle, and wherein the second submodule is formed for exchanging heat energy between the air-conditioning system module and a spatial area, in particular a passenger compartment and/or a driver/front seat area and/or a resting area and/or a refrigerator module and/or a battery unit of the vehicle.

6. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the first submodule has at least one first heat exchanger unit for exchanging heat energy between the air-conditioning system module and the external environment of the vehicle, wherein the second submodule has at least one second heat exchanger unit for exchanging heat energy between the air-conditioning system module and the spatial area, in particular a passenger compartment and/or a driver/front seat area and/or a resting area and/or a refrigerator module and/or a battery unit of the vehicle, and wherein the second submodule has at least one fan unit.

7. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the first submodule has at least one compressor unit.

8. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the second submodule has at least one heater unit and/or at least one air filter unit and/or at least one chiller unit.

9. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein a submodule has a housing, and wherein the design of the housing is formed to be at least partially complementary to the roof area of the vehicle, at which the submodule is arranged.

10. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein at least one first air-conditioning system module air-conditions a first subarea of the vehicle, and wherein at least one second air-conditioning system module air-conditions a second subarea of the vehicle.

11. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 10, wherein a subarea of the vehicle comprises a cooling or a temperature-controlling of a battery unit of the vehicle.

12. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein at least one frame unit is arranged between the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system and the roof of the vehicle.

13. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein at least one modular frame unit is arranged between at least one air-conditioning system module and the roof of the vehicle.

14. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system has a common housing and/or at least one air-conditioning system module has a sub-housing.

15. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein at least one electrically controllable expansion valve is provided, wherein the expansion valve is connected in a communicating manner to a control means, and wherein the control means is set up and/or programmed to control and/or regulate the expansion valve.

16. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 15, wherein the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system and/or an air-conditioning system module have an electrically controllable expansion valve or several electrically controllable expansion valves, and/or wherein an expansion valve of this type is assigned to each evaporator unit of the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system.

17. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein in the case of at least two air-conditioning system modules, refrigerant-air heat exchangers, in particular all refrigerant-air heat exchangers, are formed as soldered aluminum-microchannel heat exchangers, in particular as flat-tube heat exchangers, and/or wherein at least one refrigerant-coolant heat exchanger and/or at least one chiller is formed as soldered stacked plate heat exchanger, in particular as soldered all-aluminum stacked plate heat exchanger.

18. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein at least one air-conditioning system module can be mounted on the roof such that a center line of the air-conditioning system module is aligned either perpendicular to the vehicle center line or parallel to the vehicle center line, and/or wherein every air-conditioning system module has a control means, which are connected in a communicating manner to one another, or that a central control means for all air-conditioning system modules is formed.

19. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein at least two similar air-conditioning system modules are mounted to common frames, and are mechanically connected thereto, wherein the frame is connected to a roof of a vehicle, wherein the at least two similar air-conditioning system modules each form a condenser unit, wherein the at least two similar air-conditioning system modules are arranged mirror-symmetrically with respect to an axis such that the condenser units are arranged closer to the axis than other parts of the at least two similar air-conditioning system modules.

20. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the first submodule has a condenser or a gas cooler or an external heat exchanger, each comprising at least one condenser fan, indirect condenser, chiller, electrically driven compressor, water pump and/or electrical coolant heater (in connection with external heat exchanger), and/or wherein the second submodule has an evaporator comprising at least one evaporator fan, cabin air filter, heater, heat pump heater, electrical heater, water pump, electrical coolant heater, chiller and/or indirect condenser.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0145] The disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein:

[0146] FIG. 1 shows a top view onto a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system, in the case of which several modules are combined to form an assembly wherein each module consists of three submodules,

[0147] FIG. 2 shows a top view onto a further exemplary embodiment of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system, which is combined to form an assembly,

[0148] FIG. 3 shows a top view onto an exemplary embodiment of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system including submodules, in the case of which the modules are not combined to form an assembly,

[0149] FIG. 4 shows the setup of an air-conditioning system module,

[0150] FIG. 5 shows the setup of an air-conditioning system module including submodules,

[0151] FIG. 6 shows a front view of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system including a frame unit and a hood,

[0152] FIG. 7 shows a front view of a further modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system including several module frame units,

[0153] FIG. 8 shows an illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system including an electrically controlled expansion valve,

[0154] FIG. 9 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0155] FIG. 10 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0156] FIG. 11 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0157] FIG. 12 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0158] FIG. 13 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0159] FIG. 14 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0160] FIG. 15 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0161] FIG. 16 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0162] FIG. 17 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0163] FIG. 18 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0164] FIG. 19 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system,

[0165] FIG. 20 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system, and

[0166] FIG. 21 shows a further illustration of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0167] Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will now be described in more detail in the following description, whereby identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar or functionally identical components.

[0168] A vehicle 2, which can be formed as large-capacity vehicle for transporting a plurality of persons, is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1, wherein the vehicle 2 is illustrated in a top view, wherein a roof 4 of the vehicle can be seen.

[0169] The vehicle 2 has a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1, which is arranged on the roof 4 of the vehicle 2. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 ensures a heat exchange between an external environment 17 of the vehicle 2 and a spatial area of the vehicle 2, wherein this spatial area 18 includes in particular a passenger compartment.

[0170] The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is suggested in FIG. 1 with a dashed border, wherein this border means that the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is combined to form an assembly, which cooperates functionally as well as mechanically. This means that the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 as a whole can be separated from the roof 4, without initially having to remove individual air-conditioning system modules 3 from the roof 4. This does not rule out that the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is formed such that only an individual air-conditioning system module 3 can also be removed from the roof 4 of the vehicle 2. This lends itself in particular when only one air-conditioning system module 3 is defective, so that only said defective air-conditioning system module 3 has to be replaced.

[0171] The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 has several air-conditioning system modules 3, which are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle 2, wherein each air-conditioning system module 3 is constructed similarly, but not necessarily identically. An air-conditioning system module 3 includes, for example, two evaporator units 5, each including at least one evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant. The air-conditioning system module 3 further includes a condenser unit 6 including at least one condenser for liquefying the refrigerant, wherein the condenser unit is arranged between two evaporator units 5, which are spaced apart from one another. If an air-conditioning system module 3 is equipped such that it can also be operated as heat pump, the condenser unit 6 includes an external heat exchanger instead of a condenser, which external heat exchanger operates as condenser or gas cooler during cooling operation, and which operates as evaporator during heating operation. With a chiller, a heat pump can also remove heat from a coolant, which supplies heat from the large variety of components in the bus to the roof-mounted air-conditioning system, and not only ambient heat via the external heat exchanger.

[0172] As shown in FIG. 4, the air-conditioning system module 3 can have an evaporator fan 7 and a condenser fan 8, wherein the evaporator fan 7 can be assigned to the evaporator unit 5, and the condenser fan 8 can be assigned to the condenser unit 6. It can be provided that the evaporator unit 5 structurally encompasses the evaporator fan 7, and that the condenser unit 6 structurally encompasses the condenser fan 8.

[0173] A common compressor unit 12 of the vehicle 2 is illustrated in FIG. 1, to which each air-conditioning system module 3 can be fluidically connected, wherein a parallel connection of the air-conditioning system modules 3 can be provided here via suitable distribution and return lines. It can also be provided that individual or also each air-conditioning system module 3 can be equipped with a separate compressor unit 9. For the sake of clarity, fluidic connections, electrical connections for the energy supply, as well as suitable communicating connections for controlling the components of the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 via a non-illustrated control means 33 are not illustrated.

[0174] A battery unit 27 is further illustrated in FIG. 1, which can have a non-illustrated cooling circuit. It is conceivable that an air-conditioning system module 3 is fluidically connected to the cooling circuit of the battery unit 27 such that the waste heat generated by the battery unit 27 is transferred via the air-conditioning system module 3 to the external environment 17 of the vehicle 2.

[0175] A further vehicle 2 is shown as an example in FIG. 2, which, compared to the vehicle 2 in FIG. 1, is formed to be narrower and slightly shorter, so that the arrangement of the evaporator units 5 and of the condenser unit 6 is designed to be comparatively more compact, whereby the condenser unit 6 is arranged upstream of the two evaporator units 5 in the driving direction of the vehicle. This can also be reversed, for example, i.e., the condenser unit 6 can be arranged downstream in the driving direction. When looking at the vehicle, it is to always be assumed that the vehicle moves in the forward direction, thus would move towards the right page edge of the drawing in FIGS. 1 to 3. In FIG. 2, the air-conditioning system modules 3 are also combined to form an assembly, so that a replacement of the entire modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is possible.

[0176] A vehicle including a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is shown in FIG. 3, wherein even though the air-conditioning system modules 3 are not combined to form an assembly, the air-conditioning system module 3 has a first submodule 13, which is arranged between two second submodules 14. The second submodules 14 can be similar or also identical.

[0177] An exemplary setup of an air-conditioning system module 3 is illustrated schematically in FIG. 5, which includes a first submodule 13 and a second submodule 14. The first submodule 13 includes a first connecting section 15, and the second submodule 14 includes a second connecting section 16. The first connecting section 15 and the second connecting section 16 can be designed to be complementary to one another, whereby it can be provided that a releasable connection is provided between the first submodule 13 and the second submodule 14 by plugging together the first connecting section 15 and the second connecting section 16. The first connecting section 15 and the second connecting section 16 can in each case include mechanical and/or fluidic and/or electronic and/or control-related connecting elements, which can be formed to be complementary to one another. A desired air-conditioning system module 3 can be produced thereby with a few work steps and cost-efficiently by a simple coupling of several submodules.

[0178] The two submodules 13 and 14 can be placed onto a common frame, wherein the connecting sections 15 and 16 do not form a mechanical holding or supporting function, because they only have pipelines and cables.

[0179] Both submodules 13 and 14 can be arranged so as to overlap one another on top of one another and can be connected to one another in the region of the overlap.

[0180] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the first submodule 13 includes a first heat exchanger unit 19 and a compressor unit 9. The submodule 14 includes a second heat exchanger unit 20, an air filter unit 22, and a fan unit 21. The first heat exchanger unit 19 is formed to exchange heat energy between the air-conditioning system module 3 and the external environment 17 of the vehicle 2. The second heat exchanger unit 20 is provided for exchanging heat energy between the air-conditioning system module 3 and the spatial area 18, in particular a passenger compartment, of the vehicle 3.

[0181] A front view of a modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is shown in FIG. 6, wherein the roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 has a first submodule 13, which is arranged between two second submodules 14. The submodules 13 and 14 form an air-conditioning system module 3. The submodule 13 has a chiller unit 10, which can be used to cool a coolant, which is used in a cooling circuit to regulate the temperature of the battery unit 27 of the vehicle 2. A second submodule 14 has a heater unit 11, which can have a heater element for heating the air, which flows into the spatial area 18, in particular a passenger compartment. The chiller unit 10 can also be arranged in the second submodule 14 and/or in an expansion module. In addition to the first and the second submodule, the expansion module can be a part of an air-conditioning system module 3.

[0182] A frame unit 28 and/or module frame unit 29, with which the air-conditioning system module 3 formed from the submodules is mounted on the roof, is provided between the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 and the roof 4 of the vehicle 2. The connection between the submodules and the frame unit 28 as well as the connection between the frame unit 28 and the roof 4 can in each case be formed to be releasable. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 has a common housing or a common hood 30, respectively, which covers the air-conditioning system module 3 or the submodules, respectively, and thus protects them against negative atmospheric influences in the described case.

[0183] Each submodule has a housing 23, which includes a bottom area 24. The surface area of the housing 23, which is arranged so as to be located nearest to the roof 4, can be considered to be the bottom area 24. The bottom area 24 of the submodules is formed to be planar in FIG. 6. However, the roof 4 of the vehicle 2 can also completely or partially form the bottom area 24.

[0184] This can be the case in particular in the case of condenser units. The condenser can be installed in a holding device (part of a housing, which is open towards the bottom) and so as to be located at a distance of, e.g., 10 cm from the roof, so that external air can flow between condenser and roof and can then flow through the condenser from the bottom to the top. A case, i.e., a type of curved hood including a hole, in which an axial fan including a vertical axis can be located, which conveys the air to the top from the condenser, can be located above the condenser. Together, case and holding device can form a housing module for the condenser, the bottom area of which is open or is formed by the roof, respectively.

[0185] An embodiment alternative of the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is shown in FIG. 7, in which the submodules 14 and 13 have bottom areas 24 of different designs. The bottom area 24 of the submodule 14 has a curvature, which is formed to be complementary to the curvature of the area of the roof 4 of the vehicle 2 located opposite thereto. The frame unit 28, which, for example in this embodiment, is formed by the module frame unit 29, can have a complementary design to the geometry of the roof 4 of every vehicle 2. The air resistance of the vehicle 2 can be optimized in spite of the presence of the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 with a design of this type. A common housing 30 is not provided in FIG. 7, but the external air-conditioning system modules 3 have a separate sub-housing or sub-hood 31, respectively. The air-conditioning system modules 3 can form an essentially similar and/or identical extension length with respect to a vertical direction, starting at the roof 4.

[0186] The submodules 14 can be slightly inclined around the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, so that left submodules 14 are inclined to the left, and so that right submodules 14 are inclined to the right, in order to follow the roof contour. The bottom areas of the submodules in FIG. 6 thereby form a polygonal course. The vehicle-specific frame 28 can represent the transition from this polygonal course to the roof curvature.

[0187] A modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is shown in FIG. 8, which is connected to a first subarea 25 of the vehicle 2 via a first fluidic connection. The modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is further connected to a second subarea 26 of the vehicle 2 via further fluidic connections. The first subarea 25 can include, for example, the refrigerant circuit of a driver air-conditioning system or the coolant circuit of a battery unit 27. The second subarea 26 can include, for example, the spatial rea 18 of a passenger compartment. As illustrated in FIG. 8, only one air-conditioning system module 3 is fluidically connected to the first subarea 25, wherein the two remaining air-conditioning system modules 3 are fluidically connected to the second subarea 26 in parallel. Depending on the cooling capacity demand, the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system can thereby be partially turned on or turned off. If, for example, a heat exchange is wanted only in the first subarea 25, the two air-conditioning system modules 3, which are connected to the second subarea 26, can be turned off. A more efficient and thus more energy-saving use of the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is possible thereby. It is also conceivable that individual spatial areas 18 of the passenger compartment are assigned to individual air-conditioning system modules 3.

[0188] As illustrated in FIG. 8, the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 and/or an air-conditioning system module 3 can have an electrically controllable expansion valve 32 or several electrically controllable expansion valves, e.g., one for each evaporator, wherein the expansion valve 32 is connected in a communicating manner to a control means 33. It can be provided that an expansion valve 32 of this type is assigned to each evaporator unit 5 of the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1, in order to prevent a heating of the evaporator units 5, as it can occur in the case of thermal expansion valves.

[0189] Due to the simplified schematic illustration, required fluid lines, refrigerant circuits, electrical supply lines, and control lines are not illustrated for the sake of clarity.

[0190] Two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 and 3a are illustrated in FIG. 9, which each form a condenser unit 6 and 6a. With respect to a vehicle center line 34 of the vehicle 2, the air-conditioning system modules 3 and 3a are arranged mirror-symmetrically such that the condenser units 6 and 6a are arranged closer to the vehicle center line 34 than other parts of the at least two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 and 3a. The air-conditioning system modules 3 and 3a each have at least one center line 35, which is aligned transverse and/or perpendicular to the vehicle center line 34.

[0191] For the sake of clarity, the vehicle center line 34 is only illustrated in FIG. 9, but applies analogously for all figures.

[0192] An air-conditioning system module 3 including eight evaporator units 5 and including four condenser units 6 is illustrated in FIG. 10, wherein the condenser units 6 are arranged closer to the vehicle center line 34 than the evaporator units 5.

[0193] Two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 are illustrated in FIG. 11, which each have two evaporator units 5 and one condenser unit 6. With respect to a forward driving direction of the vehicle 2, the condenser unit 6 is arranged upstream of the two evaporator units 5 within the respective air-conditioning system module 3.

[0194] Two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 are illustrated in FIG. 12, which each have two evaporator units 5 and one condenser unit 6. With respect to a forward driving direction of the vehicle 2, the condenser unit 6 is arranged downstream from the two evaporator units 5 within the respective air-conditioning system module 3.

[0195] As an example, a first submodule 13 can form or have one condenser unit 6 in FIGS. 13 to 21. As an example, as second submodule 14 can form or have at least one evaporator unit 5 in FIGS. 13 to 21.

[0196] Two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 are illustrated in FIG. 13, which each have one evaporator unit 5 and one condenser unit 6. With respect to a forward driving direction of the vehicle 2, the condenser unit 6 is arranged downstream from the evaporator unit 5 within the respective air-conditioning system module 3. The air-conditioning system modules 3 are arranged one behind the other with respect to the vehicle center line 34.

[0197] Two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 are illustrated in FIG. 14, which each have one evaporator unit 5 and one condenser unit 6. With respect to a forward driving direction of the vehicle 2, the condenser unit 6 is arranged upstream of the evaporator unit 5 within the respective air-conditioning system module 3. The air-conditioning system modules 3 are arranged one behind the other with respect to the vehicle center line 34.

[0198] Two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 are illustrated in FIG. 15, which each have two evaporator units 5 and two condenser units 6. The two condenser units 6 are arranged between the two evaporator units 5 in the respective air-conditioning system module 3. The air-conditioning system modules 3 are arranged one behind the other with respect to the vehicle center line 34.

[0199] Compared to FIG. 15, three similar air-conditioning system modules 3 are illustrated in FIG. 16, which are arranged one behind the other with respect to the vehicle center line 34.

[0200] Two similar air-conditioning system modules 3 are illustrated in FIG. 17, which each have two evaporator units 5 and one condenser unit 6. With respect to a vehicle center line 34 of the vehicle 2, the air-conditioning system modules 3 are arranged mirror-symmetrically such that the condenser units 6 are arranged closer to the vehicle center line 34 than the evaporator units 5. The condenser units 6 are arranged between the evaporator units 5.

[0201] Compared to FIG. 17, an additional air-conditioning system module 3 is illustrated in FIG. 18, which is arranged upstream of the air-conditioning system modules 3 from FIG. 17 with respect to a forward driving direction of the vehicle 2. The additional air-conditioning system module 3 has two evaporator units 5 and one condenser unit 6, wherein the evaporator units 5 are arranged mirror-symmetrically with respect to the vehicle center line 34 of the vehicle 2.

[0202] As an example, FIGS. 19 and 20 show further arrangement options of air-conditioning system modules 3.

[0203] An embodiment alternative of the modular roof-mounted air-conditioning system 1 is shown in FIG. 21, in which the submodules 14 and 13 have bottom areas 24 of similar designs. The second submodules 14 are arranged externally, while the first submodules 13 are arranged internally between the second submodules 14.

[0204] It is understood that the foregoing description is that of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and that various changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined in the appended claims.