Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
HEATING and COOLING SYSTEM for TRANSPORT INSTRUMENTS
FIELD of TECHNOLOGIES
The present disclosure relates to heating and cooling system of transportation
instrument,
especially for electric and hybrid transport instrument. The disclosure also
especially relates to
a distributed positional/locational heating and cooling system. The cooling
device may employ
air pressure caused by the moving transport instrument.
BACKGROUND
Heating and cooling device and system are required by almost all transport
instruments. The
transport can be any one of road transport, air transport instrument, maritime
transport and
rail transport. To save the heating and cooling energy of the transport
instruments is to reduce
the greenhouse gas emission, especially when the transport instruments are
starting to turn to
electric or hybrid transport instruments. Following we uses an electric
vehicle as an example for
all transport instruments. The ideas devices and system disclosed in this
application can be used
for all transport instruments.
The energy consumption of air conditioning for an electric vehicle is about 5%-
15% of the total
energy consumption of the vehicle, depending on the design, local weather and
how a driver to
use the air conditioning system. To save energy from air conditioning of an
electric
transportation instrument is not only to save the energy, but also to reduce
the battery weigh
and cost, to extend the cruise millage of the vehicle. There are some ways to
save energy for air
conditioning such as to increase energy efficiency and to improve the
insulation of the air
conditioning system of the vehicle.
This disclosure introduces a new concept and device of air conditioning system
for transport
instruments, especially for full electric and hybrid transport instrument.
The first idea is to provide a distributed electric heating and cooling system
to heat or cool the
driver/passenger (occupant) locally and closely instead to heat or cool all
cabin space of the
transport instrument. The second idea is make the distributed heating system
be a locational
and positional electric heating system. The system only supplies heating or
cooling for the
passenger and place where an occupant is available. Therefore the electric
heater needs to
operate under low voltage, low operation temperature and is soft. The third
idea is to transfer
the air pressure of a moving vehicle to a power source for generating cooling
air. An air channel
having a solid and/or soft wall is employed witch has a larger size of air
inlet and a smaller size
of outlet. The fourth idea is to heat and cool the transport instrument by
solar energy through
a shade cloth and a controllable slide sunroof. The fifth idea is to preheat
the transport
instrument by external electric power which is for charging the battery.
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SUMMARY
The present disclosure provides a heating and cooling system of transport
instrument for
energy saving, comprises a distributed locational/positional electric heater
connected to
battery of said transport instrument and arranged close to an occupant. A
detector detects the
local seat condition of the occupant for a control system to turn on or off
the heater. A cooling
device arranged in said transport instrument for cooling the cabin of said
transport instrument.
The transport instrument is selected from a group of road transport
instrument, rail transport
instrument, maritime transport instrument and air transport instrument. The
transport
instrument comprises full electric powered transport Instrument or hybrid
electric transport
Instrument.
The heater of the heating and cooling system comprises a low and safe
operation voltage. The
heater of the heating and cooling system comprises a low and safe operation
temperature. The
heater of the heating and cooling system also comprises a soft heating
material. The heater of
the heating and cooling system comprises an electric heating film. The heater
of the heating
and cooling system comprises a far infrared heater.
The detector of said heating and cooling system is selected from a group of a
light detector, a
weight detector and a camera image detector.
The control system of the heating and cooling system comprises a main control
system for full
transport instrument including the heater; and said main control system
comprising a heater
sub-control panel for said heater. The heater sub-control panel comprises a
local seat condition
detector, a thermometer, a temperature setting device for said heater.
The disclosure further provides a shade cloth to the heating and cooling
system. The removable
shade cloth has first side for reflecting sunlight and second side to
absorbing sunlight. The
heating and cooling system further comprises a power adapter for said heater
to be heated by
external AC power source. The heating and cooling System comprises
The disclosure further again provides a sun roof to the heating and cooling
system. The sun roof
for heating and cooling, comprises a controllable sliding door; a climate
controller for opening
and closing said sun roof automatically or manually. The climate controller
comprises a
photometer to measure sunlight illumination and a cabin thermometer to measure
the
temperature in cabin.
The disclosure also provides cooling device of the heating and cooling system.
The cooling
device comprises an air channel having a larger air inlet facing toward to
moving direction of
said transport instrument and a smaller outlet connected to cabin. The air
channel of the
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cooling device comprises a hard wall made of hard material or a soft wall made
of a soft
material. The cooling device also comprises one selected from a group of air
direction guider
directs the air flow the occupants, s structure for opening and closing air
channel, and a grid
and an air filter are arranged at the inlet of the channel to ensure the
quality of the cooling air.
Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent to
those ordinarily
skilled in the art up review of the following description of specific
embodiments of the
invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. They are included in
the claims of this
application.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is schematic side view illustrating a heating and cooling system for a
vehicle.
Fig. 2 is schematic top view illustrating a sub-control panel for a
passenger's heating and cooling
In the figures which illustrate exemplary embodiments of this invention:
DETAILE DESCRIPTION
Refer to Fig. 1, a heating and cooling system of an electric vehicle 10 is
illustrated in side view.
This is a right side driver vehicle. The vehicle 10 comprises an occupant
(driver and passenger)
11, here is a driver. 121, 122, 123 are the distributed batteries to provide
power for vehicle
operation. The battery is charged by external power through changing cable
161. The vehicle 10
further comprises weal 13, back-up air conditioner 14 and electric motor 15.
The vehicle 10 also
comprises front seat 171 and rear seat 172. A main electric controller 18
(also called computer
controller) control the operation of all elements of the vehicle. A main
control panel 181
arranged at the front of the driver 11. Fig. 1 also shows the window 19, shad
cloth 28,
temperature sensor 29 and the climate sensor or meter 27. The electric power
cable and signal
cable 16 connect all electric devices and the devices of control systems to
battery to provide
operation power and transfer signals. In Fig. 1, there is only one sample 16
is shown and
marketed, other did not show or market in Fig. 1. They may comprise the
sensors, heaters,
detectors, controller and control panel.
When the driver 11 gets into his/her seat 171, a condition detector detects
the person. The seat
condition detector can be any detector to identify whether or not an occupant
is on seat. For
example, the detector may be a weight sensor under seat or a light sensor 25.
Here it is a video
camera 26. The video camera takes an image of cabin. The computer 18 of the
control system
identifies the seat condition. The condition detector (here is computer) then
sends a signor to a
switcher to turn on the power directly from buttery 122 for the build in first
heater 21 which is
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arranged in the seat 171 under the seat cover and over the seat insulation.
When the area
temperature surrounded the driver reaches to the setting temperature, the
temperature
sensor 29 send a signal to the control system. The control system turns off
the power. In the
backrest of seat 171, a second heater 22 is built in and under the rear cover
of the backrest. The
second distributed heater 22 is a far infrared heater mainly for the passenger
on the rear seat
172. It also helps to warm the driver 11.
Here the heater (21 or 22) is distributed heater for each occupant. The heater
is a
locational/positional heater that arranged near to each occupant and heats a
designed
passenger. Therefore, the distributed heater (21 or 22) needs to be operated
at a low and safe
voltage for safety reason. For example the voltage may be 12V, 24V of battery
voltage or
lower). Its operation temperature needs to be low and safe temperature too
(e.g. 60 degree C
and under). It may be soft (e.g. a film) for safety reason. The heating
material may be an electric
heating coat coated on a surface of a soft insulation material. The heating
material may also be
a striped film. It may connect to the buttery directly and supply power by the
buttery directly.
The heater can be a directional far infrared heater. The heater can heat the
driver/passenger
directly instead to heat the surrounding environment. It may be build-in
heater. It can be
arranged at the front of the occupant, under the cover of a seat, in the
backrest of the front
seat or at the top of the occupant.
The heating controller of the heater 21 is at the main controller 18. The main
controller has a
control panel 181. The heater 22 has a sub-control panel 20 arranged at
armrest of the rear
door of the vehicle for the convenient of the passenger. The buttery supplies
the electric power
to the main controller 18 and sub-controller 181 including the distributed
heater 21. The
condition detector 26 is on. The heater 21 starts to provide heat to the
driver through default
setting or last setting. The identification of the passenger is completed by
the control panel
through personal biological information detected. When the driver leaves the
seat, the
detector sends the information to the controller to turn off the power
automatically. When the
heater 21 heats the driver, the heater may also provide heat according to the
passenger's
desired setting. This will discuss in Fig.2.
The distributed heating system may comprise a power adaptor (did not show in
Fig. 1) for AC to
DC. It provides DC electric power to the heater by external AC power supply.
The power
adaptor can be connected to a branch of the changing cable 161. The control
system controls
the switching between buttery DC power supply and the external AC power
supply.
Here the control system comprises a main control system 18 for control all
elements of the
transport instrument including the heating and cooling system. The main
control system is
controlled automatically or by the driver 11 of the transport instrument. The
main control
system may comprise a computer 18 and relevant programs. The control system
also comprises
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a heating and cooling sub-control panel 20. The sub-control panel is for
control a distributed
heater 22 and cooler 35 and the special location of an occupant sited on seat
172. The sub-
control panel is mainly controlled by the passenger. Some or all features of
the sub-control
panel may also be controlled by the driver through main control panel 181. The
heating and
cooling sub-control panel can be arranged at a backrest (e.g. 171 or 172), an
armrest of a door
armrest (e.g. 20) of rear seat and dashboard etc. The heating and cooling sub-
control panel may
comprise an electric power indicating light 206, heating and cooling power
switches (201, 202),
desired temperature settings temperature increasing or decreasing buttons
(203, 204), and
current temperature indicators (205). The sub-control panel can be in one
panel or separated
in several panels. One sample panel surface is shown in Fig.2.
The heating and cooling system of the transport instrument comprises a sun
roof 37. The
sunroof comprising a sliding window 38 and a sun visor 39. 38 and 39 may be a
solar electric
generation panel and a transparent plate. They may also a translucent plate
and a opaque plate.
The sun roof 37 comprises a built in main climate controller (did not shown).
The climate
controller controls the opening and closing of the sun roof and adjusts the
size of air gap of the
sunroof automatically and manually. The sunroof climate controller also
comprises climate
sensor(s) or measuring device for temperature, sunlight, air pressure and
humidity. Thereis. a
photometer 27 to measure Luminosity of sunlight. The sun roof weather
controller also
comprises thermometers to measure the temperature inside and outside of the
cabin. When
the vehicle in operation and the temperature in the cabin is higher than the
desired
temperature, the sunroof may open for cooler air come into the cabin. When the
vehicle is
packed, the photometer indicates a luminosity of sunlight and the thermometer
indicates a
temperature in cabin higher than the environment temperature, the sun roof
opens an air flow
gap for the cabin to release the hot air in cabin and get cooler air from
lower place of the cabin
to cool the cabin. When the temperature in the cabin is low and the sunlight
is available, a
transparent sun visor receives extra sunlight into cabin and heat the cabin.
When luminosity is
low to a level of raining situation, the sunroof is closed by the sun roof
weather controller
automatically. When the sunroof is closed, the solar electric generating plate
generates
electricity.
The heating and cooling system further comprises a cooling device 30. The
cooling device
transfers the air pressure of the moving car 10 to cooling air in the channel
31. The air channel
31 has a larger air inlet port 34 facing toward to the moving direction of the
vehicle 10 and a
smaller outlet 34 connected to air vent 34 for proving cool air under the
controlling of occupant.
The channel 31 has another air vent 35. Either hard material or soft material,
including their
combination, can be used to make the channel wall. The channel may be made of
hard material,
e.g. plastic, metal, wood, and other hard materials. The channel also may be
made of soft
material, e.g. a dense cloth, a metal foil, a plastic film and other soft
materials. The channel may
CA 2974909 2017-07-28
also be a continued and curved channel. It also can be a group of channels to
provide cool air
for each occupant. An air direction guider directs the air flow for different
occupants. (not show
in Fig. 1). A structure 32 is for opening and closing the air channel. A
grille/net 34 and an air
filter 33 are arranged at the inlet of the channel to ensure the quality of
the cooling air. The
outlet 35 of the channel 31 may also be a group of uniformly distributed small
gaps, e.g. a grid-
like cloth. Of cause the inlet 32 of the channel 31 is much larger than the
outlet 34 and 35 of
the channel 31. When the vehicle 10 is moving, the external air gets into the
channel 31 from a
larger inlet 32 and through a smaller outlet 34 to go in a large cabin space.
Because the inlet air
is forced by the air pressure of the moving vehicle, so the outlet air is
cooler than the inlet air.
This is how the cooling device 31 works. As faster the vehicle move, as cooler
the outlet air. A
back up air conditioning device 14 is required, in case the vehicle is forced
to drive slowly at a
heavy traffic period of time. The heating and cooling system of the transport
instrument further
comprises a fan to circulate the air or pump the air into or out to the cabin.
The heating and cooling system further comprises a heat low-emission (Low-E)
material at the
window 19. The Low-E material is arranged at outdoor side of a window at a hot
area. The Low-
E material is arranged at indoor side of a vehicle window at a cool area. The
Low-E material also
can be arranged in between of two glasses that are laminated.
The heating and cooling system further comprises a shade cloth 28. The first
side of the shade
cloth has sunlight reflect material to reflect the sunlight and cool the cabin
at hot weather. The
second side of the shade cloth has a heat absorb material for absorb solar
heat at cool weather.
The heat absorb material may be transparent or translucent. The heat
reflecting material may
be translucent. The shade cloth also protects the heat loss through window by
heat emission.
The shade cloth can be fixed to the window or removably attached to the
window. In
comparing with the low-E glass, the shade cloth can absorb more solar heat and
provide much
more flexibilities.
Refer to Fig. 2, a sub- control panel 20 of heater 22 is illustrated on top
view. The heating and
cooling sub-control panel comprise an electric power indicating light 206,
heating and cooling
power switches (201, 202), desired temperature settings buttons (203, 204),
which increasing
or decreasing the setting temperature and current temperature indicators
(205). In Fig. 2, H
and C means heating and cooling presented the right side buttons are for the
heater 22 and
cooler 35. 201 and 202 "On/off" buttons mean the buttons are for turning on
and off the
setting of the heater and cooler. The buttons 203 and 204 with arrow "up" and
"down" have
following meaning: when puss the upper side of the button is to increase the
temperature
surround the passenger. When to puss the down side of the button that is to
decrease the
temperature surround the passenger. The red star 205 is a light signal of the
panel power. The
last one 206 is a temperature indicator indicating the present temperature
setting. When the
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passenger sit down at seat 172, the detector 25 (or 26, if 25 is not exists)
send a signal to
control system. The red light turns on. The heater 22 and cooler 35 start work
based on the last
temperature setting. The temperature indicator 206 shows the current
temperature setting. If
the passenger is comfortable with the temperature setting, nothing needs to
do. If the
passenger is not comfortable with the temperature setting, the passenger can
push the button
and set a desired temperature. The control system will guide the heater or
cooler get the
proper temperature. When the passenger leaves the seat, the detector sends the
information
to the controller to turn off the power of the heater 22 and cooler 35. The
control panel 20
automatically turn off to save electricity.
Other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and,
therefore, the invention is
defined in the claims.
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