Vehicle climate control apparatus and method

Abstract

A vehicle climate control apparatus and method realizing a satisfactory drive feeling and in-compartment comfort, at the same time, by estimating the behavioral intention of the driver at an early time are disclosed. The vehicle climate control apparatus comprises an air-conditioning control unit for controlling the air-conditioning state in the compartments by controlling the air-conditioning device, a driving behavior detection unit for detecting the operation amounts of the driver, an estimation unit for calculating the behavioral intention estimating information for estimating the prospective driving behavior of the driver based on the operation amounts detected by the driving behavior detection unit, and a determining unit for estimating the output state of the power source based on the behavioral intention estimating information and giving an instruction to the air-conditioning control unit in accordance with the estimated output state.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention relates to a vehicle climate control apparatus and an air-conditioning control method capable of adjusting the air-conditioning state by estimating the intention of the driver from his driving behavior at an early time. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] In the prior art, a technique is known to secure the engine acceleration characteristic by reducing the load of an air-conditioning compressor on the vehicle engine (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-285618, for example). In the vehicle climate control apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-285618, an acceleration is determined and the compressor is stopped or the compressor capacity is reduced in the case where the acceleration pedal angle actually exceeds a threshold value. [0005] Also in the case where the engine load is increased such as when ascending a slope or at a merging point, the co...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] An object of this invention is to provide a vehicle climate control apparatus and an air-conditioning control method capable of realizing both satisfactory drive feeling, and in-compartment comfort at the same time, by estimating the intention of the driver at an early time.

[0007] Another object of the invention is to provide a climate control apparatus of a cool-storage type for storing cold thermal energy during the operation of the refrigeration cycle, and an air-conditioning method, wherein both satisfactory drive feeling and in-compartment comfort can be realized, at the same time, by controlling the operations of storing or releasing the cold thermal energy by estimating the intention of the driver at an early time.

Problems solved by technology

Also in the case where the engine load is increased such as when ascending a slope or at a merging point, the compressor load of the climate control apparatus is imposed directly on the engine and is liable to adversely affect the drive feeling until the actual acceleration pedal angle exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

Specifically, with an increase in the load on the power source, the electrical load of the electrically operated compressor of the climate control apparatus is imposed directly on the on-vehicle power supply with the result that the power supply may be overloaded.

Once the on-vehicle power supply is overloaded, the motor output is reduced and the drive feeling may be adversely affected.

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