Electric moving body air-conditioning device

Abstract

The invention provides an electric moving body air conditioning device. In an electric moving body air-conditioning device, air-conditioning operation can be performed in consideration of both battery remaining amount and environmental load and health. An air conditioning device for an electric moving body, which performs indoor air conditioning of the electric moving body on the basis of a set temperature, is provided with a management unit that manages the influence of the set temperature on a change in the state of a battery accompanying the movement of the electric moving body, and the management unit is provided with a notification means that notifies the change in the set temperature. The present invention provides a notification of environmental load information during the navigation of an electric moving body and passenger state information during the navigation of the electric moving body.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric mobile air conditioner. Background Art

[0002] Electric vehicles (EVs) and other electric vehicles use a control unit (VCU) to control the operation of various components that affect each other, such as motors, inverters, batteries, and air conditioners. Among the components controlled by the VCU, the management of the battery, which is the source of the electric vehicle's operation, is particularly important.

[0003] The management of the battery in an electric vehicle needs to take into account the operation of an air conditioner that is operated by power from the battery. As a prior art, it is proposed that when the displayed battery remaining amount is zero, a reserve charge amount that can drive the air conditioner remains in the battery. Thus, even when the displayed battery remaining amount is zero, the air conditioning operation of the vehicle can be performed by ensuring the reserve charge amount (see Patent Document 1 below).

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-146442 Summary of the invention Problems to be solved by the invention

[0005] When the mobile body is moved to the destination, charging base, etc. while the air conditioner is running at the current remaining battery level, it is necessary to consider the environmental load such as the amount of CO2 emissions calculated from the power consumed by the air conditioner operation. However, if the air conditioner operation is suppressed due to concerns about the environmental load, not only will the comfort be impaired, but health problems such as heat stroke will also occur. Therefore, it is required to consider both the remaining battery level and the environmental load and health when operating the air conditioner.

[0006] The present invention is to cope with such a situation. That is, the present invention is to enable air-conditioning operation to be performed in an electric mobile body air-conditioning apparatus while taking into account both the remaining battery level and environmental load and health. Means for solving problems

[0007] In order to solve such problems, the electric mobile body air conditioner of the present invention has the following configuration. An electric mobile body air conditioning device performs indoor air conditioning of an electric mobile body according to a set temperature, and is characterized in that the electric mobile body air conditioning device includes a management unit, which manages the influence of the set temperature on the change of the battery state accompanying the movement of the electric mobile body, and the management unit includes a notification unit, which notifies the environmental load information of the electric mobile body during navigation and the occupant status information of the electric mobile body during navigation in response to the change of the set temperature. Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention having such features, in the electric mobile body air conditioning apparatus, air conditioning operation can be performed in consideration of both the remaining battery level and the environmental load and health. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 It is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of an electric mobile body air conditioning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 It is an explanatory diagram showing the prediction unit of the management unit. Figure 3 It is an explanatory diagram showing the processing flow of the prediction unit. Figure 4 It is an explanatory diagram showing a travel power consumption calculation table ((a) in the same figure) and an air-conditioning power consumption calculation table ((b) in the same figure) included in the prediction unit. Figure 5 It is an explanatory diagram showing a battery remaining amount prediction table provided in the prediction unit. Figure 6 It is an explanatory diagram showing an environmental load information calculation table as an environmental load information calculation unit. Figure 7 It is an explanatory diagram showing an occupant state information calculation table serving as occupant state information calculation means. Figure 8 This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a notification method of a notification unit (notification section). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings represent parts with the same functions, and repeated descriptions in the drawings will be appropriately omitted.

[0011] In addition, in the following description, an electric vehicle is used as an example of an electric mobile body, but electric vehicles include not only cars traveling on roads, but also industrial vehicles traveling in areas such as factories, railway vehicles traveling on tracks, etc. Electric mobile bodies are not limited to electric vehicles, but include all machines that carry people or cargo and move electrically, such as ships, airplanes, and submersibles.

[0012] like Figure 1 As shown, an electric mobile body air conditioning device 1 is mounted on an electric mobile body (for example, an electric vehicle EV) and performs indoor air conditioning according to a set temperature. The electric mobile body air conditioning device performs air conditioning control on the electric mobile body (for example, an electric vehicle EV, hereinafter referred to as EV) 1 so that the indoor temperature becomes the set temperature while the EV moves to a destination. The electric mobile body air conditioning device 1 includes a management unit 10 that manages the influence of the set temperature on the change in the battery state accompanying the movement of the EV and the air conditioning operation.

[0013] The management unit 10 transmits and receives information via a communication line (e.g., CAN: Controller Area Network) L that constructs a network in the EV. Thus, the operation information of each component (not shown) controlled by the control unit (VCU) 20 is input to the management unit 10 via the communication line L, and the output signal from the management unit 10 is sent to each component (not shown) via the communication line L.

[0014] The battery management unit 30 is connected to the communication line L. The battery management unit 30 manages the state (charge state) of the battery as the operating source of the EV, and transmits information on the state of the battery (hereinafter referred to as battery management information) including the remaining battery amount to the management unit 10 via the communication line L.

[0015] In addition, the notification unit 40 is connected to the communication line L. The notification unit 40 has a function of notifying the EV passenger of information output from the management unit 10 through images, sounds, etc. Specific configuration examples of the notification unit 40 include a display device, a speaker device, etc., and more specifically, can be configured by an audio system that integrates a navigation function, etc.

[0016] The detection information of the sensor unit 11 is input to the management unit 10. The sensor unit 11 is composed of various sensor groups in the EV. If the specific sensors of the sensor unit 11 are exemplified, they are an outside air temperature sensor for detecting the outside air temperature around the EV, a room temperature sensor for detecting the interior temperature of the vehicle cabin of the EV, a blow-out temperature sensor of the air conditioning unit 13 described later, a vehicle speed sensor and a torque sensor for detecting the moving state of the EV, a current sensor for detecting the battery state, and a positioning sensor for detecting the position information of the EV (including a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver of a GPS (Global Positioning System)).

[0017] The management unit 10 manages the thermal management of the EV including the air conditioner, controls the heat medium circuit unit 12 and the air conditioner unit 13, and obtains their operation information. The heat medium circuit unit 12 includes a pump, a flow path switching valve, and a water heater for operating a heat medium circuit (for example, a water circuit) for temperature regulation of a battery or other temperature regulation objects, and the air conditioner unit 13 includes a blower, a damper, an air heater, and a compressor and an expansion valve of a refrigerant circuit as components of an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) unit for delivering conditioned air to the interior of the EV.

[0018] The management unit 10 controls the heat medium circuit unit 12 and the air conditioning unit 13 based on the information input by the operation input unit 41, thereby adjusting the indoor temperature of the EV to the set temperature. By making the display screen of the notification unit 40 a touch input type or making the notification unit 40 have a voice input function, the operation input unit 41 can be integrated with the notification unit 40.

[0019] The management unit 10 includes a prediction unit 10A that predicts the effect of the air conditioning setting temperature on the change in the battery state accompanying the movement of the EV and the operation of the air conditioning, and a notification unit 10B that outputs the cruising range information predicted by the prediction unit 10A to the notification unit 40 .

[0020] In addition, the management unit 10 includes: an environmental load information calculation unit 10A1, which calculates environmental load information such as information related to CO2 emissions based on the information predicted by the prediction unit 10A; and an occupant status information calculation unit 10A2, which calculates occupant status information such as information related to maintaining the health of the occupants, and these information are output to the notification unit 40 by the notification unit 10B.

[0021] like Figure 2 As shown, the prediction unit 10A outputs prediction information based on the setting information input by the operation input unit 41 and the detection information input from the sensor unit 11, the heat medium circuit unit 12, the air conditioning unit 13, and each component connected to the communication line L. The setting information here is the air conditioning setting temperature, the distance to the moving destination (destination) and other moving destination information, and the detection information is the outside air temperature, the room temperature, the moving body speed and torque and other moving body motion information and the battery management information such as the remaining battery level.

[0022] The prediction information output by the prediction unit 10A includes the travel time to the mobile destination, the power consumption generated when traveling to the mobile destination (travel power consumption), the power consumption generated when air conditioning is performed at the set temperature until the mobile destination (air conditioning power consumption), the total power consumption, the remaining battery level at the mobile destination (mobile destination battery level), and the cruising range at the mobile destination (mobile destination cruising range), etc.

[0023] Figure 3 1 shows the processing flow of the prediction unit 10A. When the processing starts, the set temperature of the air conditioner is input to the prediction unit 10A through the information input from the operation input unit 41 (step S01), and further, as the destination information, for example, the distance to the destination is input to the prediction unit 10A (step S02). For example, when the communication line L is connected to a navigation system, the destination information input here can be obtained by setting the destination in the navigation system.

[0024] When such input is made, the prediction unit 10A sets prediction conditions for prediction based on the detection information (step S03). The prediction conditions are conditions that are the premise of prediction, and one of them is that the detected outside air temperature is constant until the prediction time, or the movement conditions such as the movement speed continue unchanged from the current time to the prediction time, and the operation conditions of the air conditioner (for example, high, medium, low) are set to any one; etc.

[0025] If such prediction conditions are set, the prediction unit 10A calculates the travel time to the destination based on the input destination information (e.g., the distance to the destination, etc.) and the set travel conditions (e.g., the continuity of the moving body speed, etc.) (step S04). When the travel time is calculated, the arrival time is predicted by adding the travel time to the current time. At this time, as described above, when the destination information is input through the navigation system, the processing here can directly use the travel time and arrival time output by the navigation system.

[0026] When the travel time is calculated, the travel power consumption (E1) is calculated (step S05), and the air conditioning power consumption (E2) is calculated (step S06). As an example, it is possible to use Figure 4 The mobile power consumption calculation table shown in (a) of FIG. 1 can be used to calculate the mobile power consumption (E1), as an example. Figure 4 The air conditioning power consumption calculation table shown in (b) calculates the air conditioning power consumption (E2).

[0027] The mobile power consumption calculation table is prepared in consideration of the characteristics of each individual EV. As a simplified example, Figure 4(a) shows a table that tabulates the relationship between the distance to the destination (ML) and the power consumption (E1) for each moving speed (for example, V1<V2<V3). A simplified model is shown here, but by setting more complex and diverse parameters and introducing appropriate machine learning processing, it is possible to predict the power consumption (E1) with high accuracy.

[0028] The air conditioning power consumption calculation table is the same as the mobile power consumption calculation table. It is prepared taking into account the characteristics of each individual EV. As a simplified example, Figure 4 (b) shows a table that tabulates the relationship between the travel time (TM) and the air conditioning power consumption (E2) for each air conditioning set temperature relative to the outside air temperature (T0) (for example, cooling operation of T0>T1>T2>T3). Although a simplified model is shown here, the air conditioning power consumption (E2) can be calculated with high accuracy by setting more complex and diverse parameters and introducing appropriate machine learning processing.

[0029] When the mobile power consumption (E1) and the air conditioning power consumption (E2) are obtained through the above process, the total power consumption (E) can be predicted by the sum of them (E=E1+E2) (step S07). When the total power consumption (E) is calculated, the power required for temperature adjustment of each component including the battery is added to the total power consumption (E1) and the air conditioning power consumption (E2), thereby predicting the total power consumption (E) with higher accuracy.

[0030] When the total power consumption (E) is obtained, the prediction unit 10A predicts the cruising range information. Here, the prediction unit 10A predicts the remaining battery amount at the destination (step S08) and the cruising range at the destination (step S09), or one of both, and then ends the process.

[0031] The prediction of the remaining battery level at the destination (step S08) can be performed using, for example, Figure 5 The battery remaining amount prediction table shown is prepared in consideration of the characteristics of each individual EV. The battery remaining amount prediction table predicts the battery remaining amount that will decrease due to the predicted total power consumption (E) based on the current battery remaining amount detected as battery management information.

[0032] At this time, since the predicted value of total power consumption (E) is calculated for each input air-conditioning setting temperature (for example, T1, T2; in cooling operation, T1>T2), the remaining battery capacity at the moving destination (for example, Lb1, Lb2) can be calculated one-to-one with the input air-conditioning setting temperature (for example, T1, T2).

[0033] exist Figure 5In the example shown, when the set temperature during cooling operation is set to T1 (a temperature close to the outside air temperature), the total power consumption prediction value E(T1) is low and the predicted remaining battery capacity Lb1 is high. In contrast, when the set temperature during cooling operation is set to T2 (a temperature much lower than the outside air temperature), the total power consumption prediction value E(T2) is high and the predicted remaining battery capacity Lb2 is low.

[0034] Then, if the remaining battery level at the destination can be determined, the cruising distance based on the remaining battery level can be calculated using a calculation table prepared for each individual EV to determine the relationship between the remaining battery level and the cruising distance.

[0035] The environmental load information calculation unit 10A1 of the management unit 10 obtains environmental load information based on the prediction information predicted by the prediction unit 10A. As the environmental load information calculation unit 10A1, for example, Figure 6 The environmental load information calculation table is shown in the figure. Figure 6 In the example shown, information related to CO2 emission (for example, CO2 emission amount) is used as environmental load information. Here, when the set temperature during cooling operation is set to T1 (a temperature close to the outside air temperature), the total power consumption prediction value E(T1) is low, and the CO2 emission amount EI1 predicted thereby is low. In contrast, when the set temperature during cooling operation is set to T2 (a temperature much lower than the outside air temperature), the total power consumption prediction value E(T2) is high, and the CO2 emission amount EI2 predicted thereby is high.

[0036] The passenger state information calculation unit 10A2 of the management unit 10 calculates the passenger state information based on the prediction information predicted by the prediction unit 10A. As the passenger state information calculation unit 10A2, for example, Figure 7 The occupant status information calculation table is shown. Figure 7 In the example shown, the heat stroke risk when the outside air temperature is 30°C or higher is indicated as the occupant state information. At this time, when the set temperature during cooling operation is set to T1 (a temperature close to the outside air temperature), the heat stroke risk H1 is high. On the other hand, when the set temperature during cooling operation is set to T2 (a temperature much lower than the outside air temperature), the heat stroke risk H2 is low.

[0037] exist Figure 7In the present invention, the risk of heat stroke during cooling operation is used as the occupant status information, but the occupant status information is not limited to this. For example, information related to health maintenance such as the risk of catching a cold due to controlling the set temperature to a low level during heating operation when the outside air temperature is low, and an index indicating the comfort of the occupant during cooling and heating operation can be used as the occupant status information.

[0038] The notification unit 10B of the management unit 10 outputs the above-mentioned environmental load information and the above-mentioned occupant state information to the notification unit 40 in response to the change in the set temperature of the air conditioner. Figure 8 An example of notification by the notification unit 40 is shown. Here, a display device is used as the notification unit 40 to notify the occupant of information by displaying images such as text, but a sound generator (speaker) may be used as the notification unit 40 to notify the occupant of the prediction information by sound or the like.

[0039] exist Figure 8 In the example shown, the display screen DP1 capable of touch input displays the moving destination information (distance to the destination) D10 input by the operation input unit 41 and the outside air temperature D11 obtained as detection information from the sensor unit 11, and displays the current and changed "room temperature", "endurable distance", "CO2 emissions" and "heat stroke risk", respectively.

[0040] Here, the current "room temperature" D12 (shown as "28°C") is the indoor temperature obtained from the sensor unit 11 as detection information, the current "cruising distance" D13 is a predicted value calculated based on the remaining battery power after the air-conditioning temperature is set to the current "room temperature" D1 and the vehicle moves to the destination (shown as "150km"), the current "CO2 emission" D14 is a predicted value of the environmental load information when the air-conditioning temperature is set to the current "room temperature" D1 and the vehicle moves to the destination (shown as "15"), and the current "heat stroke risk" D15 is a predicted value of the occupant status information when the air-conditioning temperature is set to the current "room temperature" D1 and the vehicle moves to the destination.

[0041] In contrast, the changed "room temperature" D20 is the air-conditioning set temperature changed by touch input (shown as "20°C"), the changed "cruising distance" D21 is a predicted value calculated based on the remaining battery power after the air-conditioning set temperature is changed and the vehicle moves to the destination (shown as "120km"), the changed "CO2 emission" D22 is a predicted value of the environmental load information when the air-conditioning set temperature is changed and the vehicle moves to the destination (shown as "28"), and the changed "heat stroke risk" D23 is a predicted value of the occupant status information when the air-conditioning set temperature is changed and the vehicle moves to the destination.

[0042] According to such a notification example (display example) of the notification unit 40, when changing the set temperature of the air conditioner, the occupant can set the air conditioner temperature while confirming the cruising range information (in the example shown in the figure, "cruising range"), environmental load information (in the example shown in the figure, "CO2 emission"), and occupant status information (in the example shown in the figure, "heat stroke risk") associated with the change. Here, when determining the set temperature of the air conditioner, the environmental load information (in the example shown in the figure, "CO2 emission") and the occupant status information (in the example shown in the figure, "heat stroke risk") are in a compromise relationship, but because the occupant can compare the two to set the air conditioner temperature, it is possible to prevent excessive concern about the environmental load and damage to health, or to ignore the environmental load and excessively pursue the comfort brought by the air conditioner.

[0043] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and changes in design within the scope of the present invention are also included in the present invention. In addition, the above embodiments can be combined with each other's technology as long as there is no special contradiction or problem in their purpose and configuration. Description of reference numerals:

[0044] 1: Electric mobile air conditioning device; 10: Management unit; 10A: Prediction unit; 10A1: Environmental load information calculation unit; 10A2: Occupant status information calculation unit; 10B: Notification unit; 11: Sensor unit; 12: Heat medium circuit unit; 13: Air conditioning unit; 20: Control unit; 30: Battery management unit; 40: Notification unit; 41: Operation input unit; L: Communication line; EV: Electric vehicle; DP1: Display screen.

Claims

1. An electric mobile air conditioning device for performing indoor air conditioning of an electric mobile according to a set temperature, characterized in that: The electric mobile body air conditioning device includes a management unit that manages the influence of the set temperature on the change of the battery state accompanying the movement of the electric mobile body. The management unit includes a notification unit configured to notify, in response to a change in the set temperature, environmental load information during navigation of the electric vehicle and passenger status information during navigation of the electric vehicle.

2. The electric mobile air conditioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The environmental load information is information related to CO 2 emissions.

3. The electric mobile air conditioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The occupant status information is information related to maintaining the health of the occupant.

4. The electric mobile air conditioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The notification unit notifies a change in the cruising range information of the electric vehicle together with a change in the set temperature.

5. The electric mobile air conditioning device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The battery life information is notified by the remaining battery level or the battery life distance.

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