Thermal management system control method, controller, system, vehicle and medium

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of thermal management, in particular to a thermal management system control method, a controller, a system, a vehicle and a medium. The method comprises the steps that heat management demand information of a refrigerator and an air conditioner in the heat management system is obtained, and real-time state information of the air conditioner and the refrigerator is obtained; controlling a compressor of the thermal management system to operate according to the thermal management demand information and the real-time state information; the refrigerator and the air conditioner share the compressor. Different refrigeration requirements corresponding to the refrigerator and the air conditioner can be met by controlling operation of the compressor shared by the air conditioner and the refrigerator, the refrigeration power of the refrigerator is improved, the refrigeration speed is increased, and rapid refrigeration of the refrigerator can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of thermal management technology, specifically to a thermal management system control method, controller, system, vehicle, and medium. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, vehicle refrigerators often use independent micro compressors for cooling, which have low cooling power and slow cooling speed, and cannot achieve the purpose of rapid cooling according to the needs of passengers. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This invention addresses the technical problems of slow cooling speed in vehicle-mounted refrigerators in the prior art by providing a thermal management system control method, controller, system, vehicle, and medium.

[0004] This invention provides a control method for a thermal management system, comprising:

[0005] Obtain thermal management requirement information for refrigerators and air conditioners in the thermal management system, and obtain real-time status information for the air conditioners and refrigerators;

[0006] The compressor of the thermal management system is controlled to operate according to the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information; wherein the refrigerator and the air conditioner share the compressor.

[0007] The present invention also provides a controller, including a memory, a processor, and computer-readable instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the above-described thermal management system control method when executing the computer-readable instructions.

[0008] The present invention also provides a thermal management system, including a compressor branch, a refrigerator branch, an air conditioning branch, and the aforementioned controller, wherein the air conditioning branch is connected to the compressor branch, the refrigerator branch is connected to the compressor branch, and the refrigerator branch and the air conditioning branch are connected in parallel.

[0009] The present invention also provides a vehicle including the above-described thermal management system.

[0010] The present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the above-described thermal management system control method.

[0011] The thermal management system control method, controller, system, vehicle, and medium provided by the present invention include: acquiring thermal management demand information of a refrigerator and an air conditioner in the thermal management system, and acquiring real-time status information of the air conditioner and the refrigerator; controlling the operation of the compressor of the thermal management system according to the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information; wherein the refrigerator and the air conditioner share the compressor.

[0012] In the thermal management system control method of the present invention, after acquiring the thermal management demand information and real-time status information of the refrigerator and air conditioner, the compressor shared by the air conditioner and refrigerator is controlled to operate according to the thermal management demand information and real-time status information to meet the different cooling needs of the refrigerator and air conditioner. Since the refrigerator and air conditioner share a compressor in the thermal management system of the present invention, and for vehicles, the refrigerator is integrated into the vehicle's thermal management system and shares the air conditioner's compressor, there is no need to set up a separate refrigerator compressor. This increases the effective volume of the refrigerator, improves its cooling power, and accelerates the cooling speed, enabling rapid cooling of the refrigerator. Attached Figure Description

[0013] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments of the present invention will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0014] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of the thermal management system control method in the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a thermal management system in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of the thermal management system control method in the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of step S201 of the thermal management system control method in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of step S20 of the thermal management system control method in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of step S220 of the thermal management system control method in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 7 This is a flowchart of step S20 of the thermal management system control method in another embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 8 This is a flowchart of a thermal management system control method in another embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 9 This is a flowchart of a thermal management system control method in another embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 10 This is a schematic block diagram of the thermal management system control device in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a controller in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] The reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are as follows:

[0026] 11. Compressor; 12. Air conditioner; 121. Air conditioner evaporator; 122. Air conditioner fan; 13. Refrigerator; 131. Refrigerator evaporator; 132. Internal fan; 133. Refrigerator liner; 14. Heat exchanger; 141. External condenser; 142. Electric fan; 15. First expansion valve; 16. Second expansion valve; 17. Throttling valve; 18. Gas-liquid separator; 19. First pressure and temperature sensor; 20. Second pressure and temperature sensor; 21. Third pressure and temperature sensor; 22. First switch; 23. Second switch. Detailed Implementation

[0027] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0028] In one embodiment, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, a thermal management system control method is provided, including the following steps S10-S20:

[0029] S10, obtain the thermal management demand information of the refrigerator 13 and air conditioner 12 connected in parallel in the thermal management system, and obtain the real-time status information of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13; understandably, in one embodiment, such as Figure 2 As shown, the thermal management system of the present invention may include a compressor branch, a refrigerator branch, and an air conditioning branch, wherein the air conditioning branch is connected to the compressor branch, the refrigerator branch is connected to the compressor branch, and the refrigerator branch and the air conditioning branch are connected in parallel; wherein the compressor 11 and the heat exchanger 14 are both arranged on the compressor branch, the refrigerator 13 is arranged on the refrigerator branch, and the air conditioner 12 is arranged on the air conditioning branch, wherein the refrigerator 13 includes a refrigerator evaporator 131, the air conditioner 12 includes an air conditioning evaporator 121, and the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the air conditioning evaporator 121 are connected in parallel between the compressor 11 and the heat exchanger 14.

[0030] Furthermore, when the heat manager is a vehicle thermal management system, the heat exchanger 14 may include an external condenser 141 and an electric fan 142 installed in the front compartment of the vehicle. The outlet of the compressor 11 is connected to the heat exchanger 14 (e.g., the external condenser 141). In this thermal management system, the thermal management requirement information of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 refers to the information pre-set by the user of the thermal management system for the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 corresponding to thermal management behaviors such as cooling. For example, in the thermal management system, the thermal management requirement information of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 may refer to the switch settings of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 (the switch settings are used to indicate whether the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 are turned on or off by triggering a switch button, sending switch information, or switching the power supply), and the target temperatures set for the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 (e.g., the first target temperature of the air conditioner 12 and the second target temperature of the refrigerator 13 mentioned later). The real-time status information of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 refers to the actual operating information of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13, such as the on / off status information of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 (used to indicate whether the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 are in the on or off state), and the actual temperature (such as the first actual temperature and the second actual temperature mentioned later).

[0031] S20, the compressor of the thermal management system is controlled to operate according to the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information; wherein the refrigerator and the air conditioner share the compressor. Figure 2 As shown, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 share the compressor 11 and the heat exchanger 14. When the thermal management system is installed in the vehicle, the refrigerator 13 is a vehicle refrigerator 13, and the heat exchanger 14 can be an external condenser 141 and an electric fan 142 installed in the front compartment of the vehicle. In this case, the vehicle refrigerator 13 can not only share the compressor 11 with the air conditioner 12 in the passenger compartment, but also share the external condenser 141 and the electric fan 142 and other heat dissipation devices on the vehicle with the air conditioner 12 for heat dissipation. In this way, the heat in the passenger compartment can be dissipated through the external condenser 141 and the electric fan 142 in the front compartment of the car. The waste heat generated by the refrigerator 13 can be directly discharged to the outside of the vehicle without blowing onto the passengers and affecting the driving experience. In this embodiment, the compressor 11 needs to operate according to the thermal management requirement information and the real-time status information. In this way, the speed of the compressor 11 will match the thermal management requirement information and the real-time status information, which can more reasonably allocate the refrigerant flow and refrigeration evaporation temperature on the air conditioner 12 side and the refrigerator 13 side that share the compressor 11. Thus, the different refrigeration needs of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can be met by controlling the operation of the compressor 11.

[0032] In the above embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 in the thermal management system share the compressor 11. For the vehicle, the refrigerator 13 is integrated into the vehicle thermal management system and shares the compressor 11 of the air conditioner 12. Thus, there is no need to set up a separate compressor 11 for the refrigerator 13, which increases the effective volume of the refrigerator 13, improves the cooling power of the refrigerator 13, and speeds up the cooling process, enabling the refrigerator 13 to cool down quickly. Furthermore, in the present invention, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can also share the heat exchanger 14 (such as the external condenser 141 and the electric fan 142, etc.) in the vehicle thermal management system for heat dissipation. In this way, the heat in the passenger compartment can be dissipated through the heat dissipation device (external condenser 141 and electric fan 142, etc.) in the front compartment of the car, and the waste heat generated by the refrigerator 13 can also be directly discharged to the outside of the vehicle without blowing onto the passengers and affecting the driving experience. Furthermore, in the thermal management system control method of the present invention, after obtaining the thermal management demand information and real-time status information of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 to determine the type of cooling demand, the compressor 11 shared by the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 in the thermal management system is controlled to run. In this way, different cooling demands of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can be achieved by controlling the speed of the compressor 11.

[0033] In one embodiment, such as Figure 3 As shown, step S20, namely controlling the compressor operation of the thermal management system according to the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information, includes:

[0034] S201, the cooling demand type is determined based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information, and the compressor 11 is controlled to operate according to the cooling demand type. Understandably, in this invention, the air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 can be controlled to perform on / off operations based on the preset on / off setting data of the air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 in the thermal management demand information. After controlling the air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 to perform on / off operations, the on / off status information and measured actual temperature information in the real-time status information corresponding to the current moment, as well as the target temperature information in the corresponding thermal management demand information, can be used to determine the cooling demand type of the thermal management system; for example, such as... Figure 2As shown, the real-time status information includes the first switch status information of the first switch 22 in the air conditioning branch (the first switch 22 is connected in series with the air conditioning evaporator 121 in the air conditioning branch, wherein the first switch 22 can be a solenoid valve or other switch integrated in the air conditioner, or a solenoid valve switch or other switch separately from the air conditioner) and the second switch status information of the second switch 23 in the refrigerator branch (the second switch 23 is connected in series with the refrigerator evaporator 131 in the refrigerator branch, wherein the second switch 23 can be a solenoid valve or other switch integrated in the refrigerator, or a solenoid valve switch or other switch separately from the refrigerator); this When the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is off, and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator 13 is off, it can be determined that both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are off. Alternatively, although the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is on, and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator 13 is on, the thermal management demand information and real-time status information indicate that the actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 or / and the air conditioner 12 has reached the target temperature. In this case, neither of them has a cooling demand, and the cooling demand type is no demand. Conversely, when the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is off, and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator 13 is off... When the refrigerator 13 is turned on, and the thermal management demand information and real-time status information indicate that the actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 has not reached the target temperature, or although the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is turned on and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator 13 is turned on, but the thermal management demand information and real-time status information indicate that the actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 has not reached the target temperature, while the actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 has reached the target temperature, it can be determined that the air conditioner 12 has no cooling demand, and the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand. At this time, the refrigerator 13 is turned on for cooling only, and the cooling demand type is single refrigerator demand; while the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is turned on... When the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator 13 is off, and the thermal management demand information and real-time status information indicate that the actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 has not reached the target temperature, or although the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is on and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator 13 is on, but the thermal management demand information and real-time status information indicate that the actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 has not reached the target temperature, while the actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 has reached the target temperature, it can be determined that the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand, and the refrigerator 13 does not have a cooling demand. In this case, the air conditioner 12 is used for cooling alone, and the cooling demand type is determined to be a single air conditioner demand. Conversely, when the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is on, and the second switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is on, and the thermal management demand information and real-time status information indicate that the actual temperatures corresponding to both the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 have not reached the target temperature, it can be determined that both the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 have a cooling demand. In this case, both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are used for cooling, and the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand.The dual-use requirement can include two cooling demand levels: high demand for refrigerators and high demand for air conditioners. It is necessary to further determine the cooling demand level of the thermal management system based on the target temperatures of air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 in the thermal management demand information (such as the first target temperature of air conditioner 12 and the second target temperature of refrigerator 13 mentioned later) and the actual temperatures of air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 in the real-time status information (such as the first actual temperature and the second actual temperature mentioned later).

[0035] In one embodiment, step S201, determining the cooling demand type based on the real-time status information, includes the following:

[0036] The first scenario: When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand, and the refrigerator 13 does not have a cooling demand, the cooling demand type is determined to be a single air conditioner demand; at this time, since the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand, the compressor 11 is turned on. Specifically, the real-time status information includes the first switch status information of the first switch 22 in the air conditioning branch, the first actual temperature of the environment where the air conditioner 12 is located, the second switch status information of the second switch 23 in the refrigerator branch, and the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator 13; the thermal management demand information includes the first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 and the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13; in this step, the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicating that the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand and the refrigerator 13 does not have a cooling demand can include the following two scenarios:

[0037] First, the first switch status information indicates that the first switch 22 is closed, representing that the air conditioning branch is connected, the air conditioner 12 is turned on, and the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand (for example, if the actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 has not reached the target temperature, it indicates that the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand); and the second switch status information indicates that the second switch 23 is open, representing that the refrigerator branch is disconnected, the refrigerator 13 is turned off, and the refrigerator 13 has no cooling demand; therefore, at this time, it can be determined that the cooling demand type is a single air conditioner demand.

[0038] Secondly, when the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is turned on, and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator is turned on, both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are turned on for cooling. If, based on the thermal management requirement information and the real-time status information, it is determined that the air conditioner 12 has a cooling requirement (for example, if the actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 has not reached the target temperature, it indicates that the air conditioner 12 has a cooling requirement), while the refrigerator 13 does not have a cooling requirement (for example, if the actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 has reached the target temperature, it indicates that the refrigerator 13 does not have a cooling requirement), then it can be determined that the cooling requirement type is also a single air conditioner requirement.

[0039] The second scenario: When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that the air conditioner 12 has no cooling demand, but the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand, the cooling demand type is determined to be a single refrigerator demand; in this case, since the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand, the compressor 11 is turned on. In this step, the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicating that the air conditioner 12 has no cooling demand, but the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand, can include the following two situations:

[0040] First, the first switch status information indicates that the first switch 22 is open, meaning the air conditioner branch is disconnected, the air conditioner 12 is off, and the air conditioner 12 has no cooling demand; and the second switch status information indicates that the second switch 23 is closed, meaning the refrigerator branch is connected, the refrigerator 13 is on, and the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand (for example, if the actual temperature of the refrigerator 13 has not reached the target temperature, it indicates that the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand); therefore, at this time, it can be determined that the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand.

[0041] Secondly, when the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is turned on, and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator is turned on, both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are turned on for cooling. If, based on the thermal management requirement information and the real-time status information, it is determined that the air conditioner 12 has no cooling requirement (for example, the actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 has reached the target temperature, indicating that the air conditioner 12 has no cooling requirement), while the refrigerator 13 has a cooling requirement (for example, the actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 has not reached the target temperature, indicating that the refrigerator 13 has a cooling requirement), then it can be determined that the cooling requirement type is also a single refrigerator requirement.

[0042] The third scenario: When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that neither the air conditioner 12 nor the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand, the cooling demand type is determined to be no demand. Specifically, in this step, the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicating that neither the air conditioner 12 nor the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand can include the following two scenarios:

[0043] First, the first switch status information indicates that the first switch 22 is open, and the air conditioner 12 has no cooling demand; and the second switch status information indicates that the second switch 23 is open, and the air conditioner 12 has no cooling demand. At this time, since the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are both currently off, neither the air conditioner 12 nor the refrigerator 13 in the thermal management system has a cooling demand, and the cooling demand type is no demand.

[0044] Secondly, when the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is turned on, and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator is turned on, both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are turned on for cooling. If, based on the thermal management requirement information and the real-time status information, it is determined that the air conditioner 12 has no cooling requirement (for example, the actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 has reached the target temperature, indicating that the air conditioner 12 has no cooling requirement), and the refrigerator 13 also has no cooling requirement (for example, the actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 has reached the target temperature, indicating that the refrigerator 13 has no cooling requirement), then it can be determined that the cooling requirement type is also no requirement.

[0045] Further, in step S201, controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: controlling the compressor to be in a stopped state when the cooling demand type is no demand. Specifically, when the cooling demand type is no demand, it means that neither the refrigerator 13 nor the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand. At this time, it is sufficient to control the compressor 11 to be in a stopped state, that is, the entire thermal management system is not working at this time.

[0046] The fourth scenario: When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that both the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 have a cooling demand, the cooling demand type is determined to be a dual-operation demand. Specifically, in this step, the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that both the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 have a cooling demand. Therefore, the condition for dual-operation cooling of both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 must be met first. That is, when the first switch status information indicates that the air conditioner 12 is on, and the second switch status information indicates that the refrigerator is on, both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are operating for cooling. If, based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information, it is determined that both the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 have a cooling demand (for example, if the actual temperatures corresponding to both the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 have not reached the target temperature, it indicates that both the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13 have a cooling demand), then the cooling demand type can be determined to be a dual-operation demand.

[0047] Further, in step S201, the real-time status information includes a first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner and a second actual temperature inside the refrigerator; the thermal management demand information includes a first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner and a second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator; controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes:

[0048] When the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level is determined based on the first actual temperature, the second actual temperature, the first target temperature, and the second target temperature, and the compressor is controlled to operate according to the cooling demand level. That is, after determining that the cooling demand type is a single / dual-operation demand, since both the air conditioner and the compressor need to operate, in this embodiment, it is necessary to further determine the cooling demand level of the thermal management system based on the first target temperature of the air conditioner 12 and the second target temperature of the refrigerator 13 in the thermal management demand information, and the first actual temperature of the air conditioner 12 and the second actual temperature of the refrigerator 13 in the real-time status information, and then control the compressor to operate according to the more specific cooling demand level.

[0049] Furthermore, such as Figure 4 As shown, determining the cooling demand level based on the first actual temperature, the second actual temperature, the first target temperature, and the second target temperature includes the following steps S2011-S2013:

[0050] S2011, obtain the first temperature difference between the first actual temperature and the first target temperature; in this embodiment, when the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are both operating for cooling. If it is necessary to further determine the cooling demand level of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13, it is necessary to obtain the first actual temperature Tcar and the first target temperature Tcar_target corresponding to the air conditioner 12. Then, obtain the first temperature difference ΔTcar, where the first temperature difference ΔTcar is the difference between the first actual temperature Tcar and the first target temperature Tcar_target.

[0051] S2012, obtain the second temperature difference between the second actual temperature and the second target temperature; that is, when the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are both on for cooling, if it is necessary to calculate the cooling demand level of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13, it is also necessary to obtain the second actual temperature Tin and the second target temperature Tin_target corresponding to the refrigerator 13, and then obtain the second temperature difference ΔTin, wherein the second temperature difference ΔTin is the difference between the second actual temperature Tin and the second target temperature Tin_target.

[0052] S2013, the cooling demand level is determined based on the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference. That is, since the first and second temperature differences represent the differences between the real-time temperature and the target temperature of the air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13, respectively, a larger difference between the real-time and target temperatures indicates a larger amount of refrigerant is needed to reach the target temperature from the real-time temperature. Furthermore, when the first and second temperature differences are equal, the air conditioner 12 requires a larger refrigerant flow rate and has a higher evaporation pressure, resulting in a larger overall cooling capacity; while the refrigerator 13 requires a smaller refrigerant flow rate and has a lower evaporation pressure, resulting in a smaller overall cooling capacity. Therefore, when both the air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 are operating simultaneously, the cooling demand level can be determined based on the first and second temperature differences. Then, the operation of the compressor in the thermal management system can be adjusted according to the cooling demand levels of the air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13, thereby rationally allocating the refrigerant flow rate and evaporation temperature on the air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 sides.

[0053] Further, step S2013, namely determining the cooling demand level based on the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference, includes the following steps:

[0054] When both the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference are greater than 0, and the first temperature difference is greater than or equal to the second temperature difference, the cooling demand level is determined to be high air conditioning demand. That is, if both the first temperature difference ΔTcar and the second temperature difference ΔTin are greater than 0, it indicates that both air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 have cooling needs. However, when the first temperature difference is greater than or equal to the second temperature difference, air conditioner 12 requires a larger refrigerant flow rate and has a higher evaporation pressure, resulting in a larger overall cooling capacity. Refrigerator 13, on the other hand, requires a smaller refrigerant flow rate and has a lower evaporation pressure, resulting in a smaller overall cooling capacity. Therefore, air conditioner 12 requires a higher refrigerant flow rate, and the cooling demand level can be determined to be high air conditioning demand. When the cooling demand level is high air conditioning demand, the thermal management system will prioritize meeting the cooling needs of air conditioner 12 in the passenger compartment. At this time, refrigerator 13 only performs partial cooling.

[0055] When both the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference are greater than 0, and the second temperature difference is greater than the first temperature difference, the cooling demand level is determined to be high demand for the refrigerator. That is, if both the first temperature difference ΔTcar and the second temperature difference ΔTin are greater than 0, it indicates that both air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 have cooling needs. However, when the first temperature difference is less than the second temperature difference, since a larger difference between the real-time temperature and the target temperature represents a larger amount of cooling required to reach the target temperature, the first temperature difference corresponding to air conditioner 12 is less than the second temperature difference corresponding to refrigerator 13, thus the cooling demand level can be determined to be high demand for the refrigerator. When the cooling demand level is high demand for the refrigerator, the thermal management system will prioritize meeting the cooling needs of the air conditioner 12 in refrigerator 13, at which point air conditioner 12 only performs partial cooling.

[0056] In one embodiment, the real-time status information includes the first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner, and the thermal management demand information includes the first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner. In step S201, controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: when the cooling demand type is a single air conditioner demand, controlling the compressor operation according to the first actual temperature and the first target temperature. That is, after determining that the cooling demand type is a single air conditioner demand, only the air conditioner's cooling demand needs to be considered. Since the real-time status information and thermal management information related to the air conditioner include the first actual temperature and the first target temperature, in this embodiment, it is only necessary to control the compressor operation according to the first actual temperature and the first target temperature.

[0057] In another embodiment, the real-time status information includes the first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner, and the thermal management demand information includes the first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner; in step S201, controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: when the cooling demand level is high air conditioning demand, controlling the compressor operation according to the first actual temperature and the first target temperature. That is, after determining that the cooling demand level is high air conditioning demand, the main focus is on ensuring the cooling demand of the air conditioner. Since the real-time status information and thermal management information related to the air conditioner include the first actual temperature and the first target temperature, in this embodiment, it is only necessary to control the compressor operation according to the first actual temperature and the first target temperature.

[0058] Furthermore, such as Figure 5 As shown, controlling the operation of the compressor based on the first actual temperature and the first target temperature includes:

[0059] S210, obtain the target speed, which is determined based on the first temperature difference between the first actual temperature and the first target temperature; that is, in the two cases where the cooling demand type is single air conditioner demand and the cooling demand type is dual-on demand and the cooling demand level is high air conditioner demand, the compressor 11 needs to prioritize meeting the cooling demand of the air conditioner 12; at this time, the target speed will be obtained by first converting the first actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 and the first temperature difference between the first target temperature.

[0060] S220, the operation of the compressor is controlled according to the target speed. In this embodiment, after the target speed is obtained by converting the first actual temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12 and the first target temperature, the speed of the compressor 11 is precisely controlled according to the target speed, so as to reasonably allocate the refrigerant flow and evaporation temperature of the air conditioner 12 side and the refrigerator 13 side sharing the compressor 11 while prioritizing the cooling demand of the air conditioner 12.

[0061] Furthermore, such as Figure 6 As shown, in step S220, controlling the operation of the compressor according to the target speed specifically includes the following steps S221-S223:

[0062] S221, The three-phase current of the compressor 11 is acquired in real time;

[0063] S222, determine the actual speed of the compressor 11 based on the three-phase current of the compressor 11;

[0064] S223, the compressor 11 is controlled to execute a speed control strategy based on the actual speed and the target speed. That is, in this embodiment, in the two cases of cooling demand type being single air conditioner demand and cooling demand type being dual-operation demand with cooling demand level being high air conditioner demand, the compressor 11 needs to prioritize meeting the cooling demand of the air conditioner 12; at this time, the target speed is first obtained by converting the first actual temperature and the first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner 12, and then the speed of the compressor 11 can be accurately controlled based on the above-mentioned target speed and actual speed, so as to reasonably allocate the refrigerant flow and cooling evaporation temperature of the air conditioner 12 side and the refrigerator 13 side sharing the compressor 11 while prioritizing meeting the cooling demand of the air conditioner 12.

[0065] Furthermore, controlling the operation of the compressor 11_ according to the target speed includes the following steps:

[0066] When the actual rotational speed is less than the target rotational speed, the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is increased, so that the absolute value of the first temperature difference is less than or equal to the preset hysteresis value. Understandably, if the actual rotational speed is less than the target rotational speed, the control current of the compressor 11 can be increased to control the actual rotational speed closer to the target rotational speed. Specifically, a preset hysteresis value can be set first (e.g., a preset hysteresis value of 2℃). In this case, the first temperature difference ΔTcar is greater than 0 in both the single-air conditioning demand type and the dual-operation demand type with a high air conditioning demand level. Therefore, when the actual rotational speed is less than the target rotational speed, if the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is increased, the first temperature difference gradually decreases. When the first temperature difference decreases to less than or equal to the preset hysteresis value of 2℃, it indicates that the hysteresis has been stably controlled, and the rotational speed control strategy can be confirmed to have been completed.

[0067] S3033, when the actual rotational speed is greater than the target rotational speed, the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is controlled to decrease, so that the absolute value of the first temperature difference is less than or equal to the preset hysteresis value. In this step, if a preset hysteresis value of 2℃ is set, then in both the cooling demand type (single air conditioning demand) and the cooling demand level (high air conditioning demand), the first temperature difference ΔTcar is greater than 0. Therefore, when the actual rotational speed is greater than the target rotational speed, if the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is controlled to decrease, the first temperature difference will also gradually decrease. When the first temperature difference decreases to less than or equal to the preset hysteresis value of 2℃, it indicates that the hysteresis has been stably controlled, and the rotational speed control strategy can be confirmed to have been completed.

[0068] In the process of adjusting the compressor 11 speed through the speed control strategy in the above embodiment, the compressor 11 is controlled to execute the speed control strategy according to the actual speed and the target speed. In two cases: single air conditioner demand and dual-operation demand with a high air conditioner demand level, the compressor 11 speed can be controlled to prioritize meeting the air conditioner 12's cooling demand. The hysteresis control is considered stable only when the first temperature difference of the air conditioner 12 is controlled within the range corresponding to the preset hysteresis value (e.g., ±2℃). It is understood that when the actual speed is equal to the target speed, it means that there is no need to adjust the actual speed of the compressor 11; it is only necessary to keep the current speed of the compressor 11 unchanged.

[0069] In one embodiment, the real-time status information includes the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator, and the thermal management demand information includes the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator. In step S201, controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, controlling the compressor operation according to the second actual temperature and the second target temperature. That is, after determining that the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, only the refrigerator's cooling demand needs to be considered. Since the real-time status information and thermal management information related to the refrigerator include the second actual temperature and the second target temperature, in this embodiment, it is only necessary to control the compressor operation according to the second actual temperature and the second target temperature.

[0070] In another embodiment, the real-time status information includes the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator, and the thermal management demand information includes the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator. In step S201, controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: when the cooling demand level is high demand for the refrigerator, controlling the compressor operation according to the second actual temperature and the second target temperature. That is, after determining that the cooling demand level is high demand for the refrigerator, the main focus is on ensuring the refrigerator's cooling demand. Since the real-time status information and thermal management information related to the refrigerator include the second actual temperature and the second target temperature, in this embodiment, it is only necessary to control the compressor operation according to the second actual temperature and the second target temperature.

[0071] Furthermore, such as Figure 7 As shown, controlling the operation of the compressor based on the second actual temperature and the second target temperature includes:

[0072] S230, obtain the target speed; the target speed is determined based on the second temperature difference between the second actual temperature and the second target temperature; that is, in two modes, the cooling demand type is single refrigerator demand and the cooling demand type is double opening demand and the cooling demand level is high refrigerator demand, the compressor 11 needs to prioritize meeting the cooling demand of the refrigerator 13; at this time, the target speed will be obtained first by converting the second actual temperature and the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13.

[0073] S240, the compressor is controlled to operate according to the target speed. In this embodiment, after the target speed is obtained by converting the second actual temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 and the second target temperature, the compressor 11 speed can be accurately controlled according to the target speed, thereby rationally allocating the refrigerant flow and evaporation temperature on the air conditioner 12 side and the refrigerator 13 side of the shared compressor 11 while prioritizing the refrigeration needs of the refrigerator 13.

[0074] In one embodiment, controlling the operation of the compressor according to the target speed includes the following steps:

[0075] S221, Real-time acquisition of the rotor position information of the compressor 11; Understandably, since the compressor 11 in the vehicle thermal management system needs to simultaneously meet the heat dissipation requirements of the air conditioning 12 and even the battery system, its designed cooling capacity is usually large. Therefore, when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand or the cooling demand level is a high refrigerator demand, the compressor 11 needs to operate at ultra-low speed (the minimum speed of the compressor 11 is often around 800 rpm). At this time, when the compressor 11 uses three-phase current to estimate the angle information, due to the problem that sensorless angle estimation cannot accurately estimate the angle information at ultra-low speed (that is, when the compressor 11 is running at ultra-low speed, such as 100-800 rpm, when using three-phase current to estimate the angle information, there will be a problem that the sine wave control frequency is too low, resulting in insignificant angle changes, and thus inaccurate angle estimation), it often cannot operate at ultra-low speed. Thus, if three-phase current is used to continue... Continuing to estimate the angle information will not accurately meet the small cooling capacity requirements of the vehicle refrigerator 13 when it is running alone, resulting in wasted cooling capacity and low efficiency of the compressor 11. Therefore, in this embodiment, the rotor position information of the compressor 11 is used to estimate the angle information of the compressor 11, thereby determining the actual speed. Since the rotor position information of the compressor 11 reflects the actual rotation position of the compressor 11 rotor, it will not be affected by current changes in the low speed range (unlike three-phase current, there will be no problem of insignificant angle changes due to excessively low sine wave control frequency). Therefore, even in the low speed range, the process of estimating the angle information of the compressor 11 in the low speed range based on the rotor position information of the compressor 11, and then determining the actual speed in the low speed range, will be more accurate and reliable. That is, the control process of controlling the speed of the compressor 11 to achieve the target speed based on the rotor position information will also be more precise.

[0076] In this invention, three types of sensors can be used to detect the rotor position information of the compressor 11 (the rotor position information can be used to determine the angle information of the compressor 11 rotor, that is, its actual angle position).

[0077] In one embodiment, the rotor position information is acquired by a resolver sensor installed on the compressor 11. The resolver sensor includes a resolver chip for acquiring the rotor position information, a resolver rotor fixedly installed on the rotor crankshaft of the compressor 11, and a resolver stator fixedly installed on the housing of the compressor 11. The rotor position information refers to the relative rotation angle information between the resolver rotor and the resolver stator determined by the resolver chip based on the sine and cosine voltage signals generated in the resolver rotor after the excitation voltage is input from the resolver stator. In this embodiment, the rotor position information of the compressor 11 is detected by the resolver sensor. Specifically, a resolver rotor (with an interference fit between the resolver rotor and the rotor crankshaft) is installed at the center position of the end of the rotor crankshaft of the compressor 11. When the compressor 11 is running, the resolver rotor rotates with the rotor crankshaft. The resolver stator can be installed at the bottom of the housing of the electronic control assembly of the compressor 11, and its position is fixed. The resolver chip is integrated on the circuit board of the electronic control assembly. The resolver chip outputs a 7VAC, 10kHz excitation voltage to the resolver stator, generating an alternating magnetic field in the resolver rotor. This generates sine and cosine voltage signals on the induction side of the resolver stator. These sine and cosine voltage signals are transmitted to the resolver chip on the circuit board through the resolver wiring harness. The resolver chip then processes the data to obtain real-time rotor position information. This rotor position information represents the relative rotation angle between the resolver rotor and the resolver stator, reflecting the angular relationship between the rotating coordinate system of the resolver rotor and the fixed coordinate system of the resolver stator. Thus, the resolver chip accurately converts the rotor position information into an electrical signal and provides it to the controller. After receiving the electrical signal corresponding to the rotor position information from the resolver chip, the controller determines the corresponding actual speed based on the rotor position information. It then compares the actual speed with the set target speed, calculates a third speed control strategy, and precisely controls the current output according to the third speed control strategy to adjust the direction and speed of the actual speed, ultimately adjusting the actual speed to the target speed.

[0078] In one embodiment, the rotor position information is acquired by a Hall effect sensor mounted on the compressor 11. The Hall effect sensor includes a Hall chip for acquiring the rotor position information and a magnetic ring fixedly mounted on the rotor crankshaft of the compressor 11. The rotor position information refers to the actual angular position of the rotor crankshaft determined by the magnetic field signal generated by the magnetic ring as it rotates with the rotor crankshaft. In this embodiment, the rotor position information of the compressor 11 is detected by the Hall effect sensor. Specifically, a magnetic ring is installed at the center of the end of the rotor crankshaft (the magnetic ring can be fixedly mounted on the rotor crankshaft by pins that are interference-fitted with the magnetic ring and the rotor crankshaft respectively). When the compressor 11 is running, the magnetic ring rotates with the rotor crankshaft, and the Hall chip obtains the rotor position information by detecting the magnetic field signal generated by the magnetic ring rotating with the rotor crankshaft. The rotor position information can accurately reflect the actual angular position of the rotor crankshaft. Thus, the Hall chip accurately converts the rotor position information into an electrical signal and provides it to the controller. After receiving the electrical signal corresponding to the rotor position information from the Hall chip, the controller determines the corresponding actual speed based on the rotor position information, compares the actual speed with the set target speed, calculates the third speed control strategy, and accurately controls the current output according to the third speed control strategy to adjust the direction and speed of the actual speed, and finally adjusts the actual speed to the target speed.

[0079] In one embodiment, the rotor position information is acquired by a rotor position detection mechanism installed on the compressor 11. The rotor position detection mechanism includes a position sensor for acquiring the rotor position information and a target wheel fixedly installed on the rotor crankshaft of the compressor 11. The rotor position information refers to the actual angular position of the rotor crankshaft determined by the position sensor through emitting a magnetic field and receiving an induced electromotive force signal when the target wheel rotates with the rotor crankshaft. In this embodiment, the rotor position information of the compressor 11 is detected by the rotor position detection mechanism. Specifically, a target wheel is installed at the end of the rotor crankshaft (the target wheel is fixed to the rotor to achieve synchronous rotation), and the position sensor is fixed to the electronic control assembly by bolts and connected to the circuit board through pins (or wiring harnesses). When the compressor 11 is running, the target wheel rotates with the rotor crankshaft, the emitting coil in the position sensor excites a high-frequency oscillating magnetic field, and the receiving coil in the position sensor generates a high-frequency oscillating induced electromotive force signal due to electromagnetic induction. Because the target wheel is close to the position sensor, the induced eddy currents generated by the magnetic field on the target wheel blades weaken the magnetic field excited by the transmitting coil in the position sensor. At this time, the induced electromotive force signal of the receiving coil in the position sensor also decreases accordingly. As the target wheel rotates, the induced electromotive force signal of the receiving coil (i.e., rotor position information, which represents the actual angular position of the rotor crankshaft) changes with the area covered by the target wheel blades. The position sensor outputs the rotor position information to the controller. After receiving the rotor position information from the position sensor, the controller determines the corresponding actual speed based on the rotor position information, and then compares the actual speed with the set target speed to calculate the third speed control strategy. Based on the third speed control strategy, the controller precisely controls the current output to adjust the direction and speed of the actual speed, and finally adjusts the actual speed to the target speed.

[0080] Understandably, among the three types of sensors mentioned above (resolver sensor, Hall effect mechanism, rotor position detection mechanism), the working environment inside the compressor 11 housing may be harsh. Therefore, to solve the above problem, in one embodiment, the above-mentioned resolver chip, Hall effect chip and other electronic components can be placed outside the compressor 11 working housing, and the relevant acquisition circuit can be integrated onto the circuit board of the electronic control assembly, so as to avoid the chip (sensor) part from contacting the refrigerant and refrigeration oil, and to make the overall integration highly efficient.

[0081] The rotor position information of the compressor 11 is acquired in real time. Understandably, in this embodiment, the rotor position information of the compressor 11 is used to estimate the angle information of the compressor 11, and then the actual speed is determined. Since the rotor position information of the compressor 11 reflects the actual rotation position of the compressor 11 rotor, it will not be affected by current changes in the low speed range (unlike three-phase current, there will be no problem of insignificant angle changes due to excessively low sinusoidal control frequency). Therefore, even in the low speed range, the process of estimating the angle information of the compressor 11 in the low speed range based on the rotor position information of the compressor 11, and then determining the actual speed in the low speed range, will be more accurate and reliable. That is, the control process of controlling the speed of the compressor 11 to achieve the target speed based on the rotor position information will also be more precise.

[0082] The actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is determined based on the rotor position information; that is, after obtaining the rotor position information through the above-mentioned sensors (such as the above-mentioned resolver sensor, Hall mechanism or rotor position detection mechanism), the angle information and actual rotational speed can be further determined based on the rotor position information.

[0083] The compressor 11 is controlled according to the target speed. That is, in this embodiment, in the two cases of cooling demand type of single refrigerator demand and cooling demand type of double-opening demand with high refrigerator demand level, the compressor 11 needs to prioritize meeting the cooling demand of refrigerator 13; at this time, the target speed is first obtained by converting the second actual temperature corresponding to refrigerator 13 and the second target temperature. Then, the compressor 11 speed can be accurately controlled according to the above target speed and the actual speed determined by the rotor position information, so as to reasonably allocate the refrigerant flow and cooling evaporation temperature of the air conditioner 12 side and refrigerator 13 side sharing the compressor 11 while prioritizing meeting the cooling demand of refrigerator 13.

[0084] In one embodiment, controlling the compressor 11 according to the target rotational speed includes the following steps:

[0085] When the actual rotational speed is less than the target rotational speed, the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is increased, so that the absolute value of the second temperature difference is less than or equal to the preset hysteresis value. In this step, if a preset hysteresis value of 2℃ is set, then in both cases where the cooling demand type is single refrigerator demand and the cooling demand type is double-opening demand with a high refrigerator demand level, the second temperature difference ΔTin is greater than 0. In this case, when the actual rotational speed is less than the target rotational speed, if the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is increased, the second temperature difference will gradually decrease. When the second temperature difference decreases to less than or equal to the preset hysteresis value of 2℃, it indicates that the hysteresis has been stably controlled, and the rotational speed control strategy can be confirmed to have been completed.

[0086] When the actual rotational speed is greater than the target rotational speed, the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is reduced so that the absolute value of the second temperature difference is less than or equal to a preset hysteresis value. In this step, if a preset hysteresis value of 2℃ is set, then in both cases where the cooling demand type is single refrigerator demand and the cooling demand type is dual-opening demand with a high refrigerator demand level, the second temperature difference ΔTin is greater than 0. In this case, when the actual rotational speed is greater than the target rotational speed, if the actual rotational speed of the compressor 11 is reduced, the second temperature difference will also gradually decrease. When it decreases to less than or equal to the preset hysteresis value of 2℃, it indicates that the hysteresis has been stably controlled, and the rotational speed control strategy can be confirmed to have been completed.

[0087] In the above embodiment, during the process of adjusting the compressor 11 speed through a speed control strategy, the operation of the compressor 11 is controlled according to the target speed. In two cases: a single refrigerator cooling demand and a dual-opening cooling demand with a high refrigerator cooling level, the compressor 11 speed can be controlled to prioritize meeting the cooling demand of the refrigerator 13. The second temperature difference of the refrigerator 13 is considered stable only when it is controlled within the range corresponding to a preset hysteresis value (e.g., ±2℃). Throughout the process, the compressor 11 motor will not stop, thus solving the feasibility and stability of ultra-low speed operation of the compressor 11. Understandably, when the actual speed is equal to the target speed, it means that there is no need to adjust the actual speed of the compressor 11; it is only necessary to keep the current speed of the compressor 11 unchanged.

[0088] In one embodiment, reference is made to Figure 2 The thermal management system includes:

[0089] The compressor branch includes compressor 11 and heat exchanger 14;

[0090] An air conditioning branch circuit is connected to a compressor branch circuit, and the air conditioning branch circuit includes an air conditioning evaporator 121 and a first expansion valve 15.

[0091] The refrigerator branch circuit is connected to the compressor branch circuit and is connected in parallel with the air conditioning branch circuit. The refrigerator branch circuit includes a refrigerator evaporator 131 and a second expansion valve 16.

[0092] Specifically, the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131 in the thermal management system are connected in parallel. Thus, the outlets of the two evaporators merge and enter the common suction port of the compressor 11. At this time, the evaporation pressure of the two evaporators is the same. In the dual-cooling mode of air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13, the minimum evaporation temperature of air conditioner 12 must not be lower than 0°C (the evaporation pressure corresponding to an evaporation temperature of 0°C is about 300 kPa). This is because if the minimum evaporation temperature is lower than 0°C, there is a risk of icing in air conditioner evaporator 121, and the air outlet temperature of air conditioner 12 will not meet the thermal comfort requirements of air conditioner 12. Since the parallel pipes of the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131 are connected and enter the compressor 11 together, the evaporation pressure of the refrigerant in the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131 is equal. It is impossible to adjust the evaporation pressure separately, and therefore it is impossible to adjust them to different evaporation temperatures (the evaporation pressure of the two evaporators is the same, and the evaporation pressure and evaporation temperature of the refrigerant are coupled. Therefore, under the condition that the evaporation pressure is the same, the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerator evaporator 131 is the same as the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant in the air conditioner evaporator 121), which is not lower than 0°C. Therefore, after the refrigerant above 0°C flows into the refrigerator evaporator 131, in order to reach the target temperature inside the refrigerator 13 (for example, the target temperature is 5°C), if natural convection heat exchange is used inside the refrigerator 13 and no other refrigeration auxiliary devices are added, the heat exchange temperature difference between the evaporation temperature of 0°C and the target temperature of 5°C is small and the heat exchange coefficient of natural convection is small. As a result, the refrigerator evaporator 131 will absorb and remove the heat inside the refrigerator 13 very slowly, and the temperature inside the refrigerator will remain relatively high for a long time, which will not meet the user's need for rapid cooling. In this embodiment, the opening degrees of the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 can be adjusted according to the specific cooling demand type, thereby adjusting the flow distribution ratio between the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12. For example, when the cooling demand type requires prioritizing the cooling demand of the air conditioner 12, the opening degree of the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the refrigerator 13 can be reduced, thereby reducing the refrigerant flow on the refrigerator 13 side. Similarly, when the cooling demand type requires prioritizing the cooling demand of the refrigerator 13, the opening degree of the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the air conditioner 12 can be reduced, thereby reducing the refrigerant flow on the air conditioner 12 side. In this way, the distribution of cooling capacity can be better matched with the demand level, taking into account both efficiency and maximum cooling capacity. This solves the problem of slow cooling speed of the refrigerator 13 when the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are connected in parallel in the above scheme.

[0093] Specifically, the air conditioning branch and the refrigerator branch are connected in parallel; the expansion valve assembly includes a first expansion valve 15 located between the air conditioning evaporator 121 and the heat exchanger 14, and a second expansion valve 16 located between the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the heat exchanger 14. In this embodiment, the opening or closing of the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioning 12 can be controlled according to the different needs of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13, i.e., according to the type of cooling demand.

[0094] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0095] When the cooling demand type is "no demand," both the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 are opened and kept at their maximum opening. Understandably, when the cooling demand type is "no demand," it means that neither the refrigerator 13 nor the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand. Therefore, the compressor 11 can be directly shut off. At this time, the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 need to remain open at their maximum opening to ensure the entire thermal management system reaches a static pressure balance state, ready for the compressor 11 to start again. It should be noted that when the cooling demand type is "no demand," the opening of both the first expansion valve and the second expansion valve 16 in the expansion valve assembly needs to be kept at their maximum opening and does not participate in the subsequent adjustment of the expansion valve opening based on the actual superheat.

[0096] Furthermore, the air conditioning branch includes a first switch 22, and the refrigerator branch includes a second switch 23. The first switch 22 is connected in series with the air conditioning evaporator 121 in the air conditioning branch. The first switch 22 can be a switch such as a solenoid valve integrated into the air conditioner, or it can be a switch independently set separately from the air conditioner. The second switch 23 is connected in series with the refrigerator evaporator 131 in the refrigerator branch. The second switch 23 can be a switch such as a solenoid valve integrated into the refrigerator, or it can be a switch independently set separately from the refrigerator. The method further includes: when the cooling demand type is no demand, controlling the first switch 22 to close and the second switch 23 to close. At this time, the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 need to be kept open at their maximum opening, the compressor is turned off, and since both the first switch 22 and the second switch 23 are closed, both the air conditioning branch and the refrigerator branch are connected to the compressor branch, so that the entire thermal management system reaches a static pressure balance state.

[0097] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0098] When the cooling demand type is single air conditioning demand, the first expansion valve 15 is opened and the second expansion valve 16 is closed; that is, as Figure 2As shown, when only the air conditioner 12 has a cooling demand, it is only necessary to keep the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the air conditioner 12 open. This ensures that the refrigerant flow in the air conditioner evaporator 121 is maximized, and the refrigerant does not need to flow through the refrigerator evaporator 131.

[0099] Furthermore, the air conditioning branch includes a first switch 22, and the refrigerator branch includes a second switch 23; the method further includes: when the cooling demand type is single air conditioning demand, controlling the first switch 22 to close and the second switch 23 to open; at this time, the air conditioning branch is connected to the compressor branch due to the closure of the first switch 22, and the refrigerator branch is disconnected from the compressor branch due to the opening of the second switch 23, thereby ensuring that the refrigerant flow in the air conditioning evaporator 121 is maximized, and the refrigerant does not need to flow through the refrigerator evaporator 131.

[0100] In one embodiment, such as Figure 8 As shown, when the cooling demand type is single air conditioning demand, controlling the opening of the first expansion valve includes the following steps S250-S290:

[0101] S250, when the cooling demand type is single air conditioner demand, determine the first actual superheat of the first expansion valve; understandably, when the cooling demand type is single air conditioner demand, it means that only the cooling demand of air conditioner 12 needs to be met. At this time, only the first expansion valve 15 is opened, and the second expansion valve 16 is kept closed. It is only necessary to adjust the opening degree of the first expansion valve according to the superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve 15. Therefore, the first actual superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve must be obtained first.

[0102] Specifically, determining the first actual superheat of the first expansion valve includes the following steps AC:

[0103] A: The first actual evaporation temperature of the refrigerant output from the air conditioner evaporator 121 is measured by the first pressure sensor, and the first evaporation pressure of the refrigerant output from the air conditioner evaporator 121 is measured by the first temperature sensor. Understandably, both the first pressure sensor and the first temperature sensor are installed on the air conditioning branch and located between the compressor 11 and the air conditioner evaporator 121. The first pressure sensor and the first temperature sensor can be installed separately or integrated into one unit. Figure 2 The first pressure and temperature sensor 19 shown in the figure. That is, the first actual evaporation temperature and the first evaporation pressure can be monitored in real time by the first pressure sensor and the first temperature sensor (or the first pressure and temperature sensor 19) installed on the air conditioning branch.

[0104] B: Obtain the first saturated evaporation temperature coupled with the first evaporation pressure; that is, since the evaporation pressure and saturated evaporation temperature of the refrigerant are coupled to each other, that is, they correspond one-to-one, in this embodiment, when the first evaporation pressure is determined, the first saturated evaporation temperature coupled with the first evaporation pressure can also be determined according to the coupling relationship between the two.

[0105] C: The difference between the first actual evaporation temperature and the first saturated evaporation temperature is determined as the first actual superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve 15. That is, in this embodiment, during the cooling process of the air conditioner 12, the high-pressure liquid refrigerant is throttled by the first expansion valve 15 and becomes a low-temperature, low-pressure gas-liquid mixture. The low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant enters the air conditioner evaporator 121 in a gas-liquid mixture state and absorbs heat from the air conditioner 12 according to the following two heat exchange processes: The first heat exchange process refers to the liquid refrigerant in the gas-liquid mixture state absorbing heat and becoming a gaseous refrigerant. At this time, since there is only a phase change, the first saturated evaporation temperature t1 of the refrigerant (according to the physical properties of the refrigerant, the first saturated evaporation temperature t1 is coupled with the first evaporation pressure p) remains unchanged. After all the liquid refrigerant is converted into a gaseous refrigerant, it enters the second heat exchange process, that is, the gaseous refrigerant absorbs heat by increasing its own temperature, and the refrigerant temperature becomes the first actual evaporation temperature t2. At this time, the first actual evaporation temperature t2 is greater than the first saturated evaporation temperature t1. The difference between the first actual evaporation temperature t2 and the first saturated evaporation temperature t1 is the actual superheat in this embodiment. In the two processes described above, since the first evaporation pressure p of the refrigerant remains constant, and because the first saturated evaporation temperature t1 is coupled with the first evaporation pressure p according to the physical properties of the refrigerant, the first saturated evaporation temperature t1 can be directly calculated from a table based on the measured first evaporation pressure p. Therefore, in this embodiment, a first pressure sensor and a first temperature sensor (or a first pressure-temperature sensor 19) are installed at the outlet of the air conditioner evaporator 121 to measure the first evaporation pressure p and the first actual evaporation temperature t2. Then, the first saturated evaporation temperature t1 can be directly calculated from a table based on the measured first evaporation pressure p. Furthermore, the difference between the first actual evaporation temperature t2 and the first saturated evaporation temperature t1 is the first actual superheat corresponding to the outlet of the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the first expansion valve 15.

[0106] S260, determine the first target superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve; in this embodiment, since only the air conditioning cooling demand needs to be met, only one first target superheat needs to be set for the first expansion valve 15. The value of the first target superheat can be set according to the requirements, for example, the first target superheat can be 3-8℃, specifically, the first target superheat can be 5℃. Thus, the first target superheat is relatively small, so that the opening of the first expansion valve 15 can be adjusted according to the first actual superheat and the first target superheat, thereby making the process of adjusting the refrigerant flow of the air conditioning evaporator 121 more sensitive.

[0107] S270, obtain the first superheat difference between the first actual superheat and the first target superheat; that is, the first superheat difference is the difference between the first actual superheat and the first target superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve 15.

[0108] S280, when the first superheat difference is greater than or equal to a preset superheat difference threshold, control the first expansion valve to perform an opening increase operation; wherein, the preset superheat difference threshold can be set according to requirements, for example, set to 0-2℃. For example, when the first target superheat of the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the air conditioner 12 is 5°C and the first actual superheat is 10°C, since the superheat difference between the first actual superheat and the second target superheat is 5°C, if the preset superheat difference threshold is set to 1°C, when the first superheat difference of 5°C is higher than the preset superheat difference threshold of 1°C, the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the first superheat difference is controlled to perform an opening increase operation, that is, the opening of the first expansion valve 15 is increased, increasing the refrigerant flow in the air conditioner branch through the air conditioner evaporator 121. The first actual superheat of the first expansion valve 15 will decrease rapidly due to the increase in refrigerant flow until the first actual superheat decreases to the first target superheat of 5°C, or the opening of the first expansion valve 15 has reached its maximum opening and cannot be increased further, the opening increase operation is confirmed to be completed, and the opening of the first expansion valve 15 is kept unchanged.

[0109] S290, when the first superheat difference is less than a preset superheat difference threshold, the first expansion valve is controlled to reduce its opening. That is, when the first superheat difference of the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the air conditioner 12 is less than the preset superheat difference threshold, the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the first superheat difference is controlled to reduce its opening. This means reducing the opening of the first expansion valve 15, decreasing the refrigerant flow through the air conditioner evaporator 121 in the air conditioning branch. The first actual superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve 15 will increase rapidly due to the reduced refrigerant flow. The reduction operation is completed when the first actual superheat increases to the first target superheat, or when the opening of the first expansion valve 15 is already at its minimum and cannot be further reduced. At this point, the opening of the first expansion valve 15 is kept unchanged.

[0110] In this embodiment, as described above regarding the heat exchange process, the superheat reflects whether the refrigerant flow rate meets the heat exchange requirements. When the actual superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve 15 is too high, it can be understood that the refrigerant flow rate available for heat exchange in the air conditioner evaporator 121 is too low. Increasing the refrigerant flow rate will allow more refrigerant to participate in the heat exchange, thus increasing the heat removed in the first heat exchange process, and reducing the need for the refrigerant to reach excessively high temperatures. Conversely, the same applies, which will not be elaborated further here. In this embodiment, a first target superheat can be set, and the opening of the first expansion valve can be adjusted based on the superheat difference between the first target superheat and the first actual superheat, thereby regulating the refrigerant flow rate and ultimately meeting the heat exchange requirements corresponding to a single air conditioner.

[0111] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0112] When the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, the second expansion valve 16 is opened and the first expansion valve 15 is closed; that is, as Figure 2 As shown, when only the refrigerator 13 has a cooling demand, it is only necessary to keep the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the refrigerator 13 open. This ensures that the refrigerant flow in the refrigerator evaporator 131 is maximized, and the refrigerant does not need to flow through the air conditioner evaporator 121.

[0113] Further, the air conditioning branch includes a first switch 22, and the refrigerator branch includes a second switch 23; wherein, the first switch 22 is connected in series with the air conditioning evaporator 121 in the air conditioning branch, and the first switch 22 can be a switch such as a solenoid valve integrated in the air conditioner, or a switch that is independently set separately from the air conditioner; the second switch 23 is connected in series with the refrigerator evaporator 131 in the refrigerator branch, and the second switch 23 can be a switch such as a solenoid valve integrated in the refrigerator, or a switch that is independently set separately from the refrigerator. The method further includes: when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, controlling the first switch 22 to open and the second switch 23 to close; at this time, the air conditioning branch is disconnected from the compressor branch due to the opening of the first switch 22, and the refrigerator branch is connected to the compressor branch due to the closing of the second switch 23, thereby ensuring that the refrigerant flow in the refrigerator evaporator 131 is maximized, and the refrigerant does not need to flow through the air conditioning evaporator 121.

[0114] In one embodiment, such as Figure 9 As shown, when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, controlling the second expansion valve to open includes the following steps S301-S305:

[0115] S301, when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, determine the second actual superheat of the second expansion valve; understandably, when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, it means that only the cooling demand of the refrigerator 13 needs to be met. At this time, only the second expansion valve 16 is opened, and the first expansion valve 15 remains closed. At this time, it is only necessary to adjust the opening degree of the second expansion valve according to the superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve 16. Therefore, the second actual superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve 16 must be obtained first.

[0116] Further, determining the second actual superheat of the second expansion valve includes the following step DF:

[0117] D. The second actual evaporation temperature of the refrigerant output from the refrigerator evaporator 131 is measured by the second pressure sensor, and the second evaporation pressure of the refrigerant output from the refrigerator evaporator 131 is measured by the second temperature sensor. Understandably, both the second pressure sensor and the second temperature sensor are installed on the refrigerator branch and located between the compressor 11 and the refrigerator evaporator 131. The second pressure sensor and the second temperature sensor can be installed separately or integrated into one unit. Figure 2 The second pressure and temperature sensor 20 shown in the figure; that is, the second actual evaporation temperature and the second evaporation pressure can both be monitored in real time by the second pressure sensor and the second temperature sensor (or the second pressure and temperature sensor 20) installed on the refrigerator branch.

[0118] E, obtain the second saturated evaporation temperature coupled with the second evaporation pressure; that is, since the evaporation pressure and saturated evaporation temperature of the refrigerant are coupled to each other, that is, they correspond one-to-one, in this embodiment, when the second evaporation pressure is determined, the second saturated evaporation temperature coupled with the second evaporation pressure can also be determined according to the coupling relationship between the two.

[0119] F, the difference between the second actual evaporation temperature and the second saturated evaporation temperature is determined as the actual superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve 16. That is, in this embodiment, during the refrigeration process of the refrigerator 13, the high-pressure liquid refrigerant is throttled by the second expansion valve 16 and becomes a low-temperature, low-pressure gas-liquid mixture. The low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant enters the refrigerator evaporator 131 in a gas-liquid mixture state and absorbs heat from the refrigerator 13 according to the following two heat exchange processes: The first heat exchange process refers to the liquid refrigerant in the gas-liquid mixture state absorbing heat and becoming a gaseous refrigerant. At this time, since there is only a phase change, the second saturated evaporation temperature t10 of the refrigerant (according to the physical properties of the refrigerant, the second saturated evaporation temperature t10 is coupled with the second evaporation pressure p0) remains unchanged. After all the liquid refrigerant is converted into a gaseous refrigerant, it enters the second heat exchange process, that is, the gaseous refrigerant absorbs heat by increasing its own temperature, and the refrigerant temperature becomes the second actual evaporation temperature t20. At this time, the second actual evaporation temperature t20 is greater than the second saturated evaporation temperature t10. The difference between the second actual evaporation temperature t20 and the second saturated evaporation temperature t10 is the actual superheat in this embodiment. In the two processes described above, since the second evaporation pressure p0 of the refrigerant remains constant, and given that the second saturated evaporation temperature t10 is coupled with the second evaporation pressure p0 according to the physical properties of the refrigerant, the second saturated evaporation temperature t10 can be directly calculated from a table based on the measured second evaporation pressure p0. Therefore, in this embodiment, a second pressure sensor and a second temperature sensor (or a second pressure-temperature sensor 20) are installed at the outlet of the refrigerator evaporator 131 to measure the second evaporation pressure p0 and the second actual evaporation temperature t20. The second saturated evaporation temperature t10 can then be directly calculated from a table based on the measured second evaporation pressure p0. The difference between the second actual evaporation temperature t20 and the second saturated evaporation temperature t10 is the actual superheat corresponding to the outlet of the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the second expansion valve 16.

[0120] S302, determine the second target superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve; in this embodiment, since only the refrigeration requirements of the refrigerator need to be met, only one second target superheat needs to be set for the second expansion valve 16. The second target superheat can be equal to or different from the first target superheat. For example, the second target superheat is 5°C. Thus, the second target superheat is relatively small, allowing the opening of the second expansion valve 16 to be adjusted according to the actual superheat and the second target superheat, thereby making the process of adjusting the refrigerant flow of the refrigerator evaporator 131 more sensitive.

[0121] S303, obtain the second superheat difference between the second actual superheat and the second target superheat; that is, the second superheat difference is the difference between the second actual superheat and the second target superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve 16.

[0122] S304, when the second superheat difference is greater than or equal to a preset superheat difference threshold, the second expansion valve is controlled to increase its opening. The preset superheat difference threshold can be set according to requirements, such as 0-2℃. For example, when the second target superheat of the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the refrigerator 13 is 5℃ and the actual superheat is 10℃, since the superheat difference between the second actual superheat and the second target superheat is 5℃, if the preset superheat difference threshold is set to 1℃, when the second superheat difference of 5℃ is higher than the preset superheat difference threshold of 1℃, the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the second superheat difference is controlled to increase its opening. That is, the opening of the second expansion valve 16 is increased, increasing the refrigerant flow rate in the refrigerator branch flowing through the refrigerator evaporator 131. The second actual superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve 16 will decrease rapidly due to the increase in refrigerant flow rate. Until the second actual superheat decreases to the second target superheat of 5°C, or the opening of the second expansion valve 16 is already at its maximum and cannot be increased further, confirm that the opening increase operation has been completed. At this point, the opening of the second expansion valve 16 can be kept unchanged.

[0123] S305, when the second superheat difference is less than a preset superheat difference threshold, the second expansion valve is controlled to reduce its opening. That is, when the second superheat difference of the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the refrigerator 13 is less than the preset superheat difference threshold, the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the second superheat difference is controlled to reduce its opening. This means reducing the opening of the second expansion valve 16, decreasing the refrigerant flow through the refrigerator evaporator 131 in the refrigerator branch, and causing the second actual superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve 16 to increase rapidly due to the reduced refrigerant flow. The reduction operation continues until the second actual superheat increases to the second target superheat, or the opening of the second expansion valve 16 is already at its minimum and cannot be further reduced. At this point, the opening of the second expansion valve 16 is kept unchanged.

[0124] In this embodiment, as described above regarding the heat exchange process, the superheat reflects whether the refrigerant flow rate meets the heat exchange requirements. When the actual superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve 16 is too high, it can be understood that the refrigerant flow rate available for heat exchange in the refrigerator evaporator 131 is too low. Increasing the refrigerant flow rate will allow more refrigerant to participate in the heat exchange, thus increasing the heat removed in the first heat exchange process, and reducing the need for the refrigerant to reach excessively high temperatures. Conversely, the same applies, which will not be elaborated further here. In this embodiment, a second target superheat can be set, and the opening of the second expansion valve can be adjusted based on the superheat difference between the second target superheat and the second actual superheat, thereby regulating the refrigerant flow rate and ultimately meeting the heat exchange requirements of the refrigerator.

[0125] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0126] When the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, both the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 are opened. That is, when the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are both in cooling mode and both have cooling demand, the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 open simultaneously. Then, the refrigerant will be throttled into the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131, respectively. At this time, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 share the compressor 11 and heat exchanger 14 in the thermal management system to improve cooling efficiency and heat dissipation.

[0127] In the above embodiments, the first expansion valve 15 and the second expansion valve 16 in the expansion valve group are opened or closed according to the specific cooling demand type, so as to adapt to the cooling demand corresponding to different cooling demand types. In this way, the distribution of cooling capacity can be better matched with the demand level, taking into account both efficiency and maximum cooling capacity.

[0128] Furthermore, the air conditioning branch includes a first switch 22, and the refrigerator branch includes a second switch 23. The first switch 22 is connected in series with the air conditioning evaporator 121 in the air conditioning branch. The first switch 22 can be a switch such as a solenoid valve integrated into the air conditioner, or it can be a switch independently set separately from the air conditioner. The second switch 23 is connected in series with the refrigerator evaporator 131 in the refrigerator branch. The second switch 23 can be a switch such as a solenoid valve integrated into the refrigerator, or it can be a switch independently set separately from the refrigerator. The method further includes: when the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, controlling the first switch 22 to close and the second switch 23 to close; at this time, the air conditioning branch is connected to the compressor branch due to the closure of the first switch 22, and the refrigerator branch is connected to the compressor branch due to the closure of the second switch 23, thereby ensuring that the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 share the compressor 11 and heat exchanger 14 in the thermal management system to improve cooling efficiency and heat dissipation effect.

[0129] In one embodiment, when the cooling demand type is a dual-opening demand, controlling both the first expansion valve and the second expansion valve to open includes:

[0130] When the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level is determined based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information. Specifically, when the cooling demand type is determined to be a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level can be determined based on the first actual temperature, the second actual temperature, the first target temperature, and the second target temperature, as described in the embodiments in steps S2011-S2013 above. Further details will not be elaborated here.

[0131] When the cooling demand level is set to "high air conditioning demand," the target superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve is determined as the third target superheat, and the target superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve is determined as the fourth target superheat. "High air conditioning demand" is defined as the difference between the first actual temperature of the air-conditioned environment and the first target temperature of the air conditioner being greater than or equal to the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator. The fourth target superheat is greater than the third target superheat.

[0132] That is, in this embodiment, the value of the fourth target superheat can be set according to requirements. For example, the fourth target superheat can be 10℃-20℃, specifically, the fourth target superheat is 15℃. The fourth target superheat is greater than the third target superheat. The third target superheat can be equal to or unequal to the first or second target superheat. For example, the third target superheat can be 5℃. That is, when the cooling demand level is high demand for air conditioning, and the cooling demand of air conditioner 12 needs to be prioritized, the target superheat (i.e., the fourth target superheat) corresponding to the refrigerator 13 side can be set larger than the third target superheat corresponding to the air conditioner 12 side. At this time, the difference between the second actual superheat (the second actual superheat is obtained according to the embodiment above, and will not be repeated here) and the fourth target superheat corresponding to the refrigerator 13 side is relatively small. At this time, the difference in the third superheat corresponding to the refrigerator 13 side will be more likely to be less than the preset value. The superheat difference threshold is set, and when the third superheat difference is less than the preset superheat difference threshold, the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the third superheat difference will be controlled to reduce its opening. In this way, after reducing the opening of the second expansion valve 16 corresponding to the refrigerator 13, the refrigerant flow on the refrigerator 13 side decreases, thereby increasing the refrigerant flow on the air conditioner 12 side. Thus, the allocation of cooling capacity in the thermal management system is more matched with the cooling demand level, which should prioritize meeting the cooling demand of the air conditioner 12, taking into account both efficiency and maximum cooling capacity.

[0133] When the cooling demand level is high for the refrigerator, the target superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve is determined as the fourth target superheat, and the target superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve is determined as the third target superheat. The high refrigerator demand is defined as the difference between the first actual temperature of the air-conditioned environment and the first target temperature of the air conditioner being less than the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator. That is, when the cooling demand level needs to prioritize meeting the cooling demand of the refrigerator 13, the fourth target superheat corresponding to the air conditioner 12 can be set larger than the third target superheat corresponding to the refrigerator 13. At this time, the first actual superheat corresponding to the air conditioner 12 (the first actual superheat is obtained according to the embodiment described above) is... (This will not be elaborated further) The difference between the fourth superheat value and the fourth target superheat value is relatively small. At this time, the fourth superheat value corresponding to the air conditioner 12 side will tend to be less than the preset superheat value difference threshold. When the fourth superheat value is less than the preset superheat value difference threshold, the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the fourth superheat value will be controlled to reduce its opening. In this way, after reducing the opening of the first expansion valve 15 corresponding to the air conditioner 12, the refrigerant flow on the air conditioner 12 side decreases, thereby increasing the refrigerant flow on the refrigerator 13 side. In this way, the allocation of cooling capacity in the thermal management system is more matched with the need to prioritize the cooling demand of the refrigerator 13 corresponding to the cooling demand level, taking into account both efficiency and maximum cooling capacity.

[0134] In this embodiment, by setting target superheat (i.e., the third target superheat and the fourth target superheat), and then adjusting the opening of the expansion valve assembly according to the superheat difference between the target superheat and the actual superheat (i.e., the first actual superheat and the second actual superheat) (i.e., the third superheat difference and the fourth superheat difference), the refrigerant flow rate is adjusted, thereby ultimately meeting the heat exchange requirements corresponding to different refrigeration demand levels.

[0135] In one embodiment, the air conditioning branch further includes a throttling valve 17, one end of which is connected to the air conditioning evaporator 121, and the other end is connected to the compressor and the refrigerator evaporator 131 respectively. Specifically, the throttling valve 17 is installed on the air conditioning branch and located between the compressor 11 and the air conditioning evaporator 121. Understandably, by setting the throttling valve 17, the cooling speed of the air conditioner 12 in the thermal management system can be satisfied while overcoming the problem of slow cooling speed of the refrigerator 13 when connected in parallel. In the above embodiment, when the throttling valve 17, which is located on the air conditioning branch and behind the air conditioning evaporator 121, is kept at its maximum opening, the throttling valve 17 does not have a throttling and pressure reduction function, but is only used as a flow path; while when the throttling valve 17 is closed to a certain opening, a local pressure difference is formed before and after the throttling valve 17, that is, the local pressure in the pipe section after the throttling valve 17 in the air conditioning branch is reduced. In this invention, referring to... Figure 2In the thermal management system, the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131 are connected in parallel. Thus, the outlets of the two evaporators (i.e., the outlets of the air conditioner branch and the refrigerator branch) merge and enter the common suction port of the compressor 11. Therefore, after the parallel pipelines of the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131 are connected, they both enter the compressor 11, resulting in equal evaporation pressures of the refrigerant in the air conditioner evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131. Therefore, when the throttle valve 17 is closed to a certain degree, the pressure after the throttle valve 17 decreases, which will simultaneously reduce the evaporation pressure in the corresponding refrigerator branch after the refrigerator evaporator 131. Since the evaporation temperature of the refrigerator evaporator 131 is coupled with the evaporation pressure, the evaporation temperature of the refrigerator evaporator 131 will also decrease as the evaporation pressure decreases. This will accelerate the cooling speed of the refrigerator 13, thereby meeting the rapid cooling requirements of the refrigerator 13. In one embodiment, the throttle valve 17 can refer to a large-diameter expansion valve with a diameter of 10 mm or more. In this embodiment, the throttle valve 17 can ensure minimal pressure loss when fully open, thereby reducing the reduction in cooling capacity and cooling efficiency caused by pressure loss and improving the efficiency of the thermal management system.

[0136] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0137] When the cooling demand type is no demand or only air conditioning demand, the throttle valve is controlled to maintain its maximum opening. That is, in this embodiment, when the cooling demand type is no demand, the throttle valve 17 is kept at its maximum opening to help the entire thermal management system reach a static pressure balance state. When the cooling demand type is only air conditioning demand, there is no need to accelerate the cooling speed of the refrigerator 13. The throttle valve 17 is kept at its maximum opening and is only used as a flow path. There is no need to establish a pressure difference between the air conditioning branch and the refrigerator branch to prioritize the flow and cooling requirements of the air conditioning 12 side and reduce the evaporation pressure of the air conditioning 12 side as soon as possible.

[0138] When the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, the throttle valve is controlled to close. That is, in this embodiment, since only the cooling demand of refrigerator 13 needs to be guaranteed when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, the throttle valve 17 is kept closed, the air conditioning branch is cut off, and only the cooling demand of refrigerator 13 needs to be guaranteed.

[0139] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0140] When the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level is determined. Specifically, when the cooling demand type is determined to be a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level can be determined based on the first actual temperature, the second actual temperature, the first target temperature, and the second target temperature, as described in the embodiments in steps S2011-S2013 above. Further details will not be elaborated here.

[0141] When the cooling demand level is high air conditioning demand, the throttle valve is controlled to maintain its maximum opening. High air conditioning demand is defined as the difference between the first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner and the first target temperature of the air conditioner being greater than or equal to the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator. That is, in this embodiment, since the cooling demand of air conditioner 12 needs to be prioritized when the cooling demand type is high air conditioning demand, there is no need to significantly increase the cooling speed of refrigerator 13. The throttle valve 17 is kept at its maximum opening, and the air conditioning branch is used only as a flow path. There is no need to establish a pressure difference between air conditioner 12 and refrigerator 13 to prioritize the flow rate and cooling requirements of air conditioner 12 and reduce the evaporation pressure of air conditioner 12 as quickly as possible.

[0142] When the cooling demand level is high demand for the refrigerator, the second evaporation pressure of the refrigerant output from the refrigerator evaporator is measured by the second pressure sensor, and the opening of the throttle valve is controlled according to the second evaporation pressure; wherein, the second pressure sensor is installed on the refrigerator branch and located between the compressor and the refrigerator evaporator; the high demand for the refrigerator is defined as the difference between the first actual temperature of the air-conditioned environment and the first target temperature of the air conditioner is less than the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator.

[0143] Specifically, in this step, when the cooling demand type is high demand for the refrigerator, it is understood that in this embodiment, since the second opening adjustment strategy needs to be specifically executed according to the second evaporation pressure corresponding to the refrigerant output by the refrigerator evaporator 131, the second evaporation pressure needs to be measured by the second pressure sensor first. The second pressure sensor is installed on the refrigerator branch and located between the compressor 11 and the refrigerator evaporator 131. The second pressure sensor can be integrated into the second pressure and temperature sensor 20 or set independently. That is, in this embodiment, when the cooling demand type is high demand for the refrigerator, the cooling demand of the refrigerator 13 needs to be met first. Therefore, the opening of the throttle valve needs to be controlled according to the second evaporation pressure, so that the throttle valve 17 is partially opened to establish a pressure difference between the air conditioning branch corresponding to the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator branch corresponding to the refrigerator 13. Then, after the evaporation pressure at the outlet of the air conditioning branch is slightly reduced relative to the basic evaporation pressure (the basic evaporation pressure is the evaporation pressure in the air conditioning branch when the throttle valve 17 is fully open), the second evaporation pressure in the refrigerator branch corresponding to the refrigerator 13 is reduced simultaneously. At this time, the evaporation pressures corresponding to the air conditioning evaporator 121 and the refrigerator evaporator 131 will not be the same.

[0144] In one embodiment, the thermal management requirement information includes a second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator; controlling the opening of the throttle valve according to the second evaporation pressure includes:

[0145] A second saturated evaporation pressure coupled to the second target temperature value is obtained. In this embodiment, the second saturated evaporation pressure coupled to the target temperature can be determined based on the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13 in the thermal management requirement information. This second saturated evaporation pressure is also the target pressure to which the second evaporation pressure needs to be adjusted. That is, according to the physical properties of the refrigerant, the saturated evaporation temperature and evaporation pressure are coupled, and the second saturated evaporation pressure coupled to it can be obtained by looking up a table based on the second target temperature value in the aforementioned thermal management requirement information.

[0146] When the second evaporation pressure is less than the second saturated evaporation pressure, the opening of the throttle valve 17 is increased. That is, when the second evaporation pressure is less than the second saturated evaporation pressure, hysteresis control is required based on the second evaporation pressure and the second saturated evaporation pressure. Specifically, the opening of the throttle valve 17 is increased within the preset opening range. That is, the opening of the throttle valve 17 is increased so that the evaporation pressure at the outlet of the air conditioning branch increases (but is still less than the basic evaporation pressure after the increase), and the second evaporation pressure in the refrigerator branch corresponding to the refrigerator 13 is increased simultaneously until the second evaporation pressure increases to the second saturated evaporation pressure, or the throttle valve 17 has increased to the maximum opening. Then the opening increase operation is stopped, and the throttle valve 17 is kept at the current opening.

[0147] When the second evaporation pressure is greater than the second saturated evaporation pressure, the opening of the throttle valve is controlled to decrease within the preset opening range. That is, when the second evaporation pressure is greater than the second saturated evaporation pressure, hysteresis control is required based on the second evaporation pressure and the second saturated evaporation pressure. Specifically, the opening of the throttle valve 17 is controlled to decrease within the preset opening range. That is, the opening of the throttle valve 17 is reduced so that the evaporation pressure at the outlet of the air conditioning branch decreases, and the second evaporation pressure in the refrigerator branch corresponding to the refrigerator 13 is reduced simultaneously until the second evaporation pressure decreases to the second saturated evaporation pressure, or the throttle valve 17 has reached its minimum opening. Then, the opening reduction operation is stopped, and the throttle valve 17 is kept at its current opening.

[0148] When the second evaporation pressure equals the second saturated evaporation pressure, the opening of the throttle valve remains unchanged. That is, when the second evaporation pressure is already equal to the second saturated evaporation pressure, there is no need to adjust the second evaporation pressure of the refrigerator 13; at this time, the throttle valve 17 can be kept at its current opening.

[0149] In some embodiments, the inner liner of the vehicle refrigerator 13 can be integrated with the refrigerator evaporator 131, that is, the inner liner of the vehicle refrigerator 13 and the refrigerator evaporator 131 are integrally formed. In this way, the integrally formed refrigerator inner liner 133 can be used as the refrigerator evaporator 131 through which the refrigerant flows, and can also be used as the inner liner structure of the refrigerator 13. This can further reduce the thickness of the overall insulation layer of the vehicle refrigerator 13, thereby increasing the effective volume of the vehicle refrigerator 13. At the same time, by integrating the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the refrigerator inner liner 133 into an integrally formed structure, the heat exchange area of ​​the refrigerator inner liner 133 can be increased, and the temperature difference between the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the refrigerator inner liner 133 can be minimized, thus achieving the best heat exchange effect.

[0150] In one embodiment, the thermal management system further includes an in-cabin fan 132 installed inside the refrigerator 13; that is, an in-cabin fan 132 can be installed in the cooling space of the refrigerator liner 133 to perform forced convection circulation. Compared with the solution of a vehicle refrigerator 13 with an independent compressor 11 that can only perform natural convection heat exchange, the refrigerator 13 in this embodiment can perform forced convection heat exchange. In this way, the in-cabin fan 132 is used to quickly enhance heat exchange to compensate for the lack of high evaporation temperature. This setting will allow the compressor 11 to achieve its maximum cooling capacity. The refrigerator evaporator 131 is attached to the perimeter of the refrigerator liner 133, and an insulation layer and an outer cover are arranged on the outer layer; in this way, the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the in-cabin fan 132 can achieve the function of reducing the load temperature inside the refrigerator. The airflow of the internally circulating fan 132 can further refine the temperature control inside the refrigerator 13. That is, when the temperature of the refrigerator evaporator 131 is affected by the air conditioner 12 and cannot be actively controlled, the internally circulating fan 132 can switch its duty cycle to achieve different airflow levels, such as rapid cooling and temperature maintenance.

[0151] Furthermore, in step S201, after determining the cooling demand type based on the real-time status information, the method further includes:

[0152] S80, the operating state of the in-fridge fan 132 is controlled according to the type of cooling demand. That is, in this embodiment, arranging the in-fridge fan 132 inside the refrigerator 13 enables forced convection heat exchange between the evaporator inside the refrigerator 13 and the items inside, increasing the heat transfer coefficient and improving the cooling speed even when the temperature difference between the evaporation temperature and the temperature inside the refrigerator is small. Thus, when the evaporation temperatures of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 are close at above 0°C (corresponding to an evaporation pressure of 300 kPa), the evaporation temperature of the refrigerator 13 does not need to be lowered to a very low temperature (e.g., below -10°C). It only needs to reach about -6°C to 0°C (corresponding to an evaporation pressure of 230 to 300 kPa) to meet the refrigeration function requirement of the vehicle refrigerator 13 at a temperature below 10°C. In other words, at this time, the forced convection heat exchange of the in-fridge fan 132 can ensure that the storage temperature and cooling speed of the refrigerator 13 meet the needs of passengers.

[0153] In one embodiment, controlling the operating state of the in-fridge fan 132 according to the cooling demand type includes: when the cooling demand type is no demand or only air conditioning demand, controlling the in-fridge fan 132 to remain in a closed state. Specifically, when the cooling demand type is no demand or only air conditioning demand, the refrigerator 13 has no cooling demand, so the speed of the in-fridge fan 132 of the refrigerator 13 can be set to zero, that is, the in-fridge fan 132 can remain in a closed state.

[0154] In one embodiment, the real-time status information includes a second actual temperature inside the refrigerator 13; the thermal management requirement information includes a second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator 13; further, controlling the operating status of the in-fridge fan 132 according to the cooling requirement type includes:

[0155] When the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand or a double-opening demand, the second temperature difference between the second actual temperature and the second target temperature is obtained; that is, when the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand or a double-opening demand (including cooling demand level of high air conditioning demand and high refrigerator demand), it is necessary to perform hysteresis control based on the second temperature difference between the second actual temperature of the items in the refrigerator 13 and the set second target temperature (e.g., 5°C) to obtain the hysteresis speed. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the second temperature difference first.

[0156] The hysteresis speed of the in-fridge fan 132 is determined based on the second temperature difference, and the in-fridge fan 132 is controlled to start rotating at the hysteresis speed. Specifically, a corresponding relationship between the second temperature difference and the hysteresis speed can be set. For example, a preset temperature difference threshold (e.g., 15℃) can be set. After the second temperature difference is greater than or equal to the preset temperature difference threshold, the hysteresis speed of the in-fridge fan 132 is set to the maximum speed. At this time, the in-fridge fan 132 rotates at the highest speed, which can increase the convective heat exchange rate between the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the items inside the refrigerator, thereby increasing the cooling capacity. Especially when the air conditioning demand is high, the in-fridge fan 132 of the refrigerator 13 can force the refrigerator evaporator 131 and the items inside the refrigerator to convect and exchange heat, increasing the heat exchange coefficient. It can also improve the cooling speed when the temperature difference between the evaporation temperature and the temperature inside the refrigerator is small. When the second temperature difference is less than the preset temperature difference threshold, several temperature difference ranges can be set (the maximum value of all temperature difference ranges is less than the preset temperature difference threshold). Each temperature difference range corresponds to a hysteresis speed less than the maximum speed. Then, when the second temperature difference falls into one of the temperature difference ranges, the hysteresis speed corresponding to that temperature difference range is directly obtained, and the fan can be rotated according to that hysteresis speed. At this time, the speed of the fan 132 inside the box is reduced from the maximum speed to the hysteresis speed corresponding to that temperature difference range, thus reducing energy consumption.

[0157] Understandably, in the above embodiments of the present invention, the compressor 11 is controlled to operate according to the type of cooling demand, the expansion valve is switched on and off and its opening degree is adjusted according to the type of cooling demand, the throttle valve 17 is adjusted according to the type of cooling demand, and the operating state of the fan 132 inside the box is controlled according to the type of cooling demand. The above-mentioned multiple control strategies for the thermal management system work together. Only one of them can be executed, or multiple can be used in combination, so that the above-mentioned thermal management system control method of the present invention can simultaneously and efficiently meet the cooling needs of the air conditioner 12 and the refrigerator 13.

[0158] It should be understood that the sequence number of each step in the above embodiments does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0159] In one embodiment, such as Figure 2 and Figure 10 As shown, a thermal management system control device is provided, which corresponds one-to-one with the thermal management system control method in the above embodiments. The thermal management system control device includes:

[0160] The acquisition module 100 is used to acquire thermal management demand information of refrigerators and air conditioners in the thermal management system, and to acquire real-time status information of the air conditioners and refrigerators.

[0161] The compressor control module 200 is used to control the operation of the compressor of the thermal management system according to the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information; wherein the refrigerator and the air conditioner share the compressor.

[0162] In the above embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator 13 and air conditioner 12 of the thermal management system share the compressor 11. For the vehicle, the refrigerator 13 is integrated into the vehicle thermal management system and shares the compressor 11 of the air conditioner 12. Thus, there is no need to set up a separate compressor 11 for the refrigerator 13, which increases the effective volume of the refrigerator 13, improves the cooling power of the refrigerator 13, and speeds up the cooling process, enabling the refrigerator 13 to cool down quickly. Furthermore, in the present invention, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can also share the heat exchanger 14 (such as the external condenser 141 and the electric fan 142, etc.) in the vehicle thermal management system for heat dissipation. In this way, the heat in the passenger compartment can be dissipated through the heat dissipation device (external condenser 141 and electric fan 142, etc.) in the front compartment of the car, and the waste heat generated by the refrigerator 13 can also be directly discharged to the outside of the vehicle without blowing onto the passengers and affecting the driving experience. Furthermore, in the thermal management system control method of the present invention, after obtaining the thermal management demand information and real-time status information of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 to determine the type of cooling demand, the compressor 11 shared by the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 in the thermal management system is controlled to run. In this way, different cooling demands of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can be achieved by controlling the speed of the compressor 11.

[0163] Specific limitations regarding the control device of the thermal management system can be found in the limitations of the control method of the thermal management system above, and will not be repeated here. Each module in the aforementioned thermal management system control device can be implemented entirely or partially through software, hardware, or a combination thereof. These modules can be embedded in or independent of the processor in a computer device in hardware form, or stored in the memory of a computer device in software form, so that the processor can call and execute the corresponding operations of each module.

[0164] In one embodiment, a controller is provided, which may be a server, and its internal structure diagram may be as follows: Figure 11 As shown, the controller includes a processor, memory, network interface, and database connected via a system bus. The processor provides computing and control capabilities. The memory includes a readable storage medium and internal memory. The readable storage medium stores an operating system, computer-readable instructions, and a database. The internal memory provides an environment for the operation of the operating system and computer-readable instructions in the readable storage medium. When the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, they implement a thermal management system control method. The readable storage medium provided in this embodiment includes both non-volatile and volatile readable storage media.

[0165] In one embodiment, a controller is provided, including a memory, a processor, and computer-readable instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor. When the processor executes the computer-readable instructions, it implements the steps of the aforementioned thermal management system control method. The controller can be a control module integrated into the thermal management system or a control module located outside the thermal management system and communicatively connected to each module of the thermal management system to control the thermal management system. The controller can be a computer device or an MCU (Microcontroller Unit), etc. For example, the controller can be a control module solely for controlling the thermal management system, or it can be a vehicle controller, etc.

[0166] Reference Figure 2 The present invention also provides a thermal management system, including a compressor branch, a refrigerator branch, an air conditioning branch, and the aforementioned controller. The air conditioning branch is connected to the compressor branch, the refrigerator branch is connected to the compressor branch, and the refrigerator branch and the air conditioning branch are connected in parallel. Specific limitations regarding the controller of the thermal management system can be found in the above-described limitations on the control method of the thermal management system, and will not be repeated here. Further, the thermal management system includes: a compressor branch, which includes a compressor 11 and a heat exchanger 14; an air conditioning branch, which is connected to the compressor branch and includes an air conditioning evaporator 121 and a first expansion valve 15; and a refrigerator branch, which is connected to the compressor branch and is connected in parallel with the air conditioning branch, and includes a refrigerator evaporator 131 and a second expansion valve 16. Further, when the thermal management system is a vehicle thermal management system, the heat exchanger 14 may include an external condenser 141 and an electric fan 142 installed in the front compartment of the vehicle. The end of the compressor 11 away from the refrigerator evaporator 131 is connected to the end of the heat exchanger 14 (e.g., the external condenser 141) away from the refrigerator evaporator 131.

[0167] In one embodiment, the air conditioning branch further includes a throttle valve 17, one end of which is connected to the air conditioning evaporator 121, and the other end is connected to the compressor and the refrigerator evaporator 131 respectively.

[0168] In some embodiments, the thermal management system further includes a first temperature sensor for detecting a first actual evaporation temperature of the refrigerant output from the air conditioner evaporator 121, and a first pressure sensor for detecting a first evaporation pressure of the refrigerant output from the air conditioner evaporator 121; the first temperature sensor and the second pressure sensor may be configured separately or integrated into one. Figure 2The first pressure and temperature sensor 19 is shown; the thermal management system further includes a second temperature sensor for detecting the second actual evaporation temperature of the refrigerant output from the refrigerator evaporator 131 and a second pressure sensor for detecting the second evaporation pressure of the refrigerant output from the refrigerator evaporator 131; the second temperature sensor and the second pressure sensor can be set separately or integrated into one. Figure 2 The second pressure and temperature sensor 20 is shown in the figure. The thermal management system may also include a gas-liquid separator 18 disposed at the input of the compressor 11 to recover liquid in the refrigerant before the refrigerant enters the compressor 11 to prevent liquid slugging in the compressor 11.

[0169] Furthermore, such as Figure 2 As shown, the air conditioner 12 of the thermal management system also includes an air conditioner fan 122 disposed opposite to the air conditioner evaporator 121, to blow cold air cooled by the air conditioner evaporator to the external environment, for example, when the thermal management system is a vehicle thermal management system, to blow cold air into the passenger compartment. Figure 2 As shown in the diagram. The thermal management system may also include a third pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the refrigerant output from the compressor, and a third temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant output from the compressor. The third temperature sensor and the third pressure sensor may be configured separately or integrated into a single unit. Figure 2 The third pressure and temperature sensor 21 shown is illustrated.

[0170] The thermal management system and its control method in this invention can be referred to in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0171] In the thermal management system of the above embodiments of the present invention, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 share the compressor 11. For the vehicle, the refrigerator 13 is integrated into the vehicle thermal management system and shares the compressor 11 of the air conditioner 12. Thus, there is no need to set up a separate compressor 11 for the refrigerator 13, which increases the effective volume of the refrigerator 13, improves the cooling power of the refrigerator 13, and speeds up the cooling process, enabling the refrigerator 13 to cool down quickly. Furthermore, in the present invention, the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can also share the heat exchanger 14 (such as the external condenser 141 and the electric fan 142, etc.) in the vehicle thermal management system for heat dissipation. In this way, the heat in the passenger compartment can be dissipated through the heat dissipation device (external condenser 141 and electric fan 142, etc.) in the front compartment of the car, and the waste heat generated by the refrigerator 13 can also be directly discharged to the outside of the vehicle without blowing onto the passengers and affecting the driving experience. Furthermore, in the thermal management system control method of the present invention, after obtaining the thermal management demand information and real-time status information of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 to determine the type of cooling demand, the compressor 11 shared by the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 in the thermal management system is controlled to run. In this way, different cooling demands of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can be achieved by controlling the speed of the compressor 11.

[0172] The present invention also provides a vehicle including the above-described thermal management system. Specific limitations regarding the vehicle thermal management system and its controller can be found in the embodiments described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0173] In the vehicle described above, the refrigerator 13 and air conditioner 12 in the thermal management system share a compressor 11. Since the refrigerator 13 is integrated into the vehicle's thermal management system and shares the compressor 11 of the air conditioner 12, there is no need for a separate compressor 11 for the refrigerator 13. This increases the effective volume of the refrigerator 13, improves its cooling power, and accelerates the cooling speed, enabling rapid cooling. Furthermore, in this invention, the refrigerator 13 and air conditioner 12 can share a heat exchanger 14 (such as an external condenser 141 and an electric fan 142) in the vehicle's thermal management system for heat dissipation. This allows heat in the passenger compartment to be dissipated through the vehicle's front compartment cooling system (external condenser 141 and electric fan 142, etc.), and the waste heat generated by the refrigerator 13 can be directly discharged outside the vehicle without blowing onto passengers and affecting their driving experience. Furthermore, in the thermal management system control method of the present invention, after obtaining the thermal management demand information and real-time status information of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 to determine the type of cooling demand, the compressor 11 shared by the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 in the thermal management system is controlled to run. In this way, different cooling demands of the refrigerator 13 and the air conditioner 12 can be achieved by controlling the speed of the compressor 11.

[0174] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores computer-readable instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the above-described thermal management system control method.

[0175] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the processes in the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by instructing related hardware with computer-readable instructions. These computer-readable instructions can be stored in a readable storage medium, including non-volatile readable storage media and volatile readable storage media. When executed, the computer-readable instructions can include the processes of the embodiments of the above methods. Any references to memory, storage, databases, or other media used in the embodiments provided by this invention can include non-volatile and / or volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in a variety of forms, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), dual data rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), direct memory bus RAM (RDRAM), direct memory bus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and memory bus dynamic RAM (RDRAM).

[0176] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the above-described division of functional units or modules is used as an example. In practical applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional units or modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional units or modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0177] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, and should all be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A control method for a thermal management system, characterized in that, The method includes: Obtain thermal management requirement information for refrigerators and air conditioners in the thermal management system, and obtain real-time status information for the air conditioners and refrigerators; The compressor of the thermal management system is controlled to operate according to the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information; wherein the refrigerator and the air conditioner share the compressor.

2. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The step of controlling the compressor operation of the thermal management system based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information includes: The type of cooling demand is determined based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information, and the operation of the compressor is controlled according to the type of cooling demand.

3. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The step of determining the cooling demand type based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information includes: When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that the air conditioner has a cooling demand and the refrigerator does not have a cooling demand, the cooling demand type is determined to be a single air conditioner demand. When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that the air conditioner has no cooling demand and the refrigerator has a cooling demand, the cooling demand type is determined to be a single refrigerator demand. When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that both the air conditioner and the refrigerator have cooling needs, the cooling demand type is determined to be a dual-operation demand. When the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information indicate that neither the air conditioner nor the refrigerator has a cooling demand, the cooling demand type is determined to be no demand.

4. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The real-time status information includes the first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner, and the thermal management requirement information includes the first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner. The step of controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: When the cooling demand type is single air conditioning demand, the operation of the compressor is controlled according to the first actual temperature and the first target temperature.

5. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The real-time status information includes the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator, and the thermal management requirement information includes the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator. The step of controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: When the cooling demand type is single refrigerator demand, the operation of the compressor is controlled according to the second actual temperature and the second target temperature.

6. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The real-time status information includes the first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner and the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator; the thermal management requirement information includes the first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner and the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator. The step of controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: When the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level is determined based on the first actual temperature, the second actual temperature, the first target temperature, and the second target temperature, and the compressor is controlled to operate according to the cooling demand level.

7. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 6, characterized in that, The step of determining the cooling demand level based on the first actual temperature, the second actual temperature, the first target temperature, and the second target temperature includes: Obtain the first temperature difference between the first actual temperature and the first target temperature; Obtain the second temperature difference between the second actual temperature and the second target temperature; The cooling demand level is determined based on the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference.

8. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, Determining the cooling demand level based on the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference includes: When both the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference are greater than 0, and the first temperature difference is greater than or equal to the second temperature difference, the cooling demand level is determined to be high demand for air conditioning. When both the first temperature difference and the second temperature difference are greater than 0, and the second temperature difference is greater than the first temperature difference, the cooling demand level is determined to be high demand for refrigerators.

9. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The real-time status information includes the first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner, and the thermal management requirement information includes the first target temperature corresponding to the air conditioner. The step of controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: When the cooling demand level is high air conditioning demand, the operation of the compressor is controlled according to the first actual temperature and the first target temperature.

10. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 4 or 9, characterized in that, The step of controlling the operation of the compressor based on the first actual temperature and the first target temperature includes: Obtain the target rotational speed, which is determined based on a first temperature difference between the first actual temperature and the first target temperature; The compressor is operated according to the target rotational speed.

11. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The real-time status information includes the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator, and the thermal management requirement information includes the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator. The step of controlling the compressor operation of the thermal management system based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information further includes: When the cooling demand level is high for refrigerators, the operation of the compressor is controlled according to the second actual temperature and the second target temperature.

12. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 5 or 11, characterized in that, The step of controlling the operation of the compressor based on the second actual temperature and the second target temperature includes: Obtain the target rotational speed; the target rotational speed is determined based on the second temperature difference between the second actual temperature and the second target temperature; The compressor is operated according to the target rotational speed.

13. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The step of controlling the compressor operation according to the cooling demand type includes: When the cooling demand type is no demand, the compressor is controlled to be in a stopped state.

14. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The thermal management system includes: A compressor branch, which includes a compressor and a heat exchanger; An air conditioning branch circuit, which is connected to the compressor branch circuit, includes an air conditioning evaporator and a first expansion valve; The refrigerator branch circuit is connected to the compressor branch circuit and is connected in parallel with the air conditioning branch circuit. The refrigerator branch circuit includes a refrigerator evaporator and a second expansion valve.

15. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the cooling demand type is no demand, both the first expansion valve and the second expansion valve are opened, and both are kept at their maximum opening degree; and / or When the cooling demand type is single air conditioning demand, control the first expansion valve to open and the second expansion valve to close; and / or When the cooling demand type is single refrigerator demand, the second expansion valve is opened and the first expansion valve is closed; and / or When the cooling demand type is a dual-opening demand, both the first expansion valve and the second expansion valve are controlled to open.

16. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, When the cooling demand type is single air conditioning demand, controlling the first expansion valve to open includes: When the cooling demand type is single air conditioning demand, determine the first actual superheat of the first expansion valve; Determine the first target superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve; Obtain the first superheat difference between the first actual superheat and the first target superheat; When the first superheat difference is greater than or equal to a preset superheat difference threshold, the first expansion valve is controlled to increase its opening. When the first superheat difference is less than the preset superheat difference threshold, the first expansion valve is controlled to reduce its opening.

17. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, When the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, controlling the second expansion valve to open includes: When the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, determine the second actual superheat of the second expansion valve; Determine the second target superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve; Obtain the second superheat difference between the second actual superheat and the second target superheat; When the second superheat difference is greater than or equal to the preset superheat difference threshold, the second expansion valve is controlled to increase its opening. When the second superheat difference is less than the preset superheat difference threshold, the second expansion valve is controlled to reduce its opening.

18. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, When the cooling demand type is a dual-opening demand, controlling both the first expansion valve and the second expansion valve to open includes: When the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level is determined based on the thermal management demand information and the real-time status information. When the cooling demand level is high demand for air conditioning, the target superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve is determined as the third target superheat, the target superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve is determined as the fourth target superheat, and the high demand for air conditioning is defined as the difference between the first actual temperature of the air conditioning environment and the first target temperature of the air conditioning being greater than or equal to the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator. When the cooling demand level is high demand for refrigerators, the target superheat corresponding to the first expansion valve is determined to be the fourth target superheat, the target superheat corresponding to the second expansion valve is determined to be the third target superheat, and the high demand for refrigerators is when the difference between the first actual temperature of the air-conditioned environment and the first target temperature of the air conditioner is less than the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator. The fourth target superheat is greater than the third target superheat.

19. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, The air conditioning branch circuit includes a first switch, and the refrigerator branch circuit includes a second switch; The method further includes: When the cooling demand type is single air conditioner demand, the first switch is closed and the second switch is opened. When the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand, the first switch is turned off and the second switch is turned on. When the cooling demand type is a dual-switch demand, the first switch is closed and the second switch is closed. When the cooling demand type is no demand, the first switch is closed and the second switch is closed.

20. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The air conditioning branch also includes a throttle valve, one end of which is connected to the air conditioning evaporator, and the other end is connected to the compressor and the refrigerator evaporator respectively.

21. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the cooling demand type is no demand or only air conditioning demand, the throttle valve is controlled to maintain its maximum opening. When the cooling demand type is single refrigerator demand, the throttling valve is controlled to close.

22. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the cooling demand type is a dual-operation demand, the cooling demand level is determined; When the cooling demand level is high air conditioning demand, the throttle valve is controlled to maintain its maximum opening, wherein high air conditioning demand is defined as the difference between the first actual temperature of the environment regulated by the air conditioner and the first target temperature of the air conditioner being greater than or equal to the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator; and / or, When the cooling demand level is high demand for the refrigerator, the second evaporation pressure of the refrigerant output from the refrigerator evaporator is measured by the second pressure sensor, and the opening of the throttle valve is controlled according to the second evaporation pressure; wherein, the second pressure sensor is installed on the refrigerator branch and located between the compressor and the refrigerator evaporator; the high demand for the refrigerator is defined as the difference between the first actual temperature of the air-conditioned environment and the first target temperature of the air conditioner is less than the difference between the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator and the second target temperature of the refrigerator.

23. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 22, characterized in that, The thermal management requirement information includes the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator; The step of controlling the opening degree of the throttle valve according to the second evaporation pressure includes: Obtain the second saturated evaporation pressure coupled to the second target temperature value; When the second evaporation pressure is less than the second saturated evaporation pressure, the opening of the throttle valve is controlled to increase. When the second evaporation pressure is greater than the second saturated evaporation pressure, the opening of the throttle valve is controlled to decrease within the preset opening range; When the second evaporation pressure equals the second saturated evaporation pressure, the opening of the throttle valve is kept constant.

24. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The thermal management system also includes an in-cabin fan installed inside the refrigerator; After determining the cooling demand type based on the real-time status information, the method further includes: The operating status of the fan inside the box is controlled according to the type of cooling demand.

25. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 24, characterized in that, The step of controlling the operating status of the in-box fan according to the cooling demand type includes: When the cooling demand type is no demand or only air conditioning demand, the fan inside the box is kept off.

26. The thermal management system control method as described in claim 24, characterized in that, The real-time status information includes the second actual temperature inside the refrigerator; the thermal management requirement information includes the second target temperature corresponding to the refrigerator. The step of controlling the operating status of the in-box fan according to the cooling demand type includes: When the cooling demand type is a single refrigerator demand or a double-door demand, the second temperature difference between the second actual temperature and the second target temperature is obtained; The hysteresis speed of the fan inside the box is determined based on the second temperature difference value, and the fan inside the box is controlled to start rotating at the hysteresis speed.

27. A controller, characterized in that, The system includes a memory, a processor, and computer-readable instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that the processor, when executing the computer-readable instructions, implements the thermal management system control method as described in any one of claims 1 to 26.

28. A thermal management system, characterized in that, It includes a compressor branch, a refrigerator branch, an air conditioning branch, and a controller as described in claim 27, wherein the air conditioning branch is connected to the compressor branch, the refrigerator branch is connected to the compressor branch, and the refrigerator branch and the air conditioning branch are connected in parallel.

29. A vehicle, characterized in that, Includes the thermal management system as described in claim 28.

30. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, characterized in that, When the computer-readable instructions are executed by a processor, they implement the thermal management system control method as described in any one of claims 1 to 25.

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