Vehicle and thermal management system thereof

Abstract

The utility model embodiment belongs to the thermal management technical field of vehicle, specifically provides a kind of vehicle and its thermal management system, the thermal management system includes: vehicle refrigerator, it includes at least one semiconductor refrigeration element;Refrigerant circuit, it includes compressor and vehicle refrigerator refrigerant branch;And vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit, vehicle refrigerator expansion valve and vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger are arranged on it;Wherein, the coolant passage of the vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger can be exchanged with the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element, the refrigerant passage of the vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger can constitute the vehicle refrigerator refrigerant branch and form the refrigerant circuit with the compressor.The refrigeration capacity of the vehicle refrigerator integrated into the thermal management system can be ensured by such composition.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of vehicle thermal management technology, specifically to a vehicle and its thermal management system. Background Technology

[0002] Heat pump systems mainly include direct heat pump systems, which exchange heat directly with the air, and indirect heat pump systems, which exchange heat indirectly with the air by introducing a coolant circulation loop. Currently, with the development of electric vehicles and other new energy vehicles, the control of vehicle thermal management is becoming increasingly complex. To meet the system's needs under different conditions (such as different driving conditions, cooling / heating requirements of the cabin space, and the state of the power battery under different environments), direct heat pump systems may require a large number of valves to meet mode switching requirements. While indirect heat pump systems have relatively fewer valves, the introduction of coolant as an intermediate heat exchange medium between the refrigerant and the air inevitably leads to a loss of heat exchange efficiency.

[0003] More and more car models are now equipped with in-car refrigerators; however, most of these refrigerators are currently independent electrical components. Current in-car refrigerators mainly come in two forms: those using semiconductors and those using compressors for cooling. Refrigerators using semiconductors are less expensive but have relatively weaker cooling capacity. Refrigerators using compressors offer better cooling performance, but require a compressor and an independent refrigeration system, which increases costs. Utility Model Content

[0004] The present invention aims to solve at least part of the above-mentioned technical problems and / or solve at least part of the above-mentioned technical problems. Specifically, while ensuring the cooling capacity of the vehicle refrigerator, it aims to save as much installation space and cost as possible related to the vehicle refrigerator.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a vehicle thermal management system, comprising: an on-board refrigerator including at least one semiconductor refrigeration element; a refrigerant circuit including a compressor and an on-board refrigerator refrigerant branch; and an on-board refrigerator coolant circuit having an on-board refrigerator expansion valve and an on-board refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger; wherein the coolant passage of the on-board refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger is capable of heat exchange with the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element, and the refrigerant passage of the on-board refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger is capable of forming the on-board refrigerator refrigerant branch and forming the refrigerant circuit with the compressor.

[0006] This configuration allows for the integration of the vehicle refrigerator into the vehicle's thermal management system, enabling the refrigerator to function as a refrigerator while sharing a compressor.

[0007] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, an evaporator is provided on the refrigerant circuit, the evaporator is equipped with an evaporator expansion valve, and the refrigerant passage of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator is equipped with a vehicle refrigerator expansion valve, wherein the diameter of the vehicle refrigerator expansion valve is larger than that of the evaporator expansion valve.

[0008] This configuration ensures that the corresponding piping remains open even when the expansion valve of the vehicle refrigerator is fully open, thereby guaranteeing the cooling and heating performance of the heat pump system.

[0009] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, an indoor condenser and an outdoor heat exchanger are provided on the refrigerant circuit, and the indoor condenser and / or the outdoor heat exchanger are equipped with a thermal management expansion valve, wherein the diameter of the thermal management expansion valve is larger than that of the evaporator expansion valve.

[0010] This configuration presents a possible form of refrigerant circuit in a thermal management system.

[0011] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in series in the refrigerant circuit, wherein the thermal management expansion valve is located between the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger.

[0012] This configuration presents another possible form of refrigerant circuit in a thermal management system.

[0013] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in parallel in the refrigerant circuit, wherein both the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger are equipped with the thermal management expansion valve.

[0014] It is understandable that the thermal management expansion valves corresponding to indoor condensers and outdoor heat exchangers have similar functions, but their specifications can be the same or different. Similarly, the thermal management expansion valve has similar functions to the expansion valve of a vehicle refrigerator, but its specifications can be the same or different.

[0015] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, a vehicle refrigerator water pump and / or a vehicle refrigerator expansion tank are provided on the vehicle refrigerator coolant pipeline.

[0016] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, a vehicle refrigerator water chamber is provided on the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit, and the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element can be at least partially immersed in the vehicle refrigerator water chamber; and / or the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element is provided on the coolant pipe of the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit in a wall-mounted manner.

[0017] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the vehicle refrigerator includes a housing with a storage space, and a cold end of the semiconductor refrigeration element is provided with a cold-conducting element, through which the cold energy of the cold end can be distributed to the storage space; and / or the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element is provided with a heat-conducting element, through which the heat of the hot end can be distributed to the coolant circuit of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0018] This configuration allows for better distribution of cold / heat energy from the cold / hot end to the storage space / vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit via cooling / heat-conducting elements.

[0019] In one possible implementation of the thermal management system for the aforementioned vehicle, the cooling element includes a plurality of cooling fins; and / or the heat-conducting element forms a coolant passage capable of constituting the coolant circuit of the vehicle refrigerator; and / or the cooling element is equipped with a cooling circulation fan.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the cooling element is attached to the cold end of the semiconductor cooling element in an adhesive manner; and / or the heat-conducting element is attached to the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element in an adhesive manner.

[0021] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a vehicle that includes the thermal management system of any of the preceding claims.

[0022] It is understandable that this vehicle possesses all the technical effects of the aforementioned vehicle's thermal management system, which will not be elaborated upon here. Attached Figure Description

[0023] The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and a specific refrigerant circuit. In the accompanying drawings:

[0024] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the principle of a conventional vehicle thermal management system (non-heat pump system, indirect heat pump system) is shown.

[0025] Figure 2 This diagram illustrates the principle of a vehicle thermal management system (heat pump system, direct heat pump system) according to an embodiment of the present invention without an integrated vehicle refrigerator.

[0026] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates the principle of a vehicle thermal management system integrated with an onboard refrigerator, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 4This invention illustrates the principle of an on-board refrigerator integrated into a vehicle's thermal management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 (Architecture);

[0028] Figure 5 This invention illustrates the principle of an on-board refrigerator integrated into a vehicle's thermal management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 (Connection method);

[0029] Figure 6 This invention illustrates the principle of an on-board refrigerator integrated into a vehicle's thermal management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 (Internal structure);

[0030] Figure 7 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of the principle of a vehicle thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the modes of cooling the cabin space and cooling the power battery.

[0031] Figure 8 This diagram illustrates the principle of a vehicle's thermal management system in dehumidification mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 9 This diagram illustrates the principle of a vehicle thermal management system in heating mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 10 This diagram illustrates the principle of a thermal management system based on an embodiment of the present invention when applied to a single front-wheel drive / single rear-wheel drive vehicle.

[0034] Figure 11 A schematic diagram illustrating the principle of a thermal management system according to an embodiment of the present invention when applied to a four-wheel drive vehicle (excluding / not integrating an onboard refrigerator);

[0035] Figure 12 A schematic diagram illustrating the principle of a thermal management system employing an embodiment of this invention when applied to a four-wheel drive vehicle (with / integrated vehicle refrigerator not omitted); and

[0036] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of the thermal management system using another embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0037] List of reference numerals in the attached diagram:

[0038] 100. Car refrigerator;

[0039] 11. Box body;

[0040] 12. Refrigeration module;

[0041] 121. Semiconductor refrigeration element; 122. Cold conduction element; 123. Heat conduction element; 124. Refrigeration circulating fan;

[0042] 200. Thermal Management System;

[0043] 21. Intermediate heat exchanger for vehicle refrigerator; 22. Water pump for vehicle refrigerator; 23. Expansion tank for vehicle refrigerator; 24. Expansion valve for vehicle refrigerator;

[0044] 300. Refrigerator control unit;

[0045] 31. Controller; 32. Internal temperature sensor; 33. Cold end (surface) temperature sensor; 34. Coolant temperature sensor. Detailed Implementation

[0046] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, the indoor condenser and outdoor heat exchanger are connected in series, the evaporator includes one unit, and the evaporator and the battery cooler (refrigerant channel) are connected in parallel. Alternatively, the indoor condenser and outdoor heat exchanger could be connected in parallel. Based on this structure, refer to... Figure 13 After the refrigerant exits the compressor, it can enter the indoor condenser or be proportionally distributed to the indoor condenser and outdoor heat exchanger via valve switching. In this case, both the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger are equipped with large-diameter expansion valves. The refrigerant circuit includes one or more evaporators connected in parallel. These evaporators can be air conditioning unit evaporators (similar to this embodiment) to meet the cooling needs of the cabin space, outdoor evaporators to cool the power battery, or direct-cooling evaporators integrated into the power battery. Furthermore, although this embodiment is described in conjunction with specific valves and their corresponding installation positions, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can adjust the type of valve and its specific installation position, such as replacing the five-way valve with a combination of two-way / three-way valves. In addition, the radial dimension of the large-diameter expansion valve in the 100% fully open state can be flexibly selected according to actual needs.

[0047] It should be noted that in the description of this utility model, terms such as "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," indicating directions or positional relationships, are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. These are merely for ease of description and do not indicate or imply that the device or element must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation; therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this utility model. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0048] Furthermore, it should be noted that, in the description of this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "setting," and "connection" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a direct connection, an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or a connection within two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model according to the specific circumstances.

[0049] Furthermore, to better illustrate this utility model, numerous specific details are provided in the following detailed embodiments. Those skilled in the art should understand that this utility model can still be implemented without certain specific details. In some examples, thermal management systems, specific control methods of temperature dampers, and the structure / principle of heat pump systems that are well-known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail, in order to highlight the main points of this utility model.

[0050] The following will refer to Figures 1 to 12 The present invention will be described by at least a portion thereof.

[0051] Main reference Figure 1 In one possible implementation, the thermal management system for a vehicle corresponding to an indirect heat pump system includes a compressor, condenser, evaporator, and battery cooler (such as a plate heat exchanger, with a coolant circuit) forming a refrigerant circuit. The evaporator is equipped with an evaporator expansion valve, and the battery cooler is equipped with a battery expansion valve. Thermal management of components such as the power battery can be achieved through heat exchange between the coolant in the refrigerant circuit and the coolant circuit within the plate heat exchanger.

[0052] Main reference Figure 2 In one possible implementation, the vehicle's thermal management system includes a compressor, an indoor condenser, an outdoor heat exchanger, an evaporator, an expansion valve assembly, and a battery cooler. The expansion valve assembly includes three expansion valves, such as first expansion valve, second expansion valve, and third expansion valve. The first expansion valve (thermal management expansion valve) is located between the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor condenser; the second expansion valve (vehicle refrigerator expansion valve) is located between the outdoor heat exchanger and the battery cooler (at the inlet side of the refrigerant passage); and the third expansion valve (evaporator expansion valve) is located between the outdoor heat exchanger and the evaporator. The second expansion valve (e.g., Electronic Expansion Valve, EXV) and... Figure 1Similar to the evaporator expansion valves shown, the first and third expansion valves function to reduce their diameter when throttling is required, while maintaining sufficient diameter when forming a passage. In this example, the first and third expansion valves can be referred to as the first large-diameter expansion valve and the second large-diameter expansion valve (e.g., Electronic Refrigerant Valve, ERV), respectively. An electronic expansion valve with only throttling function has a diameter of approximately 2.1 mm, while a large-diameter expansion valve capable of multiple functions such as shut-off, full-flow, and throttling can have a diameter of approximately 10 mm (e.g., greater than or equal to the pipe's inner diameter) in full-flow mode, ensuring no resistance to the pipe when achieving full-flow functionality. In other words, the large-diameter expansion valve reduces its diameter when acting as a throttling component, while maximizing its diameter when acting as a passage component. Therefore, the relationship between the expansion valves in the expansion valve assembly is as follows: the diameters of the first and third expansion valves are significantly larger than those of the second expansion valve. The diameters of the first and third expansion valves can be the same or different. Based on the above circuit, after the refrigerant exits the compressor, it flows sequentially through the indoor condenser, the first large-diameter expansion valve, and the outdoor heat exchanger (which can be referred to as a heat pump system-indoor condenser series circuit), and then selectively flows through the branch corresponding to the evaporator and / or the refrigerant passage corresponding to the battery cooler. Furthermore, the thermal management system also includes a gas-liquid separator, which is mainly used to store excess refrigerant in the system. If the system is in different modes, the refrigerant circulation demand varies, and therefore excess refrigerant may be generated during mode switching.

[0053] It should be noted that the battery cooler mentioned here should be understood as follows: the power battery, as a component with strict requirements for its operating temperature range, is a typical component that can participate in thermal management. However, in addition to thermal management for the power battery, the coolant circuit can also include any reasonable heat-generating / heat-requiring component with heat exchange needs / possibility, such as the electric drive. In other words, the battery cooler is a simple example of an intermediate heat exchanger for thermal management of heat-generating / heat-requiring components. For example, an intermediate heat exchanger (which can be called a thermal management intermediate heat exchanger) that allows the coolant circuit to exchange heat with heat-generating / heat-requiring components, including but not limited to the power battery and electric drive, includes heat exchange with heat-generating / heat-requiring components. The thermal management heat exchanger includes heat-exchangeable refrigerant channels and coolant channels. The refrigerant channels can form the refrigerant circuit in the thermal management system, and the coolant channels can form the thermal management coolant circuit for thermal management of the heat exchange components.

[0054] It can be seen that, with Figure 1In comparison, the thermal management system of this utility model only requires the addition of an indoor condenser and a large-diameter expansion valve, as well as changing the battery expansion valve on the inlet side of the battery cooler to a large-diameter expansion valve.

[0055] Main reference Figure 3 In one possible implementation, the thermal management system includes an on-board refrigerator, an on-board refrigerator coolant circuit, and an on-board refrigerator refrigerant branch, wherein the on-board refrigerator uses a semiconductor refrigerator. Exemplarily, the on-board refrigerator includes a freezer end corresponding to a freezing function and a refrigerator end corresponding to a refrigeration function. The freezer end and the refrigerator end are respectively equipped with a first semiconductor cooling element and a second semiconductor cooling element, such as a semiconductor cooling chip. The cold end of the first / second semiconductor cooling element can release cooling energy to the freezer end / refrigeration end, and the hot end of the first / second semiconductor cooling element can maintain the cooling level of the on-board refrigerator (absorbing cooling energy from the on-board refrigerator coolant circuit or releasing heat to the on-board refrigerator coolant circuit) through heat exchange with the on-board refrigerator coolant circuit.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the thermal management system includes an intermediate heat exchanger for the vehicle refrigerator, similar to the aforementioned battery cooler. The intermediate heat exchanger (its coolant passage) and the vehicle refrigerator water chamber are connected via piping to form a vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit for heat exchange with the hot end of the vehicle refrigerator. A vehicle refrigerator water pump (such as a miniature water pump) may also be installed on the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit. A refrigerant branch related to the vehicle refrigerator is located between the outlet side of the outdoor heat exchanger and the compressor return port. The intermediate heat exchanger (its refrigerant liquid passage) is located within the refrigerant piping. An expansion valve (including a fourth expansion valve) is installed on the refrigerant inlet side of the intermediate heat exchanger. The expansion valve primarily changes the flow area of ​​the refrigerant, thereby controlling its expansion. Based on this structure, through heat exchange between the refrigerant in the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator and the coolant flowing through the water chamber of the vehicle refrigerator, cooling capacity can be distributed to the freezer / refrigeration end of the refrigerator.

[0057] In this example, the hot end of the first semiconductor refrigeration element is immersed in the coolant in the water chamber of the vehicle refrigerator, and the hot end of the second semiconductor refrigeration element is mounted against the wall on the coolant pipe on the coolant outlet side of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator (near or just at the outlet side). Obviously, the heat exchange method between the hot ends of the first / second semiconductor refrigeration elements and the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit is only an exemplary description. Those skilled in the art can determine the specific method of heat exchange according to actual needs. For example, both the first and second semiconductor refrigeration elements can be immersed (e.g., fully or partially immersed) in the vehicle refrigerator water chamber, the vehicle refrigerator water chamber can contain two elements, or the hot end of the second semiconductor refrigeration element can be configured in the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit in other ways that enable heat conduction (e.g., by means of a heat transfer medium, or by circumferentially covering a local area of ​​the pipe). Furthermore, the vehicle refrigerator may only have freezing or refrigeration functions, or additional functions such as preservation / soft freezing / ice making can be added to these two functions. Correspondingly, the vehicle refrigerator includes at least one semiconductor refrigeration element. The cold end of the semiconductor refrigeration element can deliver cooling to the functional end of the vehicle refrigerator, and the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element can draw cooling from the vehicle refrigerator's coolant circuit or release heat to the vehicle refrigerator's coolant circuit.

[0058] As can be seen, in the preferred embodiment of this utility model, based on a refrigerator using semiconductors, by adding a small refrigerator coolant circulation loop and by adding a refrigeration branch between the outdoor heat exchanger and the compressor exhaust port (gas-liquid separator), the vehicle refrigerator and the thermal management system can be integrated. In this way, the cooling capacity of the vehicle refrigerator is guaranteed while sharing the compressor with the thermal management system.

[0059] Specifically, in traditional semiconductor-based vehicle refrigerators, the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element is directly exposed to the ambient air. When the vehicle refrigerator needs to cool down, the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element can only dissipate heat through heat exchange with the ambient air, thus achieving air cooling. In high ambient temperatures, the temperature of the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element limits the cooling capacity of the vehicle refrigerator, including its cooling speed and achievable cooling temperature. However, in the vehicle refrigerator integrated with the vehicle's thermal management system according to this embodiment, when the vehicle refrigerator needs to cool down quickly to meet freezing / refrigeration requirements, the thermal management system can cool the coolant in the vehicle refrigerator's water chamber through heat exchange between the heat transfer medium and the coolant. In this case, since the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element on the freezing side of the refrigerator is immersed in the water chamber, the hot end of the first semiconductor cooling element corresponding to the freezing side can be maintained at a low temperature level. This continuously provides cooling to the cold end of the first semiconductor cooling element, thereby ensuring the vehicle refrigerator's cooling capacity and cooling rate. Furthermore, by controlling the drive power of the first / second semiconductor refrigeration elements corresponding to the freezer end and the refrigerator end of the refrigerator respectively, a dual-temperature zone refrigeration function for the vehicle refrigerator can be achieved.

[0060] Main reference Figures 4 to 12 In one possible implementation, the thermal management system of a vehicle integrating a vehicle refrigerator mainly includes a vehicle refrigerator 100, a thermal management system 200, and a refrigerator control unit 300. In this example, any semiconductor refrigeration element of the vehicle refrigerator (such as one that corresponds to any of the aforementioned functions such as freezing, refrigeration, preservation, soft freezing, and ice making) is used as an example to illustrate the thermal management system of the present invention integrating a vehicle refrigerator.

[0061] Main reference Figures 4 to 6 In one possible implementation, the vehicle refrigerator 100 includes a housing 11 and a refrigeration module 12. The housing mainly comprises a shell, which forms a storage space capable of storing food at lower temperatures. The refrigeration module 12 is mainly used to supply cooling to the storage space to ensure that the storage space is at the lower temperature required for storing food.

[0062] For example, the enclosure 11 mainly includes an outer shell and an insulation layer disposed within the outer shell. The outer shell is provided with an openable door cover, such as a locking mechanism, so that the door cover can be kept in a closed state.

[0063] For example, the insulation layer is usually made of a material with low thermal conductivity to effectively reduce the conduction of cold air from inside the chamber to the outside through the chamber body. A sealing structure is installed at the joint between the door and the chamber body to prevent heat leakage from inside the chamber to the outside through the joint. The locking mechanism provides a certain locking force when the door is closed to prevent the door from being opened by slight vibrations or other external forces. The locking mechanism can adopt any reasonable principle and structural form, and is not limited here.

[0064] In one possible implementation, the cooling module 12 mainly includes a semiconductor cooling element 121, which has a cold end and a hot end, according to... Figure 4 In the orientation of the semiconductor cooling element 121, the left side is the cold end and the right side is the hot end. The hot end is mainly used to transfer heat from inside the cabinet to outside by exchanging heat with the thermal management system, while the cold end is mainly used to release cooling energy into the storage space, thereby realizing the cooling function of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0065] For example, the semiconductor refrigeration element (the core component of the refrigeration module) is a semiconductor refrigeration chip. By inputting a rated voltage to the semiconductor refrigeration chip, electrons flow from the P-type semiconductor to the N-type semiconductor, absorbing heat at the junction of the two semiconductor metals to form a cold end. Electrons flow from the N-type semiconductor to the P-type semiconductor, releasing heat at the junction of the two semiconductor metals to form a hot end. In this process, each time electrons pass through an NP module containing P-type semiconductors flowing to N-type semiconductors, heat is transferred from the cold end to the hot end, thus creating a temperature difference. By using a semiconductor array containing multiple NP modules, heat from a certain area of ​​the cold end can be transferred to the hot end, resulting in rapid cooling of the cold end and a continuous rise in the temperature of the hot end, thereby ensuring the cooling capacity of the vehicle refrigerator. Obviously, those skilled in the art can flexibly choose the structural form of the semiconductor refrigeration element according to actual needs.

[0066] In one possible implementation, the cold end of the semiconductor cooling element 121 is equipped with a cold-conducting element 122. The cold-conducting element 122 is mainly used to transfer the cold energy generated at the cold end of the semiconductor cooling element to the cold-conducting element, thereby distributing the cold energy to the storage space through the cold-conducting element. The hot end of the semiconductor cooling element 121 is equipped with a heat-conducting element 123. The heat-conducting element 123 is mainly used to transfer the heat generated at the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element to the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit. In this way, the heat generated at the hot end can be carried away by the vehicle refrigerator water pump.

[0067] For example, the cooling element 122 includes a plurality of cooling pads stacked at intervals to increase the cooling area of ​​the cooling element. The cooling pads are tightly bonded to the cold end of the semiconductor cooling element using thermally conductive adhesives such as thermally conductive grease, thermally conductive silicone pads, liquid metal thermally conductive agents, thermally conductive phase change materials, and thermally conductive adhesives. The cooling pads are generally of similar size (their projections in a plane parallel to the cooling pads approximately overlap). Obviously, those skilled in the art can flexibly choose the structural form of the cooling element, the manner / position of the cooling element at the cold end, and the number / material / arrangement / distribution density of the cooling pads according to actual needs. For example, different cooling pads can be the same or different, multiple cooling pads can be uniformly or non-uniformly distributed, and the cooling element can be a block structure or other arbitrary reasonable structural form. The adhesive bonding method is mainly to provide stable and uniform contact pressure while ensuring the best possible thermal conductivity between different materials. Provided that the corresponding requirements can be guaranteed, any feasible connection method, such as screw connection (which allows for sufficient compression while expelling air from the materials at the thermal interface between the two), can be used to achieve the fixed connection between the heat-conducting element and the semiconductor refrigeration element.

[0068] In one possible implementation, the heat-conducting element 123 includes a water-cooled plate. The water-cooled plate is tightly bonded to the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element using a thermally conductive adhesive medium such as thermally conductive grease. The water-cooled plate is made of a thermally conductive metal and has internally machined coolant channels, such as loop channels, that form the coolant circuit of the vehicle refrigerator. Low-temperature coolant flows into the water-cooled plate from its inlet and carries away the heat dissipated from the hot end as it flows through the loop channels. For conventional vehicle refrigerators using semiconductors, once the temperature of the hot end rises to a certain level, the temperature of the cold end cannot decrease further due to limitations in heat dissipation to the ambient space. To further reduce the temperature of the cold end, it is necessary to increase the heat dissipation capacity of the hot end. In this application, by employing a water-cooled plate coupled to the vehicle's thermal management system (including the heat pump system), the limitation of ambient temperature is eliminated, and heat dissipation can be further achieved for the hot end of the semiconductor cooling element. In this way, while the hot end can release more heat, it can also continuously absorb heat from the cold end, thus enabling the cold end to obtain a lower temperature, thereby improving the cooling level of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0069] It is understood that, similar to heat-conducting elements, those skilled in the art can flexibly select the structural form of the heat-conducting element, the manner / position of the heat-conducting element at the cold end, and the material of the water-cooling plate / the specific structural form of the coolant channel, etc., according to actual needs. For example, the water-cooling plate and the heat-conducting fins are generally perpendicular in their assembled state.

[0070] Obviously, the above-described method of dissipating cold / heat at the cold / hot end is only an exemplary description. For example, as mentioned above, at least a portion of the hot end can be immersed in the coolant in the water chamber of the vehicle refrigerator that constitutes the coolant circuit of the vehicle refrigerator.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the cooling element 122 is equipped with a cooling circulation fan 124. The rotation of the fan blades enhances air convection, thereby dispersing the cooling energy of the cooling element throughout the entire storage space as much as possible. The rotation range of the fan blades should ideally cover the cooling area of ​​the multiple cooling fins acting as the cooling element to better distribute the cooling energy throughout the entire storage space. It is understood that those skilled in the art can determine the structural form of the cooling circulation fan and its installation method on the vehicle refrigerator according to actual needs.

[0072] In one possible implementation, the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit in the thermal management system 200, in addition to the aforementioned vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger 21 and vehicle refrigerator water pump 22, also includes a vehicle refrigerator expansion tank 23. The vehicle refrigerator expansion tank is mainly used to buffer the volume expansion of the coolant caused by temperature increases and to replenish the coolant shortage in the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit caused by temperature decreases. The vehicle refrigerator refrigerant branch of the thermal management system 200 mainly includes the aforementioned vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger 21 and vehicle refrigerator expansion valve 24. For example, the vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger 21, shared by the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit and the vehicle refrigerator refrigerant branch, can be a plate heat exchanger containing mutually coupled coolant and refrigerant channels. The coolant and refrigerant exchange heat through the walls of the coolant and refrigerant channels, thereby carrying heat out of the vehicle refrigerator via the refrigerant.

[0073] In one possible implementation, the refrigerator control unit 300 includes a controller 31, such as a control box (including a circuit board), which controls the cooling level of the vehicle refrigerator by connecting to relevant temperature sensor signals. Exemplarily, the temperature sensors include three, specifically two air-side temperature sensors and one coolant temperature sensor. For example, the two air-side temperature sensors could be the refrigerator's interior temperature sensor 32 and the cold end (surface) temperature sensor 33 of the semiconductor cooling element, with the cold end surface temperature sensor located near the interior wall / cooling element. The interior temperature sensor 32 and the cold end temperature sensor 33 provide real-time feedback on the temperature at the center of the refrigerator and the surface of the cooling fins, respectively. The coolant temperature sensor 34 is located near the inlet of the coolant pipe on the vehicle refrigerator's cooling plate and primarily provides real-time feedback on the coolant temperature before entering the cooling plate. The control box outputs control signals to relevant components based on the temperature information detected by the aforementioned temperature sensors to ensure the cooling level of the integrated refrigerator. For example, the circuit board controls parameters such as the current of the semiconductor cooling element, the speed of the refrigerator's circulating fan, the speed of the vehicle refrigerator's water pump, and the on / off / flow area of ​​the vehicle refrigerator's expansion valve based on the detection results of the temperature sensor, in order to ensure the cooling level of the integrated refrigerator.

[0074] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 7 In one possible implementation, when cooling of the cabin space (and the power battery) is required, the temperature damper located in the air conditioning unit is closed to prevent the refrigerant from exchanging heat with the air in the cabin space as it flows through the indoor condenser. Simultaneously, the first large-diameter expansion valve on the outlet side of the indoor condenser is opened to its maximum. At this point, the portion of the pipeline corresponding to the indoor condenser and the first large-diameter expansion valve forms a refrigerant circulation loop. Based on this, the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor's exhaust port begins to condense after entering the outdoor heat exchanger (which acts as the condenser in the refrigerant circulation loop). Subsequently, after being throttled by the evaporator expansion valve and the second large-diameter expansion valve before the battery cooler (on the refrigerant inlet side), it enters the evaporator (which exchanges heat with the air in the cabin space to cool the cabin) and the battery cooler (which cools the power battery through heat exchange between the refrigerant and the coolant) for evaporation. This is expected to meet the cooling needs of both the cabin space and the power battery. For example, closing one of the evaporator expansion valves and the second large-diameter expansion valve can cool the cabin space or the power battery.

[0075] If the vehicle includes a controller (which can be a whole vehicle controller, or one or more controllers specifically configured for the thermal management of this utility model, etc., in any reasonable form, such as when the controller receives a corresponding cooling or heating request or needs to perform corresponding cooling or heating based on the detection results, it can achieve the corresponding thermal management by adjusting the expansion valve, temperature damper, pump / fan / operating parameters, etc.

[0076] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 8 In one possible implementation, when dehumidification of the cabin space is required, the temperature damper of the indoor condenser is opened (e.g., the temperature damper before the indoor condenser is opened) to allow the indoor condenser to exchange heat with the air in the cabin space. At this time, the condensing pressure of the indoor condenser and the temperature of the air supplied to the cabin space can be adjusted by regulating the opening degree of the first large-diameter expansion valve (as a throttling component). The refrigerant from the outlet of the first large-diameter expansion valve then undergoes secondary condensation through the outdoor heat exchanger. After flowing out of the outdoor heat exchanger, it passes through the evaporator expansion valve and enters the evaporator, where it exchanges heat with the high-humidity air in the cabin space to achieve cooling and dehumidification. Furthermore, by adjusting the opening and closing state, specific opening degree, and opening and closing method of the temperature damper before the indoor condenser, the air supply path is adjusted, thereby regulating the temperature of the cabin space.

[0077] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 9 In one possible implementation, when heating of the cabin space is required, the temperature damper located in the air conditioning unit is opened to allow the indoor condenser to exchange heat with the air in the cabin space. The refrigerant from the compressor outlet is condensed in the indoor condenser and then throttled through the first large-diameter expansion valve. The throttled refrigerant flows sequentially through the outdoor heat exchanger and the battery cooler. At this time, the second large-diameter expansion valve before the battery cooler is fully open (as a passage component). Therefore, the outdoor heat exchanger acts as an evaporator, while the passage before the battery cooler only serves as a passage in the refrigerant circulation loop. By adjusting the intake air volume of the ambient air exchanging heat with the outdoor heat exchanger (e.g., by adjusting the operating parameters of the fan configured in the outdoor heat exchanger) and the water flow rate in the coolant circulation loop of the battery cooler (e.g., by adjusting the operating parameters of the circulation pump configured in the battery coolant circulation loop), the thermal management system can recover waste heat from the power battery when operating in heating mode.

[0078] Main reference Figure 2 and Figure 10In one possible implementation, the thermal management coolant circuit including the battery cooler can not only regulate the temperature of the power battery (e.g., the power battery is equipped with a battery cold plate with channels, which transfers cold energy to the power battery as the coolant flows through the channels of the battery cold plate), but also recover waste heat from other heat-generating components such as the electric drive. In this example, the heat-generating components include the power battery and the electric drive, where the electric drive is either a single front-drive or a single rear-drive. To improve the heating effect in low-temperature environments (increasing the temperature of the power battery), a heating component (such as a water heater) can be added before the battery cooler (on the coolant inlet side) to increase the heat that the thermal management system can absorb in low-temperature environments, thereby improving the heating capacity of the thermal management system in low-temperature environments.

[0079] In this example, the valve assembly of the coolant circulation loop includes a five-way valve. The expansion tank of the first coolant loop in the coolant loop unit is located on the main pipe and thus can supply coolant to each branch. A circulating water pump is installed on each branch corresponding to each heat exchange component. The five connecting sides of the five-way valve can connect to the battery cooler, the electric power battery, the electric drive, the inlet side of the expansion tank, and the outlet side of the expansion tank, respectively. A low-temperature radiator is installed on the connecting pipe between the five-way valve and the inlet side of the expansion tank. In this example, the aforementioned water heater is configured on the connecting pipe between the five-way valve and the power battery.

[0080] Obviously, those skilled in the art can flexibly adjust the number / type / location of valves, the configuration of pipelines, and the specific form of coolant circuit units according to actual needs. For example, it may include, but is not limited to: setting the coolant circuit for electric drive and power battery as two parallel branches, and configuring an intermediate heat exchanger capable of exchanging heat with the refrigerant for each branch; the first coolant circuit and the second coolant circuit sharing an expansion tank.

[0081] In this example, the valve assembly of the coolant circulation loop includes a five-way valve. Clearly, those skilled in the art can flexibly adjust the number, type, and location of valves according to actual needs. For example, the coolant loops for the electric drive and the power battery can be configured as two parallel branches, and each branch can be equipped with an intermediate heat exchanger capable of exchanging heat with the refrigerant.

[0082] The central computing platform belongs to the centralized and integrated architecture of intelligent computing modules. Functions from different domains, such as intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving, can be centralized on the central computing platform to significantly reduce the number of controllers. In this example, the central computing platform is located on the coolant circuit corresponding to the electric drive. For instance, calculations show that the front drive currently requires a water flow rate of 10 L / min, while the central computing platform only requires 3 L / min. Therefore, the coolant flow rate between the central computing platform and the front drive can be adjusted by using a narrow-diameter pipe configured on the central computing platform. Specifically, when the coolant flows through the central computing platform, the narrow-diameter pipe increases the flow resistance, ensuring that of the 10 L / min flow rate, 3 L / min passes through the central computing platform, while the remaining 7 L / min passes through the narrow-diameter pipe.

[0083] Main reference Figure 11 In this example, the thermal management system and Figure 10 Similarly, however, in this example, the electric drive is four-wheel drive (including front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive), and the central computing platform is located on the coolant line corresponding to the front drive.

[0084] Main reference Figure 12 In this example, the thermal management system is... Figure 11 It integrates the aforementioned vehicle-mounted refrigerator. The thermal management system can be adjusted according to the cooling / heating needs of the cabin space, the cooling needs of the vehicle-mounted refrigerator, the cooling / heating needs of the power battery, and the cooling needs of the electric drive.

[0085] As can be seen, in the preferred embodiment of this utility model, by integrating the semiconductor-based vehicle refrigerator into the air-source heat pump system (including the refrigerant circulation loop) of the vehicle's thermal management system, the heat dissipation capacity of the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element is improved. Since the temperature of the coolant in the vehicle refrigerator's coolant circuit can typically reach below 5°C, the cold end of the semiconductor refrigeration element can release more cooling energy into the refrigerator. Furthermore, the heat carried by the hot end can be transferred to the refrigerant circulation loop located outside the cabin space, effectively moving heat from the interior of the vehicle refrigerator to the exterior of the vehicle. This improves the cooling efficiency of the vehicle refrigerator while preventing a decrease in cooling efficiency at the cold end when the cabin temperature is high. Specifically, by transferring the heat generated during the cooling process of the vehicle refrigerator to the exterior of the cabin space via the intermediate heat exchanger (heat exchange between the coolant and refrigerant channels) instead of releasing heat back into the cabin, the comfort of the cabin space is significantly improved, especially in cases where the cabin temperature is high.

[0086] Furthermore, compared to configuring a separate compressor (such as a small compressor) for the vehicle refrigerator, sharing the compressor with the vehicle's thermal management system saves costs and frees up corresponding layout space. For example, compared to a vehicle refrigerator with a separately configured compressor and related components, sharing components such as the compressor with the vehicle's thermal management system reduces the space occupied by the vehicle refrigerator. In other words, within the same installation space, the vehicle refrigerator can have a larger volume. As with the vehicle thermal management system of this invention, which integrates a vehicle refrigerator, all or part of the functions of a vehicle refrigerator with temperature regulation capabilities can be realized.

[0087] The technical solution of this utility model has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the protection scope of this utility model is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principle of this utility model, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after these changes or substitutions will all fall within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A thermal management system for a vehicle, characterized in that, The thermal management system includes: A vehicle-mounted refrigerator, comprising at least one semiconductor refrigeration element; The refrigerant circuit includes the compressor and the refrigerant branch of the vehicle refrigerator; and The vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit is equipped with a vehicle refrigerator expansion valve and a vehicle refrigerator intermediate heat exchanger. The coolant channel of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator can exchange heat with the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element, and the refrigerant channel of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle refrigerator can form the refrigerant branch of the vehicle refrigerator and form the refrigerant circuit with the compressor.

2. The thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, An evaporator is installed on the refrigerant circuit, and the evaporator is equipped with an evaporator expansion valve. The refrigerant passage of the intermediate heat exchanger of the vehicle-mounted refrigerator is equipped with a vehicle-mounted refrigerator expansion valve. The diameter of the expansion valve of the vehicle refrigerator is larger than that of the evaporator expansion valve.

3. The thermal management system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The refrigerant circuit is equipped with an indoor condenser and an outdoor heat exchanger, and the indoor condenser and / or the outdoor heat exchanger is equipped with a thermal management expansion valve. The diameter of the thermal management expansion valve is larger than that of the evaporator expansion valve.

4. The thermal management system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in series in the refrigerant circuit. The thermal management expansion valve is located between the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger.

5. The thermal management system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in parallel in the refrigerant circuit. Both the indoor condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger are equipped with the thermal management expansion valve.

6. The thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vehicle refrigerator coolant pipeline is equipped with a vehicle refrigerator water pump and / or a vehicle refrigerator expansion tank.

7. The thermal management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit is provided with a vehicle refrigerator water chamber, and the hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element can be at least partially immersed in the vehicle refrigerator water chamber; and / or The hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element is mounted on the coolant pipe of the vehicle refrigerator's coolant circuit in a wall-mounted manner.

8. The thermal management system according to claim 1 or 7, characterized in that, The vehicle refrigerator includes a cabinet, which forms a storage space. The cold end of the semiconductor refrigeration element is equipped with a cold-conducting element, and the cold energy of the cold end can be distributed to the storage space through the cold-conducting element. And / or The hot end of the semiconductor refrigeration element is equipped with a heat-conducting element, and the heat from the hot end can be dissipated to the vehicle refrigerator coolant circuit via the heat-conducting element.

9. The thermal management system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The cooling element includes multiple cooling plates; and / or The heat-conducting element forms a coolant channel that constitutes the coolant circuit of the vehicle refrigerator; and / or The cooling element is equipped with a cooling circulation fan.

10. A vehicle, characterized in that, The vehicle includes the thermal management system of any one of claims 1 to 9.

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