Methods for heating the interior of a vehicle

Abstract

A method for heating the interior (Vehicle) of a vehicle, in particular a hybrid or electric vehicle, wherein the vehicle has a central heating system (HHS) and several decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) designed as infrared radiators, and the vehicle interior (VHS) can be tempered by the central heating system (HHS) and / or the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) according to a heating requirement (Anf_H) of at least one vehicle occupant, wherein, for tempering the vehicle interior (VHS) according to the heating requirement (Anf_H) by means of the central heating system (HHS) and / or the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4), a power distribution between the central heating system (HHS) and the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) takes place depending on predetermined distribution requirements (R, 20, 30, 40), characterized in that the power distribution in Dependence on the sum of the expected power consumption (eL_IR,The power consumption (eL_red_konvH) of the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) to be controlled and of the conventional heating system (HKA) in the correspondingly reduced operation is influenced compared to the expected power consumption (eL_konvH) of the central heating system (HKA) when operating the conventional heating system (HKA) alone.

Description

The invention relates to a method for heating the interior of a vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1. Currently, most vehicles are heated and cooled according to the driver's needs using a conventional heating and cooling system. In addition to this conventional heating system, many vehicles are also equipped with seat heating, which can be activated by the driver or the person sitting in the seat. This seat heating only warms the seat according to the selected activation level and is controlled completely independently of the conventional heating and cooling system. In addition to conventional heating systems, electric heating systems for temperature control of vehicle interiors are known from the prior art. For example, DE 198 08 571 B4 discloses an auxiliary heating device for a conventional heating and air conditioning system, consisting of at least one infrared radiator installed in the vehicle interior as a decentralized heating system. The heat output of the infrared radiator can be regulated by a corresponding control device, which reduces the heat output of the IR radiator the more heat is emitted by the conventional heating system. Furthermore, DE 10 2011 077 993 A1 discloses a vehicle with a heating and cooling system, wherein at least part of the heating and cooling system is arranged decentrally near the individual seating areas of the vehicle. The decentralized heating and cooling system is controlled depending on the seat occupancy. For further information on the state of the art, please refer to US 2010 / 0 187 211 A1 and FR 2 976 855 A1. The object of the invention is now to provide an improved method for heating the interior of a vehicle using a central heating system and a decentralized heating system. This problem is solved by a method according to claim 1. Advantageous further developments are described in the dependent claims. The method according to the invention and its advantageous embodiments can be carried out by means of an implemented algorithm or a corresponding assembly arrangement in a control device provided for this purpose. The invention assumes that the vehicle in which the inventive method for heating the interior of a vehicle is to be used has, in addition to a conventional central heating system, several decentralized heating surfaces, wherein the decentralized heating surfaces are designed as infrared heating surfaces. The infrared heating surfaces can be constructed and designed such that the actual infrared emitter, which consists, for example, of a current-carrying film designed as a radiation generator, is bordered on an insulating layer on the back side facing away from the vehicle interior, and on a heat-permeable decorative surface on the front side facing the vehicle interior, thus protecting the occupant from direct contact with the infrared emitter. The heating surfaces can be located in various places in the vehicle interior, such as in the door trim, footwell trim, center console area, knee area, A-pillar area, sill, headliner, on the front of the seats, or even on the back of the seats, the center tunnel, or the sides of the armrests. Such IR heating surfaces allow for immediate warming of the occupants without air movement and without noise, through the direct energy transfer of infrared radiation. The basic idea of ​​the invention is to achieve optimal interior temperature control, tailored to the occupants' needs, by means of a suitable power distribution between the conventional central heating system and the decentralized heating surfaces. According to the invention, this can be achieved by distributing power between the central heating system and the decentralized heating surfaces according to predefined distribution requirements to regulate the temperature of the vehicle interior. The distribution requirement can be specified in various ways. According to one alternative, the power distribution can depend on a manually and / or automatically adjustable distribution requirement; that is, either the driver can manually set a specific distribution requirement, or an automatic distribution requirement can be set based on an evaluation of certain parameters. For manually adjusting the power distribution between the heating surfaces and the conventional heating system, a slider control can be provided, allowing the driver to specify a certain percentage of the heating power to be generated by the decentralized heating surfaces. In the extreme positions, the entire heating power can be generated either solely by the conventional central heating system or solely by the decentralized heating surfaces. In contrast to power distribution based on a manually adjustable distribution request, the distribution request can alternatively be made automatically based on predefined parameters and / or currently available requirements and parameters. In particular, the automatic distribution request, or power distribution, can be configured to ensure the vehicle interior is heated as efficiently as possible according to the heating requirements. For example, the vehicle interior can be heated as efficiently as possible with regard to energy consumption, comfort, or a combination of both. Since infrared heating panels allow for very rapid heating of the interior, especially warming of people near the heating elements, the system can be designed in such a way that, for comfort reasons, controlling the infrared heating panels is generally preferable. However, this can potentially lead to increased electrical energy consumption, which should be avoided for energy efficiency reasons. To enable the most efficient temperature control possible through appropriate power distribution between the conventional central heating system and the decentralized heating surfaces, the process can also include calculating the target heating output of the infrared heating surfaces according to the temperature control requirements. This target heating output of the decentralized heating surfaces can be determined based on the thermal state of the interior and / or a predefined target temperature or setpoint (customer setting) and / or possibly also based on the current outside temperature. The thermal state of the interior compared to the setpoint can be determined based on the following parameters: - current interior temperature of the vehicle and / or - desired heat output by the occupants, which in turn can be determined by a thermophysiologically / physically based calculation. A corresponding calculation method for determining the thermal state of the interior is disclosed, for example, in DE 10 2009 007 414 A1. The calculated target heat output can then be provided by optimally distributing it across the decentralized heating surfaces. Only the remaining heating requirement is supplied via the conventional heating system; that is, the output of the conventional heating system is reduced to the extent that the heating output can be provided by the operation of the heating surfaces. This achieves optimal comfort with minimal electrical energy consumption. Advantageously, the interior temperature and power distribution can also be influenced depending on the number of occupants in the vehicle, in particular by activating only the heating surfaces in the occupied seating area when occupied seats are detected. Heating surfaces located in unoccupied seating areas are not activated. Advantageously, the power distribution can also be influenced depending on the measured and / or expected power consumption of the central heating system and / or the decentralized heating surfaces, in particular depending on the measured and / or expected power consumption of the decentralized heating surfaces in relation to the possible power output of the vehicle electrical system that supplies the energy to control the decentralized heating surfaces. For example, if it is determined that the electrical power consumption (e.g., measured) or the expected electrical power consumption of the decentralized heating surfaces exceeds the maximum possible power output of the vehicle electrical system (e.g.,If the electrical power demand of the low-voltage network (12V or 48V) to which the heating surfaces are connected exceeds the required output, the power distribution must be adjusted to shift the heating output towards the conventional heating system, specifically by switching completely to conventional heating operation. The suspicion that the electrical power demand of the heating surfaces exceeds the maximum possible electrical output of the vehicle's electrical system can be easily confirmed, for example, by determining and evaluating the number of occupied seats in the vehicle. If it is determined that (almost) all seats are occupied, and consequently (almost) all decentralized heating surfaces would need to be activated (resulting in high electrical energy consumption), a switch to purely conventional heating operation via the central heating system can be initiated beforehand.Alternatively, the switchover can also occur when a smaller number of people is exceeded (e.g., 2 people in the vehicle). As an alternative to influencing the power distribution based on a comparison of the measured or assumed electrical power consumption of the heating surfaces to be controlled and the electrical power output of the relevant vehicle electrical system, the power distribution can also be influenced or specified based on the measured or expected electrical power consumption of the decentralized heating surfaces compared to the measured or expected electrical power consumption of the conventional central heating system. For example, if...The electrical power consumption of the infrared heating surfaces (with corresponding seating occupancy) or the sum of the electrical power consumption of the IR heating surfaces and the conventional heating system (in correspondingly reduced operation), the actual or expected power consumption of the conventional heating system when heating the interior conventionally (i.e. without controlling the heating surfaces), a switch towards conventional heating operation via the central heating system can also take place, i.e. the interior is heated more in the conventional way and less or not at all by means of the heating surfaces. Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the drawings. Fig. 1 shows the interior of a vehicle with a central heating system and decentralized heating surfaces, Fig. 2 shows a manual power distribution unit designed as a slider for manually adjusting the distribution requirement of the heating power, and Fig. 3 shows a highly simplified flowchart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention. Figure 1 shows a vehicle interior (FZG) with four seats (S1-S4) and a central control unit (SG) for temperature control of the vehicle interior (FZG) according to a heating request from a vehicle occupant. The vehicle is equipped with a conventional heating / air conditioning system (HKA) as the central heating system, which can be controlled by the control unit (SG) to regulate the climate control of the vehicle interior according to the heating requirements. In addition to the central heating system (HKA), four decentralized heating surfaces (IR1-IR4) are distributed throughout the vehicle. Each heating surface (IR1-IR4) is positioned to temperature control a specific part of the vehicle interior (FZG), in particular, an area occupied by a passenger. Each of these heating surfaces (IR1-IR4) can, in turn, consist of several heating surface components installed in the door trim or footwell of the corresponding area. These heating surfaces (IR1-IR4) are also known as...Infrared emitters are designed and consist of a radiation generator (e.g., a current-carrying foil) that generates heat from electrical energy and emits it in the form of infrared radiation. Figure 2 shows a manual power distribution unit (mLVE) for manually adjusting the distribution of heating power, which can be located, for example, in the vehicle interior described above. Specifically, the mLVE unit comprises a slider control (R) that can be positioned over a range from 100 / 0 to 0 / 100. When the control R is fully to the left, the entire heating demand is met solely by a conventional central heating system (HKA), meaning the central heating system contributes 100% of the heating power, and the decentralized heating surfaces contribute 0%. When the control R is fully to the right, the entire heating demand is met solely by controlling the decentralized heating surfaces (IR), meaning the central heating system contributes 0% of the heating power, and the decentralized heating surfaces contribute 100%.If the controller R is located in the area between the two end positions, both heating systems, i.e. the central heating system HKA and the decentralized heating surfaces IR, are controlled according to the distribution requirement (which results from the position of the controller R), so that the requested heating power is provided by a combination of the two systems HKA and IR. Such a slider can be integrated physically as a control element or displayed via a screen in the vehicle or via an app on a smartphone. Fig. 3 shows a simplified flowchart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, wherein in this example the power distribution is not carried out according to a manually specified distribution requirement, but rather based on an automatically determined distribution requirement, which is intended to enable the most efficient possible heating of the vehicle interior. The process starts in step 10 as soon as a request to heat the vehicle interior (Anf_H) is detected. If this is the case, the next step uses a seat occupancy detection unit to check how many people (PA) are in the vehicle. If it is detected that more than two people (PA) are in the vehicle, the process skips directly to step 60 without further checks, and the heating request (Anf_H) is implemented solely by activating a conventional central heating system; that is, the vehicle interior is heated conventionally (konvH) using the central heating system. However, if there are no more than two people (PA) in the vehicle, the process proceeds from step 20 to 30. There, based on the heating requirement and current parameters (e.g., current interior temperature, possibly exterior temperature), a thermophysical calculation is performed in a first step to determine the desired heat output for the (relevant) decentralized heating surfaces. Based on this calculated desired heat output, the required electrical power requirement of the infrared heating surfaces (eL_IR) is determined and compared with the maximum possible electrical power output (eL_BN) of the vehicle's electrical system used to control the heating surfaces. If the electrical power requirement (eL_IR) of the IR heating surfaces is already greater than the maximum available electrical power, the system then adjusts the heating accordingly.The power output eL_BN of the vehicle electrical system is also skipped directly to step 60 without further checks, and the heating request Anf_H is implemented by solely controlling the conventional central heating system, i.e., conventional heating konvH of the vehicle interior takes place with the central heating system. However, if the electrical power requirement eL_IR of the IR heating surfaces is not greater than the maximum available electrical power or power output eL_BN of the vehicle electrical system, the process proceeds to step 40. There, it is checked whether the sum of the electrical power required to heat the vehicle by controlling the heating surfaces and, if necessary, a correspondingly reduced control of the conventional heating system—i.e., the sum of the electrical power requirement of the heating surfaces eL_IR and the electrical power requirement of the conventional heating system in the correspondingly reduced operation eL_red_konvH—is greater than the electrical power required of the conventional heating system when operating alone eL_konvH (i.e., without controlling the heating surfaces). If this were the case, i.e., the electrical power required for combined operation would be greater than the electrical power required for operation of the central heating system alone, the system would jump to step 60 and implement the heating request Anf_H by controlling the conventional central heating system alone, i.e., conventional heating of the vehicle interior konvH would take place using the central heating system. If controlling both heating systems to heat the vehicle is more energy-efficient, i.e., the sum of the electrical power requirement of the heating surfaces eL_IR and the electrical power requirement of the conventional heating system in the correspondingly reduced operation eL_red_konvH is not greater than the electrical power required by the conventional heating system when operating alone eL_konvH, then the process skips from step 40 to step 50, and the heating requirement Anf_H is implemented by a combined control of the relevant IR heating surfaces IR and the conventional heating system in reduced operation red_konvH. One alternative approach involves a specific procedure for heating the heating surfaces or heating element in the HVAC system: During the heating phase, for example, up to 120 seconds after the heating starts and until a certain temperature limit is reached, the required heating output for the heating surfaces and / or the heating element in the HVAC system can be set independently of the energy assessment described above. Only then is the assessment carried out according to the procedure described above. Another option is to use a modified procedure after the query in step 30: If the electrical power requirement eL_IR of the IR heating surfaces is greater than the maximum available electrical power or power output eL_BN of the vehicle electrical system, the power eL_IR is limited to the power eL_BN, and the power requirement of the conventional heating system in the correspondingly reduced operation eL_red_konvH is also adjusted upwards accordingly. The inventive method described here, along with its advantageous embodiments, enables a simple and cost-effective way to achieve optimal thermal comfort, and, by means of the infrared heating surfaces, a significantly faster achievement of thermal comfort with low electrical energy consumption. Furthermore, heating the vehicle using the electric heating surfaces is less acoustically noticeable and does not cause drafts.

Claims

A method for heating the interior of a vehicle, in particular a hybrid or electric vehicle, wherein the vehicle has a central heating system and several decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) designed as infrared radiators, and the vehicle interior can be tempered by the central heating system and / or the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) according to a heating requirement (Anf_H) of at least one vehicle occupant, wherein, for tempering the vehicle interior according to the heating requirement (Anf_H) by means of the central heating system and / or the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4), a power distribution between the central heating system and the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) takes place depending on predetermined distribution requirements (R, 20, 30, 40), characterized in that the power distribution depending on the sum of the expected power consumption (eL_IR,The power consumption (eL_red_konvH) of the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) to be controlled and of the conventional heating system (HKA) in the correspondingly reduced operation is influenced compared to the expected power consumption (eL_konvH) of the central heating system (HKA) when operating the conventional heating system (HKA) alone. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the power distribution is carried out depending on a manually and / or automatically adjustable distribution requirement (R, 20, 30, 40). Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the power distribution is carried out automatically in such a way that the vehicle interior (VIN) can be heated as efficiently as possible according to the heating requirement. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the vehicle interior (FZG) is tempered as efficiently as possible with regard to energy consumption or with regard to comfort or with regard to a combination of energy consumption and comfort. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the power of the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) required to temper the vehicle interior (FZG) is determined as a function of the thermal state of the vehicle interior (FZG) and / or a predetermined target temperature and / or a current outside temperature, wherein the thermal state of the vehicle interior (FZG) is determined in particular as a function of the current interior temperature of the vehicle and / or a determined desired target heat output. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the power distribution is influenced depending on the number of occupants (PA) in the vehicle. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the power distribution is influenced depending on the measured and / or expected power consumption (eL_konvH, eL_red_konvH, eL_IR) of the central heating system (HKA) and / or the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4), in particular depending on the measured and / or expected power consumption (eL_IR) of the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4) in relation to the possible power output of the on-board network (eL_BN) which supplies the energy for controlling the decentralized heating surfaces (IR1, IR2, IR3, IR4).

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