Vehicle

Abstract

When leakage of combustible refrigerant is detected, this vehicle performs discharge promotion processing in which a damper capable of opening and closing an inflow section provided in a power chamber is opened, and / or a fan provided in the power chamber is driven, the processing thereby promoting discharge of the combustible refrigerant via an outflow section provided behind the inflow section in the power chamber.

Description

vehicle CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-055260, filed on March 29, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle including a passenger compartment provided with seats and a power compartment provided with a power source.

[0003] The following Patent Document 1 addresses the problem that when a flammable refrigerant is used in an air conditioning system installed in a railway vehicle, if a refrigerant leak occurs, the refrigerant may leak into the passenger compartment and create a flammable area inside the passenger compartment.To solve this problem, the following Patent Document 1 provides a configuration that prevents a flammable area from being created inside the passenger compartment.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-149317

[0005] In Patent Document 1, an inlet section is provided to allow the airflow to flow in and an outlet section is provided to allow the airflow to flow out, and the opening area of ​​the outlet section is made smaller than the opening area of ​​the inlet section to utilize the Venturi effect, so that even if flammable refrigerant leaks from the heat exchanger, it is discharged into the space outside the vehicle.

[0006] However, in vehicles traveling on roads, the opening provided in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel is closed by a damper depending on the driving conditions, so the invention described in Patent Document 1 cannot be applied.

[0007] The present disclosure aims to quickly discharge flammable refrigerant from the power compartment in the event of leakage in a vehicle in which an inlet provided in the power compartment can be closed by a damper.

[0008] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle comprising: a passenger compartment in which passengers reside; a power compartment located forward of the passenger compartment and in which a power source is provided; and a control device that, when a leak of flammable refrigerant is detected, executes a discharge promotion process to promote the discharge of flammable refrigerant from an outlet port located rearward of the inlet port in the power compartment by at least one of opening a damper that can open and close an inlet port located in the power compartment and driving a fan located in the power compartment.

[0009] According to the present disclosure, in a vehicle in which an inlet provided in a power compartment can be closed by a damper, if a flammable refrigerant leaks, it can be quickly discharged from the power compartment.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a vehicle in this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining a power compartment of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3(A) shows a schematic device layout as another example in a plan view of the power compartment 22, and Fig. 3(B) shows a schematic device layout as another example in a side view of the power compartment 22. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a control device in this embodiment. Fig. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control device shown in Fig. 4.

[0011] Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. To facilitate understanding of the description, the same components in the drawings will be denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

[0012] A vehicle 2 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 1. The vehicle 2 includes a passenger compartment 21 and a power compartment 22. The passenger compartment 21 is an area where seats are provided and where passengers sit to drive the vehicle 2. The passenger compartment 21 includes an area called a cabin and an area called a luggage room.

[0013] The power compartment 22 is disposed forward of the passenger compartment 21. In this embodiment, "forward" refers to the portion that is in front when the vehicle 2 moves forward. The power compartment 22 is provided with a power source such as a motor, which is not shown in FIG. 1 , and an air conditioning device 23.

[0014] In this embodiment, the air conditioning device 23 includes a refrigerant circuit that circulates, for example, a flammable refrigerant. The flammable refrigerant is, for example, a refrigerant that has a flammability level of at least a slightly flammable level (for example, 2 L or more according to the ASHRAE 34 classification). The refrigerant circuit is configured by connecting devices such as a compressor, a condenser, a gas-liquid separator, an expansion valve, and an evaporator with refrigerant pipes.

[0015] The vehicle 2 is equipped with a secondary drive battery 24 that supplies power to the power source. The secondary drive battery 24 is charged by connecting the vehicle 2 to an external charger 3. A charging cable 31 is connected to the external charger 3. A charging connector 312 is provided at the end of the charging cable 31. The secondary drive battery 24 can be charged by connecting the charging connector 312 to a charging inlet 211 provided on the vehicle 2.

[0016] Next, the power chamber 22 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2(A) shows a schematic arrangement of the components in the power chamber 22 in a plan view, and Fig. 2(B) shows a schematic arrangement of the components in the power chamber 22 in a side view.

[0017] The power chamber 22 is provided with an inlet section 221 and an outlet section 222. The inlet section 221 is provided in front of the power chamber 22 so as to receive wind when the vehicle 2 is traveling. The inlet section 221 is provided with a damper 231. The damper 231 is configured to be able to open and close the inlet section 221.

[0018] The outlet 222 is provided rearward and below the power chamber 22. Air that has passed through the power chamber 22 is discharged from the outlet 222 to the outside of the power chamber 22, as indicated by arrow A.

[0019] The power compartment 22 is provided with a fan 232, an air conditioning device 233, a gas sensor 234, and non-air conditioning devices 25. The fan 232 is driven to generate airflow in the power compartment 22, for example, when the vehicle is stopped and no wind is generated while traveling. The air conditioning device 233 is a component of the air conditioning system 23, and includes, for example, a compressor, a condenser, a gas-liquid separator, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. The gas sensor 234 is provided to be able to detect leakage of flammable refrigerant from the air conditioning device 233 or a refrigerant pipe connected to the air conditioning device 233.

[0020] Non-air-conditioning equipment 25 is, for example, equipment related to driving such as a motor or an inverter. In the arrangement example shown in Fig. 2, air-conditioning equipment 233 is arranged adjacent to non-air-conditioning equipment 25. Outlet portion 222 is provided so that, in the event that flammable refrigerant leaks from air-conditioning equipment 233 or a refrigerant pipe connected to air-conditioning equipment 233, the flammable refrigerant can be smoothly discharged in the direction indicated by arrow A.

[0021] Next, another example of the arrangement of the equipment in the power chamber 22 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3(A) shows a schematic arrangement of the equipment as another example in a plan view of the power chamber 22, and Fig. 3(B) shows a schematic arrangement of the equipment as another example in a side view of the power chamber 22.

[0022] In the example shown in Fig. 3, the air conditioning equipment 233 is disposed directly above the non-air conditioning equipment 25. The outflow portion 222 is provided rearward and above the power chamber 22 so that flammable refrigerant leaking from the air conditioning equipment 233 can be easily discharged. The outflow portion 222 may be provided rearward and below the power chamber 22 as described with reference to Fig. 2, or may be provided rearward and above the power chamber 22 as described with reference to Fig. 3. The outflow portion 222 may be provided at a position that is not limited to the exemplary positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3, as long as it is provided at a position that makes it easy to discharge flammable refrigerant leaking from the air conditioning equipment 233.

[0023] The gas sensor 234 may be disposed near the air conditioning equipment 233 as illustrated in FIG. 2, or may be disposed in a position downstream of the air conditioning equipment 233 and close to the outlet portion 222, on the air path of the air flowing near the air conditioning equipment 233, as illustrated in FIG.

[0024] The fan 232 may be disposed in front of the air conditioning equipment 233 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, but may also be disposed behind the air conditioning equipment 233.

[0025] The inlet section 221 and the damper 231 may be arranged in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel so as to face the direction of travel as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, but they may also be arranged above or below the vehicle.

[0026] Next, with reference to FIG. 4 , the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 26, which is a control device mounted on the vehicle 2, will be described. The ECU 26 has, as electrical functional blocks, a microcomputer, a data transfer circuit, a power supply circuit, and a power supply detection circuit. The microcomputer has a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a flash memory. The flash memory includes a secure area in which information cannot be read from outside the ECU. The microcomputer executes various control programs stored in a non-transient physical storage medium to perform various processes and control the operation of the ECU.

[0027] Gas detection information, refrigerant pressure information, refrigerant temperature information, driving state information, and charging state information are input to the ECU 26. The gas detection information is information related to a flammable refrigerant leak detected by the gas sensor 234, and is information based on a signal output by the gas sensor 234.

[0028] The refrigerant pressure information is information related to pressure fluctuations of the flammable refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit that circulates the flammable refrigerant, and is information based on a signal output by a pressure sensor (not shown). When the flammable refrigerant leaks, the pressure of the flammable refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit decreases, so the refrigerant pressure information can be used as information related to the flammable refrigerant leak.

[0029] The refrigerant temperature information is information relating to temperature fluctuations of the flammable refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit that circulates the flammable refrigerant, and is information based on a signal output by a temperature sensor (not shown). When the flammable refrigerant leaks, the temperature of the flammable refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit drops, and therefore the refrigerant temperature information can be used as information relating to the leakage of the flammable refrigerant.

[0030] The running state information indicates whether the vehicle 2 is running or not, and is information based on a signal output by a vehicle speed sensor (not shown). The charging state information indicates whether the vehicle 2 is being charged by the external charger 3 or not, and is output by, for example, a charging ECU (not shown) provided in the charging inlet 211.

[0031] The ECU 26 outputs an instruction signal to display information on the in-vehicle display 27. The ECU 26 outputs an instruction signal to stop charging to a charging ECU (not shown) provided in the charging inlet 211. The ECU 26 outputs a drive signal to open or close the damper 231. The ECU 26 outputs a drive signal to the fan 232 to rotate or stop the rotation.

[0032] Next, the control process of the ECU 26 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In step S01, the ECU 26 determines whether or not a flammable refrigerant leak has been detected. As explained above, a flammable refrigerant leak can be determined based on at least one of gas detection information, refrigerant pressure information, and refrigerant temperature information. If a flammable refrigerant leak is not detected (step S01: NO), the ECU 26 repeats the process of step S01. If a flammable refrigerant leak is detected (step S01: YES), the process proceeds to step S02.

[0033] In step S02, the ECU 26 displays abnormality notification information to notify the user of the abnormality on the in-vehicle display 27. The abnormality notification to the user is not limited to being displayed on the in-vehicle display 27, and may be notified by voice, for example.

[0034] In step S03 following step S02, the ECU 26 determines whether the vehicle 2 is moving. If the vehicle 2 is moving (step S03: YES), the process proceeds to step S04. If the vehicle 2 is not moving (step S03: NO), the process proceeds to step S08.

[0035] In step S04, the ECU 26 outputs a drive signal to the damper 231 to instruct it to open. In step S05 following step S04, the ECU 26 determines whether the vehicle speed is equal to or less than a threshold value. If the vehicle speed is equal to or less than the threshold value (step S05: YES), the process proceeds to step S06. If the vehicle speed is not equal to or less than the threshold value (step S05: NO), the process proceeds to step S07.

[0036] In step S06, ECU 26 outputs a drive signal to instruct fan 232 to rotate. Although a flammable refrigerant leak was detected in step S01 and damper 231 was opened in step S04, because the vehicle speed was determined to be equal to or lower than the threshold in step S05, simply opening damper 231 is not sufficient to promote the discharge of the flammable refrigerant. Therefore, fan 232 is rotated to generate a stronger airflow within power chamber 22 and promote the discharge of the flammable refrigerant.

[0037] In step S07 following step S06, the ECU 26 determines whether or not the vehicle 2 has finished traveling. If the vehicle 2 has finished traveling (step S07: YES), the process ends. If the vehicle 2 has not finished traveling (step S07: NO), the process returns to step S03.

[0038] In step S08, the ECU 26 determines whether the vehicle 2 is being charged. If the vehicle 2 is being charged (step S08: YES), the process proceeds to step S09. If the vehicle 2 is not being charged (step S08: NO), the process proceeds to step S10.

[0039] In step S09, the ECU 26 outputs a command signal to stop charging and shut off the external charger 3. Because a flammable refrigerant leak was detected in step S01, it is safer to stop charging, so charging is stopped and the external charger 3 is shut off.

[0040] In step S10 following step S09, ECU 26 outputs a drive signal to instruct damper 231 to open, and outputs a drive signal to instruct fan 232 to rotate. Since vehicle 2 is stopped, damper 231 is opened and fan 232 is rotated to promote the discharge of the leaked flammable refrigerant.

[0041] The present embodiment has been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Design modifications to these specific examples made by a person skilled in the art as appropriate are also included within the scope of the present disclosure as long as they comprise the features of the present disclosure. The elements of the above-described specific examples, as well as their arrangement, conditions, shape, etc., are not limited to those exemplified and can be modified as appropriate. The elements of the above-described specific examples can be combined in various ways as appropriate, as long as no technical contradictions arise.

[0042] [Notes] Notes 1 to 4 below can be combined in any way as long as there is no technical contradiction.

[0043] [Supplementary Note 1] A vehicle 2 includes a passenger compartment 21 where passengers are located; a power compartment 22 located forward of the passenger compartment 21 and provided with a power source; and an ECU 26 as a control device that, when a leak of a flammable refrigerant is detected, executes a discharge promotion process to promote the discharge of the flammable refrigerant from an outlet 222 located rearward of the inlet 221 in the power compartment 22 by at least one of opening a damper 231 that can open and close an inlet 221 located in the power compartment 22 and driving a fan 232 located in the power compartment 22.

[0044] In this embodiment, the gas sensor 234 is exemplified as the leak detection unit. As described above, the leak detection unit is not limited to the gas sensor 234, and a pressure sensor or a temperature sensor provided in the refrigerant circuit may also be used. If a pressure sensor or a temperature sensor is used as the leak detection unit, there is no need to provide a gas sensor, which reduces costs.

[0045] According to Supplementary Note 1, even if a flammable refrigerant leaks, the flammable refrigerant can be quickly discharged without remaining in the power chamber 22.

[0046] [Appendix 2] In the vehicle 2 described in Appendix 1, when a leak of flammable refrigerant is detected and the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the ECU 26 as a control device executes a discharge promotion process by controlling the operation of the fan 232 so that the drive speed of the fan 232 is slower than the drive speed of the fan 232 that was driven when the vehicle speed was equal to or greater than the predetermined value.

[0047] According to Supplementary Note 2, when a flammable refrigerant leak is detected and the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the drive of the fan 232 is controlled to be slower than the drive speed of the fan 232 that was driven when the vehicle speed was equal to or greater than the predetermined value, thereby generating an air flow for discharging the flammable refrigerant within the power chamber 22 and executing the discharge promotion process. The drive speed of the fan 232 in the discharge promotion process may be slower than the drive speed of the fan 232 that was driven when the vehicle speed was equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and the fan may be stopped.

[0048] In addition, when the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 is above a predetermined value, it is possible to simply open the damper 231, thereby generating an air flow for discharging the flammable refrigerant into the power chamber 22, and the discharge promotion process can be performed without driving the fan 232, for example.

[0049] [Appendix 3] The vehicle 2 described in Appendix 1 or 2, wherein the ECU 26 as a control unit executes a discharge promotion process by opening the damper 231 and driving the fan 232 when a leak of flammable refrigerant is detected and the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 is less than a predetermined value.

[0050] According to Appendix 3, when the vehicle speed of vehicle 2 is less than a predetermined value, simply opening damper 231 is not enough to generate a sufficient air flow to discharge the flammable refrigerant, so the discharge promotion process can be performed by also driving fan 232.

[0051] [Appendix 4] The vehicle described in Appendix 1, wherein the power source is driven by the drive secondary battery 24, and the ECU 26 as the control unit executes a discharge promotion process by opening the damper 231 and driving the fan 232 after charging of the drive secondary battery 24 is stopped.

[0052] According to Supplementary Note 4, the discharge promotion process can be executed more safely because the damper 231 is opened and the fan 232 is driven after charging of the drive secondary battery 24 is stopped. This process is particularly effective when the vehicle 2 is stopped and the drive secondary battery 24 is being charged.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising: a passenger compartment in which passengers reside; a power compartment located forward of the passenger compartment and equipped with a power source; and a control device that, when a leak of flammable refrigerant is detected, executes a discharge promotion process to promote the discharge of flammable refrigerant from an outlet located rearward of the inlet in the power compartment by at least one of opening a damper that can open and close an inlet located in the power compartment and driving a fan located in the power compartment.

2. The vehicle described in claim 1, wherein, when a leak of the flammable refrigerant is detected and the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the control device executes the discharge promotion process by controlling the operation of the fan so that the fan's drive speed is slower than the drive speed of the fan that was driven when the vehicle speed was equal to or greater than the predetermined value.

3. A vehicle as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit executes the discharge promotion process by opening the damper and driving the fan when a leak of the flammable refrigerant is detected and the vehicle speed is less than a predetermined value.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the power source is driven by a secondary battery for driving, and the control unit executes the discharge promotion process by opening the damper and driving the fan after charging of the secondary battery has stopped.

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