Vehicle AC Emergency Venting for Refrigerant Leak Discharge
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle air-conditioning apparatuses fail to rapidly discharge leaked refrigerant to the exterior, especially during low-speed vehicle operation or stopping, due to insufficient negative pressure formation.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle air-conditioning apparatus with an indoor unit chamber, emergency vents, and a control device that switches emergency dampers to an opening state to maintain higher air pressure in the supply air guiding sub-chambers, allowing rapid discharge of refrigerant through emergency vents to the exterior.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the apparatus relies on negative pressure generated by vehicle running to discharge refrigerant, then the structure remains simple, but the refrigerant discharge speed becomes insufficient during low-speed operation or stopping
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency damper is designed to dynamically switch between closing state during normal operation and opening state during refrigerant leakage emergencies. This dynamic control allows the system to maintain simplicity during normal operation while enabling rapid refrigerant discharge through the emergency vent when needed, resolving the contradiction between discharge speed and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the pressure parameter in the supply air guiding sub-chamber by switching the emergency damper state. During leakage, the damper opens to allow high-pressure air from the supply air guiding sub-chamber to rapidly push refrigerant out through the emergency vent, dramatically increasing discharge speed without adding complex mechanical discharge mechanisms.
2Reliability
If the emergency damper is opened to discharge refrigerant, then refrigerant can be rapidly removed, but the risk of foreign objects entering the indoor unit chamber increases
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency vent serves as an intermediary discharge path that redirects refrigerant away from the interior compartment. By providing this dedicated emergency discharge route, the system can safely open the emergency damper to rapidly remove refrigerant while the emergency vent's positioning and structure minimize the risk of foreign objects entering the indoor unit chamber during the discharge process.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device detects refrigerant leakage beforehand and proactively opens the emergency damper to prevent refrigerant accumulation. This preliminary action allows the system to address the leakage issue before foreign objects could potentially enter, maintaining reliability while managing the timing of damper operation to minimize intrusion risk.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus effectively and rapidly discharges leaked refrigerant to the exterior, preventing its entry into the vehicle compartment and maintaining compartment comfort by using a simpler structure that integrates refrigerant discharge with air conditioning functions.
Implementation Method 1
an indoor fan disposed in the indoor unit chamber and configured to draw internal air, which is air in the interior compartment, through the return opening, and deliver the drawn internal air toward the supply opening, and thus form a flow of the internal air from the return opening toward the supply opening in the indoor unit chamber
Implementation Method 2
an indoor heat exchanger to perform heat exchange between refrigerant and the internal air
Implementation Method 3
The indoor fan forms the flow of the internal air with an air pressure in the supply air guiding sub-chamber being higher than an atmospheric pressure that is an air pressure in the exterior of the vehicle
Implementation Method 4
This emergency damper switched in the opening state can achieve rapid discharge of the leaked refrigerant in the supply air guiding sub-chamber to the exterior of the vehicle through the emergency vent
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle air-conditioning apparatus includes emergency dampers switchable between opening states for opening emergency vents and closing states for closing emergency vents. A control device switches the emergency dampers from the closing states to the opening states while keeping an indoor fan operating, when determining that refrigerant is leaked from a refrigerant circuit on the basis of results of detection by refrigerant leakage detectors. An indoor unit chamber includes supply air guiding sub-chambers for guiding the internal air delivered by the indoor fan to supply openings. The emergency vents are included in the supply air guiding sub-chambers. The indoor fan forms flows of the internal air with the air pressures in the supply air guiding sub-chambers being higher than the atmospheric pressure.