VEHICLE ELECTRIC COOLING-HEATING AIR CONDITIONER

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to an air conditioner system and, more specifically, a vehicle electric cooling-heating air conditioner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Air conditioner is a necessity for modern vehicles, which creates a comfortable environment with suitable temperature, humidity and fresh air for passengers. A vehicle air conditioner system typically comprises a compressor, a condenser and a vaporizer, etc. The principle for cooling is that a large amount of heat energy will be absorbed due to the abrupt expansion of volume once the coolant is released. Although such vehicle air conditioner system has the advantages of good cooling effect and rapid cooling speed, its operating condition is much worse than that of a stationary air condition system since it is fitted on moving vehicles, and with the oscillation during the traveling of a vehicle, the coolant in such an air conditioner system is much easier to leak than that in the stationary air condition system, and the maintenance also has to be made more frequently. Moreover, when the fresh air is taken into the wind path system in the air conditioner system, the dust in the air will also be taken into the wind path and block the screen and the vaporizer, and the coolant will often be released to the air during the cleaning process, causing the ozone layer to be consumed and resulting in environmental destruction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle electric cooling-heating air conditioner system that is environmentally friendly and energy efficient to overcome the drawbacks of the prior air conditioner system.

There is provided a vehicle electric cooling-heating air conditioner system comprising a generator, an automobile engine, an air inlet, an air outlet and an electric i

cooling-heating device positioned between the air inlet and the air outlet, wherein the automobile engine operably drives the generator to supply electric power to the air conditioner system, and the electric cooling-heating device comprises a semiconductor cooling piece, a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger, and the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger are connected with the cold-side and the hot-side of the semiconductor cooling piece, respectively.

Preferably, the first heat exchanger is a U-shape radiator. More preferably, a partition board is provided in the gap between the two adjacent parallel surfaces of the U-shape radiator.

Alternatively, the first heat exchanger is a radiator in the shape of parallel partition boards.

Preferably, the first heat exchanger is a heat pipe. More preferably, the heat pipe is provided with fins.

Preferably, the second heat exchanger is provided with a thin aluminum ribbon therein.

Preferably, the vehicle electric cooling-heating air conditioner system further comprises a heat conducting pipe, a pump and a heat sink, and the heat conducting pipe fluidly connects the second heat exchanger with the pump and the heat sink.

More preferably, the vehicle electric cooling-heating air conditioner system further comprises a current inverter, and the current inverter can operably change the direction of the current in the semiconductor cooling piece to control the switch between cooling operation and heating operation of the semiconductor cooling piece.

Preferably, the generator may be a vehicle high efficiency rare-earth

permanent-magnet generator.

The present invention has the following advantages.

It is environmentally friendly. The present invention employs the semiconductor cooling piece, the heat pipe and the radiator and the heat is dissipated through circulation of water or anti-freeze fluid. The technical solution conforms to the policy of environmental protection. It is energy efficient. The compressor air conditioner constitutes a heavy load and degrades the transmission of motion of the engine causing the oil consumption to increase. In the present invention, the energy of the automobile engine is conveyed to the generator through a drive belt and converted to DC to supply to the air conditioner. Hence, power transmission of the engine is not affected and the oil consumption per kilometer is reduced and the power performance during use of the air conditioner is also improved. Furthermore, the present air conditioner system has long operating life. Since the cooling component of the present invention is a semiconductor device without moving part, the failure rate is low. The present air conditioner system has no noise. Since there is no moving parts in the present invention as opposed to the mechanical compressor cooling system, there is no vibration and noise. The present air conditioner system can be used for both cooling and heating. Since the DC power is supplied to the present air conditioner system, the cooling-heating switch can be achieved by simply switching the polarity of the power supply. In addition, the present air conditioner system is convenient to adjust and control. The compressor air conditioner system has to work between intervals in case of overload, whereas the present invention can control the current and achieve liner adjustment of the cooling output.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described in more detail in virtue of the preferable embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic structure view of a vehicle electric air conditioner system according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic structure view of an electric cooling-heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the operating principle of a semiconductor cooling piece according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic structure view of a first heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a schematic structure view of another first heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a schematic structure view of further first heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a schematic structure view of a second heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a schematic structure view of another second heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The air conditioner system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference being made to the principle illustration and/or the figures of the embodiments of the present invention.

Fig.l is the schematic structure view of the vehicle electric air conditioner system 100 of the present invention, which includes: an electric cooling-heating device 11, an air inlet 12, an air outlet 13, an heat conducting pipe 14, a pump 15, a vehicle heat sinlc 16, a power supply wire 17, a generator 18, a belt 19, an automobile engine 110 and a current inverter 111. As shown in Fig.l, the vehicle electric air conditioner system 100 of the present invention makes full use of the inherent structure of the vehicle itself, adjusting the system to on-board conditions, and is placed in the position where the vehicle vapor box locates. The air inlet 12 of this air condition system 100 is connected with the vehicle blower, and the air outlet 13 of this air condition system is connected with the wind path of the vehicle. The pump 15 is connected with the

vehicle heat sink 16 via the heat conducting pipe 14, and the vehicle compressor is replaced by the generator 18 which is connected to the automobile engine 110 via the belt 19.

As shown in Fig.l, the operating principle of the vehicle electric air conditioner system 100 is as follows: the generator 18 is driven by the automobile engine 110 to supply power to the air conditioner system 100; the vehicle blower blows the hot/cool air into the electric cooling-heating device 11 through the air outlet 12, and the air is then cooled/heated to be cool/hot air after exchanging heat therein, and the cool/hot air is blown into the vehicle through the air outlet 13. Hence cooling/heating is achieved in this way.

Fig.2 is the schematic structure view of the electric cooling-heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the electric cooling-heating device 11 comprises a semiconductor cooling piece 21, a first heat exchanger 22 and a second heat exchanger 23.

In particular, the primary operating principle of the semiconductor cooling piece 21 is based on Peltier physical effect. As can be seen from Figure 3, N-P type semiconductor is linked through a metal conductive sheet, and when the current is flowing from N to P, the electric field makes the electrons in N and the cavity in P to flow reversely, and the energy is generated from the heat energy of the crystal lattice. The heat on the cold-side C is absorbed and the heat on the hot-side H is released, causing a temperature difference. During the operation of the cooling piece, the heat is continuously delivered to the hot-side H through the delivery of crystal lattice energy and is released eventually by the radiator as long as there is a temperature difference between the cold-side C and the hot-side H. Therefore, actively cooling the hot-side of the semiconductor cooling piece, e.g. by way of radiation, is needed. Furthermore, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changing the direction of the current in the semiconductor cooling piece will switch the cold-side and the hot-side,

achieving the switch of cooling and heating.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cold-side of the semiconductor cooling piece 21 is connected to the first heat exchanger 22 of Fig. 2, and the hot-side thereof is connected to the second heat exchanger 23 of Fig. 2. The outermost side of the first heat exchanger 22 is connected with the cold-side of the semiconductor cooling piece 21, and the cold generated by the semiconductor cooling piece 21 is conducted directly to the first heat exchanger 22, and after making the heat exchange with the air from the air inlet 12, the cold air will be sent into the vehicle from the air path of the vehicle via the outlet 13. The hot-side of the semiconductor cooling piece 21 is connected with the second heat exchanger 23 for taking away the heat to make the relative temperature of the cold-side lower.

In one embodiment, the first heat exchanger 22 is a radiator. As shown in Fig.4, the radiator consists of one or more U-shape copper plate (or a parallel partition board copper plate, as shown in Fig.4). A partition board 42 made of folded thin copper foil (or aluminum) is provided in the gap between the two adjacent parallel surfaces of the U-shape radiator 41 to expand the heat exchanging area. Optionally, the radiator 41 can also consist of one or more radiators in the shape of parallel partition boards. In Fig.5, the outermost side of the radiator 51 in the shape of parallel partition boards is connected with the cold-side of the semiconductor cooling piece 21. The radiator 51 in the shape of parallel partition boards may be made of copper or aluminum.

Preferably, as shown in Fig.6 A, the first heat exchanger 22 is a heat pipe according to another embodiment of the present invention. The heat pipe has been disclosed in 1963 by GM.Grover of the Los Alamos national lab in US. The heat pipe 61 utilizes evaporating which increases the temperature difference between the two sides of the heat pipe and makes the heat be conducted rapidly to achieve cooling. The heat pipe typically consists of a shell, a wick and an end cap. The inside of the heat pipe is in a negative pressure state, and filled with a suitable fluid that has a low boiling point and

is volatile. The pipe wall is provided with the wick and made from capillary porous materials. As shown in Fig.όB, one side 63 of the heat pipe is evaporating side, and the other side 64 is condensing side. When the side 63 of the heat pipe is heated, the fluid in the capillary will be evaporated, and the generated vapor flows to the other side under the small pressure difference, and releases heat to be condensed into fluid again, and the fluid then flows to the evaporating side along the porous materials under the action of the capillary force. Through the circulation of the fluid, heat is conducted from one side to the other side of the heat pipe. The cycle is rather quick, and the heat can be continuously conducted. In Fig.6A, the heat pipe 61 is connected to the cold-side of the semiconductor cooling piece 21, and the cold generated by the semiconductor cooling piece 21 will be conducted directly to the heat pipe 61. The heat pipe is arranged in an interleaved manner, and also provided with fins 62, which enables the cooling output generated by the semiconductor to be distributed evenly on the whole area of the exchanger causing the hot air to fully dissipate heat to achieve cooling effect. The heat pipe is very suitable for the vehicle air conditioner due to its high conductivity for heat, good isothermal performance and adaptability to environment etc..

Fig. 7 is a schematic structure view of a second heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention. The generated heat is conducted to the water or anti-freeze fluid in the second heat exchanger 72. The water or anti-freeze fluid enters the second heat exchanger 72 from the water inlet 73, and the heat is taken away by the water from the outlet 74. Then the water or anti-freeze fluid flows through the vehicle heat sink 16 to dissipate the heat, and subsequently enters the second heat exchanger 72 after cooling down, and thus the cycle is completed. Preferably, there is provided a pump 15 between the second heat exchanger 72 and the vehicle heat sink 16 to improve the cycle of the water or anti-freeze fluid.

Preferably, as shown in Fig.8, the second heat exchanger may be a heat exchanger of Fig 7 provided with a thin ribbon 81 therein, according to another embodiment of the

present invention. As shown in the A-A sectional drawings in Fig.8, the thin ribbon 81 is arranged in an interleaved manner to rapidly and sufficiently conduct the heat generated by the semiconductor to the water, and then the heated water is forced to flow away by the pump, such that the heat exchanger implements its heat exchanging function for the semiconductor.

Preferably, the generator can be a vehicle high efficiency rare-earth permanent-magnet generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, such as the vehicle high efficiency rare-earth permanent-magnet generator developed by the Automobile Department of HeFei University of Technology. The rare-earth permanent-magnet generator employs rare-earth NdFeB permanent-magnet material, improves upon the Lundell AC generator, and is provided with precisely controlled stabilizing circuit made from high power transistors. It is the next generation product for replacing Lundell generators, and can be applied to the application where high power, compact generators are needed.

Moreover, as described above, changing the direction of the current in the semiconductor cooling piece will achieve the switch of cooling and heating. Therefore, the current inverter 111 changes the direction of the current in the semiconductor cooling piece will achieve the switch between sending cooling air and sending heating air into the inside of the vehicle, as shown in Figure 1. The current inverter 111 can also be arranged inside the generator 18.

While there has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the description the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications, substitutions and combinations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.