US-20260124873-A1 - VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONER

US20260124873A1US 20260124873 A1US20260124873 A1US 20260124873A1US-20260124873-A1

Abstract

A vehicle air conditioner includes: an air-conditioning case; a PTC heater located inside the air-conditioning case; a partition wall partitioning an area of a rear end of the PTC heater; a first door unit located on one side of the partition wall; a second door unit adjacent to the first door unit, the second door unit being located on the other side of the partition wall; and a controller. The PTC heater includes a first heater zone, a second heater zone, a third heater zone, and a fourth heater zone. The controller is configured to control an opening degree of each of the first door unit and the second door unit so as to follow a set temperature in each area. The controller is also configured to independently drive each of the first to fourth heater zones in response to the opening degree.

Inventors

Myung Jun Kim
Dong Won Yeon
Dong Hyeop Kim
Byung Guk An
Won Jun Joung
Nam Jin Baek

Assignees

HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
KIA CORPORATION
DOOWON CLIMATE CONTROL CO.,LTD

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20250625
Priority Date: 20241105

Claims (16)

1 . A vehicle air conditioner comprising: an air-conditioning case; a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater located inside the air-conditioning case; a partition wall partitioning an area of a rear end of the PTC heater; a first door unit located on one side of the partition wall; a second door unit adjacent to the first door unit, the second door unit being located on another side of the partition wall; and a controller, wherein the PTC heater includes a first heater zone located in a first area facing an upper end of the first door unit, a second heater zone located in a second area facing a lower end of the first door unit, a third heater zone located in a third area facing an upper end of the second door unit, and a fourth heater zone located in a fourth area facing a lower end of the second door unit, and wherein the controller is configured to control an opening degree of each of the first door unit and the second door unit so as to follow a set temperature in each of the first to fourth areas, and independently drive each of the first to fourth heater zones in response to the opening degree.
2 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to: determine, based on a difference between an actual temperature and the set temperature, a required heat load corresponding to each of the first to fourth heater zones; and vary, in response to the required heat loads, a size of at least one of the first to fourth areas of the corresponding first to fourth heater zones.
3 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 2 , wherein, in response to the required heat loads in the respective first to fourth heater zones, the controller is configured to drive each of the first to fourth heater zones so as to generate independent outputs in the respective first to fourth heater zones.
4 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to: vary the first and second areas of the corresponding first and second heater zones in response to the respective required heat loads at the one end of the front seat and the one end of the rear seat; and independently control the respective outputs of the first heater zone and the second heater zone in response to the respective required heat loads.
5 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to: vary the third and fourth areas of the corresponding third and fourth heater zones in response to the respective required heat loads at the other end of the front seat and the other end of the rear seat; and control the respective outputs of the third heater zone and the fourth heater zone in response to the respective required heat loads.
6 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the air-conditioning case comprises: a first flow path located facing the first heater zone, the first flow path being fluidly connected to one end of a front seat; a second flow path located facing the second heater zone, the second flow path being fluidly connected to one end of a rear seat; a third flow path located facing the third heater zone, the third flow path being fluidly connected to another end of the front seat; and a fourth flow path located facing the fourth heater zone, the fourth flow path being fluidly connected to another end of the rear seat.
7 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to: move a first temperature door of the first door unit so as to close the first flow path when an interior temperature exceeds the set temperature at the one end of the front seat; and move the first temperature door so as to open the first flow path when the interior temperature is equal to or lower than the set temperature at the one end of the front seat.
8 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to: move a second temperature door of the second door unit so as to close the third flow path when an interior temperature exceeds the set temperature at the other end of the front seat; and move the second temperature door so as to open the third flow path when the interior temperature is equal to or lower than the set temperature at the other end of the front seat.
9 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 6 , wherein the first door unit comprises: a first temperature door located adjacent to an upper end of the one side of the partition wall; and a first sub-door located below the first temperature door, the first sub-door being located adjacent to a lower end of the one side of the partition wall.
10 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 9 , wherein: the first flow path is fluidly connected to the first heater zone when the controller opens the first temperature door and is blocked when the controller closes the first temperature door; and the second flow path is fluidly connected to the second heater zone when the controller opens the first sub-door and is blocked when the controller closes the first sub-door.
11 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to: move the first sub-door so as to open the second flow path when the interior temperature is lower than the set temperature at the one end of the rear seat; and move the first sub-door so as to close the second flow path when the interior temperature exceeds the set temperature at the one end of the rear seat.
12 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 9 , wherein, when air is discharged only to the one end of the front seat, the controller is configured to: move the first temperature door so as to open the first flow path; and move the first sub-door so as to close the second flow path.
13 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 12 , wherein, when the interior temperature is lower than the set temperature at the one end of the front seat, the controller is configured to: vary the size of each of the first and second areas of the corresponding first and second heater zones in response to the required heat load at the one end of the front seat; control the output of the first heater zone; and cut off power to the second heater zone.
14 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 6 , wherein the second door unit comprises: a second temperature door located adjacent to an upper end of the other side of the partition wall; and a second sub-door located below the second temperature door, the second sub-door being located adjacent to a lower end of the other side of the partition wall.
15 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 14 , wherein: the third flow path is fluidly connected to the third heater zone when the controller opens the second temperature door and is blocked when the controller closes the second temperature door; and the fourth flow path is fluidly connected to the fourth heater zone when the controller opens the second sub-doo, and is blocked when the controller closes the second sub-door.
16 . The vehicle air conditioner of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to: move the second sub-door so as to open the fourth flow path when the interior temperature is lower than the set temperature at the other end of the rear seat; and move the second sub-door so as to close the fourth flow path when the interior temperature exceeds the set temperature at the other end of the rear seat.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), the benefit of and priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0154825, filed on Nov. 5, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND (a) Technical Field The present disclosure relates to an interior air-conditioning system in a vehicle, and more particularly, to a vehicle air conditioner configured to provide an independent temperature control function and to optimize output characteristics of a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater. (b) Background Art A vehicle air-conditioning system is a main element capable of providing a comfortable environment for an occupant by controlling the temperature and air flow in the vehicle interior. The vehicle air-conditioning system of the present disclosure provides a four-zone control function of controlling four zones including the driver's seat, the passenger seat, and the rear seats in the second row through improvement of the existing vehicle air-conditioning system. Further, the vehicle air-conditioning system may variably control an output amount of a PTC heater and an output area thereof so as to provide a temperature appropriately adjusted to each area. Conventional vehicle air-conditioning systems use horizontal and vertical partition walls fixed at the rear side of a PTC heater so as to divide an air flow and provide appropriate heating to each area. This conventional method enables relatively simple and stable temperature control, and the temperature of each seating area may be independently adjusted through this method. However, the conventional fixed partition wall method has a problem in that heat pickup occurs in an unused zone among four partitioned zones. When a specific zone is in the OFF state, heat transferred from another zone is unintentionally introduced into the OFF zone, leading to unnecessary heat accumulation. As a result, efficiency of the air-conditioning system deteriorates, and a temperature imbalance between adjacent zones occurs. Accordingly, it is difficult to optimally control the temperature of the vehicle interior. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only to enhance understanding of the background of the disclosure. Therefore, the Background section may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE In order to address the above-described problems, the vehicle air-conditioning system of the present disclosure variably adjusts a partition wall provided at the rear side of a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater so as to independently control heating for each zone. An output amount of the heater and an output area thereof are automatically adjusted depending on the needs of each zone. Through this structural configuration, temperature balance of the vehicle interior may be optimally controlled. Further, unnecessary heat loss may be reduced. Thus, the disclosed vehicle air conditioning system efficiently provides heating required for each zone. The present disclosure is provided in an effort to solve the above-described problems associated with the prior art. It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an air-conditioning system configured to partition an air-conditioning compartment into left and right air-conditioning compartments using a vertical partition wall. It is another object of the present disclosure to variably adjust upper and lower air-conditioning compartments through a temperature door. Thus, an output area of a heater and an output amount thereof are efficiently controlled depending on the opening degree of the temperature door. The objects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned objects. Other technical objects not mentioned herein should be more clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains from the detailed description of the embodiments. Additionally, the objects of the present disclosure may be achieved by aspects and combinations thereof as indicated in the claims. In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a vehicle air conditioning system including: an air-conditioning case; a PTC heater located inside the air-conditioning case; a partition wall partitioning an area of a rear end of the PTC heater; a first door unit located on one side of the partition wall; and a second door unit adjacent to the first door unit. The second door unit is located on the other side of the partition wall. The PTC heater includes a first heater zone located in an area facing an upper end of the first door unit and a second heater zone located in an area facing a lower end of the first door unit. The PTC heater also includes a third heater zone located in an area facing an upper end of the second door unit and a fourth heater zone located in an area facing a lower end of the se