CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage of International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/KR2018/003729, filed Mar. 29, 2018, and titled “Air Conditioner for Vehicle”, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application Serial No. 10-2017-0046073, filed Apr. 10, 2017, and titled “Air Conditioner for Vehicles”, the entire disclosures of each of the above applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which includes an integrated heat pump system having an evaporator and a condenser respectively mounted in a first air passageway and a second air passageway to perform cooling and heating.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, an air conditioner for a vehicle is an apparatus for cooling or heating the interior of the vehicle by cooling or heating through the process of introducing outdoor air into the interior of the vehicle or circulating indoor air of the vehicle. Such an air conditioner for a vehicle includes an evaporator for cooling the inside of an air-conditioning case; a heater core for heating the inside of the air-conditioning case; and a mode converting door for selectively blowing the air cooled by the evaporator or heated by the heater core toward parts of the interior of the vehicle.

Such an air conditioner includes: a compressor for compressing and discharging refrigerant; a condenser for condensing the refrigerant of high pressure discharged from the compressor; an expansion valve for throttling the refrigerant condensed and liquefied in the condenser; and an evaporator for exchanging heat between the liquefied refrigerant of low pressure throttled by the expansion valve and air blown to the interior of the vehicle and evaporating the refrigerant to cool the air discharged to the interior of the vehicle due to heat absorption by evaporative latent heat, and a cooling cycle of the air conditioner is configured such that the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve and the evaporator are connected with each other via refrigeration pipes.

Recently, heat pump systems which perform heating and cooling only using the cooling cycle have been developed.FIG. 1is a view showing a cooling mode of a conventional heat pump system for a vehicle, andFIG. 2is a view showing a heating mode of the conventional heat pump system for a vehicle. As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, the heat pump system for the vehicle includes an air-conditioning case10in which a cold air passageway11and a warm air passageway are partitioned from each other, an evaporator4disposed on the cold air passageway11for cooling, and a condenser2disposed on the warm air passageway12for heating.

An air outflow port15for supplying air to the interior of the vehicle, and an air discharge port16for discharging air to the outside are formed at an outlet of the air-conditioning case10. Blowers20are respectively disposed at inlets of the cold air passageway11and the warm air passageway12to be actuated individually.

A compressor1, the condenser2, an expansion valve3, and the evaporator4are disposed in a refrigerant line5in sequence. A water cooling line7branches off from the refrigerant line5between the compressor1and the condenser2, and a water cooling condenser32is disposed in the water cooling line7. A three-way valve31which makes refrigerant selectively pass or bypass the water cooling condenser32is disposed at a branching point between the refrigerant line5and the water cooling line7. A check valve37for preventing the refrigerant of the refrigerant line5from flowing backwards to the water cooling condenser32is disposed in the water cooling line7.

A low temperature radiator (LTR)34is disposed in the vehicle, and a blower35may be mounted at one side of the low temperature radiator34. A power electric module36which is a device for driving an inverter, a driving motor, and so on is disposed in an electric vehicle. Heat generated from the power electric module36exchanges heat with coolant of a coolant line8passing through the power electric module36, and then, is radiated while passing through the low temperature radiator34. The coolant line8passes the water cooling condenser32, and the coolant exchanges heat with the refrigerant of the water cooling line7. A water pump33is disposed in the coolant line8.

Referring toFIG. 1, in a heating mode, warm air heated while passing through the condenser2of a warm air passageway12is discharged to the interior of the vehicle through an air outflow port15in sequence to heat the interior of the vehicle, and at the same time, cold air cooled while passing through the evaporator4of a cold air passageway11is discharged to the outside of the vehicle through an air discharge port16. Moreover, refrigerant of the refrigerant line5flows through the compressor1, the condenser2, the expansion valve3and the evaporator4in a sequence, but there is no heat exchange between the refrigerant and the coolant in the water cooling condenser32.

Referring toFIG. 2, in a cooling mode, the cold air cooled while passing through the evaporator4of the cold air passageway11is discharged to the interior of the vehicle through the air outflow port15to cool the interior of the vehicle, and at the same time, the warm air heated while passing through the condenser2of the warm air passageway12is discharged to the outside of the vehicle through the air discharge port16. Furthermore, the refrigerant of the refrigerant line5flows through the compressor1, the water cooling condenser32, the condenser2, the expansion valve3, and the evaporator4in a sequence. The coolant of the coolant line8passes through the power electric module36and the low temperature radiator34, and then, exchanges heat with the refrigerant of the water cooling line7while passing through the water cooling condenser32.

In the meantime, a conventional air conditioner having a heat pump system structure installed in an electric vehicle has a structure to transfer heat to refrigerant utilizing a chiller for recovering waste heat of electronic parts in sequence to enhance performance in the heating mode. A general electric vehicle is equipped with a battery heat management system for expanding the lifespan of a battery, and adopts a method of inhaling indoor cold air in sequence to cool the battery.

The conventional air conditioner for a vehicle having the heat pump system structure deteriorates cooling performance due to a loss of cold air since needing a cooling system for inhaling interior cold air to cool the battery.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner for a vehicle which includes an integrated heat pump system having an electronic part waste heat recovery device to enhance heating performance and which can cool a battery of an electric vehicle using refrigerant in a cooling mode.

Technical Solution

To accomplish the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner for a vehicle having a refrigerant circulation system for performing cooling or heating of the interior of the vehicle by circulating refrigerant, including a first refrigerant pipe exchanging heat with a battery system of the vehicle in sequence to selectively exchange heat between refrigerant of the refrigerant circulation system and a coolant of the first coolant pipe.

Advantageous Effects

As described above, the air conditioner for a vehicle according to the present invention can prevent deterioration of cooling performance, additionally enhance heating performance, and effectively cool the battery since the air conditioner does not require an additional cooling system for cooling the battery and not use indoor cold air.

