FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an air conditioning system and, more particularly, to an adaptive air conditioning system for a transport cabin, a control method for the system, and a carrier with the system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventionally, air conditioning systems installed in transportation equipment, such as ships, trains, automobiles, and aircrafts, employ refrigerants to perform heat exchange, through which cold or hot air can be introduced into the cabin to adjust the air temperature in the cabin. Due to air having a low specific heat (about 1012 J/kg K), the air temperature inside the cabin of transportation equipment can be controlled easily to achieve a desired temperature. On the other hand, most of the cabin body is formed of metal; for example, the specific heat of steel is about 450 J/kg K, which is lower than air. As a consequence, the cabin body can absorb and release heat more quickly than the air within the cabin. This means that the cabin body is liable to be affected by its ambient temperature. For this reason, within several minutes, the temperature of the cabin body would come near to its ambient temperature. Besides, if the cabin body was exposed under strong sunlight, it could function as an oven. In tens of minutes, the temperature of the air in the cabin would be tens of degrees C. (Celsius) higher than the ambient temperature.

For a vehicle exposed under strong sunlight, a person may get burned when touching the vehicle body. This means that environmental conditions would have a great impact on the temperature of a vehicle. Since most vehicles have windows on their cabins, not only can the air in the cabin be directly heated by the sunlight, the internal installation, such as the steering wheel, dashboard, seats and storage boxes, within the cabin can also be heated by solar radiation, making the temperature of the entire vehicle abnormally high, as shown inFIG.1. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) paper 860591 reports that, under an ambient temperature (T1) of 39 degrees C., the air temperature (T2) within a vehicle cabin may reach 76 degrees C., wherein the internal installation within the cabin generally has a specific heat higher than air and metals. It is found that the temperature (T3) of the steering wheel can reach 93 degrees C. when it is exposed under the sunlight or immersed in hot air in the cabin.

When the vehicle cabin is at such a high temperature, even the driver has fully opened the windows and the air conditioner is operated at its full capacity, attempting to have the air in the cabin to be quickly cooled down. However, for various pieces of the internal installation in the cabin, due to a higher heat capacity, it usually takes about 20 minutes to have the internal installation pieces return to a normal temperature. For example, it takes an average of more than ten minutes to have the hot seats and steering wheels cool down to a level that ordinary people can tolerate. Generally, the vehicle cabin needs more time to achieve a comfort level for ordinary people. In particular, while passengers sit on hot seats and wait for the temperature in the cabin to gradually cool down, they have become thermal channels in cooling the seats. As a consequence, heat can be transferred from the seats to the passengers, thus increasing the discomfort. This accounts for part of a seat used in vehicles equipped with conventional air conditioning systems being preferably made of a material having a lower specific heat so as to accelerate the cooling effect.

By contrast, when a vehicle drives in a cold environment, after a certain period of time, the average temperature of the cabin body, the air and internal installation in the cabin will approach to the temperature of the external severe cold environment. To prevent temperature drop, the air conditioning system in the cabin can be turned on to perform a heating function. As such, although the air inside the cabin is easy to reach a desired temperature by the air conditioning system, due to a higher specific heat, it will take a long time to have the internal installation reach a predetermined level of warmth. This may cause discomfort to passengers in the vehicle and thus does not meet the requirements of a vehicle that claims to provide comfortable temperature.

For transportation equipment, due to the air and internal installation in the cabin and the cabin body having different heat capacities, an air conditioning system that performs temperature control only for the air in the cabin cannot achieve a good effect. Because the internal installation may cause the cabin to behave like an oven or freezer, it may take more time and energy to have the entire cabin to reach an ideal temperature. To improve the effect of temperature control, the air conditioning system should perform heat exchange with the internal installation to remove the effect of oven or freezer.

Conventional air conditioning systems, installed in fossil-fuel vehicles or electrically-driven vehicles, are lack of efficiency and comfort. For electrically-driven vehicles, the air conditioning system thereof is the most power consuming system except the power drive system, wherein the power consumed by the air conditioning system is continuous, and would become larger in the initial state of startup. According to statistics, long-time cooling operation of air conditioning systems of vehicles during summer, the mileage of the vehicles can be reduced by approximately 20-30%. On the other hand, heating operation on vehicle cabins through a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistor during winter, the mileage of the vehicles can be reduced by approximately 30-40%.

Nevertheless, there is still room for improving the performance and comfort of transportation equipment, regardless of using fossil fuel or electricity. Particularly, for transportation equipment containing materials having different heat capacities, the present invention can achieve the objects: the air conditioning system can perform temperature control more efficiently; the temperature of all parts of the cabin can be adjusted more uniformly; the air conditioning system can perform temperature control more promptly and flexibly to provide more comfort for passengers and meet the temperature requirements for cargos.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide an adaptive air conditioning system for a cabin of a carrier, which includes a liquid circulation unit and an air circulation unit to facilitate adjusting the air temperature in the cabin and the temperature of internal installation in the cabin, so that all parts of the cabin can be controlled at an ideal, uniform temperature more quickly and effectively.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an adaptive air conditioning system for a cabin of a carrier, which includes data collecting apparatus to measure temperatures of the air, internal installation, and transported objects in the cabin, whereby thermal energy change of the cabin, a temperature trend associated the energy change, and temperature differences between the temperatures measured by the data collecting apparatus and a predetermined temperature can be calculated, by which the liquid circulation unit and/or the air circulation unit can be started to smartly perform temperature control for the cabin.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an adaptive air conditioning system for a cabin of a carrier, wherein the internal installation in the cabin can be provided with a phase change material so as to improve the performance of the air conditioning system.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for an adaptive air conditioning system for a cabin of a carrier, whereby the air conditioning system extensively collects temperature data and smartly performs temperature control for the cabin to achieve accurate, dynamic result, adaptive results.

A yet still further object of the present invention is to provide a carrier equipped with an adaptive air conditioning system that allows a cabin of the carrier to be controlled at a predetermined temperature to increase comfort level for passengers or meet the temperature requirements for cargos.

A yet still further object of the present invention is to provide a carrier equipped with an adaptive air conditioning system including a liquid circulation unit, wherein a cabin of the carrier is provided with a connection port communicating with the liquid circulation unit, whereby when the carrier is stopped at a stop station, the liquid circulation unit can be connected with an external heat exchange tank to perform temperature control for the cabin, even though the power of the carrier has been turned off.

The present invention provides an adaptive air conditioning system for a cabin of a carrier that defines a compartment for accommodating at least one transported object for controlling the air and internal installation in the compartment at a predetermined temperature. The adaptive air conditioning system comprises data collecting apparatus, temperature control apparatus, and a microcontroller. The data collecting apparatus includes at least one internal installation temperature sensor, at least one compartment temperature sensor, and at least one object sensor. The internal installation temperature sensor can measure temperature of the internal installation and output signals representative of the temperature of the internal installation. The compartment temperature sensor can measure temperature of the air in the compartment and output signals representative of the temperature of the air in the compartment. The object sensor can sense condition of the transported object and output signals representative of the condition of the transported object. The temperature control apparatus includes at least one liquid circulation unit, at least one air circulation unit, and at least one control switch for starting the liquid circulation unit and the air circulation unit, wherein the liquid circulation unit is thermally connected to at least one piece of the internal installation while the air circulation unit is thermally connected to the compartment. The microcontroller can receive the signals outputted from the internal installation temperature sensor, the compartment temperature sensor, and the object sensor, and can decide whether or not to enable the temperature control apparatus according to temperature differences between the temperatures measured by the sensors and the predetermined temperature in view of temperature trends based on thermal energy changes in the cabin, and can command the control switch to start the liquid circulation unit and/or the air circulation unit according to the temperature differences if the temperature control apparatus is enabled.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a carrier equipped with at least one adaptive air conditioning system that includes data collecting apparatus, temperature control apparatus, and a microcontroller. The carrier includes at least one cabin that defines a compartment for accommodating at least one transported object. The air conditioning system, which can control the air and internal installation in the compartment at a predetermined temperature, includes data collecting apparatus, temperature control apparatus, and a microcontroller. The data collecting apparatus includes at least one internal installation temperature sensor, at least one compartment temperature sensor, and at least one object sensor, wherein the internal installation temperature sensor can measure temperature of the internal installation and output signals representative of the temperature of the internal installation; the compartment temperature sensor can measure temperature of the air in the compartment and output signals representative of the temperature of the air in the compartment; the object sensor can sense condition of the transported object and output signals representative of the condition of the transported object. The temperature control apparatus includes at least one liquid circulation unit, at least one air circulation unit, and at least one control switch for starting the liquid circulation unit and the air circulation unit, wherein the liquid circulation unit is thermally connected to at least one piece of the internal installation while the air circulation unit is thermally connected to the compartment. The microcontroller receives the signals outputted from the internal installation temperature sensor, the compartment temperature sensor and the object sensor, and decides whether or not to enable the temperature control apparatus according to temperature differences between the temperatures measured by the sensors and the predetermined temperature in view of temperature trends based on thermal energy changes in the cabin, and commands the control switch to start the liquid circulation unit and/or the air circulation unit according to the temperature differences if the temperature control apparatus is enabled.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a method for an adaptive air conditioning system for a cabin of a carrier that defines a compartment for accommodating at least one transported object for controlling the air and internal installation in the compartment at a predetermined temperature, wherein the adaptive air conditioning system includes data collecting apparatus, temperature control apparatus, and a microcontroller, the data collecting apparatus including at least one internal installation temperature sensor, at least one compartment temperature sensor, and at least one object sensor, the internal installation temperature sensor capable of measuring temperature of the internal installation and outputting signals representative of the temperature of the internal installation, the compartment temperature sensor capable of measuring temperature of the air in the compartment and outputting signals representative of the temperature of the air in the compartment, the object sensor capable of sensing condition of the transported object and outputting signals representative of the condition of the transported object, the temperature control apparatus including at least one liquid circulation unit, at least one air circulation unit, and at least one control switch for starting the liquid circulation unit and the air circulation unit, the liquid circulation unit being thermally connected to at least one piece of the internal installation while the air circulation unit being thermally connected to the compartment. The method comprises the steps of: (a) configuring the microcontroller to receive the signals representative of the temperature of the internal installation sent from the internal installation temperature sensor, the signals representative of the temperature of the air in the compartment sent from the compartment temperature sensor, and the signals representative of the condition of the transported object sent from the object sensor; (b) configuring the microcontroller to estimate thermal energy changes in the cabin according to the signals sent from the sensors; and (c) configuring the microcontroller to estimate temperature trends of the cabin according to the thermal energy changes, and to calculate temperature differences between the temperatures measured by the sensors and the predetermined temperature, and to decide whether or not to enable the temperature control apparatus according to the temperature differences in view of the temperature trends, and to command the control switch to start the liquid circulation unit and/or the air circulation unit according to the temperature differences if the temperature control apparatus is enabled.

The adaptive air conditioning system of the present invention, which comprises data collecting apparatus, temperature control apparatus, and a microcontroller, is featured in extensive temperature data collection for estimating thermal energy change of the cabin and a temperature trend associated with the energy change, and calculating temperature differences between the measured temperatures and a predetermined temperature. These calculated data can serve as a basis for starting the temperature control apparatus, so that temperature control for the cabin can be performed more quickly, efficiently, uniformly, and smartly. Secondly, the air conditioning system is featured in that some pieces of the internal installation in the cabin can be provided with a phase change material to increase the performance of the air conditioning system. Thirdly, the air conditioning system can provide more comfort for passengers or meet the temperature requirements for cargos in the transportation equipment. Fourthly, the air conditioning system can be connected with an external heat exchange tank at a stop station to perform temperature control even though the power of the transportation equipment is turned off.

