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Air conditioning apparatus for vehicleRelated Patent Categories: Heat Exchange, With Timer, Programmer, Time Delay, Or Condition Responsive Control, Having Heating And Cooling Capability, Vehicle Installation, Plural Temperature Regulators For Plural ZonesAir conditioning apparatus for vehicle description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060225875, Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/950,826 filed on Oct. 15, 1997 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/872,647 filed on Jun. 10, 1997 and claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 8-273715 filed on Oct. 16, 1996, the content of which are incorporated herein by reference. The application is also related to Japanese Patent Application Nos. Hei. 8-152721 filed on Jun. 13, 1996, Hei. 8-340107 filed on Dec. 19, 1996, and Hei. 8-340182 filed on Dec. 19, 1996, also incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to an air conditioning apparatus having a first air passage and a second air passage, formed in an air conditioning case, in which inside air and outside air are introduced into the first air passage and the second air passage, respectively. [0004] 2. Description of Related Art [0005] In a conventional air conditioning apparatus as disclosed in JP-A-5-124426, there are formed at one end side of an air conditioning case an inside air inlet for introducing inside air and an outside-air inlet for introducing outside air and at the other end side of the air conditioning case a foot air outlet for blowing air toward a foot area, a defroster air outlet for blowing air toward an inner surface of a windshield, and a face air outlet for blowing air toward a face area. [0006] In the air conditioning case, there is provided a partition plate for partitioning an interior of the air conditioning case into a first air passage extending from the outside-air suction port to the face air outlet and the foot air outlet and a second air passage extending from the outside-air suction port to the defroster air outlet. [0007] Further, in each of the first and the second air passages, there are provided a cooling evaporator, a heating heat exchanger, a bypass passage bypassing the heating heat exchanger, and an air mixing door. [0008] When any one of the face mode, the bi-level mode, and the foot mode is selected as air outlet mode, if the inside air/outside air introduction mode is set to the inside-air introduction mode, the inside air is introduced into both air passages, whereas if the mode is set to the outside-air introduction mode, the outside air is introduced into both air passages. [0009] Further, the foot mode is selected as the air outlet mode, the inside air/outside air double laminar mode in which the inside air is introduced into the first air passage and the outside air is introduced into the second air passage is set. In this way, because a passenger compartment is heated by a recirculation of the inside air which has been already heated, the heating performance is improved. Further, because the outside air having a low humidity is blown toward the windshield, it is possible to obtain the defrosting performance of the windshield certainly. [0010] The inventors of the present invention have experimentally produced the air conditioning apparatus having a function of the above-described inside air/outside air double laminar mode, and studied the control for preventing the frosting of the cooling evaporator. As a result, it turns out that the following problem occurs. [0011] That is, in the air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle, as being known well, an operation of the compressor for generating a circulation of the refrigerant is intermitted according to the cooling temperature of the cooling evaporator (more specifically the temperature of the air just blown out from the evaporator) to maintain the cooling temperature of the cooling evaporator at a set temperature (e.g., 3.degree. C.-4.degree. C.). In this way, the frosting of the cooling evaporator is prevented. [0012] Here, as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B in a case where a temperature sensor 39 for detecting the cooling temperature of the cooling evaporator 7 (more specifically the temperature of the blown-air) is disposed in the inside-air passage (the first air passage) 13, in summer season where the outside-air temperature is high, the temperature of air blown from the cooling evaporator 7 in the outside-air passage (the second air passage) 14 is higher than that in the inside-air passage 13, as shown in FIG. 11A, because the high-temperature outside air flows into the outside-air passage 14. [0013] On the other hand, in winter season where the outside-air temperature is low, as shown in FIG. 11B, the temperature of air blown from the cooling evaporator 7 in the outside-air passage (the second air passage) 14 is lower than that in the inside-air passage 13, because the low-temperature outside air flows into the outside-air passage 14. Accordingly, in winter season, the cooling temperature of the cooling evaporator 7 is lowered to be less than 0.degree. C. so that the evaporator may be frosted. [0014] When the temperature sensor 39 is disposed in the outside-air passage 14 as shown in FIGS. 11C and 1D, in summer season when the outside temperature is high, the temperature of the air blown from the cooling evaporator 7 in the inside-air passage 13 is lower than that in the inside-air passage 14, as shown in FIG. 11C, because the low-temperature inside air flows into the inside-air passage 13. Therefore, in order to prevent the frosting of the cooling evaporator 7 in the inside-air passage 13 certainly, a set temperature of the temperature sensor 39 needs to be higher than the cases shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B by 5.degree. C.-6.degree. C. for example. [0015] However, if the set temperature of the temperature sensor 39 is set to be higher as described above, in winter season where the outside-air temperature is low, the temperature of the blown-air in the inside-air passage 13 is increased by 10.degree. C. for example as shown in FIG. 1D, there occurs a problem that the dehumidifying capacity for the inside-air is insufficient. [0016] In view of the above-described problem, an object of the present invention is to prevent the frosting of the cooling heat exchanger in winter season certainly, which is mounted on the air conditioning apparatus for a vehicle, having a first air passage and a second air passage, formed in an air conditioning case, in which inside air and outside air are introduced into the first air passage and the second air passage, respectively. [0017] Further, another object of the present invention is to solve the insufficiency of the dehumidifying capacity for the inside air in winter season. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0018] According to the present invention, an interior of an air conditioning case is partitioned into a first air passage extending from an inside air suction port to a first opening portion and a second air passage extending from an outside air suction port to a second opening portion. A temperature sensor is disposed at a side of the first air passage to detect a temperature of air blown out from the cooling heat exchanger disposed in the first air passage and the second air passage. A flow of the refrigerant into the cooling heat exchanger is intermitted by comparing the temperature detected by the temperature sensor and a set temperature set in advance, and the set temperature is changed to be higher according to an decrease in the temperature of outside air. [0019] In this way, by intermitting the refrigerant flowing into the cooling heat exchanger, the cooling temperature of the cooling heat exchanger can be maintained at the set temperature so that the frosting of the cooling heat exchanger is prevented. At that time, since the set temperature is set to be higher according to the decrease in a temperature of the outside air, it is certainly possible to prevent a frosting of a part at the outside-air passage side, of the cooling heat exchanger in winter season, which is caused by the low-temperature outside air flowing into the outside air passage. [0020] That is, since the temperature sensor is disposed in the first air passage, i.e., the inside-air passage, when the inside air/outside air double laminar mode is set as the suction mode in winter season, a part at the outside-air passage side, of the cooling heat exchanger, may be frosted, because the low-temperature outside air in introduced into the second air passage, i.e., the outside-air passage, so that a temperature of the part at the outside-air passage side, of the cooling heat exchanger, lowers to be less than that of a part of the first air passage side; however, since the set temperature relative to the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is set to be higher in winter season as defined above, the part at the outside-air passage side, of the cooling heat exchanger, does not lower down to the frosting temperature. In this way, it is possible to prevent the frosting of the cooling heat exchanger. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Continue reading about Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle... Full patent description for Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Sandwiched thermal article Next Patent Application: Constant temperature controller Industry Class: Heat exchange ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Air conditioning apparatus for vehicle patent info. 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