Battery cooling device for vehicle use

Abstract

The air suction mode can be switched among the inside air mode in which the air sucked by the battery cooling blower 15 to cool the battery 3 for vehicle use is the air inside a vehicle passenger compartment, the outside air mode in which the air sucked by the battery cooling blower 15 is the air outside the vehicle passenger compartment and the cooling air mode in which the air sucked by the battery cooling blower 15 is the air cooled by an evaporator of the rear seat side air conditioner 2.

1 . A battery cooling device, cooling a battery for vehicle use, applied to a vehicle on which an air conditioner having a cooling means for cooling air passing through the cooling means is mounted, comprising: 
 a battery cooling blower for blowing suction air to the battery for vehicle use; and    a mode switching means capable of switching a mode among an inside air mode in which the suction air is the air inside a vehicle passenger compartment, an outside air mode in which the suction air is the air outside a vehicle passenger compartment and a cooling air mode in which the suction air is the air cooled by the cooling means of the air conditioner.    
   
   
       2 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 1 , wherein the air outside the vehicle passenger compartment is the air in a trunk.  
   
   
       3 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 1 , wherein the mode switching means switches the mode in the order of the outside air mode, the inside air mode and the cooling air mode.  
   
   
       4 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 3 , wherein the mode switching means switches a mode in the order of the outside air mode, the inside air mode and the cooling air mode according to the temperature of the battery for vehicle use in the case where the temperature outside the vehicle passenger compartment is not more than a predetermined value, and 
 the mode switching means switches a mode in the order of the inside air mode and the cooling air mode according to the temperature of the battery for vehicle use in the case where the temperature outside the vehicle passenger compartment is higher than the predetermined value.    
   
   
       5 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 1 , wherein the mode switching means switches a mode among the inside air mode, the outside air mode and the cooling air mode according to the temperature of the air outside the vehicle passenger compartment and the temperature of the battery for vehicle use.  
   
   
       6 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 1 , wherein the air conditioner mounted on a vehicle is a front seat side air conditioner arranged on the front seat side of the vehicle and a rear seat side air conditioner arranged on the rear seat side of the vehicle, and 
 the cooling air mode is a mode in which the suction air is the air cooled by the cooling means of the rear seat side air conditioner.    
   
   
       7 . A battery cooling device cooling a battery for vehicle use, applied to a vehicle on which an air conditioner having a cooling means for cooling air passing through the cooling means is mounted, comprising: 
 a battery cooling blower for blowing suction air to the battery for vehicle use; and    a mode selecting means for selecting a suction mode of the battery cooling blower between the inside air mode, in which the air in the vehicle passenger compartment is sucked, and the cooling air mode in which the air immediately after it is cooled by the cooling means is sucked.    
   
   
       8 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 an outside air temperature detection means for detecting a temperature outside the vehicle; and    a battery temperature detection means for detecting a temperature of the battery, wherein    the mode selecting means selects a suction mode between the inside air mode and the cooling air mode according to the temperature of the air outside the vehicle detected by the outside air temperature detection means and also according to the temperature of the battery detected by the battery temperature detection means.    
   
   
       9 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 8 , wherein the mode selecting means selects a suction mode between the inside air mode and the cooling air mode according to the temperature of the battery in the case where the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is higher than a predetermined temperature, and the mode selecting means selects the inside air mode in the case where the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is not more than the predetermined temperature.  
   
   
       10 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 9 , wherein the mode selecting means selects the inside air mode in the case where the battery temperature is lower than a reference temperature when the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is higher than the predetermined temperature, the mode selecting means selects the cooling air mode in the case where the battery temperature is not less than the reference temperature, and the reference temperature is decreased as the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is increased.  
   
   
       11 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 7 , wherein the air conditioner mounted on the vehicle includes a front seat side air conditioner arranged on the front seat side and a rear seat side air conditioner arranged on the rear seat side of the vehicle, and 
 the air immediately after it is cooled by the cooling means of the rear seat side air conditioner is sucked in the cooling air mode.    
   
   
       12 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 7 , wherein the mode selecting means selects a mode in which the air in the vehicle passenger compartment is sucked together with the air immediately after it is cooled by the cooling means at the time of the cooling air mode.  
   
   
       13 . A battery cooling device cooling a battery for vehicle use, applied to a vehicle on which an air conditioner having a cooling means for cooling air passing through the cooling means is mounted, comprising: 
 a battery cooling blower for blowing suction air to the battery for vehicle use; and    a mode selecting means for selecting a suction mode of the battery cooling blower among the inside air mode, in which the air in the vehicle passenger compartment is sucked, the cooling air mode, in which the air immediately after it is cooled by the cooling means is sucked, and a mixed air mode in which both the air in the vehicle passenger compartment and the air immediately after it is cooled by the cooling means are sucked.    
   
   
       14 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 an outside temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the air outside the vehicle; and    a battery temperature detection means for detecting the battery temperature, wherein    the mode selecting means selects a suction mode among the inside air mode, the cooling air mode and the mixed air mode according to the temperature of the air outside the vehicle detected by the outside air temperature detection means and also according to the temperature of the battery detected by the battery temperature detection means.    
   
   
       15 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 14 , wherein the mode selecting means selects a suction mode among the inside air mode, the cooling air mode and the mixed air mode according to the temperature of the battery in the case where the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is higher than a predetermined temperature, and the mode selecting means selects the inside air mode in the case where the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is not more than the predetermined temperature.  
   
   
       16 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 15 , wherein the mode selecting means selects the inside air mode when the battery temperature is lower than the first reference temperature in the case where the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is higher than the predetermined temperature, the mode selecting means selects the cooling air mode when the battery temperature is not less than first reference temperature and lower than the second reference temperature and the mode selecting means selects the mixed air mode when the battery temperature is not less than the second reference temperature, and 
 at least one of the first and the second reference temperature or both the first and the second reference temperature are lowered as the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is raised.    
   
   
       17 . A battery cooling device for vehicle use according to  claim 14 , wherein the air conditioner mounted on the vehicle includes a front seat side air conditioner arranged on the front seat side and a rear seat side air conditioner arranged on the rear seat side of the vehicle, and 
 the air immediately after it is cooled by the cooling means of the rear seat side air conditioner is sucked in the cooling air mode and the mixed air mode.    
   
   
       18 . An air conditioner for vehicle use comprising: 
 an air-conditioning unit including a cooling air generation means for generating cooling air by cooling the passing air, a heating air generation means for generating heating air by heating the passing air, a conditioned air generation means for generating conditioned air by mixing the cooling air and the heating air by a ratio of the hot air to the cold air, and an air-conditioning blower for generating conditioned blowout air blowing out to a passenger in a vehicle passenger compartment;    a battery cooling unit including a battery cooling blower, which sucks the cooling air, for generating a flow of battery cooling air to be blown out to a battery mounted on a vehicle; and    a control unit including a conditioned air ratio calculating means for calculating a ratio of the hot air to the cold air, a correction means for correcting at least one of the ratio of the hot air to the cold air and the conditioned air volume level according to the battery cooling air volume level, a conditioned air volume level control means for controlling a conditioned air volume level which is the air volume level of the conditioned air blown out, and a battery air volume level control means for controlling a battery cooling air volume level which is an air volume level of the battery cooling air blown out.    
   
   
       19 . An air conditioner for vehicle use according to  claim 18 , wherein the correction means for correcting the ratio of the hot air to the cold air conducts a correction so that a ratio of the cooling air in the conditioned air can be increased according to an increase in the battery cooling air volume level.  
   
   
       20 . An air conditioner for vehicle use according to  claim 18 , wherein the correction means for correcting the conditioned air volume level conducts a correction so that the conditioned air volume level can be increased according to an increase in the battery cooling air volume level.  
   
   
       21 . An air conditioner for vehicle use comprising: 
 an air-conditioning unit including a cooling air generation means for generating cooling air by cooling the passing air, a heating air generation means for generating heating air by heating the passing air, a conditioned air generation means for generating conditioned air by mixing the cooling air and the heating air by a ratio of the hot air to the cold air, an air-conditioning blower for generating conditioned blowout air blowing out to a passenger in a vehicle passenger compartment, and a conditioned air blowout temperature detection means for detecting a conditioned air blowout temperature which is a temperature of the conditioned blowout air;    a battery cooling unit including a battery cooling blower for generating a flow of battery cooling air to be blown out to a battery mounted on a vehicle, and a mode switching means for switching a mode between the inside air mode, in which the sucked air is the inside air in the vehicle passenger compartment according to the battery temperature, and the cooling air mode in which the suction air is the cooling air; and    a control unit including a conditioned air ratio calculating means for calculating the ratio of the hot air to the cold air, a conditioned air volume level control means for controlling a conditioned air volume level which is an air volume level of the conditioned blowout air, and a battery air volume level control means for controlling a battery cooling air volume level which is an air volume level of the battery cooling blowout air, wherein    the battery air volume level control means reduces the battery cooling air volume level to a value not more than the predetermined value at the time of switching the mode, and the battery air volume level control means further reduces a change rate of the battery cooling air volume level in the case where the change rate of the conditioned blowout air temperature exceeds the predetermined value.    
   
   
       22 . An air conditioner for vehicle use according to  claim 21 , wherein the battery air volume level control means stops the battery cooling blower at the time of switching the mode.  
   
   
       23 . An air conditioner for vehicle use according to  claim 21 , wherein the mode switching means is capable of adjusting a switching rate of switching the mode.