Vehicular hvac system with liquid-cooled charge air cooler integration

Abstract

A system for heating a cabin of a vehicle can include: a liquid-cooled charge air cooler configured to receive a liquid, to receive heated air from one of a turbocharger and a supercharger of the vehicle, to cool the heated air via the liquid, thereby heating the liquid, to output the cooled air to an intake manifold of an engine of the vehicle, and to output the heated liquid; and a multi-function heat exchanger connected to the liquid-cooled charge air cooler, the multi-function heat exchanger configured to receive the heated liquid outputted by the liquid-cooled charge air cooler, to generate heated air via the heated liquid, and to output the heated air into the cabin of the vehicle, thereby heating the cabin of the vehicle.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A multi-function heat exchanger for a vehicle, the multi-function heat exchanger comprising:
 a refrigerant inlet configured to receive a refrigerant after the refrigerant has been cooled by a condenser of the vehicle;   a refrigerant outlet configured to output the refrigerant to a compressor of the vehicle after the refrigerant has been heated by the multi-function heat exchanger;   a liquid inlet configured to receive a liquid after the liquid has been heated by a liquid- cooled charge air cooler of the vehicle;   a liquid outlet configured to output the liquid to the liquid-cooled charge air cooler after the liquid has been cooled by the multi-function heat exchanger; and   a plurality of layers coupled to the refrigerant inlet, the refrigerant outlet, the liquid inlet, and the liquid outlet, each layer of the plurality of layers including a finned chamber through which air flows, a refrigerant passage through which the refrigerant flows, and a liquid passage through which the liquid flows.   
     
     
         12 . The multi-function heat exchanger of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of layers are configured such that the air flowing through the finned chamber is heated for release into a cabin of the vehicle. 
     
     
         13 . The multi-function heat exchanger of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of layers are configured such that heat exchange among the air, the refrigerant, and the liquid is caused by the respective flows of the air, the refrigerant, and the liquid. 
     
     
         14 . The multi-function heat exchanger of  claim 11 , wherein the refrigerant passage and the liquid passage in each layer of the plurality of layers are disposed such that the refrigerant and the liquid flow through the multi-function heat exchanger in opposite directions. 
     
     
         15 . The multi-function heat exchanger of  claim 11 , wherein the refrigerant passage and the liquid passage are in contact with the finned chamber in each layer of the plurality of layers. 
     
     
         16 . The multi-function heat exchanger of  claim 11 , wherein each of the refrigerant passage and the liquid passage includes one or more tubes configured such that the one or more tubes of the refrigerant passage interlock with the one or more tubes of the liquid passage. 
     
     
         17 - 20 . (canceled)