Apparatus of multi-air mode for vehicle air conditioner and method of controlling the same

Abstract

An apparatus of multi-air mode for a vehicle air conditioner includes: an air conditioner (HVAC) that is provided in a vehicle and supplies air into the vehicle, an air duct unit in communication with the air conditioner and provided to deliver air supplied from the air conditioner to the inside of the vehicle or to discharge it to the outside of the vehicle, and a multi-air discharge unit in which the air delivered from the air duct unit is discharged into the vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus of multi-air mode for vehicle air conditioner, the apparatus comprising:
 an air conditioner provided in a vehicle and configured to supply air into the vehicle;   an air duct unit in communication with the air conditioner and configured to deliver air supplied from the air conditioner to an inside of the vehicle or configured to discharge the air to an outside of the vehicle; and   a multi-air discharge unit configured to supply the air delivered from the air duct unit into the vehicle.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the air duct unit includes:   a defrost duct configured to deliver air for defrosting inside the vehicle;   a multi-air duct configured to transfer air for cooling and heating into the vehicle through the multi-air discharge unit; and   a vent duct configured to discharge the air inside the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the air duct unit further includes:   a floor duct configured to transfer the air for heating and cooling to a floor inside the vehicle.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the multi-air discharge unit includes:   a left side discharge unit through which air is discharged toward a driver seat inside the vehicle; and   a right side discharge unit through which air is discharged toward a passenger seat inside the vehicle.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the multi-air discharge unit includes a mesh-shaped multi-air discharge hole.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein:
 the mesh-shaped multi-air discharge hole is formed so as not to be visible from a view of a passenger when seating in a driver seat and a passenger seat of the vehicle.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the multi-air discharge unit has a multi-layer structure having a stepped portion.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the air duct unit includes:   a dome door disposed between the air conditioner and the air duct unit and configured to enable the air supplied from the air conditioner to fluidly communicate with the defrost duct, the multi-air duct, and the vent duct, respectively.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the air duct unit includes: a plurality of flat doors configured to enable the air supplied from the air conditioner to fluidly communicate with the defrost duct, the multi-air duct, and the vent duct, respectively, and   flat doors of the plurality of flat doors are disposed between the air conditioner and the defrost duct, between the air conditioner and the multi-air duct, and between the air conditioner and the vent duct.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the air conditioner and the multi-air duct are pressure-sealed with each other by a rubber pad.   
     
     
         11 . A method of controlling an apparatus of multi-air mode for an air conditioner of a vehicle, the method comprising:
 turning on, by a driver using an air conditioner operation unit provided in the vehicle, power to the air conditioner;   determining, by a controller, whether a driver has turned on a multi-air mode through the air conditioner operation unit;   in response to determining that the multi-air mode is turned on, operating, by the controller, the air conditioner in the multi-air mode;   determining, by the controller, whether an intensity of air discharged from the air conditioner is greater than or equal to a first stage; and   in response to determining that the intensity of air discharged from the air conditioner is greater than or equal to the first stage, automatically adjusting, by the controller, the intensity of the air to a second stage less than the first stage.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 after automatically adjusting the intensity of the air to the second stage, determining, by the controller, whether the intensity of the air discharged from the air conditioner is manually selected;   in response to determining that the intensity of the air discharged from the air conditioner is manually selected, operating at a manually selected stage;   determining, by the controller, whether the driver has turned off the multi-air mode through the air conditioner operation unit; and   in response to determining that the multi-air mode is turned off by the driver, operating, by the controller, the air conditioner in a state before the multi-air mode is turned on.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the multi-air mode is not turned on, operating, by the controller, the air conditioner in a state before the multi-air mode is turned on.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the intensity of air discharged from the air conditioner is less the first stage, maintaining, by the controller, the intensity of the air in a state before the first stage.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the intensity of the air discharged from the air conditioner is not manually selected, maintaining, by the controller, the intensity of air in a state of the second stage.   
     
     
         16 . A method of controlling an apparatus of multi-air mode for an air conditioner of a vehicle, the method comprising:
 turning on, by a driver using an air conditioner operation unit provided in the vehicle, power to the air conditioner;   determining, by a controller, whether the driver has turned on an auto mode through the air conditioner operation unit;   in response to determining that the auto mode is turned on, operating, by the controller, the air conditioner in an automatic mode;   determining, by the controller, whether an interior temperature of the vehicle has reached a first target temperature;   in response to determining that the interior temperature has reached the first target temperature, switching, by the controller, to the multi-air mode and discharging air from a multi-air duct, a vent duct, and a floor duct into an interior of the vehicle and reducing an intensity of the air;   determining, by the controller, whether the interior temperature has reached a second target temperature lower than the first target temperature;   in response to determining that the interior temperature has reached the second target temperature, discharging, by the controller, air only from the multi-air duct to the interior of the vehicle and further reducing the intensity of the air;   determining, by the controller, whether the driver has turned off the auto mode through the air conditioner operation unit; and   in response to determining that the auto mode is turned off, turning off, by the controller, the automatic mode.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the auto mode is not turned on, maintaining, by the controller, a manual mode.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the auto mode is not turned off, maintaining, by the controller, the automatic mode.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the interior temperature of the vehicle has not reached the first target temperature, or that the interior temperature has not reached the second target temperature,   operating, by the controller, the air conditioner in a state before the interior temperature reaches the first target temperature or the interior temperature does not reach the second target temperature.