Air conditioner for a vehicle and controlling method thereof

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner and a controlling method thereof capable of effectively conditioning air in an operator cab of a vehicle even if a windshield or door of the operator cab is opened. An air conditioner for conditioning air in an operator cab of a vehicle comprises: a first blowout port for blowing out the conditioned air to a front of the operator; a second blowout port for blowing out the conditioned air; an open / close sensor for detecting whether the operator cab is opened or closed; and an air volume ratio adjustment unit for setting a ratio of the volume of the conditioned air, which is blown out from the first blowout port when the open / close sensor detects that the operator cab is opened to be higher than the ratio when the operator cab is closed.

Description

[0001]The applicant claims the right of priority based on Japanese Patent Application JP 2006-219996, filed on Aug. 11, 2006, and the entire content of JP-2006-219996 is hereby incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle and a controlling method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an air conditioner for a construction vehicle and a controlling method thereof.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Recently, even on a construction vehicle such as a power shovel, an air conditioner is mounted so that the operator cab can be maintained in a comfortable state. However, sometimes, the operator operates the construction vehicle, while a windshield or an entrance door of the operator cab is kept open, in order for the operator to communicate with a worker that is working outside the operator cab or in order for the operator to ensure a good field of vision. When the operator operates the construct...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides an air conditioner and control method for effectively conditioning the air in an operator cab of a vehicle, even when the windshield or door is opened. The air conditioner has two blowout ports, an open / close sensor to detect if the operator cab is opened or closed, and an air volume ratio adjustment unit to set the ratio of the volume of conditioned air to the volume of the conditioning unit air. The air conditioner can adjust the ratio of conditioned air to the operator's face based on the open / close sensor, and can also adjust the temperature of the conditioned air based on the outside temperature. This results in improved air conditioning in the operator cab, especially in construction vehicles where the operator cab is small and the temperature changes significantly when the operator cab is opened.

Problems solved by technology

Accordingly, it is impossible for the air conditioner to effectively condition air in the operator cab.

Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the operator cab in a comfortable state.

Accordingly, the effect of air conditioning cannot be improved much.

On the contrary, the operational noise of the air conditioner is increased, which makes the operator feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, in some cases, a blowout port, which is arranged on the side of the operator, such as a spot blowout port, cannot supply conditioned air to the periphery of the operator, due to the posture of the operator.

Further, manufacturing cost is increased in order to provide such a spot blowout port.

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