Patent ID: 9555686
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: B60H,F24F,F25B

Claim:
1. A temperature control system for heating, cooling, and/or demisting an occupant compartment of a vehicle during startup of an internal combustion engine of the vehicle, the system comprising: an engine coolant circuit comprising an engine block coolant conduit configured to convey coolant in the engine block coolant conduit, wherein the engine block coolant conduit is in thermal communication with the internal combustion engine of the vehicle; a heater core disposed in a comfort air channel of the vehicle and in fluid communication with the engine block coolant conduit; an evaporator core of a belt driven refrigeration system disposed in the comfort air channel; a thermoelectric device having a waste surface and a main surface, wherein the waste surface is in thermal communication with a heat source or a heat sink; a supplemental heat exchanger disposed in the comfort air channel and in thermal communication with the main surface of the thermoelectric device, wherein the supplemental heat exchanger is downstream from the heater core with respect to a direction of a comfort airflow in the comfort air channel when the temperature control system is in operation; and a controller configured to operate the temperature control system in a plurality of modes of operation, and wherein the plurality of modes of operation comprises: wherein, in the startup heating mode, the thermoelectric device provides heat to the comfort airflow while the internal combustion engine is not able to heat the comfort airflow to a specified comfortable temperature without the heat provided by the thermoelectric device; and wherein a coefficient of performance of the thermoelectric device increases during the startup heating mode as a temperature of the coolant increases.