Patent ID: 6454180
Filing Date: 2002-09-24
Classification: B60H

Abstract:
An air conditioner for a vehicle having a passenger compartment and an equipment that needs a temperature control, the air conditioner comprising:a cooling water circuit in which cooling water for cooling the equipment circulates; a heating heat exchanger, disposed in the cooling water circuit, for heating air to be blown into the passenger compartment using cooling water as a heating source; a supplementary heater for heating air, which supplements a heat quantity relative to the heating heat exchanger; heat quantity calculating means for calculating a necessary heat quantity necessary for a heating of air blown into the passenger compartment, based on a target air temperature; a flow control unit which controls a flow of cooling water in the cooling water circuit in such a manner that: cooling water from the equipment flows into the heating heat exchanger after temperature of the equipment increases to a predetermined temperature, and the flow of cooling water from the equipment to the heating heat exchanger is interrupted until the temperature of the equipment increases to the predetermined temperature; and heater control means for controlling a heat quantity generated by the supplementary heater when a heat quantity for heating air in the heating heat exchanger is smaller than the necessary heat quantity calculated by the heat quantity calculating means after the temperature of the equipment increases to the predetermined temperature; wherein the equipment is a fuel cell system.