Patent ID: 6158225
Filing Date: 2000-12-12
Classification: B60H

Abstract:
In an air-conditioning apparatus for cooling an internal passenger chamber of an automotive vehicle having a cooling device driven by an engine of the vehicle, a controller for controlling the cooling device, a pre-cooling device driven by an energy source other than the engine for pre-cooling the interior passenger chamber of the vehicle, and a sub-controller for controlling the pre-cooling device, the improvement wherein:the pre-cooling device comprises a cooling thermoelectric element module for cooling the interior passenger chamber of the vehicle, a ventilation fan for discharging air from the interior passenger chamber of the vehicle to the outside thereof, and a solar battery for supplying electric power to the cooling thermoelectric element module and the ventilation fan; andthe sub-controller includes means for performing a pre-cooling control operation during which the ventilation fan is made to operate to reduce the temperature in the interior passenger chamber of the vehicle when the temperature of the interior passenger chamber of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a first set temperature, and the cooling thermoelectric element module is made to operate to reduce the temperature in the interior passenger chamber of the vehicle when the temperature of the interior passenger chamber of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a second set temperature.