Patent ID: 7100383

Claim:
An air conditioner for a vehicle comprising: a cooling heat exchanger for cooling air to be discharged into a vehicle compartment; a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the air immediately after being cooled by the cooling heat exchanger; a compressor driven by an engine of the vehicle and compressing and discharging a refrigerant having passed through the cooling heat exchanger; and a control means for calculating a target cooling temperature (TEO) of the air to be discharged into the vehicle compartment when cooled by the cooling heat exchanger and, at the same time, controlling the operation of the compressor so that a detected temperature (TE) of the temperature detection means becomes equal to the target cooling temperature (TEO), wherein a traveling state judgment means for judging a traveling state of the vehicle is provided, and wherein the control means: controls the operation of the compressor so that cold is stored in the cooling heat exchanger when the traveling state judgment means judges that the vehicle is in a decelerated traveling state; and sets an upwardly-modified target temperature (TEOK) higher, by a predetermined value, than the target cooling temperature (TEO) before the vehicle is brought into the decelerated traveling state and, at the same time, controls the operation of the compressor so that the detected temperature (TE) becomes equal to the upwardly-modified target temperature (TEOK) when the traveling state judgment means judges that the vehicle has completed the decelerated traveling state.