Patent ID: 7690210

Claim:
An automotive air-conditioning system comprising: an inside/outside air selecting means provided at an upstream end of an air-conditioning unit for selecting between inside air and outside air for introduction therein; a blower provided downstream of said inside/outside air selecting means, for blowing air into a vehicle passenger compartment; an evaporator provided downstream of said blower, for cooling the air supplied from said blower by a refrigerant which is pressurized and pumped out by a compressor; pollen mode setting means for setting a pollen mode control; an ambient temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature outside said passenger compartment; and an air-conditioner control unit having control switching means switching operation of at least either said inside/outside air selecting means or said compressor from a normal control to a forced control in accordance with the ambient temperature detected by said ambient temperature sensor when said pollen mode control is set; wherein when said pollen mode control is set, said control switching means in said air-conditioner control unit sets said inside/outside air selecting means to an inside-air introduction mode when said ambient temperature is higher than a first threshold in a low-temperature region, and sets said inside/outside air selecting means to a normal control when said ambient temperature drops below said first threshold; and said compressor includes compressor condition judging means for judging whether said compressor is able to operate normally, and wherein when said ambient temperature is higher than said first threshold, and when a negative response is returned as a result of said judgment by said compressor condition iudging means, said control switching means in said air-conditioner control unit sets said inside/outside air selecting means to said normal control in said pollen mode control.