CLIAMS:We Claim:

1. A system for cooling an interior of a vehicle in parked condition, the system comprising:
a solar panel disposed over a roof of the vehicle for collecting and converting solar energy into electricity;
a power storage and supply means for colleting, storing and supplying electricity received from the solar panel;
a conduit with an air blowing means and a thermoelectric cooler disposed inside the vehicle, wherein the thermoelectric cooler converts electricity to temperature gradient and the air blowing means connected to the conduit for circulating the cooled air from over the thermoelectric cooler and through the conduit inside the vehicle;
a plurality of sensors disposed on different portions inside the vehicle for sensing temperature thereof, and
a controller receives inputs from the sensors and accordingly regulates the electric supply to the thermoelectric cooler, the air blowing means and the power storage and supply means for cooling the interior of the vehicle at predefine temperature.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air blowing means is a blower.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air blowing means is a fan.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a speed controller for controlling speed of air blown from the air blowing means.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a signal conditioning means to conditioning the inputs received from the plurality of sensors.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conduit is a metal hallow tube.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conduit is a plastic hollow tube.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power storage and supply means comprises:
a first battery and a second battery provided separately inside the vehicle for storing and supplying electric charge received from the solar panel;
a battery charger with a monitor connected to the solar panel and to the first and second battery though a battery switch therebetween, the monitor provides battery charge status to the controller;
wherein depending upon electricity available from the solar panel and the charge available in the first battery and the second battery, the controller optimizes use of electricity from the first battery and the second battery by operating the battery switch for supplying electricity to the air blowing means and the thermoelectric cooler and puts the other battery on charging mode.
,TagSPECI:FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vehicle cooling system using solar energy, more specifically, the present invention relates to a system for cooling the interior of a vehicle in parked condition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the tropical countries like India, the temperature during day time is always on a higher side. Due to this if a vehicle is not parked in shade, interior temperature of the vehicle rises making it uncomfortable to get inside the vehicle. Air conditioning system that is provided in the vehicle controls the temperature inside the vehicle only when an engine of the vehicle is running. When the engine is turned off the air conditioning system also stops working, which leads to increase in temperature inside the vehicle. At present, the temperature inside the vehicle is always maintained at the expenses of fuel.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a cooling system which can cool the interior of the vehicle without using power from the engine and which can operate when the vehicle is parked and the engine is not working.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Object of the present invention is to provide a system for cooling an interior of a vehicle in parked condition.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition, which operates on solar energy.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system for cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition, which does not require power from the engine.

Further object of the present invention is to provide a system for cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition, which is economical in construction and operation.

Further one object of the present invention is to provide a system for cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition, which is robust in construction.

Further one object of the present invention is to provide a system for cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition, which is easy to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a system for cooling an interior of a vehicle in parked condition. The system includes a solar panel, a power storage means, a conduit with an air blowing means, a thermoelectric cooler, a plurality of sensors and a controller. The solar panel is disposed over a roof of the vehicle for collecting and converting solar energy into electricity. The power storage and supply means is provided for colleting, storing and supplying electricity received from the solar panel. Further, the conduit with the air blowing means and the thermoelectric cooler is disposed inside the vehicle. The thermoelectric cooler convert electricity to temperature gradient, and the air blowing means is connected to the conduit for circulating the cooled air from over the thermoelectric cooler through the conduit inside the vehicle. The plurality of sensors is disposed on different portions inside the vehicle for sensing temperature thereof. The controller receives inputs from the sensors and accordingly regulates the electric supply to the thermoelectric cooler, the air blowing means and the power storage and supply means for cooling the interior of the vehicle at predefine degree.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Figure 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a system for cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of this invention, illustrating its features, will now be described in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.

The terms “first,” “second,” and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another, and the terms “a” and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.

The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms.

The present invention provides a system for cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition. Th system use solar energy for working. Further, the system does not require power from the engine for working. Also, the system is economical in construction and operation. Furthermore, the system is robust in construction. Moreover, the cooling system is easy to manufacture.

The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements are identified with like symbols.

Referring now to figure 1, a schematic block diagram of a system (herein after referred as the ‘system 100’) for cooling an interior of a vehicle (not shown) in parked condition in accordance with the present invention is illustrated. Generally, in the day time the interior of the vehicle gets heated due to solar radiations and surrounding heat. Therefore, the system 100 of the present invention is provided to cool the interiors of the vehicle during day time. After sunset, generally the climate is cooler and therefore there is no need for cool the interior of the vehicle. Accordingly, the system 100 includes a solar panel 10, a power storage and supply means 20, a controller 30, a plurality of sensor 40, a conduit 50, an air blowing means 60 and a thermoelectric cooler 70. In the present embodiment, the solar panel 10 is disposed on a roof of the vehicle. The solar panel 10 is flexible, thereby enabling disposal on the roof of the vehicle having various shapes. The solar panel 10 can also be disposed on glasses or rear windshield of the vehicle, which can provide exposure to the solar rays without affecting vision of a driver of the vehicle. The solar panel 10 when exposed to solar radiations converts solar energy to electric energy. The generated electric energy is supplied to the power storage and supply means 20 connected thereto. This electricity is then stored and managed by the power storage and supply means 20.

The power storage and supply means 20 includes a first battery 22a, a second battery 22b, a battery charger 24, a battery monitor 26 and battery switch 28. The battery charger 24 regulates voltage and ampere of the electricity received from the solar panel 10 to a suitable voltage and ampere for charging batteries 22a and 22b. The battery monitor 26 is connected to the solar panel 10, the first battery 22a, the second battery 22b, the battery charger 24 and the controller 30. In an embodiment, the controller 30 is a micro controller. The micro controller is capable of real-time monitoring and accordingly operating various elements connected thereto. The battery monitor 26 checks the charge left in the first battery 22 and the second battery 24 and provides input to the controller 30. Accordingly, the controller 30 operates the switch 28 for diverting the supply to charge either the first battery 22a or the second battery 22b, whichever has lesser charge left therein. For example, if the second battery 22b has less charge and is about to drain, the controller 30 upon receiving inputs from the battery monitor 26 operates the switch 28 to put the second battery 22b in charging mode and connects the first battery 22a for operating the system 100.

Referring again to figure 1, the system 100 includes the conduit 50, the air blowing means 60, the thermoelectric cooler 70 and the plurality of sensor 40. The electricity from the either of battery 22a, 22b is supplied to the air blowing means 60, the thermoelectric cooler 70 and the plurality of sensors 40 through the controller 30. In an embodiment, the air blowing means 60 is an air blower. In another embodiment, the air blowing means 60 is a fan. The plurality of sensors 40, specifically in the present invention five thermal sensors are used, wherein each of the sensors 40 is disposed at difference location inside the vehicle. In the present invention, each of the sensors 40 is disposed separately near front roof, middle roof, rear roof, left leg space and right leg space inside the vehicle. These sensors 40 sense the temperature of the location and provide input to the controller 30 through a signal condition means 36. The signal condition means 36 pulls up the potential of the temperature sensors 40. The Temperature sensors 40 are passive in nature and provide input in the form of voltage. Therefore, the Controller 30 process the temperature in form of voltage comes for the sensors 40. The signal conditioning means 36 adjusts the voltage received from the plurality of sensor 40 according to the requirement of the controller 30.

The temperature readings received from all the sensors 40 is averaged out by the controller 30 and accordingly the thermoelectric cooler 70 and the air blowing means 60 are operated to provide predefined cooling temperature inside the vehicle. Specifically, the controller 30 provides signal to the thermoelectric cooler 70 through a relay with H-Bridge Driver 34 and the air blowing means 60 is operated through a speed controller 32. The speed controller 32 helps in controlling the speed at which air is blown by the air blowing means 60. The speed controller 32 is a speed controller circuit operated by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). The speed of the air blowing mean 60, specifically of the fan is controlled by converting the equivalent Current Output to the fan using PWM inputs from the Controller 30. The relay with H-Bridge 34 is provided to turn ‘ON’ the thermoelectric cooler 70. The relay with H-Bridge 34 regulates direction of the current to the thermoelectric cooler 70, for cool the interior as desire.

The thermoelectric cooler 70 uses ‘Peltier Effect’ for heating/cooling. The Peltier effect is a temperature difference created by applying a voltage between two electrodes connected to a sample of semiconductor material. The thermoelectric cooler 70 is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, with consumption of electrical energy, depending on the direction of the current. The air from the air blowing means 60 is allowed to flow from the cooler surface of the thermoelectric cooler 70 and then through the conduit 50. The conduit 50 enables to direct air in the desired direction to achieve maximum cooling inside the vehicle. In another embodiment, the thermoelectric cooler 70 is disposed on a portion of the conduit 50 thereby cooling the air passing through the conduit 50. In an embodiment, the conduit 50 is a hollow tube made of metal or plastic.

Therefore, the system 100 provides an advantage of cooling the interior of the vehicle in parked condition. The system 100 does not require power from the engine for working as the system 100 uses solar energy for its operation. Also, the system 100 is economical in construction and operation. Furthermore, the system 100 is robust in construction. Moreover, the system 100 is easy to manufacture.

While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention as claimed.