阅读说明：本技术 电动阀控制装置以及具备该电动阀控制装置的电动阀装置 (Electric valve control device and electric valve device provided with same ) 是由 萩元大志 佐藤洁治 小川善朗 于 2018-11-22 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供一种能够可靠地防止因失步引起的阀开度的控制精度的降低的电动阀控制装置以及具备该电动阀控制装置的电动阀装置。当检测到电动阀(9)的当前的开度与存储于电动阀控制装置(11)的开度不同的失步时,向外部(作为系统控制装置的空调ECU(16))输出初始化请求信号。(Provided are an electric valve control device and an electric valve device provided with the electric valve control device, wherein the reduction of the control accuracy of the valve opening caused by step loss can be reliably prevented. When a step-out is detected in which the current opening degree of the motor-operated valve (9) is different from the opening degree stored in the motor-operated valve control device (11), an initialization request signal is output to the outside (an air conditioning ECU (16) as a system control device).)

1. An electric valve control device for controlling the valve opening of an electric valve, characterized in that,

when a step-out is detected in which the current valve opening of the electric valve is different from the valve opening stored in the electric valve control device, an initialization request signal is output to the outside.

2. The electric valve control device according to claim 1,

has a non-volatile memory part, and a nonvolatile memory part,

a flag indicating that the initialization request signal has been output to the outside is stored in the storage unit, and the flag is cleared from the storage unit after initialization is performed.

3. The electric valve control device according to claim 2,

when an initialization request flag is stored at the time of startup, the initialization request signal is output to the outside.

4. The electric valve control apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,

when the initialization request flag is not stored at the time of startup, the initialization request signal is not output to the outside.

5. The electric valve control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by having:

a transmission/reception unit that transmits/receives signals to/from the outside;

a calculation unit that calculates a control signal for the valve opening of the electrically operated valve based on a signal received from the outside by the transmission/reception unit;

a motor driving unit that operates a motor of the electrically operated valve in accordance with a control signal for a valve opening degree of the electrically operated valve from the calculation unit; and

and an out-of-step detection unit that detects out-of-step of the electrically operated valve.

6. The electric valve control apparatus according to claim 5,

the motor drive unit has the step-out detection unit.

7. The electric valve control apparatus according to claim 5,

the arithmetic section has the step-out detecting section,

the step-out detection unit detects step-out of the electrically operated valve based on a rotation angle detected by a rotation angle detection unit of a motor attached to the electrically operated valve and a rotation angle stored in the electrically operated valve control device.

8. The electric valve control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

in the communication for controlling the valve opening of the electrically operated valve, LIN communication, CAN communication, or FlexRay communication is used.

9. An electric valve device is characterized in that,

the electric valve control apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 8 assembled integrally with the electric valve.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electrically operated valve control device that controls a valve opening degree of an electrically operated valve, and an electrically operated valve device provided with the electrically operated valve control device.

Background

Conventionally, in a refrigeration cycle system used for an air conditioner, a refrigerator/freezer showcase, or the like, flow rate adjustment of a circulating refrigerant is performed for the purpose of stabilizing a cooling capacity, making a degree of superheat constant, and performing efficient operation, but in order to perform adjustment at this time with high accuracy, an electrically operated valve as an electric expansion valve or a flow rate control valve in which a valve body is operated by a stepping motor is widely used. Further, there are also electrically operated valves such as a shut-off valve for opening and closing a refrigerant flow path using a stepping motor to flow or shut off the refrigerant, and a three-way valve (flow path switching valve) for switching the flow direction of the refrigerant. (see, for example, patent document 1).

However, in the electrically operated valve using the stepping motor, the opening degree is generally controlled by open-loop control without feedback of an absolute opening degree (actual opening degree), and the valve element in the valve is stopped at a position when the power supply is stopped, without returning to an initial position. Therefore, there is a problem that the position (absolute opening) at which the valve element stops cannot be accurately grasped the next time the power is turned on.

Therefore, in the control of the electrically operated valve or the like using the stepping motor, initialization (also referred to as origin position determination, base point position determination, initialization, or the like) is usually performed at the time of power-on or the like, and the control of the opening degree is started after the position of the valve element is determined (for example, see patent document 2). Here, the initialization is a process of sufficiently rotating the stepping motor in the valve closing direction or the valve opening direction by the number of pulses exceeding the entire stroke from the fully open position to the fully closed position or from the fully closed position to the fully open position, specifically, for example, by the number of pulses for which the rotation of the stepping motor is stopped by the rotor of the stepping motor reliably colliding with a stopper called a stopper, thereby determining the initial position of the 0 pulse or the maximum pulse of the motor-operated valve.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an electric valve control device capable of reliably preventing a decrease in the control accuracy of the valve opening degree due to step-out, and an electric valve device provided with the electric valve control device.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problem, an electric valve control device according to the present invention is an electric valve control device for controlling a valve opening of an electric valve, wherein an initialization request signal is outputted to an outside when a step-out is detected in which a current valve opening of the electric valve is different from a valve opening stored in the electric valve control device.

In a preferred embodiment, the memory device includes a nonvolatile memory unit, and the memory unit stores a flag indicating that the initialization request signal has been output to the outside, and clears the flag from the memory unit after initialization is performed.

In another preferred embodiment, the initialization request signal is output to the outside when an initialization request flag is stored at the time of startup.

In another preferred embodiment, when the initialization request flag is not stored at the time of startup, the initialization request signal is not output to the outside.

In another preferred embodiment, the method comprises: a transmission/reception unit that transmits/receives signals to/from the outside; a calculation unit that calculates a control signal for the valve opening of the electrically operated valve based on a signal received from the outside by the transmission/reception unit; a motor driving unit that operates a motor of the electrically operated valve in accordance with a control signal for a valve opening degree of the electrically operated valve from the calculation unit; and an out-of-step detection unit that detects out-of-step of the electrically operated valve.

In another preferred aspect, the motor drive unit includes the step-out detection unit.

In another preferred aspect, the calculation unit includes the step-out detection unit, and the step-out detection unit detects the step-out of the electrically operated valve based on a rotation angle detected by a rotation angle detection unit provided in a motor of the electrically operated valve and a rotation angle stored in the electrically operated valve control device.

In another preferred embodiment, LIN communication, CAN communication or FlexRay communication is used for communication for controlling the valve opening of the electric valve.

In the electric valve device according to the present invention, the electric valve control device is integrally assembled with the electric valve.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, since the initialization request signal is output to the outside when step-out is detected, initialization is performed every time step-out is detected, and therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent a decrease in the control accuracy of the valve opening degree due to step-out.

Further, since the flag indicating that the initialization request signal has been output to the outside is stored in the nonvolatile storage portion and the flag is cleared from the nonvolatile storage portion after the initialization is performed, the initialization request signal is output and, when the power supply is turned off after the flag is stored in the nonvolatile storage portion until the initialization is actually performed or during the initialization, the flag is stored in the nonvolatile storage portion if the initialization is not completed, and therefore, if the flag of the nonvolatile storage portion is not cleared at the next startup (for example, at the time of power supply on, at the time of recovery from the sleep mode, or the like), the initialization request signal can be output to the outside, whereby the initialization can be reliably performed, and thus, the reduction in the control accuracy of the valve opening due to the step loss can be reliably prevented. Further, since the initialization request signal is not output to the outside when the startup flag is cleared, the life of the motor-operated valve is not shortened by performing unnecessary initialization.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a system block diagram of a first embodiment of an electric valve control device and an electric valve device including the electric valve control device according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing a process flow of step-out detection by the motor-operated valve control device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a process flow of initialization by the electric valve control apparatus shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a system block diagram of a second embodiment of an electric valve control device according to the present invention and an electric valve device including the electric valve control device.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a process flow of step-out detection by the electric valve control apparatus shown in fig. 4.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(first embodiment)

[ electric valve control device and electric valve device structure having the same ]

Fig. 1 is a system block diagram of a first embodiment of an electric valve control device and an electric valve device including the electric valve control device according to the present invention. In the following description, a case where the electric valve control device according to the present invention is applied to an expansion valve of a refrigeration cycle used for an automobile air conditioner will be described as an example.

In the electric valve device 12 of the illustrated embodiment, the electric valve 9 and the electric valve control device 11 are connected by a lead wire or the like, and are assembled integrally without being separated from each other, the electric valve 9 is composed of the expansion valve 5 and the stepping motor 8, the expansion valve 5 has a valve body (not illustrated) that controls the flow rate of the fluid (refrigerant), the stepping motor 8 drives the valve body of the expansion valve 5, and the valve opening degree of the expansion valve 5 (electric valve 9) is adjusted by the rotation of the stepping motor 8. Instead of the expansion valve 5, a shutoff valve that opens and closes a flow path of the refrigerant to flow or block the refrigerant, a three-way valve (flow path switching valve) that switches the flow direction of the refrigerant, a flow rate adjustment valve other than the use as an expansion valve, or the like may be used.

Although not shown in the drawings, in a refrigeration cycle used for an automobile air conditioner, for example, a compressor, a condenser, (the expansion valve 5 of) the motor-operated valve 9, and an evaporator are connected in this order via a pipe, and the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the pipe is controlled by adjusting the valve opening degree of (the expansion valve 5 of) the motor-operated valve 9, or the like.

The electrically operated valve control device 11 is connected to a battery power supply (+ Vb, GND) of the vehicle, and is connected to, for example, a LIN bus (or CAN bus, FlexRay bus) 14 as an on-vehicle LAN used for communication in the vehicle. The electrically-operated valve control device 11 operates as a slave node, and receives commands such as a pulse number of the stepping motor 8, a signal for instructing an initialization operation, and the like from an LIN communication signal (CAN communication signal in the case of CAN bus, FlexRay communication signal in the case of FlexRay bus) transmitted from the air-conditioning ECU16 of the master, which is a control device of the system connected to the same LIN bus 14, and controls the opening degree (valve opening degree) of the electrically-operated valve 9 (expansion valve 5).

The communication method between the air conditioner ECU16 and the electrically-operated valve control device 11 includes the above-described input/output to/from a serial interface (LIN communication, CAN communication, FlexRay communication, or the like: "LIN communication or the like" hereinafter), input/output to/from an I/O port based ON a digital signal (ON-OFF signal or the like), input/output based ON wireless (Wi-Fi (registered trademark), bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like), and the like, and any method CAN be used, and is not limited to the above-described LIN communication or the like. In fig. 1, LIN communication, which is an on-vehicle LAN generally used in an automobile air conditioner or the like, is applied, and therefore, transmission and reception of an initialization request signal, an initialization instruction signal, and the like, which will be described later, for controlling the motor-operated valve control device 11 are performed by LIN communication. Thus, by using LIN communication, which is an existing on-vehicle LAN, it is not necessary to install a new transmission/reception signal line.

The electric valve control device 11 is mainly configured by mounting a regulator 11a, a microcomputer 11b as an arithmetic section, a LIN transceiver 11c as a transmission/reception section, a stepping motor driver 11d as a motor drive section, and an EEPROM11e as a storage section on, for example, a substrate not shown, and the regulator 11a generates a power supply + Vc (for example +5Vdc) used in an internal circuit of the electric valve control device 11 from a battery power supply + Vb (for example +12 Vdc); the microcomputer 11b has a ROM that stores a program or the like for controlling the rotation of the stepping motor 8 based on an LIN communication signal transmitted from the air conditioner ECU16 through the LIN bus 14, a CPU that performs execution of the program stored in the ROM, arithmetic processing, a RAM that temporarily stores data necessary for execution of the program such as the state of initialization operation, communication data, and the like, an I/O circuit that performs input and output with peripheral circuits, a timer that measures the time for interrupt processing and the like, an a/D converter that converts an analog signal into a digital value, and the like; the LIN transceiver 11c is connected between the LIN bus 14 and the microcomputer 11b, and can perform LIN communication with the microcomputer 11b by converting the voltage level of the LIN bus into a circuit voltage level inside the motor-operated valve control device 11; the stepping motor driver 11d controls the rotation of the stepping motor 8 of the electric valve 9 based on a control signal from the microcomputer 11 b; EEPROM11e is a nonvolatile memory, is connected to microcomputer 11b, and stores data (for example, an initialization request flag described later) that needs to be held even when the power supply is turned off or the mode is switched to the sleep mode, out of RAM data of microcomputer 11 b. Further, an IC in which two or more of the regulator 11a, the LIN transceiver 11c, the stepping motor driver 11d, the EEPROM11e, and the microcomputer 11b are integrated may be used, and in this case, the device can be further miniaturized.

The specific configuration of the electric valve control device 11 is not limited to the above configuration, and any configuration may be used as long as the present invention can be implemented (that is, valve opening control, initialization control, and the like of the electric valve 9 can be implemented).

Since it is necessary to determine, for example, the 0 pulse as the initial position of the motor-operated valve 9 when the motor-operated valve control device 11 turns on the battery power supply, the air-conditioning ECU16 transmits a command (initialization instruction signal) to execute an initialization operation of rotating the stepping motor 8, for example, by the maximum number of pulses or more in the valve closing direction, to the motor-operated valve control device 11 through the LIN communication signal via the LIN bus 14. Here, the maximum number of pulses is the number of pulses applied to the stepping motor 8 during a period from a lower limit position (a limit position at which the spool can move in a downward direction) to an upper limit position (a limit position at which the spool can move in an upward direction) of the spool, or the number of pulses applied to the stepping motor 8 during a period from an upper limit position to a lower limit position of the spool, and for example, the lower limit position of the spool is a fully closed position and the upper limit position is a fully open position. The current position of the valve element is the number of pulses that are applied (increased or decreased) in the valve opening or closing direction to move the valve element between the fully closed position and the fully open position with the lower limit position of the valve element as 0 pulse. Of course, the number of applied pulses may be counted with the upper limit position of the valve element being set to 0 pulses.

Since the current position (pulse number) of the stepping motor 8 is not known when the battery power is turned on or the like, the electric valve control device 11 that has received the LIN communication signal initializes (initializes the electric valve 9) the stepping motor 8 by rotating the stepping motor 8 in the valve closing direction by a pulse number (for example, 700 pulses or more) (0-pulse initial position determination) obtained by adding a sufficient pulse number necessary for the rotor to reliably collide with the stopper (rotation stopper) to the maximum pulse number (for example, 500 pulses) that can be controlled by the electric valve 9. Alternatively, the initialization of rotating the stepping motor 8 in the valve opening direction may be performed instead of the initialization of rotating the stepping motor 8 in the valve closing direction.

In a normal state, the microcomputer 11b of the electric valve control device 11 controls the valve opening degree of the electric valve 9 (expansion valve 5) based on a control signal transmitted from the air conditioning ECU16 via the LIN bus 14 as a signal transmission/reception line, and detects a step-out (also referred to as a stall detection) in which the current valve opening degree is different from the valve opening degree managed by the microcomputer 11b in the RAM. The microcomputer 11b executes initialization each time the step-out is detected, prepares an initialization request flag for executing initialization in advance, and stores the state of the initialization request flag in the EEPROM11e (described later in detail).

In this example, the stepping motor driver 11d has a function (step-out detecting section) of detecting the step-out. The detection function of the stepping motor driver 11d is a function of monitoring the applied voltage and the fluctuation range when controlling the rotation angle of the stepping motor 8, and determining that the stepping motor is out of step when the applied current value or the like exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

When receiving the power supply shutoff signal or the sleep mode transition signal from the air conditioning ECU16, the microcomputer 11b stops the operation of the operating electric valve 9 (expansion valve 5), for example, and shuts off the power supply to the electric valve control device 11 or transitions to the sleep mode.

Here, the sleep mode is a mode in which power is turned on but power is saved by limiting or stopping a part of the functions of the microcomputer 11 b. At this time, the operation shifts to a state where the RAM temporarily storing the valve opening information is not held. For example, power saving can be achieved by shifting to the sleep mode while data transmission and reception are not performed, and returning from the sleep mode when data transmission is detected.

When the power supply is turned on again via the air conditioner ECU16 or when the vehicle returns from the sleep mode, the microcomputer 11b starts the control of the electric valve 9 (valve opening degree control) again.

[ step-out detection and initialization of electric valve in electric valve control device ]

Next, the flow of processing for step-out detection and initialization of (the microcomputer 11b of) the electric valve control apparatus 11 will be described with reference to fig. 2 and 3. This processing is performed at regular intervals, for example.

As shown in fig. 2, the microcomputer 11b checks a signal at the time of step-out (i.e., whether or not step-out is occurring) output by the detection function of the above-described stepping motor driver 11d at regular intervals (step S21).

When the microcomputer 11b detects the signal of step-out (yes in step S21), it transmits an initialization request signal to the air-conditioning ECU16 via the LIN bus 14 (step S22). In addition, microcomputer 11b sets an initialization request flag (set to 1) prepared in advance and stores it in EEPROM11e (step S23).

As shown in fig. 3, when the initialization is performed, the microcomputer 11b checks at regular intervals whether or not there is an initialization instruction signal from the air conditioner ECU16 (via the LIN bus 14) that received the initialization request signal (step S31).

When the initialization instruction signal is present (yes in step S31), the microcomputer 11b performs initialization (for example, a process of rotating the stepping motor 8 in the valve closing direction by the maximum number of pulses or more (for example, 700 pulses or more)) (step S32).

Subsequently, microcomputer 11b determines whether or not the initialization request flag stored in EEPROM11e is 1 (step S33).

If the initialization request flag stored in EEPROM11e is 1 (step S33: yes) (i.e., in the case where initialization has been performed in the case where the signal of step-out is detected), then microcomputer 11b clears the initialization request flag (set to 0) and stores it in EEPROM11e (step S34). In this control, the storage area of EEPROM11e in which the initialization request flag is set identifies the state in which the initialization request flag is set as 1 and the state in which the initialization request flag is cleared as 0.

On the other hand, if the initialization request flag stored in EEPROM11e is not 1 (step S33: no) (for example, in the case where initialization is already performed in response to an initialization instruction from air conditioner ECU16 at the time of power-on in normal use or at the time of return from sleep mode, or the like), step S34 is skipped and the process is ended.

After the step-out detection and initialization are completed, the electric valve 9 is in a normal operation state, and the valve opening degree control of the electric valve 9 is started in accordance with an instruction from the air conditioning ECU 16.

In the above control, the state in which the initialization request flag is stored in the storage area of EEPROM11e is set to 1, and the state in which the initialization request flag is cleared is set to 0, but any specific signal may be used as long as it can be recognized whether or not the initialization request flag is stored. For example, the state in which the initialization request flag is stored may be set to 0, and the cleared state may be set to 1, or other numbers may be used. Further, a flag indicating a state in which the initialization request flag is stored and a flag indicating a state in which the initialization request flag is not stored (that is, a state in which the flag is cleared) may be provided as other configurations.

[ effects of the operation of the electric valve control device and the electric valve device having the electric valve control device ]

As described above, in the electrically-operated valve control device 11 of the present embodiment, since the initialization request signal is output to the outside (the air conditioning ECU16 as the control device of the system) when step-out is detected, initialization is performed every time step-out is detected, and therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent a decrease in the control accuracy of the valve opening degree due to step-out.

In addition, since an initialization request flag indicating that an initialization request signal is outputted to the outside is stored in EEPROM (non-volatile storage) 11e, and clears the initialization request flag from EEPROM11e after the initialization is performed, thus outputting an initialization request signal, after the initialization request flag is stored in EEPROM11e (set to 1) and before the initialization is actually performed or in the middle of the initialization, in the case where the power supply is suddenly cut off due to, for example, a short circuit or disconnection of the lead wires, since the state in which the initialization is not completed is stored in EEPROM11e, therefore, at the next start-up (for example, at the time of power-on or at the time of recovery from sleep mode, etc.), the initialization request flag of EEPROM11e is set to 1, and therefore, it is possible to output an initialization request signal from microcomputer 11b to the outside, this makes it possible to reliably perform initialization, and thus also reliably prevent a decrease in the control accuracy of the valve opening due to step-out.

In addition, when the initialization request flag is not set at the time of startup, the initialization request signal is not output to the outside, and therefore unnecessary initialization is not performed, and the life of the motor-operated valve 9 is not shortened.

(second embodiment)

Fig. 4 is a system block diagram of a second embodiment of an electric valve control device according to the present invention and an electric valve device including the electric valve control device. The electric valve control device and the electric valve device including the electric valve control device according to the second embodiment are substantially the same in configuration as the electric valve control device 11 and the electric valve device 12 including the electric valve control device 11 according to the first embodiment, and are different from the first embodiment only in configuration and processing for detecting step loss. Therefore, the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted, and the differences will be described below.

That is, as shown in fig. 4, in the present embodiment, a rotation angle sensor 20 as a rotation angle detection unit is attached to the stepping motor 8 of the motor-operated valve 9, the rotation angle sensor 20 is formed of a magnetic sensor, and the microcomputer 11b of the motor-operated valve control device 11 detects the step-out of the motor-operated valve 9 using the rotation angle detected by the rotation angle sensor 20.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a process flow of step-out detection by (the microcomputer 11b of) the motor-operated valve control device 11 shown in fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 5, the microcomputer 11b obtains the actual measurement value of the valve opening degree of the electric valve 9 (expansion valve 5) by the rotation angle sensor 20 (step S51).

Next, the microcomputer 11b obtains a difference between the valve opening degree (theoretical value) of the motor-operated valve 9 (expansion valve 5) calculated based on the control signal transmitted from the air conditioner ECU16 and stored in the RAM thereof and the actual measurement value acquired in step S51 (step S52), and determines whether or not the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (step S53).

If the difference is equal to or greater than the threshold value (yes in step S53), the microcomputer 11b determines that it is out of synchronization and transmits an initialization request signal to the air-conditioning ECU16 via the LIN bus 14 (step S54). In addition, microcomputer 11b sets an initialization request flag (set to 1) prepared in advance and stores it in EEPROM11e (step S55).

On the other hand, if the difference is smaller than the threshold (NO in step S53), the microcomputer 11b determines that the step is not out of synchronization, and skips steps S54 and S55 to end the process.

In this case, the initialization can be performed by the same procedure as in the first embodiment.

In this way, in the electrically-operated valve control device 11 according to the second embodiment, since the initialization request signal is output to the outside (the air conditioning ECU16 as the system control device) even when step-out is detected, the use of the rotation angle sensor 20 can improve the accuracy of detection of step-out in addition to the operational advantages similar to those of the first embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the case where the electric valve control device 11 and the electric valve device 12 are applied to the expansion valve 5 (the electric valve 9) of the refrigeration cycle used for the automobile air conditioner is exemplified, but the invention is not limited to the expansion valve 5, and it is needless to say that the electric valve control device 11 and the electric valve device 12 of the present invention can be applied to any electric valve provided that the expansion valve 5 includes an inlet and an outlet for fluid, a valve body for controlling the flow rate of the fluid flowing out from the outlet, and a motor for driving the valve body. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to, for example, a motor-type shutoff valve that opens and closes a refrigerant flow path to flow or shut off the refrigerant, a three-way valve that switches the flow direction of the refrigerant, a flow path switching valve such as a four-way valve, and the like.

In each of the above embodiments, the process (initialization) of rotating the stepping motor 8 in the valve closing direction or the valve opening direction by the number of pulses exceeding the total stroke from the fully open position to the fully closed position or from the fully closed position to the fully open position has been described for initialization, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as the number of pulses to be rotated in the valve closing direction or the valve opening direction at the time of initialization, the number of pulses obtained by adding a predetermined number of pulses (for example, 200 pulses) sufficient for the rotor to reliably collide with the stopper to the number of pulses detected by the rotation angle sensor 20 at the time of step-out detection, or the number of pulses obtained by adding the predetermined number of pulses to the number of pulses managed in the RAM by the microcomputer 11b at the time of step-out detection may be used.

Description of the symbols

5 expansion valve

8 step motor

9 electric valve

11 electric valve control device

11a regulator

11b Microcomputer (arithmetic unit)

11c LIN transceiver (Transceiver signal part)

11d stepping motor driver (Motor drive part)

11e EEPROM (nonvolatile memory)

12 electric valve device

14 LIN bus

16 air conditioner ECU

20 rotation angle sensor (rotation angle detector)