Heat exchange – With vehicle feature
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-14
2001-05-29
Lateef, Marvin M. (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
With vehicle feature
C165S288000, C165S291000, C219S202000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237675
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to methods and control systems for temperature controlled vehicle seats. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and control systems for automatically controlling the temperature of vehicle seats.
BACKGROUND ART
A fundamental goal of automotive heating and cooling systems is to make vehicle occupants comfortable. The effectiveness of heating and cooling systems is largely dependent on the ability of the temperature conditioned air to contact and surround all portions of the occupant's body. However, in applications such as vehicles and the like, the occupants are typically fixed in one position with a large portion of the body's surface against the surface of a seat. In such applications, the distribution of temperature conditioned air into the cabin of the vehicle to heat or cool the occupant is less effective due to the somewhat limited surface area of contact with the occupant's body.
To address this problem, many current vehicles utilize temperature controlled seats in order to properly heat or cool an occupant's body. The current heated seats, however, suffer from a variety of disadvantages. First, these heated seats are manually actuated by a driver or passenger and have a limited number of settings. The typical number of settings available with current heated seats is 1 to 5. While these systems will control the temperature of the seat based on the setting selected, these seats have a difficult time maintaining a desired temperature. Consequently, the temperature of these current heated seats is constantly being adjusted in order to provide a constant and comfortable temperature.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and control system for automatically controlling the temperature of heated vehicle seats that eliminates the need to turn the heat source on and off as well as to continually adjust the temperature setting.
It-is another object of the present invention to provide a method and control system for automatically controlling the temperature to which a vehicle seat is heated or cooled based on a variety of climate conditions.
In accordance with the objects of the present invention, a method for automatically controlling the temperature of a vehicle seat is provided. The system includes a plurality of sensors that are in communication with a controller. A first sensor determines the amount of sunload that is being applied to the vehicle. A second sensor determines the air temperature outside of the vehicle or the outside temperature. A third sensor determines the vehicle interior temperature. The controller is also in communication with a set controller that indicates the seat temperature that a user desires. These factors are fed into the controller and then weighted appropriately. Based on these values, the amount of heat or cold to be applied to the seat is calculated in the controller and then automatically applied to the seat.
In accordance with another object, the amount of heat or cold to be applied to the seat is calculated and then automatically applied to the seat. The temperature of the seat is detected and fed back to the controller to ensure that the seat is heated or cooled to the proper temperature.
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Dage Gerhard Allan
Foster Lee Davidson
Girard Hilton W.
Hoeschele John David
Oehring Chris George
Ciric Ljiljana V.
Coppiellie Raymond L.
Ford Global Technolgies, Inc.
Lateef Marvin M.
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