# US 10,369,865 B2 · Directional climate control system with infrared targeting

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- Number: US 10,369,865 B2
- Document ID: US10369865B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/831,486
- Filed: 2017-12-05
- Published: 2018-04-05
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-09-22
- Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
- Applicants: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
- Inventors: William Paul Perkins
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10369865B2

## CPC

- B60H 1/00742: {by detection of the vehicle occupants' presence; by detection of conditions relating to the body of occupants, e.g. using radiant heat detectors}
- B60H 1/00871: {Air directing means, e.g. blades in an air outlet (construction of nozzles or air diffusers B60H1/34)}
- B60H: ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES

## Abstract

A heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system has a steerable outlet for directing a stream of treated air into a passenger compartment of a vehicle. A thermographic imager is configured to capture thermographic images covering a fixed region within the passenger compartment in which an occupant is potentially located. The HVAC control circuit is configured to a) compress a thermographic image to a temperature map representing pixels of the thermographic image falling within a predetermined temperature range corresponding to the occupant, b) filter the temperature map according to a sliding window to coalesce continuous regions of pixels on average falling within the predetermined temperature range, c) quantify an area for each continuous region, d) locate a centroid of a continuous region having a largest area, and e) aim the steerable outlet toward the centroid.

## Claims

### Claim 1

Apparatus comprising:
a steerable outlet delivering temperature-treated air in a passenger compartment;
a thermographic imager capturing thermographic images of the passenger compartment; and
a controller compressing a thermographic image to a temperature map representing pixels falling within predetermined temperature ranges, filtering the map according to a sliding window to coalesce continuous pixel regions, quantifying an area for each continuous region, and steering the outlet toward a centroid of the continuous region having a largest area.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the thermographic imager is configured to capture thermographic images covering a fixed region within the passenger compartment in which an occupant is potentially located.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the steerable outlet has a variable focus controllable by the controller in response to a magnitude of the largest area.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an ambient temperature sensor measuring an external temperature outside the passenger compartment; and
a cabin temperature sensor measuring an internal temperature inside the passenger compartment;
wherein the controller selects the predetermined temperature range in response to the external and internal temperatures.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the steerable outlet has a variable flow rate controllable by the controller in response to the internal temperature.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the centroid of the continuous region is located in response to an average of orthogonal coordinates of the pixels of the region.