Ventilated seat integrated into vehicle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system
AssigneeRivian IP Holdings, LLC
InventorsGraham Lloyd Feltham, Jake DeBoer, Kamalesh Bhambare
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ventilated seat, a vehicle including the ventilated seat, and a method of controlling airflow in a vehicle having a ventilated seat are provided. The ventilated seat includes a seat cushion assembly and an air duct configured to interface with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) module of the vehicle and provide conditioned air from the HVAC module to the seat cushion assembly. The HVAC module of the vehicle further provides conditioned air to an interior cabin of the vehicle through at least one air vent.
Claims19
A ventilated seat for a vehicle comprising:
- a seat cushion assembly comprising a bottom cushion and a back cushion;
- and
- an air duct configured to provide conditioned air to the seat cushion assembly from an HVAC module that further provides additional conditioned air to an interior cabin of the vehicle,
- wherein:
- the bottom cushion comprises a first air diffusion assembly configured to diffuse the conditioned air through a surface of the bottom cushion;
- and
- the back cushion comprises a second air diffusion assembly configured to diffuse the conditioned air through a surface of the back cushion.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) module configured to provide conditioned air;
- an air vent configured to direct conditioned air provided by the HVAC module to an interior cabin of the vehicle;
- a ventilated seat comprising:
- a seat cushion assembly comprising a seat temperature sensor and an electric seat heater;
- and
- an air duct configured to interface with the HVAC module of the vehicle and provide conditioned air from the HVAC module to the seat cushion assembly;
- and
- control circuitry configured to:
- detect a seat temperature of the ventilated seat via the seat temperature sensor;
- determine whether a difference between a desired temperature and the detected seat temperature is greater than a threshold value;
- in response to determining that the difference between the desired temperature and the detected seat temperature is greater than the threshold value, activate the electric seat heater;
- and
- in response to determining that the desired temperature is equal to the detected seat temperature, deactivating the electric seat heater.
A method of controlling airflow in a vehicle having a ventilated seat, the method comprising:
- providing conditioned air to the ventilated seat;
- determining, when heating, that an occupant of the ventilated seat has left the ventilated seat;
- and
- in response to determining that the occupant of the ventilated seat has left the ventilated seat, stopping the providing of the conditioned air to the ventilated seat and activating electric heating in the ventilated seat,
- wherein conditioned air provided to a cabin of the vehicle and the conditioned air provided to the ventilated seat are provided from a single heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.