Vehicle air conditioner drip valve diagnostics
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsAed M. Dudar, Mahmoud Yousef Ghannam, Brian Bennie
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for detecting a malfunction in a vehicle air conditioner (A/C) drip valve receives a trigger signal to initiate a vehicle A/C drip valve diagnostic for a vehicle, obtains a first image of a target area at a first time when the target area is dry, obtains a second image of the target area after operation of a vehicle A/C at a second time after the first time, compares the first image to the second image to determine a presence or absence of condensate from the vehicle A/C, and determines whether the vehicle A/C drip valve is malfunctioning based upon the comparison.
Claims20
A system, comprising a computer having a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to:
- obtain a first image of a target area that is exterior to a vehicle air conditioner (A/C) of a vehicle at a first time when the target area is dry;
- obtain a second image of the target area after operation of the vehicle A/C at a second time after the first time;
- compare the first image to the second image to determine a presence of condensate or an absence of condensate from the vehicle A/C;
- and
- make a determination whether an A/C drip valve is malfunctioning based upon the comparison and actuate a component based on the determination.
A method for detecting a vehicle air conditioner (A/C) drip valve malfunction, comprising:
- obtaining a first image of a target area that is exterior to a vehicle A/C of a vehicle at a first time when the target area is dry;
- obtaining a second image of the target area after operation of the vehicle A/C at a second time after the first time;
- comparing the first image to the second image to determine a presence of condensate or an absence of condensate from the vehicle A/C;
- and
- making a determination whether the vehicle A/C drip valve is malfunctioning based upon the comparison and actuating a component based on the determination.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.