Headlamp heater control
AssigneePACCAR Inc
InventorsScott M. Conway, G. Thomas Checketts
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Examples of the present disclosure relate to techniques for headlamp heater control. In examples, a headlight assembly comprises a heater, which is used to prevent or remove condensation/precipitation on a lens of the headlamp assembly. Given it may be difficult for an individual to know when to manually turn the headlamp heater on, an electronic control unit (ECU) may evaluate a set of rules to determine when to automatically enable or disable the headlamp heater. The rules may be associated with atmospheric conditions outside the vehicle, the state of the vehicle (e.g., whether windshield wipers are turned on, whether windshield defog is enabled, whether a mirror heater is turned on, etc.), and/or user input received by an ECU of the vehicle, among other examples.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a headlamp assembly comprising a headlamp heater;
- and
- an electronic control unit comprising:
- at least one processor;
- and
- memory, operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a set of operations, the set of operations comprising:
- determining that a state of a controller matches a predetermined state;
- determining that an outside air temperature is within a predetermined temperature range;
- and
- based on determining that the state of the controller matches the predetermined state and that the outside air temperature is within the predetermined temperature range, enabling the headlamp heater.
A method comprising:
- determining a state of a controller of a component of a vehicle;
- determining that the state of the controller matches a predetermined state;
- determining that an outside air temperature is within a predetermined temperature range;
- and
- based on determining that the state of the controller matches the predetermined state and that the outside air temperature is within the predetermined temperature range, enabling a headlamp heater of a headlamp of the vehicle.
A method comprising:
- determining a state of a controller of a component of a vehicle, wherein the controller is associated with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the vehicle, and wherein the predetermined state is one that indicates the HVAC system is configured in a windshield defog operating mode;
- determining that the state of the controller matches a predetermined state;
- determining that an outside air temperature is within a predetermined temperature range;
- and
- based on determining that the state of the controller matches the predetermined state and that the outside air temperature is within the predetermined temperature range, enabling a headlamp heater of a headlamp of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.