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US 12,304,274 B2Granted
Vehicle seat for storing thermal energy for occupant comfort
AssigneeRivian IP Holdings, LLC
InventorsGraham Lloyd Feltham, Jake DeBoer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for determining, by processing circuitry, a vehicle occupant has left a seat of a vehicle (or the seat is unoccupied), and in response to determining the vehicle occupant has left the seat (or the seat is unoccupied), causing a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the vehicle to thermally store energy in the seat.
Claims20
A vehicle, comprising:
- a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured to provide conditioned air via an air vent;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- determine a vehicle occupant has left a seat of the vehicle;
- and
- in response to determining the vehicle occupant has left the seat, cause the HVAC system to thermally store energy in the seat by causing at least a portion of the conditioned air to be redirected to the seat.
3 more elements
A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a vehicle, the HVAC system comprising:
- input/output (I/O) circuitry configured to:
- receive a sensor signal that indicates whether a seat of the vehicle is unoccupied;
- and
- processing circuitry configured to:
- cause conditioned air to be provided via an air vent;
- determine, based on the sensor signal, the seat is unoccupied;
- and
- in response to determining that the seat is unoccupied, cause the HVAC system to thermally store energy in the seat by causing at least a portion of the conditioned air to be redirected to the seat.
5 more elements
A method, comprising:
- determining, by processing circuitry, whether a seat of a vehicle is unoccupied, wherein the vehicle comprises a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured to provide conditioned air via an air vent;
- and
- in response to determining that the seat is unoccupied, causing the HVAC system to thermally store energy in the seat by causing at least a portion of the conditioned air to be redirected to the seat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.