Air registers including a rotatable shutter
AssigneeToyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.
InventorRoy C. Thorsell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air register including a blade member including a plurality of vertical blades and a side wall defining a rear opening, and a shutter rotatably coupled to the blade member, wherein rotation of the blade member in a rotation direction from a center state causes the shutter to rotate in the rotation direction and at least partially overlap the rear opening of the blade member, a rate of rotation of the shutter as the shutter rotates in the rotation direction is greater than a rate of rotation of the blade member as the blade member rotates in the rotation direction.
Claims19
An air register comprising:
- a blade member including a plurality of vertical blades and a side wall defining a rear opening;
- a shutter rotatably coupled to the blade member such that, when the air register is in an open position, air is permitted to enter the blade member through the rear opening and flow between the plurality of vertical blades, and when the air register is in a closed position, the shutter is rotated relative to the blade member to inhibit air from entering the blade member;
- and
- a housing defining an open interior, the blade member provided within the open interior of the housing and rotatably coupled to the housing.
A vehicle comprising:
- a dashboard;
- and
- an air register provided within the dashboard, the air register comprising:
- a housing fixed to the dashboard;
- a blade member rotatably coupled to the housing, the blade member including a plurality of vertical blades and a side wall defining a rear opening;
- and
- a shutter rotatably coupled to the blade member such that, when the air register is in an open position, air is permitted to enter the blade member through the rear opening and flow between the plurality of vertical blades, and when the air register is in a closed position, the shutter is rotated relative to the blade member to inhibit air from entering the blade member through the rear opening.
A method of operating an air register comprising a blade member including a plurality of vertical blades and a side wall defining a rear opening, and a shutter rotatably coupled to the blade member, the method comprising:
- rotating the blade member in a rotation direction from an open position in which the shutter permits air to enter the blade member through the rear opening and flow between the plurality of vertical blades;
- and
- automatically rotating the shutter to inhibit air from entering the blade member through the rear opening in response to the blade member rotating in the rotation direction from the open position to a closed in response to the blade member rotating in the rotation direction from the open position to a closed position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.