Vehicle door closure cabin pressure relief system
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsDavid Arthur Wade, Paul Elia, James Antime Marleau, Paul Repp, Richard E. Newton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An active pressure relief system for a vehicle cabin in response to a cabin-door closure. An air-extractor may be configured to open when a cabin-door is opened, and remain open until the last of a number of cabin-doors are closed. The air-extractor allows for the increased pressure resulting from the cabin-door closure to be equalized with the external environment through the air-extractor. After the last of a number of cabin-doors are closed, the air-extractor closes to inhibit noise and external elements from entering the cabin through the air-extractor.
Claims20
A vehicle cabin pressure-relief system comprising:
- an air-extractor in fluid communication with a vehicle cabin;
- a door-position sensor for indicating a closed and non-closed position of a cabin-door;
- and
- a controller in communication with the door-position sensor and programmed to open the air-extractor based upon the cabin-door being in the non-closed position.
A vehicle cabin pressure relief system for reducing cabin pressure build-up during closure of a door, the system comprising:
- a controller programmed to maintain a cabin-valve in an open position based on a door being open such that an increase in air pressure within the cabin caused by the closure of the door is equalized with an external environment through the cabin-valve.
A method of controlling pressure increase in a vehicle cabin caused by a closure of a cabin-door comprising:
- opening a cabin-valve in response to an opening of a cabin-door;
- maintaining the cabin-valve in an open position while a cabin-door is open allowing increased cabin pressure caused by a cabin-door closure to pass through the cabin-valve;
- and
- closing the cabin-valve in response to a closing of a cabin-door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.