US 5,653,386 A · System for controlling climate within a vehicle

Abstract

A system for vehicle climate control comprises a number of sensors probing the speed of the vehicle, the position of climate temperature unit and mode doors, the speed of the fan, ambient and interior temperature, and airflow setting. In a body controller, the probed data are correlated to look-up table values to keep the airflow volume constant and to decrease voltage applied to a fan motor when the speed of the vehicle increases. A method of practicing the climate control implemented in the system comprises a sequence of steps providing sensing a number of parameters, defining and storing in a controller memory a data characterizing relationship between the speed of the vehicle and the other parameters of the system, and correlating the sensed and stored data to maintain the airflow volume substantially constant.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A vehicle climate control system comprising:

a fan for forcing air into a passenger compartment of said vehicle,
an electric motor driving said fan,
a power module operating said motor,
a plurality of sensors perceiving respective perturbing factors influencing a climate in said vehicle, including a vehicle speed sensor, an airflow setting sensor, a climate control unit temperature sensor, and air distribution door position sensors, and
a controller comprising a memory unit,
sensors of said plurality of sensors being connected to said controller to provide the same with respective data for correlation said data to look-up table values stored in said memory unit of said controller,
said controller being connected to said power module, to provide the same with a signal resulting from said correlation and to cause a power module output voltage applied to said electric motor to be regulated, to thereby keep a speed of rotation of said fan regulated to keep a volume of airflow supplied from said fan to said passenger compartment invariant to said respective perturbing factors.

4 more elements

A method of maintaining a preselected regime in a vehicle climate control system having an inlet duct for taking ambient air, a means for temperature affecting a flow of said ambient air, means for distributing the same into a passenger compartment of said vehicle by virtue of a fan driven by a motor, and a means controlling said regime and affecting a voltage applied to said motor, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) sensing data characterizing a speed of said vehicle;
(b) sensing data characterizing a selected level of delivery of said ambient airflow into said passenger compartment;
(c) sensing data characterizing status of said temperature affecting means and said distributing means;
(d) defining data characterizing relationship between said speed of said vehicle and a speed of said fan;
(e) storing in said controlling means said data defined in step (d);
(f) defining data characterizing the extent to which said speed of said fan is affected by said status of said temperature affecting means;
(g) storing in said controlling means said data defined in step (f);
(h) defining data characterizing the extent to which said speed of said fan is affected by an amount of wanted air delivery into said passenger compartment;
(i) storing in said controlling means said data defined in step (h);
and
(j) correlating said sensed data to said stored data to generate a signal maintaining a substantially constant airflow volume supplied to said passenger compartment and decreasing said voltage when said speed of said vehicle increases.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System for controlling climate within a vehicle

Life of this patent

System for controlling climate within a vehicle

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims13