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US 9,868,377 B2Granted
Vehicle heated cup holder system
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorKenan Kurtovic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heated cup holder system for a vehicle includes a sleeve receivable onto a container, the sleeve of a predefined inductance, and a cup holder including an induction-heating element operable to induce a current within the sleeve, thereby heating the sleeve.
Claims26
A heated cup holder system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a sleeve having a sidewall by which the sleeve is receivable onto and around a container to form a container/sleeve combination, the sleeve including an insulated conductive layer along the sidewall;
- and
- a cup holder having a bottom surface and a wall surface by which the cup holder is serviceable as a receptacle for the container/sleeve combination, the cup holder including an induction-heating element, the induction-heating element operable, when the sleeve is received in the cup holder, to induce a current in the insulated conductive layer, thereby heating the sleeve.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a heated cup holder system including:
- a cup holder having a bottom surface and a wall surface by which the cup holder is serviceable as a receptacle, the cup holder including an induction-heating element, the induction-heating element operable to induce a current in conductive items received in the cup holder;
- a sleeve having a sidewall by which the sleeve is receivable onto and around a container to form a container/sleeve combination receivable in the cup holder, the sleeve including an insulated conductive layer along the sidewall, the insulated conductive layer responsive, when the sleeve is received in the cup holder, to operation of the induction-heating element to have a current induced therein, whereby the sleeve is heated;
- and
- at least one sensor operable to detect information about the cup holder;
- and
- a control system in communication with the heated cup holder system, the control system operable to operate the induction-heating element based on the detected information about the cup holder.
4 more elements
A vehicle, comprising:
- a heated cup holder system including:
- a cup holder having a bottom surface and a wall surface by which the cup holder is serviceable as a receptacle, the cup holder including an induction-heating element, the induction-heating element operable to induce a current in conductive items received in the cup holder;
- an open-ended sleeve having a resilient sidewall by which the sleeve is receivable onto and around containers with varying diameters to form respective container/sleeve combinations receivable in the cup holder, the sleeve including an insulated conductive layer along the sidewall, the insulated conductive layer manufactured of a ferromagnetic material defining a predefined inductance of the sleeve, insulated by a surrounding outer layer along the sidewall, and responsive, when the sleeve is received in the cup holder, to operation of the induction-heating element to have a current induced therein, whereby the sleeve is heated;
- an induction sensor operable to detect the inductance of conductive items received in the cup holder;
- and
- a temperature sensor operable to detect the temperature of items received in the cup holder;
- and
- a head unit in communication with the heated cup holder system, the head unit operable to:
- implement user controls for the heated cup holder system;
- and
- operate the induction-heating element only when the detected inductance is the predefined inductance, the operation according to the user controls and based on the detected temperature.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.