Air Supply Mechanism For a Vehicle Seat, and Method For the Operation Thereof

• US 20080136221A1
• Filed: 06/18/2005
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Daimler Chrysler Company LLC (Stellantis NV)
• Inventors: Hartmann, Dietmar, Pfahler, Karl, Renner, Lothar
• Granted Patent: US 7,621,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/180.14
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00821 the components being ventilating, air admitting or air distributing devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/2218 controlling the operation of electric heaters
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/247 Disposition of several air-diffusers in a vehicle for ventilation-air circulation in a vehicle cabin
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 2001/2281 Air supply, exhaust systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 2001/229 Integration into an air outlet
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/5628 coming from the vehicle ventilation system, e.g. air-conditioning system
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/5671 forming a windbreak, e.g. warm air blown on the neck of the passenger of an open vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/5685 Resistance

Abstract

The present invention discloses an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat (12), and a method for the operation thereof. The air supply mechanism comprises a control device (24), for driving a fan (38) and a heating element (39) connected downstream of the fan (38). When the air supply mechanism is switched on, the control device (24) switches on a heating element (39) and at the same time carries out a starting control of a fan (38) in such a manner that the fan (38) starts and is operated at minimum blower speed for a predetermined period of time before the blower speed is raised to a predetermined working point and subsequently the blower speed is regulated as a function of the driving speed. In this manner, a seat occupant does not experience an initial sensation of draft due to a powerful discharge of relatively cold air but rather experiences a pleasant warmth even directly after the mechanism is switched on.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. An air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat, with an air discharging opening which is provided in an upper region of the vehicle seat and via which a head, shoulder, and neck region of a vehicle occupant can be subjected to an air flow in order to reduce undesirable draft phenomena, comprising:

a fan,

a heating element, and

a control device, which regulates an airflow of the fan by regulating a blower speed of the fan,

wherein the airflow is heatable via the heating element, and

wherein the control device is designed so that, in response to a switching-on signal for the air supply mechanism, at the same time the heating element is switched on and a starting control for the fan is carried out, the fan is operated at minimum blower speed for a predetermined period of time before regulating the blower speed as a function of driving speed.

12. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 11, wherein the starting control of the fan is designed in a such a manner that the fan, for starting purposes, is subjected to a short, high voltage pulse and is subsequently operated at the lowest blower speed for a predetermined period of time, and wherein an operating voltage is then brought up to a predetermined working point.

13. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 12, wherein the short, high voltage pulse is designed in such a manner that it is precisely sufficient to allow the fan to start.

14. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 11, wherein the predetermined period of time is designed in such a manner that the heating element can be completely heated up within that predetermined period of time.

15. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 12, wherein the predetermined period of time is designed in such a manner that the heating element can be completely heated up within that predetermined period of time.

16. The air supply mechanism as claimed in claim 12, wherein the control device selects the predetermined working point as a function of a determined external temperature, and wherein new determinations take place at regular intervals.

17. A method for operating an air supply mechanism for a vehicle seat, with an air discharging opening provided in an upper region of the vehicle seat and via which a head, shoulder and neck region of a seat occupant can be subjected to an air flow in order to reduce undesirable draft phenomena, the air flow being regulatable with a control device by regulating a blower speed of a fan and heatable via a heating element, comprising:

detecting, in a first step, whether there is a switching-on signal for the air supply mechanism, and if there is no switching-on signal, returning to a beginning of the method,

activating, in a second step, the heating element and at the same time carrying out a fan starting control, by which the fan is operated at minimum blower speed for a predetermined period of time and an operating voltage is subsequently brought up to a predetermined working point, when a switching on signal is detected,

detecting, in a third step, a driving speed of the vehicle,

determining, in a fourth step, the operating voltage of the fan, and therefore the blower speed, as a function of the driving speed, and

checking, in a fifth step, whether a switching-off signal is present, and then returning to the beginning of the method when the switching-off signal is present, and returning to said third step when the switching-off signal is absent.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, when carrying out the fan starting control in the second step, the fan is first subjected to a short, high voltage pulse so that starting takes place, the fan is subsequently driven at a minimum operating voltage for a minimum blower speed over a predetermined period of time, and, after expiry of the predetermined period of time, the fan is driven at an increasing operating voltage, so that the blower speed is brought up to a predetermined working speed.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising automatically detecting an external parameter value in a first additional step, and setting the working point of the fan as a function of the external parameter in a second additional step.

20. The method as claimed in claim 18, further comprising automatically detecting an external parameter value in a first additional step, and setting the working point of the fan as a function of the external parameter in a second additional step.

21. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the external parameter value is an external temperature.

22. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the first and second additional steps are carried out anew at regular intervals during the driving mode.