VEHICLE CABIN AIR MANAGEMENT

• US 20140106658A1
• Filed: 10/17/2012
• Published: 04/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Freeman, Michael James, Smith, Gavin
• Granted Patent: US 10,543,736 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 454/69
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00664 Construction or arrangement of damper doors control systems or circuits for damper doors B60H1/00835
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/249 using one-way valves
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A vehicle cabin pressure relief device is provided having a base layer defining an aperture, a retainer layer disposed on the base layer; and a sealing member. The sealing member further includes a first portion and a second portion extending from the first portion, wherein the second portion of the sealing member is sandwiched between the base layer and the retainer layer. The first portion is also displaceable relative to the base layer, and covers a portion of the aperture in a closed first position.

Claims

1. A vehicle cabin pressure relief device comprising:

a base layer defining an aperture;

a retainer layer disposed on the base layer; and

a sealing member having a first portion and a second portion extending from the first portion, wherein the second portion of the sealing member is sandwiched between the base layer and the retainer layer, and the first portion is displaceable relative to and covers a portion of the aperture in a first position.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising an adhesive disposed between the base layer and the retaining layer.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the base layer further comprises an inner surface capable of retaining to a vehicle body, and the inner surface is provided with an adhesive.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the first portion of the sealing member has a width greater than a distance across the aperture that the sealing member covers in the first position.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein there are a number of sealing members cooperating to substantially cover the aperture.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein an adjacent pair of the number of sealing members overlap each other when in the first position.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein the sealing member further comprises a semi-rigid portion adjacent to a free end of the sealing member.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein the sealing member further comprises a sealing medium configured to inhibit air flow from returning into the vehicle when the sealing member is in the first position.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein the base layer further comprises a resilient plastic sheet material having a corrugated structural layer.

10. The device of claim 1, further comprising a locating feature in cooperation with the base layer to aid in the positioning of the device on a vehicle body.

11. A device for reducing air flow into a vehicle cabin comprising:

a base layer capable of surrounding a vehicle aperture defining a through hole;

a series of sealing members attached to the base layer; and

a retainer layer disposed on the base layer such that a portion of each of the sealing members is sandwiched between the base layer and the retainer layer, wherein the sealing members cooperate to substantially seal the vehicle aperture in response to a pressure of an ambient environment being greater than a pressure of the vehicle cabin by a threshold amount.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein at least one of the series of sealing members has a distal end that overlaps an adjacent sealing member when in a first position.

13. The device of claim 12 wherein the distal end has a width that is greater than a distance across the width of the through hole.

14. The device of claim 11 wherein each of the series of sealing members further comprises a semi-rigid support member at a proximate end, and each of the series of sealing members is pivotable about the support member.

15. The device of claim 11 wherein each of the series of sealing members further comprises retaining tab protrusions that are sandwiched between the base layer and the retainer layer.

16. The device of claim 11 further comprising an adhesive material disposed on an inner surface of the base layer opposite of the series of sealing members configured to retain the device to a vehicle body.

17. A method of repurposing a body structure tooling access hole as an air pressure release hole, the method comprising:

providing a unidirectional airflow device capable of covering a body structure tooling access hole;

aligning the unidirectional airflow device relative to the body structure tooling access hole;

installing the unidirectional airflow device over the body structure tooling access hole, wherein the unidirectional airflow device is capable of exhausting air in response to a pressure in the vehicle cabin being greater than a pressure in an ambient environment by a first threshold.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising validating that the unidirectional airflow device substantially seals the unidirectional airflow device in response to the pressure in the ambient environment being greater than the pressure in the vehicle cabin by a second threshold.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising using the body structure tooling access hole to assemble vehicle body panels.

20. The method of claim 17 further comprising validating that the unidirectional airflow device exhausts a predetermined amount of airflow in response to the pressure in the vehicle cabin being greater than the pressure in the ambient environment by the first threshold.