THERMAL WAVE-BASED SEAT HEATING

• US 20160325656A1
• Filed: 05/04/2015
• Published: 11/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. (Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.), Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group), Kia Motors Corporation (Kia Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. (Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.), Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group), Kia Motors Corporation (Kia Corp.)
• Inventors: Ziolek, Scott, Christiana, Amanda
• Granted Patent: US 10,351,029 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/5685 Resistance

Abstract

A method includes: establishing a dynamic target temperature range for a seat of a vehicle having a seat heating unit installed therein, the dynamic target temperature range defined by an adjustable minimum and maximum target temperature; activating a seat heating mode of multiple predefined seat heating modes based on an interior climate of the vehicle; defining the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature according to the activated seat heating mode; and controlling the seat heating unit such that a temperature of the seat continuously oscillates within the defined minimum target temperature and the defined maximum target temperature.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a dynamic target temperature range for a seat of a vehicle having a seat heating unit installed therein, the dynamic target temperature range defined by an adjustable minimum and maximum target temperature;

activating a seat heating mode of multiple predefined seat heating modes based on an interior climate of the vehicle;

defining the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature according to the activated seat heating mode; and

controlling the seat heating unit such that a temperature of the seat continuously oscillates within the defined minimum target temperature and the defined maximum target temperature.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

activating a second seat heating mode of the multiple seat heating modes in response to a change of the interior climate of the vehicle; and

adjusting at least one of the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature according to the second seat heating mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature have a corresponding tolerance range, respectively.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the minimum target temperature is a lower limit of the tolerance range corresponding to the minimum target temperature, and

the maximum target temperature is an upper limit of the tolerance range corresponding to the maximum target temperature.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sensing an attribute of the interior climate of the vehicle,

wherein the sensed attribute involves an interior temperature or an interior humidity of the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

activating a second seat heating mode of the multiple seat heating modes when the attribute of the interior climate of the vehicle satisfies a predefined trigger condition.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the predefined trigger condition is satisfied when a value of the attribute of the interior climate of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a predefined value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple seat heating modes correspond to a unique dynamic target temperature range, respectively.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple seat heating modes include:

a first seat heating mode in which the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature are substantially equivalent to a target temperature for the seat of the vehicle,

a second seat heating mode in which the maximum target temperature is substantially equivalent to the target temperature, and the minimum target temperature is less than the maximum target temperature, and

a third seat heating mode in which the maximum target temperature is less than the target temperature, and the minimum target temperature is less than the maximum target temperature.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling a waveform of temperature oscillations of the seat.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the controlling of the waveform comprises:

defining a heating duration and a cooling duration; and

controlling the seat heating unit such that the temperature of the seat continuously oscillates by i) increasing toward the maximum target temperature for the heating duration and ii) decreasing toward the minimum target temperature for the cooling duration.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the cooling duration is greater than the heating duration.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the controlling of the waveform comprises:

defining an intermediate target temperatures within the dynamic target temperature range; and

controlling the seat heating unit such that the temperature of the seat continuously oscillates by i) increasing toward the maximum target temperature, ii) decreasing toward the intermediate target temperature, and iii) decreasing from the intermediate target temperature toward the minimum target temperature.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the controlling of the waveform comprises:

defining an intermediate target temperatures within the dynamic target temperature range; and

controlling the seat heating unit such that the temperature of the seat continuously oscillates by i) increasing toward the intermediate target temperature, ii) increasing from the intermediate target temperature toward the maximum target temperature, and iii) decreasing toward the minimum target temperature.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

defining one or more intermediate target temperatures within the dynamic target temperature range; and

controlling the seat heating unit such that the temperature of the seat continuously oscillates according to the one or more intermediate target temperatures.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a target temperature for the seat of the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the target temperature is determined based on input received from a user of the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

initially establishing the dynamic target temperature range with respect to the target temperature.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature are defined as substantially equivalent to the target temperature when the dynamic target temperature range is initially established.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature of the seat is a surface temperature of the seat.

21. A system comprising:

a seat heating unit installed in a seat of a vehicle and configured to deliver heat to the seat;

a climate sensor sensing an interior climate of the vehicle; and

a controller configured to i) establish a dynamic target temperature range for the seat of the vehicle, the dynamic target temperature range defined by an adjustable minimum and maximum target temperature, ii) activate a seat heating mode of multiple predefined seat heating modes based on the sensed interior climate of the vehicle, iii) define the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature according to the activated seat heating mode, and iv) control the seat heating unit such that a temperature of the seat continuously oscillates within the defined minimum target temperature and the defined maximum target temperature.

22. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions for performing a method, the computer readable medium comprising:

program instructions that establish a dynamic target temperature range for a seat of a vehicle having a seat heating unit installed therein, the dynamic target temperature range defined by an adjustable minimum and maximum target temperature;

program instructions that activate a seat heating mode of multiple predefined seat heating modes based on an interior climate of the vehicle;

program instructions that define the minimum target temperature and the maximum target temperature according to the activated seat heating mode; and

program instructions that control the seat heating unit such that a temperature of the seat continuously oscillates within the defined minimum target temperature and the defined maximum target temperature.