DEVICE FOR DETERMINING A TEMPERATURE IN A PASSENGER COMPARTMENT OF A VEHICLE

• US 20200130462A1
• Filed: 10/21/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: ERCAN, Ayse, YILDRIM, Kemal-Edip, BADER, Viktor, GORES, Ingo
• Granted Patent: US 11,458,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00742 by detection of the vehicle occupants' presence; by detection of conditions relating to the body of occupants, e.g. using radiant heat detectors
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00807 the input being a specific way of measuring or calculating an air or coolant temperature

Abstract

A device for determining a temperature in a passenger compartment of a vehicle comprising a sensor unit for detecting infra-red radiation and a temperature determining unit. The temperature determining unit may be configured so as, in dependence upon the measurement data provided by the sensor unit, to determine a surface temperature of a predetermined object located in the vehicle passenger compartment and, from the determined surface temperature of the object using a first functional relationship, to determine an air temperature in the vehicle passenger compartment. The temperature determining unit may be configured as an alternative or in addition thereto so as, in dependence upon the measurement data provided by the sensor unit, to determine a surface temperature for at least one passenger compartment occupant, and from the determined surface temperature using a second functional relationship to determine a measurement for the level of personal comfort.

Claims

1. A device for determining a temperature in a passenger compartment of a vehicle, said device comprising:

a sensor unit for detecting infra-red radiation; and

a temperature determining unit configured so as, in dependence upon measurement data provided by the sensor unit, to determine a surface temperature of a predetermined object located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, and from the determined surface temperature of the object using a first functional relationship, to determine an air temperature in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temperature determining unit is configured so as to detect at least one of inhomogeneities or asymmetries of a temperature distribution in the passenger compartment, to determine the surface temperatures of predetermined objects in different areas of the passenger compartment, and using the first functional relationship, to determine therefrom respective air temperatures in the different areas of the passenger compartment.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the temperature determining unit is configured so as, in dependence upon measurement data provided by the sensor unit, to determine a surface temperature for at least one occupant of the passenger compartment, and from the determined surface temperature using a second functional relationship to determine a measurement for a level of personal comfort.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein, so as to determine the measurement for the level of personal comfort, an equivalent temperature of at least one of a face or of a whole body of an occupant is determined.

5. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the temperature determining unit is configured so as, in dependence upon the measurement data of the sensor unit, to determine a surface temperature of an object that is located in a close vicinity of the occupant, and to use said surface temperature as a correction value for determining the measurement for the level of personal comfort.

6. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the temperature determining unit is configured so as, using a correction value, to take into consideration at least one or more of an effect:

according to which, after exceeding a first compartment temperature threshold, the surface temperature of an occupant no longer or slowly increases in the case of a further increase in a compartment temperature since the occupant increasingly loses heat by means of sweating;

or

according to which, after falling below a second compartment temperature threshold, the surface temperature of an occupant no longer or slowly decreases in a case of a further reduction in the compartment temperature since the occupant increasingly creates heat by means of shivering.

7. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second functional relationship comprises a correction variable for which different values are established depending upon a time of year.

8. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device is configured so as, in dependence upon the measurement data provided by the sensor unit, to determine a number of occupants in the vehicle.

9. The device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the temperature determining unit is configured so as, in dependence upon the determined number of occupants, to determine a measurement for a level of personal comfort for a plurality of multiple occupants.

10. A vehicle comprising:

a device configured to determine a temperature of a passenger compartment as claimed in claim 1; and

a temperature control system configured to adjust a temperature of a passenger compartment of the vehicle, said temperature control system comprising a temperature controller for controlling or regulating the compartment temperature of the passenger compartment,

wherein the compartment temperature of the passenger compartment is controlled or regulated by means of the temperature controller in dependence upon output data provided by the temperature determining unit.

11. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the temperature determining unit is configured so as to detect at least one of inhomogeneities or asymmetries of a temperature distribution in the passenger compartment, to determine the surface temperatures of predetermined objects in different areas of the passenger compartment, and using the first functional relationship, to determine therefrom respective air temperatures in the different areas of the passenger compartment,

wherein the temperature controller is configured so as, in dependence upon the air temperatures determined for the different areas, to regulate or control the temperature control system specifically for different areas.

12. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10,

wherein the device is configured so as, in dependence upon the measurement data provided by the sensor unit, to determine a number of occupants in the vehicle,

wherein the temperature controller is configured so as to control or regulate the compartment temperature in dependence upon the determined number of occupants.

13. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10,

wherein the device is configured so as, in dependence upon the measurement data provided by the sensor unit, to determine a number of occupants in the vehicle,

wherein the temperature determining unit is configured so as, in dependence upon the determined number of occupants, to determine a measurement for a level of personal comfort for a plurality of multiple occupants,

wherein the temperature controller is configured so as to regulate or control the temperature control system to suit a specific occupant in dependence upon the determined measurement of the level of personal comfort for the specific occupant.

14. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor unit for detecting infra-red radiation comprises at least one of an IR camera or a thermal imaging camera.

15. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the surface temperature determined is at least one of a face temperature or a hand temperature.

16. The device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the temperature determining unit is configured to determine a measurement for the level of personal comfort for all occupants.

17. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the vehicle comprises an aircraft, a passenger car or omnibus.

18. The vehicle as claimed in claim 12, wherein the temperature controller is configured so as to control or regulate the compartment temperature only in those areas of the passenger compartment in which at least one occupant is located.