Method and system for controlling the setting temperature of a vehicle air conditioner
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling an air conditioner mounted on a motor vehicle, said air conditioner being operable at a variable reference temperature setting, comprising:
- means for generating a command signal in response to an instruction given by a vehicle occupant;
a voice synthesizer; and
data processing means for generating a vocal announcement code indicative of a temperature value in response to a first occurrence of said command signal to cause said voice synthesizer to generate a vocal announcement of said temperature value to allow said vehicle occupant to give a subsequent instruction, and resetting said reference temperature setting to said temperature value in response to a second occurrence of said command signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The temperature of the interior of a motor vehicle is controlled by an air conditioner in relation to a temperature setting which is variable in response to an action of a vehicle occupant. A voice synthesizer (17) is supplied with vocal information data supplied from a microcomputer (13) in response to the entry thereto of a temperature resetting command. The voice synthesizer generates a vocal announcement of a new temperature setting. Vocal announcements of successively varying temperature values are generated to allow the vehicle occupant to take a second action when a desired temperature value is announced.
96 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling an air conditioner mounted on a motor vehicle, said air conditioner being operable at a variable reference temperature setting, comprising:
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means for generating a command signal in response to an instruction given by a vehicle occupant; a voice synthesizer; and data processing means for generating a vocal announcement code indicative of a temperature value in response to a first occurrence of said command signal to cause said voice synthesizer to generate a vocal announcement of said temperature value to allow said vehicle occupant to give a subsequent instruction, and resetting said reference temperature setting to said temperature value in response to a second occurrence of said command signal.
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2. An apparatus for controlling an air conditioner mounted on a motor vehicle, said air conditioner being operable at a variable reference temperature setting, comprising:
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means for generating a command signal in response to an instruction given by a vehicle occupant; a voice synthesizer; and data processing means for generating a series of vocal announcement codes in response to a first occurrence of said command signal to cause the voice synthesizer to generate a series of vocal announcements of successively varying temperature values to allow the occupant to give a subsequent instruction when a desired temperature is announced, and resetting the reference temperature setting to the desired temperature in response to a second occurrence of said command signal. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising display means for visually indicating said reference temperature setting and means for resetting said indicated reference temperature setting to said desired temperature.
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6. An apparatus for controlling an air conditioner mounted on a motor vehicle, said air conditioner being operable at a variable reference temperature setting, comprising:
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means for generating a command signal in response to an instruction given by a vehicle occupant; a voice synthesizer; and data processing means programmed to execute the steps of; (a) establishing a reference temperature setting of said air conditioner; (b) detecting if said reference temperature setting is lower or higher than a predetermined value in response to a first occurrence of said command signal; (c) if said setting is lower than said predetermined value, causing said voice synthesizer to generate a first series of vocal announcements of successively decreasing values of temperature from a predetermined uppermost value to allow said occupant to give a second instruction when a desired temperature is announced; (d) if said setting is higher than said predetermined value, causing said voice synthesizer to generate a second series of vocal announcements of successively increasing values of temperature from a predetermined lowermost value to allow said occupant to give a second instruction when a desired temperature is announced; (e) terminating said first and second vocal announcements in response to a second occurrence of said command signal; and (f) resetting said reference temperature setting to either of said desired temperatures. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for controlling an air conditioner mounted on a motor vehicle, said air conditioner being operable at a variable reference temperature setting, comprising:
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a pair of first and second manually exclusively operated switches; a voice synthesizer; and data processing means for generating a first vocal announcement code in response to an operation of the first switch to cause the voice synthesizer to generate a first vocal announcement notifying an incremental temperature value and a second vocal announcement code in response to an operation of the second switch to cause the vocal synthesizer to generate a second vocal announcement notifying a decremental temperature value and resetting the reference temperature resetting to the incremented and decremented variables. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. An apparatus for controlling an air conditioner mounted on a motor vehicle, said air conditioner being operable at a variable reference temperature setting, comprising:
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a voice recognizer for generating one of first and second command signals in response to first and second vocal instructions given by a vehicle occupant, respectively; a voice synthesizer; and data processing means for generating a first vocal announcement code in response to said first command signal to cause the voice synthesizer to generate a first vocal announcement notifying an incremental temperature value and incrementing the reference temperature setting by a degree corresponding to said incremental temperature value and generating a second vocal announcement code in response to said second command signal to cause the voice synthesizer to generate a second vocal announcement notifying a decremental temperature value and decrementing the reference temperature setting by a degree corresponding to said decremental temperature value. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification