Onboard air discharge system
First Claim
1. An onboard air discharge system comprising:
- two or more seats onboard a vehicle;
a plurality of air ejection ports corresponding to the seats;
air producing means;
an air channel for leading the air produced by the air producing means to each of the ejection ports;
an occupant detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of an occupant on each of the seats including;
a plurality of first electrodes mounted on part of each of the seats as insulated from the respective seats;
a second electrode associated with each of the first electrodes and insulated therefrom and arranged such that at least part of a person present in the seat on which the first electrode is mounted is disposed therebetween;
means for detecting a capacitance between each of the first electrode and the second electrode and providing first electrical signals representing each of the capacitances;
processing means including;
storage means for storing each of the first electrical signals;
storage update means for causing each of the first electrical signals stored in the storage means to be updated at given time intervals;
comparison means for producing second electrical signals representing the occupation of each of the seats whenever a difference between each of the first electrical signals developed by the capacitance detecting means and the signal stored by the storage means which is associated with the first electrical signals exceeds a first threshold value; and
means for setting second threshold values based upon each of the first electrical signals developed during the presence of an occupant and determining the departure of an occupant when each of the first electrical signals decreases below each of the second threshold values which is associated with the first electrical signals; and
means for blocking an air ejection from the air ejection port corresponding to the seat for which the absence of a person has been detected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An onboard air discharge system includes a first electrode mounted on each of a plurality of onboard seats of a vehicle. A second electrode is disposed in relation to each of the first electrodes such that at least part of a personnel who is seated upon a seat on which the first electrode is mounted is interposed between the both electrodes. The presence or absence of a personnel is detected for each seat on the basis of a change in the capacitance formed between the first and the second electrode. Air ejection toward the seat for which the absence of a personnel has been determined is inhibited. When a personnel is seated upon a seat, there occurs a large change in the capacitance formed between the first and the second electrode. Such change depends on the dielectric permittivity of a personnel, and hence is greatly different from a corresponding change which would occur when a baggage or the like is placed on the seat, thus enhancing the accuracy with which the presence or absence of a personnel on the seat is detected. The air ejection is controlled on such reliable information indicating the presence or absence of a personnel, and hence the efficiency of air ejection is improved with an increased reliability.
48 Citations
7 Claims
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1. An onboard air discharge system comprising:
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two or more seats onboard a vehicle; a plurality of air ejection ports corresponding to the seats; air producing means; an air channel for leading the air produced by the air producing means to each of the ejection ports; an occupant detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of an occupant on each of the seats including; a plurality of first electrodes mounted on part of each of the seats as insulated from the respective seats; a second electrode associated with each of the first electrodes and insulated therefrom and arranged such that at least part of a person present in the seat on which the first electrode is mounted is disposed therebetween; means for detecting a capacitance between each of the first electrode and the second electrode and providing first electrical signals representing each of the capacitances; processing means including; storage means for storing each of the first electrical signals; storage update means for causing each of the first electrical signals stored in the storage means to be updated at given time intervals; comparison means for producing second electrical signals representing the occupation of each of the seats whenever a difference between each of the first electrical signals developed by the capacitance detecting means and the signal stored by the storage means which is associated with the first electrical signals exceeds a first threshold value; and means for setting second threshold values based upon each of the first electrical signals developed during the presence of an occupant and determining the departure of an occupant when each of the first electrical signals decreases below each of the second threshold values which is associated with the first electrical signals; and means for blocking an air ejection from the air ejection port corresponding to the seat for which the absence of a person has been detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification