Vehicle seat air conditioning system having electric heater and blower unit

• US 6,722,148 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2003
• Issued: 04/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Aoki, Shinji, Kamiya, Toshifumi, Honda, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Tapolcai, William E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad M.
• Application Number:
  US10/358,058
• Publication Number:
  US 20030150229A1
• Time in Patent Office: 441 Days
• Field of Search: 622/44, 622/61, 219/217, 392/379, 392/384, 392/385, 297/180.12, 297/180.13, 297/180.14
• US Class Current: 62/244
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00285 for vehicle seats vehicle seats with heating or ventilation means independent from the HVAC system of the vehicle B60N2/56
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 2001/003 Component temperature regulation using an air flow
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/5635 coming from the passenger compartment
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/5657 blown towards the seat surface

Abstract

Electric heaters and blower units are disposed inside an occupant seat having exterior cover members, each of which has a plurality of outlet openings. Each electric heater heats the corresponding exterior cover member, and each blower unit blows air through the outlet openings of the corresponding cover member. Manipulation dials are provided to manipulate the corresponding electric heaters and blower units. A variable heating power command signal, which commands increasing or decreasing of a heating power of each corresponding electric heater, and a variable flow rate command signal, which commands increasing or decreasing of an air flow rate of each corresponding blower unit, are generated through adjustment manipulation of the manipulation dial in synchronism with movement of the manipulation dial.

Claims

1. A seat air conditioning system for a vehicle occupant seat that is placed in a passenger room of a vehicle and includes at least one exterior cover member, which forms an occupant contacting surface of the seat for contacting with a vehicle occupant and has a plurality of outlet openings penetrating through the exterior cover member, the seat air conditioning system comprising:

at least one electric heater disposed inside the seat, wherein each electric heater heats a corresponding one of the at least one exterior cover member of the seat;

at least one blower unit disposed inside the seat, wherein each blower unit blows air through the outlet openings of a corresponding one of the at least one exterior cover member;

a single manipulating means for manipulating the at least one electric heater and the at least one blower unit;

an air flow rate command signal generating means for outputting the air flow rate command signal; and

a heating power command signal generating means for outputting the heating power command signal, wherein;

the single manipulating means is disposed inside the passenger room and is manually manipulatable;

a variable heating power command signal, which commands increasing or decreasing of a heating power of each corresponding electric heater, and a variable flow rate command signal, which commands increasing or decreasing of an air flow rate of each corresponding blower unit, are generated through adjustment manipulation of the single manipulating means in synchronism with movement of the single manipulating means;

the air flow rate command signal generating means and the heating power command signal generating means are arranged adjacent to each other within a movable range of the manipulating means and are placed in two different imaginary planes, respectively; and

the air flow rate command signal of the air flow rate command signal generating means and the heating power command signal of the heating power command signal generating means are varied in synchronism with positional change of the manipulating means within the movable range of the manipulating means.

2. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the manipulating means is a dial, which is manually rotatable.

3. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the movable range of the manipulating means includes:

an OFF position, in which the electric heater and blower unit are both turned off;

an air flow manipulation range that is located on one side of the OFF position in the movable range of the manipulating means, wherein when the manipulating means is moved within the air flow manipulation range from the OFF position toward a first end of the movable range of the manipulating means, an air flow rate of the blower unit is increased; and

a heater manipulation range that is located on the other side of the OFF position in the movable range of the manipulating means, wherein when the manipulating means is moved within the heater manipulation range from the OFF position toward a second end of the movable range of the manipulating means opposite to the first end, a heating power of the electric heater is increased, and at the same time an air flow rate of the blower unit is slightly increased by a relatively small amount.

4. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein:

the air flow rate command signal generating means is a variable resistor that has a variable resistance value, which varies according to an operational position of the manipulating means in the movable range of the manipulating means; and

the heating power command signal generating means is a variable resistor that has a variable resistance value, which varies according to an operational position of the manipulating means in the movable range of the manipulating means.

5. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 1, further comprising a control means for controlling the electric heater and the blower unit, wherein:

when the air temperature in the passenger room is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature upon energization of the electric heater, the control means turns off the blower unit; and

when the air temperature in the passenger room is greater than the predetermined temperature upon energization of the electric heater, the control means turns on the blower unit.

6. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 1, further comprising a control means for controlling the electric heater and the blower unit, wherein:

the control means keeps the blower unit turned off until a predetermined time period elapses since energization of the electric heater; and

the control means turns on the blower unit upon the elapse of the predetermined time period.

7. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 5, further comprising an operational mode for controlling an air flow rate of the blower unit upon activation of the blower unit based on an informational value, which indicates a corresponding heating heat load of the entire vehicle.

8. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 1, further comprising a control means for controlling the electric heater and the blower unit, wherein:

the control means turns off the blower unit upon energization of the electric heater when at least one of the following two conditions are satisfied;

the air temperature in the passenger room is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature; and

an informational value, which indicates a corresponding heating heat load of the entire vehicle, is equal to or less than a predetermined value; and

the control means turns on the blower unit upon energization of the electric heater when the following two conditions are both satisfied;

the air temperature in the passenger room is greater than the predetermined temperature; and

the informational value, which indicates the corresponding heating heat load of the entire vehicle, is greater than the predetermined value.

9. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 8, further comprising an operational mode for controlling an air flow rate of the blower unit upon activation of the blower unit based on the informational value, which indicates the corresponding heating heat load of the entire vehicle.

10. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the control means is a control device that automatically controls a passenger room air conditioning unit, which performs air conditioning of the passenger room.

11. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 7, wherein the informational value, which indicates the corresponding heating heat load of the entire vehicle, is a target outlet air temperature of a passenger room air conditioning unit, which performs air conditioning of the passenger room.

12. A seat air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein:

the at least one exterior cover member includes two exterior cover members;

the seat includes;

a seat cushion assembly that includes one of the two exterior cover members and supports buttocks of the vehicle occupant; and

a backrest assembly that includes the other one of the exterior cover members and supports a back region of the vehicle occupant;

the at least one electric heater includes two electric heaters, which are arranged in the seat cushion assembly and the backrest assembly, respectively; and

the at least one blower unit includes two blower units, which are arranged in the seat cushion assembly and the backrest assembly respectively.