Thermal grill for body cooling and driver alertness

• US 8,831,836 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2013
• Issued: 09/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Chang, Hsuan
• Primary Examiner(s): Marc, McDieunel
• Application Number:
  US13/894,003
• Publication Number:
  US 20130304328A1
• Time in Patent Office: 483 Days
• Field of Search: 701/45, 701/117, 340/575, 340/576, 340/903, 340/435, 340/436, 340/438, 340/988, 340/469, 340/425.5, 340/468, 340/457, 340/904, 340/539.13, 340/439, 348/148, 307/10.8, 342/70, 180/272, 367/909, 362/494
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0408 transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00735 Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/1438 Touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/06 responsive to incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/066 actuating a signalling device B60K28/063 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0827 due to sleepiness
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/06 indicating a condition of sleep, e.g. anti-dozing alarms

Abstract

A system for keeping a driver alert by employing a thermal grill that includes warm and cool regions. The system includes an alert module that configures the thermal grill to a heat sink configuration and a heat source configuration. The thermal grill in the heat sink configuration extracts heat from the driver'"'"'s body, lowers the driver'"'"'s temperature, and keeps the driver alert. The thermal grill in the heat source configuration raises the driver'"'"'s temperature and avoids vasoconstriction. The alert module also monitors at least one of the driver'"'"'s biomarkers like blood flow in the driver'"'"'s fingers. The alert module monitors the driver'"'"'s biomarkers to determine when to reconfigure the thermal grill to a configuration other than the heat sink configuration. If the monitored biomarkers indicate that the driver is in a vasoconstricted state, the alert module can reconfigure the thermal grill.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a thermal grill on a steering wheel of a vehicle having a driver with biomarker information, comprising:

receiving signals representing the biomarker information;

configuring the thermal grill to a heat sink configuration based on said biomarker information;

receiving signals representing additional biomarker information while the thermal grill is in said heat sink configuration;

determining, by a processor, if a vasoconstriction threshold is passed based on said additional biomarker information; and

configuring the thermal grill into a second configuration, wherein said second configuration is not said heat sink configuration, when a vasoconstriction threshold is passed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the biomarker information is a proxy for a core body temperature of the driver.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the biomarker information is a representation of blood flow.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the biomarker information is a representation of skin temperature of the driver.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the representation of skin temperature is a representation of a temperature of a portion of a hand of the driver.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the representation of skin temperature is a representation of a temperature of a palm of the driver.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining if a vasoconstriction threshold is passed includes the steps of:

filtering said additional biomarker information to generate filtered biomarker information; and

analyzing said filtered biomarker information to identify when a rate of change of the filtered biomarker information exceeds said vasoconstriction threshold.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the biomarker information is a proxy for a core body temperature of the driver.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the biomarker information is a representation of blood flow.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the biomarker information is a representation of skin temperature of the driver.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining if a vasoconstriction threshold is passed includes the steps of:

filtering said additional biomarker information to generate filtered biomarker information; and

analyzing said filtered biomarker information to identify when said filtered biomarker information passes said vasoconstriction threshold.

12. A system in a vehicle, receiving biomarker information of a driver, comprising:

a sensor receiving unit, to receive information representing biomarker information;

a steering wheel having a thermal grill unit; and

a thermal grill control unit for configuring a thermal grill to a heat sink configuration based on said biomarker information, the thermal grill control unit configured to;

receive signals representing additional biomarker information while the thermal grill is in said heat sink configuration;

determine if a vasoconstriction threshold is passed based on said additional biomarker information; and

configure the thermal grill into a second configuration, wherein said second configuration is not said heat sink configuration, when a vasoconstriction threshold is passed.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the biomarker information is a proxy for a core body temperature of the driver.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the biomarker information is a representation of blood flow.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the biomarker information is a representation of skin temperature of the driver.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the step of determining if a vasoconstriction threshold is passed includes the steps of:

filtering said additional biomarker information to generate filtered biomarker information; and

analyzing said filtered biomarker information to identify when a rate of change of the filtered biomarker information exceeds said vasoconstriction threshold.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the biomarker information is a proxy for a core body temperature of the driver.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the biomarker information is a representation of blood flow.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the thermal grill control unit is further configured to:

filter said additional biomarker information to generate filtered biomarker information; and

analyze said filtered biomarker information to identify when said filtered biomarker information passes said vasoconstriction threshold.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable program instructions for controlling a thermal grill on a steering wheel of a vehicle having a driver biomarker information, the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to perform steps including:

receiving signals representing the biomarker information;

configuring a thermal grill to a heat sink configuration based on said biomarker information;

receiving signals representing additional biomarker information while the thermal grill is in said heat sink configuration;

determining if a vasoconstriction threshold is passed based on said additional biomarker information; and

configuring the thermal grill into a second configuration, wherein said second configuration is not said heat sink configuration, when a vasoconstriction threshold is passed.