FORM 2
THE PATENT ACT 1970
(39 of 1970)
AND
THE PATENT RULES, 2005
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10; Rule 13)
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“AN AUTOMOTIVE AIRFLOW MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN AIR FLOW RATE OF AIR VENTS”
APPLICANT(S)
TATA MOTORS LIMITED
an Indian company
Bombay house, 24 Homi Mody Street,
Hutatma Chowk, Mumbai 400 001,
Maharashtra, India.
and
TATA MOTORS EUROPEAN TECHNICAL CENTRE Plc
an United Kingdom company
18 Grosvenor Place, London, SW1X 7HS, London
United Kingdom
PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:-

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present disclosure relates to an automotive airflow management system, and more particularly for an automotive airflow management system for maintaining air flow rate of air vents.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Currently airflow management systems comprise multiple air vents which direct the air. The air vents have flow adjustment to increase or reduce the airflow. The airflow is distributed in pre-determined proportions through individual air vents. Any part or full closure of an air vent may disturb this proportion such that the airflow through other vents may increase or decrease. Imbalance in the airflow creates unintentional increase or reduction in air velocity for other occupants, which may be undesirable. This would result in manual interventions such as adjustment of blower speed. Thus there remains a need of an efficient automotive airflow management system for maintaining air flow rate of air vents.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The principal object of the embodiments herein is to provide an automotive airflow management system (100) for maintaining air flow rate of air vents.
[0004] Another object of the embodiments herein to provide one or more air vent flap sensors placed on one or more air vents to detect whether a change in a position of a flap of the one or more air vents.

[0005] Another object of the embodiments herein to provide a blower unit to determine a blower operating point and a blower duty of the one or more air vent in response to detecting the change in the position of the flap of the one or more air vents.
[0006] Another object of the embodiments herein to provide a blower control unit to receive the determined blower operating point and the determined blower duty of the one or more air vents from the blower unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In one aspect object is satisfied by providing an automotive airflow management system (100) for maintaining air flow rate of air vents. The automotive airflow management system (100) comprises at least one air vent flap sensor (1) placed on at least one air vent (2), a blower unit (3), and a blower control unit (4). The at least one air vent flap sensor (1) detects whether a change in a position of a flap of at least one air vent (2). The blower unit (3) determines a blower operating point and a blower duty of the at least one air vent (2) in response to detecting the change in the position of the flap of the least one air vent (2). The blower control unit (4) receives the determined blower operating point and the determined blower duty of the at least one air vent from the blower unit (3).
[0008] In another embodiment provides a method for airflow management by an automotive airflow management system (100). The method comprises detecting, by the automotive airflow management system (100), whether a change in a position of a flap of at least one air vent (2), determining, by the automotive airflow management system (100), a blower operating point and a blower duty of the at least one air vent (2), and sending, by the automotive

airflow management system (100), the blower operating point and the blower duty of the at least one air vent to a blower control unit (4).
[0009] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] This connector is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates an automotive airflow management system (100) for maintaining air flow rate of air vents, according to an embodiment as disclosed herein; and
[0012] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for maintaining air flow rate of air vents, according to an embodiment as disclosed herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in

the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. Also, the various embodiments described herein are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some embodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments. The term “or” as used herein, refers to a non-exclusive or, unless otherwise indicated. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein can be practiced and to further enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0014] The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understand various technical features and it should be understood that the embodiments presented herein are not limited by the accompanying drawings. As such, the present disclosure should be construed to extend to any alterations, equivalents and substitutes in addition to those which are particularly set out in the accompanying drawings. Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are generally only used to distinguish one element from another.
[0015] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 2, there are shown preferred embodiments.
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an automotive airflow management system (100) for maintaining air flow rate of air vents, according to an embodiment as disclosed herein. The automotive airflow management system (100) comprises at least one air vent flap sensor (1) placed at one or more air vents (2), and a blower unit (3) connected to a a blower control unit (4). The at least one air vent

flap sensor (1) detects whether a change in a position of a flap of the one or more air vents (2). The blower unit (3) determines a blower operating point and a blower duty of the one or more air vents (2) in response to detecting the change in the position of the flap of the one or more air vents (2) and send it to the blower control unit (4). Further, the blower control unit (4) receives the determined blower operating point and the determined blower duty of the at least one air vent to a blower control unit (2) from the blower unit (3). Unlike the conventional systems, the proposed automotive airflow management system (100) can be used to maintain a constant (pre-calibrated) airflow rate through the air vents, based on comparison of the current airflow rate and a pre-calibrated airflow rate. The automotive airflow management system (100) compares the current airflow rate to a pre-calibrated airflow rate in order to maintain the constant airflow rate through individual air vents by controlling the position of one or more other vent flaps. It is an enabler for desired performance with low power consumption, low noise and low cost/ weight.
[0017] FIG. 2 is a flow chart (200) illustrating a method for maintaining air flow rate of air vents, according to an embodiment as disclosed herein. At step 201, the method includes determine a blower operating point and a blower duty of the one or more air vent (2). At step 202, the method includes detect a position of a flap of the one or more air vents (2). At step 203, the method includes determining whether there is a change in the position of a flap of the one or more air vents (2). In response to determining that there is a change in the position of the flap of the one or more air vents (2), at step 204, the method incudes determining a blower operating point and a blower duty of the at least one air vent (2), and at step 205 the method includes sending the blower operating point and the blower duty of the at least one air vent to a blower control unit (4). In response to determining that there is no change in the position of the flap of the

one or more air vents (2), at step 206, the method includes maintaining the blower duty to existing level as determined in the step 201.
[0018] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

We Claim:
1. An automotive airflow management system (100) comprises:
at least one air vent flap sensor (1) detects whether a change in a position of a flap of at least one air vent (2);
a blower unit (3) determines a blower operating point and a blower duty of the at least one air vent (2) in response to detecting the change in the position of the flap of the least one air vent (2); and
a blower control unit (4) receives the determined blower operating point and the determined blower duty of the at least one air vent from the blower unit (3).
2. A method for airflow management by an automotive airflow
management system (100), comprises:
detecting, by the automotive airflow management system (100), whether a change in a position of a flap of at least one air vent (2);
determining, by the automotive airflow management system (100), a blower operating point and a blower duty of the at least one air vent (2); and
sending, by the automotive airflow management system (100), the blower operating point and the blower duty of the at least one air vent to a blower control unit (4).