DESC:FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to customized air-conditioning control in motor vehicles. In particular, the present invention relates to an intelligent and adaptive HVAC system controlled by using vehicle occupancy information. More particularly, the present invention relates to a motorized flow-control enabled air-vents for intelligent and adaptive HVAC system based on detecting the passenger availability and their comfort requirements inside the vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) concerns the technology of indoor and comfort for the vehicle occupants. For example, it provides a thermal comfort and acceptable air quality inside the motor vehicles. HVAC system fall under the subsidiary discipline of mechanical engineering. The subject involves and combines the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer.

The abbreviation V in the term HVAC refers to the process of exchanging or replacing air present inside the space, e.g. passenger and driver’s cabin to provide high quality indoor-air, which involves temperature control, oxygen replenishment, and removal of moisture, odors, smoke, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide and other gases therefrom. This ventilation process removes unpleasant smells and excessive moisture and introduces a predefined quantity of fresh air, keeps air circulating inside the vehicle and thus prevents stagnation of air therein.

PRIOR ART

Presently, HVAC systems have air-vents/blowers for front and second row occupants and where applicable, even for third row occupants. All these blowers operate even if only the first row of the vehicle is occupied. Operating all blowers in partially occupied vehicle is an unnecessary wastage of energy for cooling the unoccupied vehicular space. Because, for partial occupancy inside the vehicle, only that/those occupant/s and the area surrounding them should be cooled as quickly as possible and so it is not necessary to cool the entire inner space of the vehicle. This also has a direct impact on fuel consumption. In this set-up, although the cooling of the vehicle is uniform, in case of only one passenger requiring more cooling air and the others requiring less cooling air, there is no control in the present system. The only option is to close the respective vent/s supplying cooling air to the person/s requiring less cooling air.

DISADVANTAGES WITH THE PRIOR ART

Nowadays, intelligent HVAC/climate control systems are available which are very efficient, but they still do not address the abovementioned problem. The rear blowers remain active on switching-on the HVAC unit and are required to be closed manually for closing the respective vents. Further, as an added feature, the manual direction control for air vents can be made automatic and button-operated. The following are the main disadvantages with the HVAC systems of the multi-row motor vehicles discussed above:

• Low-efficiency on running the HVAC system of multi-row vehicles for catering to single or double occupancy.

• Wastage of energy in situation with substantially unoccupied inner space.

• Higher fuel-consumption due to constant operation of HVAC system.

• Individual passenger comfort cannot be controlled.

• Manual closing of vent required wherever air-conditioning is not required.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Some of the objects of the present invention - satisfied by at least one embodiment of the present invention - are as follows:

An object of the present invention is to provide an intelligent and adaptive HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle based on vehicle occupancy information.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a customized HVAC system adaptable to the occupants present in a multi-row motor vehicle.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a motorized HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle which controls the vents for optimum occupant comfort.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a HVAC system which does not cool the entire vehicle, but directs the conditioned air only to the occupant/s present in the motor vehicle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a motorized HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle which controls vent openings by multi-directional flow for optimum occupant comfort.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a motorized HVAC system for multi-row motor vehicles which completely closes vent openings supplying conditioned air to vehicle occupants, except for those for the driver.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a motorized HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle which can be automatically adapted to the needs of the individual occupant/s of the motor vehicles.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, when read with the accompanying figures of drawing, which are however not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a customized motorized conditioned air flow control device for intelligent and adaptive HVAC system in a multi-row automotive vehicle by using vehicle occupancy information, wherein the device comprises:

• Detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy;

• Display panel for indicating captured vehicle occupancy information;

• Control panel for controlling conditioned air flow towards the vehicle occupants;

• An engine control unit (ECU); and

• Motorized flaps control for opening or closing conditioned air vents and changing the direction of air flow inside the vehicle cabin;

wherein the control panel controls the motorized flaps of the air-vents provided inside the vehicle cabin by opening or closing air vents based on the captured vehicle occupancy information and by changing the direction of conditioned air-flow towards the occupants present inside the vehicle to provide optimum comfort to the vehicle occupant/s and/or driver.

Typically, the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises pressure and movement sensor system embedded in the vehicle seats for detecting the number of seat/s occupied in the vehicle and the location/s thereof.

Typically, the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises a camera system comprising a plurality of cameras to capture the occupants present in the vehicle and a sensor mechanism to accurately count and locate the occupied seats.

Typically, the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises a voice recognition system to detect the number of individual voice/s present in the vehicle to obtain the number of occupant/s and location/s thereof.

Typically, the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises a combination of one or more out of the pressure and movement sensor system, camera system, voice recognition system and bucked seatbelt detecting system to obtain the number of occupants present inside the vehicle.

Typically, the display panel comprises the display screen on the infotainment system of the vehicle and/or touch screen of the smartphone of the vehicle driver.

Typically, the control panel comprises human-machine-interface (HMI) connected to the touch screen of the display panel and/or smartphone.

Typically, the motorized conditioned air vent control system comprises touch type flap control switch/es provided on the display panel and/or button/s provided on the smartphone screen installed with an app for controlling HVAC functions based on vehicle occupancy information.

Typically, the control panel comprises a control unit for selecting or preconfiguring the direction and/or intensity of the conditioned air-flow from the one or more of the plurality of conditioned air-vents controlled by HVAC system of the vehicle.

Typically, the control panel comprises a respective touch screen placed before each vehicle seat to enable the corresponding vehicle occupant to adjust all the settings and operational modes for obtaining optimum comfort.

In accordance with the present invention, there is also provided a method for controlling conditioned air flow inside a multi-row automotive vehicle cabin by using the device as claimed in claims 1 to 10, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
• Continuously collecting information about the occupants present in the motor vehicle;

• Automatically changing the direction of conditioned air supply towards the occupants by quickly opening the relevant conditioned air vents; and

• Integrating the directional motors with the flaps of the air-ducts to control and direct the air-flow towards the occupants present in motor vehicle;

wherein each occupant sets the individual cooling level for optimum comfort by using the touchscreen provided before the corresponding seat or by using an app installed on the respective smartphone of the vehicle occupant.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The present invention will be briefly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 shows a schematic arrangement of an intelligent and adaptive HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle configured to be controlled depending on the vehicle occupancy information.

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the HVAC vent layout of a standard HVAC system 100 depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a conventional HVAC system having a vent layout.

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the HVAC system configured in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

In the following, the intelligent and adaptive HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle, to be controlled depending on the vehicle occupancy information and configured in accordance with the present invention will be described in more details with reference to the accompanying drawings without limiting the scope and ambit of the present invention in any way.

Figure 1 shows a schematic arrangement of an intelligent and adaptive HVAC system 100 for a multi-row motor vehicle, to be controlled depending on the vehicle occupancy information and configured in accordance with the present invention. Here, HVAC system 100 includes a motorized flap control unit 02 mounted on the vehicle dashboard, a heating core 04, a cooling fan 06, an evaporator core 08, a compressor 10, AC pipes 12, AC air channel 14, a radiator assembly 16, a condenser 18, a chest assembly 20, and a controller 30.

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the HVAC vent layout of HVAC system 100 depicted in Figure 1. It includes a driver side vent V1, central vents V2, passenger side vent V3, second row vents V4 and third row vents V5. All these vents are usually open.

Figure 3 shows a HVAC system having a vent layout consisting of a respective vertical central vent 21, horizontal central vent 22, a plurality of horizontal flaps 23 and vertical flaps 24 which can be controlled manually. The flaps and vents are encompassed within a grill 25. It shows the direction 26 of the horizontal movement (left ?, right ?) of the vertical flaps 24 as well as the direction 27 of the vertical movement (up ?, down ?) of the horizontal flaps 23, which can be fully closed by bringing them completely down for cutting air-flow. However, it is impossible to cater to the needs of the individual occupant of the vehicle and this can only be done by manually adjusting the vents supplying conditioned air to them individually.

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the HVAC system 100 configured in accordance with the present invention. It includes an occupant detection system S1, an infotainment system S2, a Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) S3 connected to a smartphone S5 and touch screen S6, an Engine Control Unit (ECU) S4 of the HVAC system 100 connected to a vent control system S7. The first part S1 provides vehicle occupancy information from the relevant existing or new mechanisms to the infotainment system S2 and to ECU S4 of the HVAC system 100. The second part consists of vent control system S7 for actual motorization of the air-vents for multi-directional capabilities.

WORKING OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The intelligent and adaptive HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle, which can be controlled depending on the vehicle occupancy information, configured in accordance with the present invention, is generally operated in the following manner:

• Continuously collecting information about the occupants present in the motor vehicle.
• Automatically changing the direction of conditioned air supply towards the occupants by quickly opening the relevant vents for their optimum comfort.
• Integrating the directional motors with the flaps of the air-ducts to control and direct the air-flow towards the occupants present in motor vehicle.

• Optionally, setting the cooling level for individual occupant for achieving optimum comfort.

1. Getting the occupancy information:

- Use the number of seatbelts: The first-row passengers mandatorily wear seatbelts. Alternatively, the buckled seatbelts counted can also be used to obtain the number of the occupants present in the vehicle.

- The pressure and movement sensors embedded in the seats can be used to obtain the number of seats occupied or remaining empty.

- A camera system can also be introduced inside the vehicle for capturing the occupants present in the vehicle and a counting algorithm can be deployed to obtain an accurate count and location of the occupants.

- An advanced voice recognition algorithm can be used to detect the number of individual voices present in the vehicle to obtain the number of occupants.

- An intelligent combination of one or more of the techniques mentioned above can also be used.

2. Obtaining occupants’ information:

- Receiving occupants’ information on the infotainment HMI.

- Making this information available to the ECU of HVAC system via Controller Area Network (CAN) messages or other protocols in place.

- Driver manually indicates that only s/he is present in the vehicle.

3. Motorized Flap control in the air duct:

- Providing automatic flap direction control and/or switching-off the conditioned air flow from the air vent, wherever not necessary.

- Automatically controlling the conditioned air-flow via HMI touch controls.

- Integrating the motorized flap mechanism with the air duct controlled by HVAC.

- Moving the vertical flaps to channel conditioned air flow in RIGHT/LEFT and horizontal flaps to channel conditioned air flow in UP/DOWN.

- Programmed control by selecting or preconfiguring the direction and/or intensity of conditioned air flow from the respective vents, depending on the detected number of occupants and/or empty seats.

- Making available all the setting and operational modes to the user within HVAC setting on touch screen via a modified HVAC HMI, or smartphone app.

- Allowing the driver to interact with these motorized air-vents and to control these by using multiple mechanisms.

First mechanism being via a GUI on HVAC screen on the infotainment system, where there are options, e.g. open/close and the directions by arrow buttons (left ?, right ?, up ?, down ?) on the interface on selection of a relevant vent by the driver. Interface can also allow some pre-set configurations being stored in the system.

The second mechanism being a dedicated smartphone app which also allows control over the basic HVAC functions.

Accordingly, an intelligent and automatically adaptive HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle to be controlled depending on the vehicle occupancy information, involves a mechanism in which HVAC control unit obtains the vehicle occupancy information from another system mentioned above, e.g. a camera based occupant detection or seat and body controller units to detect passengers’ presence etc.

HVAC system uses the above information to automatically close the motorized vents not needed and automatically changes the direction of the conditioned air-flow through the relevant open air-vent being supplied towards the occupants.
For example, the conditioned air-flow towards the 2nd and/or 3rd row vents are closed, and the opened air-vents direct the air-flow only towards the driver in case only the driver’s seat is occupied.

TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES AND ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE

The intelligent and adaptive HVAC system for a multi-row motor vehicle to be controlled depending on the vehicle occupancy information and configured in accordance with the present invention has the following technical and economic advantages:

• Enhances productivity by reduction in operational time and no. of operations.

• Reduces system failures, thereby a reduction in maintenance efforts.

• Saves driver’s effort to manually control the AC vents.

• Automated system in communication with other relevant systems reduces the number of operational steps for operating the HVAC system to just a single step of switching on the system.

• Quick user satisfaction by dedicated conditioning offered to the occupants and to match individual comfort.

• Ease of operation of the system.

• HVAC HMI allows any configuration by using touch screen buttons on HMI.

• Provides a few pre-set settings and configurations, for example “only driver present in vehicle” requires only the selection of this configuration and everything is automatically adjusted.

• New Operational modes can be introduced by:

o Seat based cooling, for example- driver and single rear passenger with different temperature preferences.

o Automatic passenger detection and HVAC calibration.

o 80-20 split-cooling between the driver and passenger.
• Improved Safety by:

- Ensuring the driver of optimum ambient temperature and quick cooling/heating to provide a calming environment for better concentration on vehicle driving.

• Efficient use of Resources:

- Less fuel or power consumption.

- Reduced energy wastage by avoiding unnecessary cooling/heating of the unoccupied volume inside the vehicle, which results in a significant reduction in the fuel consumption even with the HVAC system operating.

The exemplary embodiments described in this specification are intended merely to provide an understanding of various manners in which this embodiment may be used and to further enable the skilled person in the relevant art to practice this invention. The description provided herein is purely by way of example and illustration.

Although, the embodiments presented in this disclosure have been described in terms of its preferred embodiments, the skilled person in the art would readily recognize that these embodiments can be applied with modifications possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention as described in this specification by making innumerable changes, variations, modifications, alterations and/or integrations in terms of materials and method used to configure, manufacture and assemble various constituents, components, subassemblies and assemblies, in terms of their size, shapes, orientations and interrelationships without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.

While considerable emphasis has been placed on the specific features of the preferred embodiment described here, it will be appreciated that many additional features can be added and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

Many of the fastening, connection, processes and other means and components utilized in this invention are widely known and used in the field of the invention described, and their exact nature or type is not necessary for an understanding and use of the invention by a person skilled in the art and they will not therefore be discussed in significant detail.

The numerical values given of various physical parameters, dimensions and quantities are only approximate values and it is envisaged that the values higher or lower than the numerical value assigned to the physical parameters, dimensions and quantities fall within the scope of the disclosure unless there is a statement in the specification to the contrary.

Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, shall be understood to implies including a described element, integer or method step, or group of elements, integers or method steps, however, does not imply excluding any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or method steps.

The use of the expression “a”, “at least” or “at least one” shall imply using one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as used in the embodiment of the disclosure in order to achieve one or more of the intended objects or results of the present invention.

Also, any reference herein to the terms ‘left’ or ‘right, ‘up’ or ‘down, or ‘top’ or ‘bottom’ are used as a matter of mere convenience, and are determined by standing at the rear of the machine facing in its normal direction of travel.

Furthermore, the various components shown or described herein for any specific application of this invention can be widely known or used in the art by persons skilled in the art and each will likewise not therefore be discussed in significant detail. When referring to the figures, like parts are numbered the same in all of the figures. ,CLAIMS:We claim:

1. A customized motorized conditioned air flow control device for intelligent and adaptive HVAC system in a multi-row automotive vehicle by using vehicle occupancy information, wherein the device comprises:

• Detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy;

• Display panel for indicating captured vehicle occupancy information;

• Control panel for controlling conditioned air flow towards the vehicle occupants;

• An engine control unit (ECU); and

• Motorized flaps control for opening or closing conditioned air vents and changing the direction of air flow inside the vehicle cabin;

wherein the control panel controls the motorized flaps of the air-vents provided inside the vehicle cabin by opening or closing air vents based on the captured vehicle occupancy information and by changing the direction of conditioned air-flow towards the occupants present inside the vehicle to provide optimum comfort to the vehicle occupant/s and/or driver.

2. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises pressure and movement sensor system embedded in the vehicle seats for detecting the number of seat/s occupied in the vehicle and the location/s thereof.

3. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises a camera system comprising a plurality of cameras to capture the occupants present in the vehicle and a sensor mechanism to accurately count and locate the occupied seats.

4. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises a voice recognition system to detect the number of individual voice/s present in the vehicle to obtain the number of occupant/s and location/s thereof.
5. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detector system for capturing vehicle occupancy information comprises a combination of one or more out of the pressure and movement sensor system, camera system, voice recognition system and bucked seatbelt detecting system to obtain the number of occupants present inside the vehicle.

6. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display panel comprises the display screen on the infotainment system of the vehicle and/or touch screen of the smartphone of the vehicle driver.

7. Device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the control panel comprises human-machine-interface (HMI) connected to the touch screen of the display panel and/or smartphone.

8. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motorized conditioned air vent control system comprises touch type flap control switch/es provided on the display panel and/or button/s provided on the smartphone screen installed with an app for controlling HVAC functions based on vehicle occupancy information.

9. Device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control panel comprises a control unit for selecting or preconfiguring the direction and/or intensity of the conditioned air-flow from the one or more of the plurality of conditioned air-vents controlled by HVAC system of the vehicle.

10. Device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control panel comprises a respective touch screen placed before each vehicle seat to enable the corresponding vehicle occupant to adjust all the settings and operational modes for obtaining optimum comfort.

11. A method for controlling conditioned air flow inside a multi-row automotive vehicle cabin by using the device as claimed in claims 1 to 10, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

• Continuously collecting information about the occupants present in the motor vehicle;
• Automatically changing the direction of conditioned air supply towards the occupants by quickly opening the relevant conditioned air vents; and

• Integrating the directional motors with the flaps of the air-ducts to control and direct the air-flow towards the occupants present in motor vehicle;

wherein each occupant sets the individual cooling level for optimum comfort by using the touchscreen provided before the corresponding seat or by using an app installed on the respective smartphone of the vehicle occupant.

Dated: this 24th day of October 2016. SANJAY KESHARWANI
APPLICANT’S PATENT AGENT