Vehicle systems for controlling temperature of compartments for storing hems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11772448-B2
Application number	US-201916690919-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2019
Priority date	Nov 21, 2019
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling a temperature of a compartment of a vehicle are provided. The vehicle system includes a compartment, one or more processors, one or more memory modules communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and machine readable instructions stored in the one or more memory modules that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive information about an item; determine whether the item needs to be temperature controlled based on the information; and instruct a temperature control system to adjust a temperature of the compartment of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be temperature controlled.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a controller programmed to:
receive information about an item from a store;
determine whether the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the store;
determine whether the item needs to be temperature controlled based on the information;
provide air to inflatable walls to build a compartment within a trunk of the vehicle based on the information about the item; and
instruct a temperature control system to adjust a temperature of the compartment of the vehicle by supplying cooled or heated air to the compartment through an inlet at a base of the trunk of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be temperature controlled and determining that the vehicle is within the threshold distance of the store, the compartment comprises the inflatable walls and the base of the trunk, wherein
the inflatable walls are integrated within apertures disposed in the base of the trunk of the vehicle,
the inflatable walls are configured to be fully inflated in response to air being provided to the inflatable walls, and
the fully inflated inflatable walls fit within the trunk.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the information about the item includes dimension information about the item; and
the controller is further programmed to:
adjust a size of the compartment of the vehicle based on the information about the item.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
determine whether the item needs to be cooled based on the information; and
instruct the temperature control system to cool the compartment of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be cooled.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
determine whether the item needs to be heated based on the information; and
instruct the temperature control system to heat the compartment of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be heated.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
receive additional information about an additional item;
prepare a first sub-compartment and a second sub-compartment based on the information about the item and the additional item; and
instruct the temperature control system to adjust a temperature of the first sub-compartment to a first temperature and adjust a temperature of the second sub-compartment to a second temperature based on the information about the item and the additional item.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the compartment is located within a passenger cabin of the vehicle.

7. A system comprising:
a server; and
a vehicle comprising:
a controller programmed to
receive information about an item from a store;
determine whether the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the store;
determine whether the item needs to be temperature controlled based on the information;
provide air to inflatable walls to build a compartment within a trunk of the vehicle based on the information about the item; and
instruct a temperature control system to adjust a temperature the compartment of the vehicle by supplying cooled or heated air to the compartment through an inlet at a base of the trunk of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be temperature controlled and determining that the vehicle is within the threshold distance of the store, the compartment comprises the inflatable walls and the base of the trunk, wherein

the inflatable walls are integrated within apertures disposed in the base of the trunk of the vehicle,
the inflatable walls are configured to be fully inflated in response to air being provided to the inflatable walls, and
the fully inflated inflatable walls fit within the trunk.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the server is configured to:
communicate with a reader configured to read information about the item; and
transmit information about the item to the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the server is configured to:
communicate with a reader configured to read information about the item;
retrieve information about a customer purchasing the item; and
transmit information about the item to the vehicle based on the information about the customer.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the server is configured to:
retrieve the information about the customer purchasing the item based on membership information.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein:
the information about the item includes dimension information about the item; and
the controller is further programmed to:
adjust a size of the compartment of the vehicle based on the information about the item.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
determine whether the item is a frozen item based on the information about the item;
determine that the item needs to be cooled in response to determination that the item is the frozen item; and
instruct the temperature control system to cool the compartment of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be cooled.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
determine whether the item needs to be heated based on the information; and
instruct the temperature control system to heat the compartment of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be heated.

14. The system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:
receive information about an additional item;
prepare a first sub-compartment and a second sub-compartment based on the information about the item and the additional item; and
instruct the temperature control system to adjust a temperature of the first sub-compartment to a first temperature and adjust a temperature of the second sub-compartment to a second temperature.

15. A method for controlling a compartment of a vehicle, the method comprising:
receiving, by a network interface hardware of the vehicle, information about an item, from a store;
determining whether the vehicle is within a threshold distance of the store;
determining, by one or more processors of the vehicle, whether the item needs to be temperature controlled based on the information;
providing air to inflatable walls to build a compartment within a trunk of the vehicle based on the information about the item; and
adjusting, by a temperature control system of the vehicle, a temperature of the compartment of the vehicle by supplying cooled or heated air to the compartment through an inlet at a base of the trunk of the vehicle in response to determining the item needs to be temperature controlled and determining that the vehicle is within the threshold distance of the store, the compartment comprises the inflatable walls and the base of the trunk, wherein
the inflatable walls are integrated within apertures disposed in the base of the trunk of the vehicle,
the inflatable walls are configured to be fully inflated in response to air being provided to the inflatable walls, and
the fully inflated inflatable walls fit within the trunk.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
adjusting a size of the compartment of the vehicle based on the information about the item.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving information about an additional item;
preparing a first sub-compartment and a second sub-compartment based on the information about the item and the additional item; and
adjusting, by the temperature control system of the vehicle, a temperature of the first sub-compartment to a first temperat

Assignees

• Toyota Motor North America Inc

Inventors

• Lange Armin

Classifications

• B60H1/00271 Primary

  HVAC devices specially adapted for particular vehicle parts or components and being connected to the vehicle HVAC unit · CPC title

• B60H1/00735

  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 title

• B60H1/00878

  the components being temperature regulating devices · CPC title

• B60P3/205

  with means for dividing the interior volume, e.g. movable walls or intermediate floors · CPC title

• G06Q10/0832

  Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods · CPC title