Vehicle seat air conditioning device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024416715-A1
Application number	US-202418820987-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 30, 2024
Priority date	Mar 2, 2022
Publication date	Dec 19, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle seat air conditioning device includes: a regulator that adjusts a ratio between a flow rate of air directed from a first ventilation path to a third ventilation path and a flow rate of air directed from a second ventilation path to the third ventilation path by adjusting the degree of opening of each of a first connection port, which connects the first ventilation path to the third ventilation path, and a second connection port, which connects the second ventilation path to the third ventilation path; and a controller that adjusts the ratio by causing the regulator to adjust the degree of opening, based on a first temperature indicating a temperature in the first ventilation path, a second temperature indicating a temperature in the second ventilation path, and a third temperature indicating a temperature in the third ventilation path.

First claim

1 . A vehicle seat air conditioning device disposed in a vehicle and used for a seat including a seat back and a seat cushion, the vehicle seat air conditioning device comprising:
a blower embedded in the seat; a first ventilation path through which air drawn in by the blower passes from a first air inlet provided on a surface of the seat that is located on a face of the seat on which a person is seated; a second ventilation path through which air drawn in by the blower passes from a second air inlet that is an air inlet different from the first air inlet and provided at a location in the seat other than the surface of the seat; a third ventilation path through which air directed from at least one of the first ventilation path or the second ventilation path is directed to an air outlet provided on a surface of the seat back that is a surface located on the face of the seat on which the person is seated; a regulator that adjusts a ratio between a flow rate of air directed from the first ventilation path to the third ventilation path and a flow rate of air directed from the second ventilation path to the third ventilation path by adjusting a degree of opening of each of a first connection port and a second connection port, the first connection port connecting the first ventilation path and the third ventilation path, the second connection port connecting the second ventilation path and the third ventilation path; and a controller that controls the blower and the regulator, wherein the controller adjusts the ratio by causing the regulator to adjust the degree of opening, based on a first temperature that is a temperature in the first ventilation path, a second temperature that is a temperature in the second ventilation path, and a third temperature that is a temperature in the third ventilation path.

2 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller adjusts the ratio based on x calculated according to:

x
=

(

c
-
b

)

/

(

a
-
b

)

(

Equation
⁢

1

)

where a is the first temperature, b is the second temperature, and c is the third temperature.

3 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 2 ,
wherein when an absolute value of a difference between x and a target value is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the controller adjusts, based on temperature relationship information, the degree of opening to change by a first variation to cause x to become the target value, the temperature relationship information indicating a correlation between x and the degree of opening.

4 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 3 ,
wherein in a case where the absolute value is less than the first threshold, when the absolute value is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the controller causes, based on the temperature relationship information, the regulator to change the degree of opening by a second variation to cause x to become the target value, the second variation being smaller than the first variation, and when the absolute value is less than the second threshold, the controller causes the regulator not to change the degree of opening.

5 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the controller obtains a detection result of a human presence sensor configured to detect whether the person is seated on the seat, the controller determines whether the person is seated on the seat based on x, and when the detection result and a determination result of whether the person is seated on the seat based on x do not match, the controller outputs information indicating that the detection result and the determination result do not match.

6 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the controller determines whether the person is seated on the seat based on x, when determining that the person is seated on the seat, the controller adjusts a rotational frequency of the blower to become a predetermined rotational frequency, and when determining that the person is not seated on the seat, the controller adjusts the rotational frequency of the blower to become a rotational frequency less than the predetermined rotational frequency.

7 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 5 ,
wherein when x is greater than or equal to a third threshold, the controller determines that the person is not seated on the seat, and when x is less than the third threshold, the controller determines that the person is seated on the seat.

8 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller causes the blower based on the first temperature, the second temperature, and the third temperature to adjust a rotational frequency of the blower.

9 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller adjusts a rotational frequency of the blower based on output relationship information indicating a correlation between the rotational frequency of the blower and the degree of opening.

10 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein a third temperature sensor that detects the third temperature is provided in the third ventilation path.

11 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein a first temperature sensor that detects the first temperature is provided in the first ventilation path.

12 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller uses, as the first temperature, a temperature detected by a cabin temperature sensor that is disposed in a cabin of the vehicle and detects a temperature in the cabin.

13 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein a second temperature sensor that detects the second temperature is provided in the second ventilation path.

14 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller uses, as the second temperature, air conditioning temperature information indicating a temperature of air blown out by vehicle air conditioning equipment disposed in the vehicle.

15 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to claim 3 ,
wherein the controller corrects the temperature relationship information based on the first temperature, the second temperature, and the third temperature in a state where the person is not seated on the seat or in a state where a predetermined person is seated on the seat.

16 . The vehicle seat air conditioning device according to cla

Assignees

• Panasonic Automotive Systems Co Ltd

Inventors

• Maeda Yoshihiko
• Makita Yuki
• Nakagawa Takuya
• Inoue Tatehiko
• Enya Takeshi

Classifications

• B60N2/5657

  blown towards the seat surface · CPC title

• B60N2/5671

  forming a windbreak, e.g. warm air blown on the neck of the passenger of an open vehicle · CPC title

• B60N2/5628

  coming from the vehicle ventilation system, e.g. air-conditioning system · CPC title

• B60N2/5635

  coming from the passenger compartment · CPC title

• B60N2/565 Primary

  sucked from the seat surface · CPC title