Vehicle cabin temperature management system and motor vehicle including such a system

Abstract

A vehicle passenger compartment temperature management system comprises: a divider (9) adapted for placement between the front and rear passenger seats, the divider having two positions, a folded position allowing airflow between the front and rear seats and an unfolded position isolating the front and rear seats when the divider is installed in the vehicle; a motor (7) adapted to move the divider from the folded to the unfolded position and vice versa; a rear seat passenger presence detector (11); and a controller (5) connected to the detector and the motor and adapted to send a control signal to the motor so that it unfolds the divider when the detector does not detect the presence of any rear passengers. A vehicle comprising the system is also described. Figure to be published with the abbreviation: Fig 1.

Description

Title of the invention: Temperature management system for a motor vehicle passenger compartment and motor vehicle comprising such a system technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a temperature management system for a motor vehicle cabin and to a motor vehicle comprising such a system. State of the art

[0002] On existing vehicles, thermal comfort is based on air circulation inside the passenger compartment which works as follows: • An air intake flap at the front of the vehicle to bring outside air into the passenger compartment; • An air conditioner (also called HVAC for "Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning") to generate a certain air temperature in the passenger compartment and to provide thermal comfort; and • Air extractors positioned in different locations in the vehicle to remove stale air.

[0003] One of the main problems with thermal comfort in the passenger compartment concerns electricity consumption. Indeed, an air conditioner consumes a lot of energy to regulate the temperature in the passenger compartment.

[0004] This translates on internal combustion engine vehicles into an increase in fuel consumption.

[0005] For electric vehicles, this energy is drawn from the propulsion batteries, resulting in a loss of range of up to 25%. It is therefore even more important to reduce the electrical consumption of air conditioning for such a vehicle.

[0006] However, it has been observed that the majority of car journeys are made with only the driver on board.

[0007] There is therefore a real need for a system that minimizes the energy consumption of the air conditioner, particularly taking into account the number of people in the passenger compartment. Description of the invention

[0008] To resolve one or more of the aforementioned drawbacks, according to a first embodiment, a vehicle passenger compartment temperature management system comprises: • a divider suitable for placement between the front and rear seats of the passenger compartment, the divider comprising two positions, a folded position allowing air to pass between the front and rear seats and an unfolded position allowing the front seats to be isolated from the rear seats when the divider is installed in the vehicle; • a suitable motor to move the separator from the folded position to the unfolded position and vice versa; • a passenger presence detector in the rear seats; and • a controller connected to the detector and the motor and adapted to send a control signal to the motor so that it puts the separator in the unfolded position when the detector does not detect the presence of any passengers in the rear seats.

[0009] Thus, by limiting the volume of air to be heated or maintained at temperature, the system advantageously reduces energy consumption.

[0010] Specific features or embodiments, usable alone or in combination, are: • The system further includes a first temperature sensor at the height of the front seats and a second temperature sensor at the height of the rear seats, the temperature sensors being connected to the controller which is adapted to also receive a setpoint temperature and to control the motor according to the setpoint temperature and the temperatures received from the temperature sensors; • When the temperature received from the first sensor is higher than the setpoint temperature and the temperature received from the second sensor, the controller is adapted to send a control signal to the motor for putting the separator into the folded position; • The controller is also connected to a cabin air conditioning system and is adapted to send a command to the splitter's unfolding position motor only after receiving a signal to activate the air conditioning system; and / or • The divider is a curtain.

[0011] In a second embodiment, a motor vehicle includes a system according to the first embodiment.

[0012] In a particular embodiment, the motor vehicle includes an electric motor. Brief description of the figures

[0013] The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description, given solely by way of example, and with reference to the figures in the appendix in which: • [Fig.1] represents a top view of a vehicle comprising a temperature management system according to one embodiment; • [Fig.2] shows a side view of the vehicle from [Fig.1] with the system temperature management; • [Fig. 3] represents a flowchart of an operating process of the temperature system of the [Fig. 1]; and • [Fig.4] shows a top view of a variant embodiment of the system of temperature management. Methods of implementation

[0014] The embodiments presented below refer to a motor vehicle, a car. However, those skilled in the art understand that they are also applicable to other types of vehicles such as vans, trucks, etc.

[0015] The terms "front", "rear", "top", "bottom", "transverse" are understood in relation to the vehicle. When they apply to a component, they refer to the component integrated into the vehicle.

[0016] In the remainder of this description, the passenger compartment volume is considered to be composed of two volumes: a first volume formed by the front of the passenger compartment up to the back of the front seats, and a second volume formed by the rear of the passenger compartment, from the back of the front seats up to the rear window. The first and second volumes may be referred to interchangeably as "front section," "rear section," "front area," "rear area," or "front seat area" and "rear seat area."

[0017] With reference to [Fig.1], a motor vehicle 1 includes a temperature management system comprising an air conditioning device 3 having a control interface classically including on / off functions, and setting at least one setpoint temperature, etc.

[0018] The air conditioning unit 3 is connected to a controller 5 of the vehicle 1, acting as an advanced driver-assistance system, commonly known as ADAS (for "Advanced Driver-Assistance System"), which makes all driving decisions based on the environment and the programmed destination. The motor vehicle is then described as an autonomous vehicle. However, it can also be a centralized vehicle management system that may or may not include driver assistance features.

[0019] Data transfer between the different elements is carried out by a CAN (for "Controller Area Network" in English, i.e. "controller area network") or LIN (for "Local Interconnect Network" in English, i.e. "Local interconnect network" in French) type data bus.

[0020] The controller 5 is also connected to a motor 7, which is connected to a separator 9. In this embodiment, the separator 9 is a curtain fixed to the roof of the vehicle between the front and rear seats of vehicle 1. The motor 7 allows the curtain to be moved between two positions: a retracted position, for example, the curtain is rolled up around an axis that can be rotated by the motor 7, which allows air to circulate throughout the passenger compartment, and an extended position [Fig. 2], which isolates the front part from the rear part, thus preventing air from circulating between these two parts of the passenger compartment. For the purposes of the system, it is not necessary for the insulation between the front and rear seats to be completely airtight, but it is sufficient to prevent significant air convection.Curtain 9 is also made of a material sufficiently transparent to light so that the interior rearview mirror can fulfill its function of providing an image of the vehicle's rear environment.

[0021] The controller 5 is further connected to passenger presence sensors 11 at the rear of the vehicle 1. For example, these may be pressure sensors installed in the rear seats.

[0022] The operation of the temperature management system is then as follows, [Fig.3].

[0023] When the air conditioning is not working, the curtain is in the folded position, step 31.

[0024] At the start-up, step 33, of the air conditioning, step 35 of presence detection or not of passengers installed in the rear seats of vehicle 1 thanks to the presence sensors 11.

[0025] If passengers are detected in the rear seats, the curtain 9 is held in the folded position.

[0026] If no passengers are detected in the rear seats, the controller 5 instructs the motor 7 to unfold the curtain 9, step 37. Thus, the air at the set temperature can only circulate in the front part of the vehicle. The volume of air that needs to be heated or maintained at temperature is therefore reduced, and this advantageously decreases the energy consumption of the air conditioning system.

[0027] When the air conditioning unit is stopped, step 39, an order is given to the motor 7 to raise the curtain 9 to the folded position.

[0028] Figure 1 illustrates a system according to certain embodiments. The breakdown presented is for pedagogical purposes to highlight the different functions. However, it is understood that each block can be implemented using different means or combinations thereof, such as hardware components, software, one or more computers, and / or electronic circuits. Each component may include at least one computer or a control unit. At least one memory may be included in each component. The memory may include computer program instructions or software code.

[0029] The computers can be implemented by any type of data processing device, such as a central processing unit, a signal processing unit, a specific application integrated circuit, a programmable gate network, etc. The computers can be implemented in the form of a single controller, or a plurality of controllers or computers.

[0030] The different modules are connected to each other by data links adapted to the environment. These can be wired or wireless.

[0031] For the software, the implementation may comprise modules or units distributed in the form of procedures, functions, etc. The memories may be any type of storage circuit. They may be part of the processor circuit, or separate from it and connected via electrical data links. These may be non-volatile memories, hard drives, RAM, flash memories, etc.

[0032] Furthermore, the program instructions stored in memory and processed by the computers can be any type of program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted program written in a suitable programming language.

[0033] The computer program instructions stored in memory are such that, when executed by the computer, the latter carries out one or more of the steps of the processes described above.

[0034] The invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and the preceding description. This description is to be considered illustrative and given by way of example and not as limiting the invention to this single description. Numerous embodiments are possible.

[0035] In a first embodiment, [Fig. 4], the temperature management system further includes 2 temperature sensors. A first sensor 41 is installed in the front area of ​​the passenger compartment and a second sensor 43 in the rear area. These sensors are connected to the controller 5.

[0036] The system's operation then takes these temperatures into account by comparing them to a setpoint temperature entered by the user.

[0037] In particular, when the temperature received from the first sensor 41 is higher than the setpoint temperature and the temperature received from the second sensor 43, the controller 5 is adapted to send a control signal to the motor 7 to retract the curtain 9, even if there are no passengers in the rear seats. This is because the air from the rear of the passenger compartment can help lower the temperature of the front section by convection. Fans from the air conditioning system can be used to create this convection.

[0038] Furthermore, different types of dividers can be used, not just roller blinds. For example, the blind can be mounted on a sliding rod. Or the divider can be a folding panel.

[0039] The controller can be a Motor Control Unit (MCU) that analyzes information circulating on the CAN or LIN on-board network and transmits this information between the components. Using a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) electronic system, this unit manages the motor's power supply to control and start or stop it.

Claims

Demands

1. A vehicle passenger compartment temperature management system comprising: • a divider (9) adapted to be positioned between the front and rear passenger compartments, the divider having two positions, a folded position allowing air to pass between the front and rear seats and an unfolded position allowing the front seats to be isolated from the rear seats when the divider is installed in the vehicle; • a motor (7) adapted to move the divider from the folded position to the unfolded position and vice versa; • a passenger presence detector (11) for the rear seats; and • a controller (5) connected to the detector and the motor and adapted to send a control signal to the motor so that it moves the divider to the unfolded position when the detector does not detect the presence of any passengers in the rear seats;• a first temperature sensor (41) at the height of the front seats and a second temperature sensor (43) at the height of the rear seats, the temperature sensors being connected to the controller (5) which is adapted to also receive a setpoint temperature and to control the motor (7) according to the setpoint temperature and the temperatures received from the temperature sensors; • when the temperature received from the first sensor (41) is higher than the setpoint temperature and the temperature received from the second sensor (43), the controller (5) is adapted to send a control signal to the motor (7) to move the separator (9) into the folded position, even if there is no passenger seated in the rear seats.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further connected to a passenger compartment air conditioning device (3) and is

3.

4.

5. adapted to send a command to the motor to move the separator into the unfolded position only after receiving a signal to start the air conditioning system. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the separator is a curtain. Motor vehicle comprising a system according to any one of the preceding claims. Motor vehicle according to claim 4 comprising an electric motor.

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