vehicle-mounted device

Abstract

The objective is to provide an in-vehicle device that can improve the comfort level of occupants by lowering the temperature of the vehicle seat before the occupants sit down. [Solution] The in-vehicle device 20 includes an air conditioning unit 26 that can change the direction of the air conditioning air blown out from an air outlet 14A facing the passenger compartment 12, an intake unit 32 that can draw in air from the front side of the seat back 16A of a vehicle seat 16, whose front surface is positioned opposite the air outlet 14A, into at least the interior of the seat back 16A of the vehicle seat 16, and a control unit 40 that controls the air conditioning unit 26 to change the direction of the air conditioning air blown out towards the vehicle seat 16 when pre-air conditioning is performed by remote control to air condition the passenger compartment before the passenger gets in, and controls the intake unit 32 so that air from the front side of the seat back 16A is drawn into at least the interior of the seat back 16A of the vehicle seat 16.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The disclosed technology relates to an in-vehicle device.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an in-vehicle air conditioner. In this in-vehicle air conditioner, the pre-air conditioning button of the remote control key also serves as a photoelectric pulse wave sensor. When an occupant presses it, the pulse wave of an occupant outside the vehicle is detected, and the pulse rate and blood flow volume are calculated from the pulse wave. Then, based on these numerical values, the air conditioner ECU determines whether to command pre-air conditioning or not.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the case of only adjusting the temperature inside the vehicle cabin by pre-air conditioning, when a boarding occupant sits on the vehicle seat, there is a possibility that the occupant may feel the heat from the vehicle seat and feel uncomfortable. Therefore, there was room for improvement in lowering the temperature of the vehicle seat.

[0005] The disclosed technology aims to provide an in-vehicle device that can improve the comfort level of an occupant sitting on the vehicle seat by lowering the temperature of the vehicle seat before the occupant sits down.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 includes an air conditioning unit capable of changing the direction of air conditioning air blown out from an air outlet facing the passenger compartment; an intake unit capable of drawing in air from the front side of the seat back of a vehicle seat, the front of which is positioned opposite the air outlet, into at least the interior of the seat back of the vehicle seat; and a control unit that controls the air conditioning unit to change the direction of air conditioning air blown out towards the vehicle seat when pre-air conditioning is performed by remote control to air condition the passenger compartment before the passenger boards, and controls the intake unit so that air from the front side of the seat back is drawn into at least the interior of the seat back of the vehicle seat.

[0007] According to the in-vehicle device described in claim 1, the conditioned air blown from the air conditioning unit toward the vehicle seat is drawn into at least the interior of the seat back. The temperature of the vehicle seat can be adjusted by the temperature of the drawn-in conditioned air, and by lowering the temperature of the vehicle seat before the occupant sits down, the comfort level of the occupant sitting in the vehicle seat can be improved. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the disclosed technology, lowering the temperature of the vehicle seat before the occupant sits down can improve the comfort level of the occupant once seated in the vehicle seat. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows a simplified representation of the in-vehicle device according to this embodiment being remotely controlled. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the control device in the in-vehicle device according to this embodiment and an example of components connected to the control device. [Figure 3] This flowchart shows an example of the control process flow according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the average temperature drop results on the sheet surface according to this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The in-vehicle device 20 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. Figure 1 shows a simplified representation of the in-vehicle device 20 according to this embodiment being remotely controlled, and Figure 2 shows a block diagram of an example of the schematic configuration of the in-vehicle device 20 according to this embodiment. In Figure 1, the arrow FR indicates the front side of the vehicle, and the arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle.

[0011] As shown in Figure 1, the on-board device 20 is mounted on the vehicle (automobile) 10. The on-board device 20 consists of an air conditioning unit 26, a seat movement unit 28, an intake unit 32, and a control device 40.

[0012] The air conditioning unit 26 provides air conditioning by blowing conditioned air into the passenger compartment 12 from an air outlet 14A facing the passenger compartment 12, and is also capable of pre-conditioning the passenger compartment 12 before passengers enter, via remote control. The air outlet 14A is formed in the instrument panel 14 located at the front of the passenger compartment 12, for example. In addition, the front of the seat back 16A of a vehicle seat 16 (for example, the driver's seat of the front seats) is located on the side opposite the air outlet 14A in the passenger compartment 12.

[0013] Furthermore, the air conditioning unit 26 can control the direction of the air conditioning airflow by changing the orientation of the louvers of an electric register (not shown) provided at the air outlet 14A. As an example, the air conditioning unit 26 controls the direction of the air conditioning airflow so that it is directed towards the center of the front of the seat back 16A (hereinafter also referred to as the seat center). Here, the center of the front of the seat back 16A refers to the position of the center in both the left-right and up-down directions when the seat back 16A is viewed from the front of the vehicle. The air conditioning unit 26 may also change the orientation of the louvers of the electric register to a central position that is not biased in any direction (hereinafter also referred to as neutral or N / T).

[0014] The seat movement unit 28 is capable of moving the vehicle seat 16 in the seat-forward direction (i.e., forward and backward seat sliding) and includes a lower rail 28A, an upper rail 28B, and a drive unit (not shown, a motor as an example). The lower rail 28A is installed on the vehicle floor side with the seat-forward direction as its longitudinal direction. The upper rail 28B is attached to the underside of the seat cushion 16B of the vehicle seat 16 and is engaged with the lower rail 28A so as to be movable in the seat-forward direction. The drive unit (not shown) is mounted on the seat cushion 16B side of the vehicle seat 16 and moves the upper rail 28B in the seat-forward direction by operation. The seat movement unit 28 can move the vehicle seat 16 to, for example, the center position of the seat-movable range (hereinafter also referred to as neutral or N / T) and the foremost position of the seat-movable range (hereinafter also referred to as frontmost or F / M).

[0015] The intake section 32 (shown as a block in the figure) is also called a seat ventilation system (hereinafter referred to as SVS) and is capable of drawing air from the front side of the seat back 16A into the interior of the seat back 16A and the seat cushion 16B. This intake section 32 includes, as an example, a blower (not shown) located inside the vehicle seat 16. The surface of the vehicle seat 16 is also ventilable, and a flow path is formed between the inner surface of the surface of the vehicle seat 16 and the area where the blower is located. As a result, when the blower is activated, air is drawn from the front side of the seat back 16A into the interior of the seat back 16A and the interior of the seat cushion 16B. Furthermore, the output of the intake section 32 is adjustable. The intake section 32 can be set to, for example, three levels of output (0%, 30%, and 80%, etc.).

[0016] The control device 40 is, for example, a vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit). Figure 2 shows a schematic configuration of the control device 40 according to this embodiment and an example of components connected to the control device 40. The control device 40 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit: processor) 42, RAM (Random Access Memory) 44, ROM (Read Only Memory) 46, an input / output interface (I / O) unit 50, and a transmitting / receiving unit 22, which are connected to each other via a bus 52 so as to be able to communicate with each other. The control device 40 is an example of a "control unit".

[0017] The CPU 42 executes various programs and controls each part (device) connected to the control device 40 and performs various calculations according to the programs. The ROM 46 is a non-volatile memory unit that stores various programs such as the control program 48 and various data. The RAM 44 temporarily stores various data such as the position information of the vehicle seat 16 (see Figure 1) when the occupant disembarked most recently, and the angle information of the louvers of the electric register that indicates the direction of air conditioning airflow, and is also used as a working area for programs. The I / O 50 communicates with external devices. The air conditioning unit 26, the seat movement unit 28, and the suction unit 32 are connected to the I / O 50. In the control device 40, the CPU 42 reads the control program 48 from the ROM 46 and executes the control program 48 using the RAM 44 as a working area. The transmitting / receiving unit 22 receives a pre-air conditioning instruction signal from a portable device 60 held by a user 70 who is outside the passenger compartment 12 of the vehicle 10 shown in Figure 1, to cause the air conditioning unit 26 to perform pre-air conditioning. In addition, when the transmitting / receiving unit 22 shown in Figure 2 receives a pre-air conditioning instruction signal, it transmits a signal to the portable device 60 (see Figure 1) indicating that it has been received.

[0018] When a remote operation for pre - air - conditioning is performed, the control device 40 controls the air - conditioning unit 26 so that the pre - air - conditioning is executed, and controls the seat moving unit 28 so that the vehicle seat 16 moves to the central position within the seat movable range. Also, the control device 40 controls the air - conditioning unit 26 so that the blowing direction of the conditioned air faces the central part of the front surface of the vehicle seat 16. And the control device 40 controls the suction unit 32 so that the air on the front side of the seat back 16A is sucked into the inside of the seat back 16A. Further, when the pre - air - conditioning ends, the control device 40 controls the air - conditioning unit 26 to change the blowing direction of the conditioned air to the same direction as the direction set at the time of the most recent passenger getting off. Also, the control device 40 controls the seat moving unit 28 so that the vehicle seat 16 moves to the same position in the front - rear direction of the seat as the position at the time of the most recent passenger getting off.

[0019] Next, as an operation of this embodiment, the control process executed by the CPU 42 (see FIG. 2) in the vehicle 10 equipped with the in - vehicle device 20 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. As an example, when a remote operation (engine start request) for starting the engine is made by the portable device 60 or the like, and a remote operation (operation request for pre - air - conditioning) for executing the pre - air - conditioning is made by the portable device 60, the execution of the control process shown in FIG. 3 is started.

[0020] In step S100 of FIG. 3, the CPU 42 executes pre - air - conditioning. Specifically, the CPU 42 controls the air - conditioning unit 26 so that the pre - air - conditioning is executed based on the set temperature of the pre - air - conditioning and the like. In step S101, the CPU 42 operates the suction unit 32. Specifically, the CPU 42 controls the suction unit 32 so that the air on the front side of the seat back 16A is sucked into the inside of the seat back 16A and the inside of the seat cushion 16B. Also, the CPU 42, for example, sets the output of the SVS to 80%. In step S102, the CPU 42 changes the position of the vehicle seat 16 to the central position. Specifically, the CPU 42 controls the seat moving unit 28 so that the position of the vehicle seat 16 (hereinafter also referred to as the seat position) is moved to neutral by controlling the drive unit. In step S103, the CPU 42 changes the blowing direction of the air-conditioning air to the center of the seat. Specifically, the CPU 42 controls the air-conditioning unit 26 so that the blowing direction of the air-conditioning air faces the center of the seat by changing the direction of the louver of the electric register. Thereby, the air-conditioning unit 26 blows the air-conditioning air into the vehicle interior 12 from the air outlet 14A, and the blown air-conditioning air is sucked into the inside of the seat back 16A. Further, since the blowing direction of the air-conditioning air faces the center of the seat, the air-conditioning air effectively hits the front surface of the seat back 16A.

[0021] In step S104, the CPU 42 determines whether or not the set time (for example, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, etc.) of the pre-air-conditioning has elapsed. If the CPU 42 determines that the set time of the pre-air-conditioning has elapsed (step S104: YES), it proceeds to step S105. If the CPU 42 determines that the set time of the pre-air-conditioning has not elapsed (step S104: NO), it maintains the pre-air-conditioning. In step S105, the CPU 42 returns the blowing direction of the air-conditioning air. Specifically, the CPU 42 controls the air-conditioning unit 26 so that the direction of the louver of the electric register changed in step S103 is returned to the direction before the change. For this reason, since the blowing direction of the air-conditioning air returns to the state at the time of the most recent passenger getting off, the trouble of the passenger adjusting the blowing direction of the air-conditioning air can be saved.

[0022] In step S106, the CPU 42 returns the position of the vehicle seat 16. The CPU 42 controls the seat moving unit 28 so that the position of the vehicle seat 16 changed in step S102 is moved to the position before the change. For this reason, since the vehicle seat 16 returns to the state at the time of the most recent passenger getting off, it is easy for the passenger to board.

[0023] In step S107, the CPU 42 switches to normal air conditioning. Specifically, the CPU 42 switches the air conditioning by the air conditioning unit 26 from pre-air conditioning to normal air conditioning (air conditioning with occupants present). Then, the CPU 42 terminates the control process.

[0024] Next, using Figure 4, an example of the average temperature drop result of the vehicle seat 16 when the in-vehicle device 20 is controlled under the conditions shown in Table 1 below will be explained. The measurement results in this embodiment are the results of measurements taken at three locations on the surface of the seat back 16A (i.e., the positions of the occupant's shoulders, back, and waist when seated) and two locations on the surface of the seat cushion 16B (i.e., the positions of the occupant's thighs and buttocks when seated). Furthermore, the measurement results in this embodiment are the results of running pre-air conditioning for 20 minutes with an outside temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, an interior temperature of 55 degrees Celsius, and sunlight present, with the set temperature set to automatic.

[0025] [Table 1]

[0026] The graph shown in Figure 4 is a downward-sloping bar graph, with the top bar representing 0 degrees Celsius, and the average temperature drop decreases as you move downwards. In other words, the longer the graph is downwards in Figure 4, the higher the cooling effect of the vehicle seat 16. Also, as shown in Figure 4, the average temperature drop is highest when controlled under condition 1, and the average temperature drop is lowest when controlled under condition 6. In other words, in this example, the cooling effect of the vehicle seat 16 can be maximized when the air outlet direction is changed to the center of the seat, the SVS output is set to 80%, and the seat position is moved to neutral.

[0027] As described above, the in-vehicle device 20 of this embodiment includes an air conditioning unit 26 capable of controlling the direction of the louvers of the electric register of the air outlet 14A, an intake unit 32 capable of drawing air from in front of the vehicle seat 16 into the interior of the seat back 16A and seat cushion 16B, and a control device 40 that controls the air conditioning unit 26 and the intake unit 32 when pre-air conditioning is performed. Therefore, according to the in-vehicle device 20 of this embodiment, the comfort level of the occupant sitting in the vehicle seat can be improved by lowering the temperature of the vehicle seat before the occupant sits down.

[0028] [Other embodiments] In the above embodiment, the case described is when the vehicle seat 16, which is the driver's seat of the front seats and is provided with an air outlet 14A formed in the instrument panel 14 as shown in Figure 1, and a seat movement unit 28 and an intake unit 32 controlled by a control device 40, is provided. However, the embodiment is not limited to this, and the vehicle seat 16, which is provided with a seat movement unit and an intake unit controlled by a control device 40, may be the passenger seat of the front seats. When the vehicle seat 16 is the passenger seat, the control device 40 may control the air conditioning unit 26 so that the direction of the air conditioning airflow is directed toward the center of the upper surface of the seat cushion 16B. When the vehicle seat 16 is the passenger seat, the air conditioning airflow directed toward the center of the upper surface of the seat cushion 16B is not obstructed by the steering wheel or the like, so the temperature of the vehicle seat 16 can be lowered more efficiently. In another embodiment, for example, the vehicle may be an automobile equipped with three rows of seats, and the air outlet may be formed on the back of the seat back of the front seat, and the second seat may be a vehicle seat equipped with a seat movement unit, a seat back tilting unit, and an intake unit controlled by the control device 40.

[0029] Although an example of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it is of course possible to implement it in various modified forms without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the above embodiments can be combined as appropriate. In addition, the control program 48 shown in Figure 3 may be stored on a storage medium or the like and made available for distribution. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0030] 10 Vehicle (own vehicle), 12 Passenger compartment, 14A Air outlet, 16 Vehicle seat, 16A Seat back, 16B Seat cushion, 20 Onboard equipment, 26 Air conditioning unit, 28 Seat movement unit, 32 Intake unit, 40 Control unit (vehicle ECU), 48 Control program

Claims

[Claim 1] An air conditioning unit that can change the direction of the conditioned air blown out from an air outlet facing the passenger compartment, A suction portion capable of drawing air from the front side of the seat back of a vehicle seat, with the front of the seat back positioned on the side facing the air outlet, into at least the interior of the seat back of the vehicle seat. When pre-air conditioning is performed by remote control to pre-condition the vehicle interior before the occupants board, the control unit controls the air conditioning unit to change the direction of the air conditioner's airflow toward the vehicle seat, and controls the intake unit so that the air on the front side of the seat back is drawn into at least the interior of the vehicle seat's seat back. An in-vehicle device equipped with the following features.

Images