Vehicle Cabin Air Purge via Sun-Load Sensor Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle ventilating and cooling systems lack an efficient method to purge cabin air when the vehicle is inactive, particularly in terms of reducing air temperature and volatile organic chemical (VOC) residues, while also considering factors like occupancy, engine status, and battery charge.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle ventilating and cooling system equipped with sensors and a controller that initiates a cabin air purge based on sun-load levels, seat occupancy, and vehicle inactivity, using a mobile device interface to schedule purges and ensure sufficient battery charge for operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the vehicle ventilating and cooling system purges cabin air when the vehicle is inactive, then the cabin air temperature and VOC residues are reduced, but the battery charge is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs cabin air purging as a preliminary action before the vehicle is driven, when the vehicle is still inactive. By scheduling the purge operation to occur before driving, the system reduces cabin temperature and VOC levels in advance, creating a more comfortable environment for occupants while managing battery consumption during idle periods
Solution Approach 2:
The controller monitors battery charge levels and uses this feedback to determine whether to initiate a purge operation. The system adjusts its purging behavior based on real-time battery status, ensuring that purging operations are only performed when sufficient energy is available, thus balancing air quality improvement with energy conservation
2Productivity
If the system schedules purges based on multiple vehicle conditions, then the purge operation is optimized for efficiency and battery health, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller serves multiple functions: it monitors sun-load levels, detects seat occupancy, tracks vehicle inactivity status, and manages purge operations. By consolidating these diverse monitoring and control functions into a single controller, the system achieves optimized purge scheduling based on multiple conditions without proportionally increasing overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines multiple sensor inputs (sun-load sensor, seat sensors, engine status) and control functions into an integrated purge control system. By merging these elements into a unified control architecture, the system achieves efficient purge scheduling based on comprehensive vehicle conditions while avoiding the complexity that would result from separate independent systems
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle ventilating/cooling system may include at least one sun-load sensor arranged within the vehicle, and a controller configured to receive a sun-load signal indicating a sun-load level from the sensor and programmed to instruct at least one cooling component to conduct a purge of vehicle cabin air in response to the sun-load level exceeding a sun-load threshold.