Vehicle Seat Ventilation Control for Cooling and NVH Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle seating assemblies often underutilize available cooling capacity for ventilated cooling, leading to inadequate passenger comfort during long trips, and they can cause bothersome Noise Vibration Harshness (NVH) issues when the cabin and seat blowers operate at different settings.
Innovation Solution
A method that adjusts the seat blower settings based on the cabin blower input level, activating it at a high setting when the cabin blower is above a predetermined level to match the cabin blower's operation and reduce NVH, and at a low setting when the cabin blower is below this level, using airways within the seat cushion to pull air and cool the seating surface effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the seat blower operates at high setting independently of cabin blower, then cooling performance is improved, but NVH disturbances increase
Solution Approach 1:
The seat blower operates dynamically by adjusting its speed setting based on real-time cabin blower status. When cabin blower is active, seat blower operates at high setting for maximum cooling; when cabin blower is inactive, seat blower operates at low setting to minimize NVH. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between cooling performance and NVH disturbance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback control by continuously monitoring cabin blower status and adjusting seat blower operation accordingly. The control unit receives feedback about cabin blower operation and modulates seat blower speed to achieve optimal balance between cooling effectiveness and NVH minimization.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the seat blower operates at low setting to minimize NVH, then NVH disturbances are reduced, but cooling performance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between low and high seat blower settings based on cabin conditions. When cabin cooling is active, the system transitions to high seat blower setting to maximize cooling performance. This dynamic switching allows the system to overcome the limitation of low-setting NVH reduction by activating high-performance cooling when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges the cooling functions of cabin blower and seat blower to work synergistically. When cabin blower is operating, seat blower is activated at high setting to complement cabin cooling, thereby achieving superior overall cooling performance while maintaining low NVH when cabin cooling is not active.
3Ease of manufacture
If current ventilated cooling systems are used, then basic cooling is provided, but available cooling capacity is underutilized
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically optimizes cooling capacity utilization by adjusting seat blower speed based on cabin blower status and thermal conditions. This dynamic operation allows the system to extract maximum cooling performance from available cooling capacity, overcoming the underutilization problem of conventional fixed-speed systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters by varying seat blower speed between low and high settings based on real-time conditions. This parameter modulation allows the system to fully utilize available cooling capacity across different operating scenarios, thereby achieving better cooling performance without requiring additional hardware complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances passenger comfort by optimizing cooling performance while minimizing NVH disturbances, allowing for faster temperature reduction of the seating surface and improving overall occupant experience.
Implementation Method 1
pulling air proximate the seating surface into airways in a seat cushion to reduce a temperature of the seating surface
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle ventilation system includes a seating assembly including a seat blower. The seat blower pulls air away from a seating surface. A cabin blower is configured to circulate air in a cabin. A controller is configured to monitor a flow rate of the cabin blower. The controller is also configured to control a seat blower flow rate as a function of a cabin blower flow rate.