Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/00642—Control systems or circuits; Control members or indication devices for heating, cooling or ventilating devices
  • B60H1/00735—Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models
  • B60H1/00742—Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models by detection of the vehicle occupants' presence; by detection of conditions relating to the body of occupants, e.g. using radiant heat detectors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/00642—Control systems or circuits; Control members or indication devices for heating, cooling or ventilating devices
  • B60H1/00735—Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models
  • B60H1/0075—Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models the input being solar radiation
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/00642—Control systems or circuits; Control members or indication devices for heating, cooling or ventilating devices
  • B60H1/00735—Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models
  • B60H1/00792—Arrangement of detectors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/00642—Control systems or circuits; Control members or indication devices for heating, cooling or ventilating devices
  • B60H1/00735—Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models
  • B60H1/00807—Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models the input being a specific way of measuring or calculating an air or coolant temperature
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/00642—Control systems or circuits; Control members or indication devices for heating, cooling or ventilating devices
  • B60H1/00814—Control systems or circuits characterised by their output, for controlling particular components of the heating, cooling or ventilating installation
  • B60H1/00821—Control systems or circuits characterised by their output, for controlling particular components of the heating, cooling or ventilating installation the components being ventilating, air admitting or air distributing devices
  • B60H1/00828—Ventilators, e.g. speed control
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/00642—Control systems or circuits; Control members or indication devices for heating, cooling or ventilating devices
  • B60H1/00814—Control systems or circuits characterised by their output, for controlling particular components of the heating, cooling or ventilating installation
  • B60H1/00821—Control systems or circuits characterised by their output, for controlling particular components of the heating, cooling or ventilating installation the components being ventilating, air admitting or air distributing devices
  • B60H1/00871—Air directing means, e.g. blades in an air outlet
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/34—Nozzles; Air-diffusers
  • B60H1/3414—Nozzles; Air-diffusers with means for adjusting the air stream direction
  • B60H1/3428—Nozzles; Air-diffusers with means for adjusting the air stream direction using a set of pivoting shutters and a pivoting frame
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60H—ARRANGEMENTS OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATING OR OTHER AIR-TREATING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PASSENGER OR GOODS SPACES OF VEHICLES
  • B60H1/00—Heating, cooling or ventilating [HVAC] devices
  • B60H1/34—Nozzles; Air-diffusers
  • B60H1/345—Nozzles; Air-diffusers with means for adjusting divergence, convergence or oscillation of air stream
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
  • G06V20/00—Scenes; Scene-specific elements
  • G06V20/50—Context or environment of the image
  • G06V20/59—Context or environment of the image inside of a vehicle, e.g. relating to seat occupancy, driver state or inner lighting conditions
  • G06V20/597—Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
  • G06V40/00—Recognition of biometric, human-related or animal-related patterns in image or video data
  • G06V40/10—Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
  • G06V40/103—Static body considered as a whole, e.g. static pedestrian or occupant recognition
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60W—CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT
  • B60W40/00—Estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters for road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub unit, e.g. by using mathematical models
  • B60W40/08—Estimation or calculation of non-directly measurable driving parameters for road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub unit, e.g. by using mathematical models related to drivers or passengers
  • B60W2040/0872—Driver physiology

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a motor vehicle thermal management method for ventilating the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, in particular in the context of thermal management of said passenger compartment.
• the usual vehicle thermal management modules generally comprise an air blower, coupled to a thermal management circuit comprising thermal conditioning elements such as compressors, evaporators, exchangers and heating resistors.
• thermal conditioning elements such as compressors, evaporators, exchangers and heating resistors.
• a plurality of aerators distributed in the passenger compartment then inject the air set in motion by the blower and cooled by the cold generator at various points in the passenger compartment (center console, feet of the occupants, overhead light, etc.).
• thermal management modules emit a flow that the occupants of the passenger compartment manually direct towards their face or a specific part of their body.
• Thermal management is thus uniform whatever the size, position and build of the occupant.
• the only possible personalization is carried out by orientation of the guide strips of the aerators, with or without opening a window.
• the vehicle interior has significant thermal inertia, and spaces in which the occupants are not must also be cooled, while hot spots such as body parts of the occupant exposed to the sun are not specifically cooled. The comfort felt is thus reduced.
• thermal comfort remains only partial, and is not necessarily felt in the same way depending on the condition and the morphology of the occupant of the passenger compartment.
• the subject of the invention is a thermal management method for a thermal management device, in particular for a passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising the steps:
• each thermal comfort index corresponding to one of the body parts of the occupant reflecting a feeling of heat or cold at the level of the associated body part, and whose absolute value is minimal in comfort
• the thermal regulation process thus makes it possible to optimize the thermal feeling dynamically, and to optimize the distribution of air conditioning on the various parts of the body of the occupant of the vehicle.
• the method may also have one or more of the following characteristics, taken alone or in combination.
• the regulation of the thermal device can comprise the regulation of at least one of the following parameters: temperature, flow rate, orientation, form of at least one stream of conditioned air coming from an aerator in the passenger compartment.
• the comfort index of each part of the body can be weighted by a morphological weighting coefficient taking into account at least one of the following parameters: the total surface of the part of the body, the total volume of the body part, the surface / volume ratio of the body part, the vascular density of the body part, the density of innervation of the body part.
• the comfort index of each part of the body can also be weighted by a contextual weighting coefficient taking into account at least one of the parameters following: the dynamics of variation of the index over the previous instants, the distance of the index from its value 0 at equilibrium.
• This aims to amplify the contribution of a part of the body in the overall feeling of comfort, according to the imbalance or local variations observed which can act in a non-linear way.
• the method can also include the steps:
• the thermal management device can comprise at least one aerator, the orientation of which over time is controlled so that a flow of air from said aerator describes oscillations passing successively over different parts of the occupant's body and in this that the movement of the aerator is slowed down around the parts of the body whose thermal comfort index is of significant absolute value compared to the other parts of the body.
• the sum of the thermal comfort indices may also include an energy weighting term, positive and increasing with the total power consumed to create the regulated thermal environment around the occupant.
• the sum of the thermal comfort indices may also include an acoustic weighting term, positive and increasing with the acoustic noise generated during the creation of the regulated thermal environment around the occupant.
• the thermal or physiological parameters for the various parts of the body of the occupant and / or of the passenger compartment may include one or more of the following parameters: a surface temperature of at least one of the parts of the body of the occupant, a passenger compartment temperature, the presence or absence of clothing on a part of the occupant's body, the heat dissipated by a part of the occupant's body.
• the different parts of the occupant's body located and delimited may include at least two of the following: head, neck and throat, neck, left and right arms, left and right forearms, hands, torso, abdomen, left and right thighs, legs and calves left and right, feet, seat and back of the occupant.
• the face can also be cut into two zones to better manage exposure to the sun.
• the step of estimating a thermal or physiological quantity may include the steps
• the step of regulating the thermal conditioning device comprises a step of concentrating the stream or streams of conditioned air on the detected hot or cold spots.
• the process can include the steps:
• the invention also relates to the thermal management system for the passenger compartment of an associated vehicle, comprising:
• control unit configured for:
• each thermal comfort index corresponding to one of the occupant's body parts making account for a feeling of heat or cold in the associated part of the body, the absolute value of which is minimal in a comfortable situation
• the camera can then be a near infrared camera, and in that the thermal or physiological magnitude sensors include a far infrared camera.
• the thermal management device can also include:
• thermo conditioner conditioning the air flow produced by the blower according to a set temperature controlled by the control unit
• the device may further comprise a seat heating device and / or a vehicle steering wheel heating device, the power of which is controlled by the control unit as a function of the thermal comfort index of at least one part. of the occupier’s body.
• FIG. 1 schematically shows a passenger compartment of a vehicle, with a thermal management module
• FIG. 2 schematically shows the thermal management system according to a particular embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main steps of the method according to the invention.
• Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of an aerator for thermal management device usable for the method according to the invention.
• the embodiments described with reference to the figures are examples. Although the description refers to one or more embodiments, this does not necessarily mean that each reference relates to the same embodiment, or that the characteristics apply only to a single embodiment. Simple features of different embodiments can also be combined to provide other embodiments.
• FIG. 1 schematically represents a passenger compartment of a vehicle, with an occupant U (here in particular the driver) of the vehicle, seated in a seat.
• a thermal management system 100 produces and directs an air flow in the direction of parts of the specific body of the occupant U of the vehicle, here in particular his head and his shoulders.
• the thermal management system 100 comprises a detection module 1 and a thermal management module 3, of which only aerators 13 are represented in FIG. 1, in the central position on the dashboard P. These elements are represented diagrammatically outside the passenger compartment in Figure 2.
• the aerators 13 emit a flow of conditioned air generated by a thermal management module 3.
• Other aerators 13 are for example arranged at the lateral ends of the dashboard P, at the feet and legs of each occupant U , at the level of the vehicle ceiling light, on a rear portion of a central column etc.
• the orientation of the aerators 13 is in particular controlled by actuation of electric motors.
• Document EP 2 258 571 in the name of the applicant describes for example a thermal management module 3 provided with an evaporator for the generation of cold.
• the detection module 1 comprises a plurality of sensors 1 directed towards positions expected from the occupants U of the vehicle, here for example the driver and / or passengers (front and / or rear) of the vehicle.
• the detection module collects thermal and physiological quantities relating to different parts of the body of each occupant U.
• the detection module 1 is in particular integrated in a ceiling of the passenger compartment of the vehicle, at the level of sun flaps.
• the detection module 1 can in particular comprise cameras, in particular infrared cameras, which take images in the infrared domain.
• the cameras of the detection module 1 are in particular directed towards the expected positions of the vehicle occupants: driver's seat, passenger seat, rear seat, etc.
• one or more very wide angle cameras in particular of the "fisheye” or “fish eye” type in French) can cover several positions simultaneously.
• NIR near infrared cameras
• FIR far infrared cameras
• the near infrared camera is used to take grayscale shots of the interior of the cabin.
• the far infrared camera is used to estimate the temperature of different portions of the passenger compartment, and in particular of the passenger compartment walls and body parts of occupant U.
• Fes images from the far infrared camera can in particular be used to isolate certain parts of the body of occupant U and / or to detect the presence or absence of a layer of clothing on one or more parts of the body of the occupying.
• Fes images from nearby infrared cameras can in particular be used to delimit the position and dimensions of different parts of the body of an occupant U of the vehicle.
• corresponding wavelength diodes near infrared
• Fes images from far infrared cameras can in particular be used to identify the parts of the body of the occupant exchanging the most heat with the passenger compartment, for example here the head and the hands, hatched in figure 1, which are not covered with clothing and will appear warmer.
• the sensors 1 of the thermal management system 100 can in particular include other sensors of the vehicle, such as sensors for the open or closed state of windows or of the window (doors, sunroof, etc.) of the vehicle, sensors of pressure at the seats, temperature or heat flow sensors at the occupant seat, a temperature or heat flow sensor at the steering wheel of the vehicle, sweating sensors detecting the presence of drops of sweat on at least one of the occupant's body parts, an occupant breathing rate sensor, an occupant heart rate sensor.
• sensors for the open or closed state of windows or of the window (doors, sunroof, etc.) of the vehicle sensors of pressure at the seats, temperature or heat flow sensors at the occupant seat, a temperature or heat flow sensor at the steering wheel of the vehicle, sweating sensors detecting the presence of drops of sweat on at least one of the occupant's body parts, an occupant breathing rate sensor, an occupant heart rate sensor.
• the sensors 1 may in particular comprise cameras establishing a stereoscopic image of the occupant (s) [/, structured light emitters or three-dimensional cameras in time vol ("3D ToF" for "three dimensional time of flight” in English), ultrasonic transmitters / receivers, a lidar or capacitive sensors.
• the sensors may include thermometers placed at different points in the passenger compartment, pressure sensors integrated into the seats (used in particular in the context of detection of non-attached passengers), seat position sensors.
• the detection module 1 is in particular placed at the level of the vehicle ceiling light, and can be concealed from the view of the occupant U by being covered by an opaque cover in the visible spectral range, but transparent to the radiation used by the sensors 1 (infrared , radio waves, etc.)
• a part of the sensors of the detection module 1 can be shared with other functional modules of the vehicle.
• one or more of the infrared cameras can be used for example in the context of a detector of the driver's level of attention to avoid reductions in alertness and falling asleep.
• One or more of the three-dimensional cameras can be used as part of a gesture detection interface.
• a simple oversizing for example of the angle of view or of the resolution, can then make a camera of another functional module suitable for use according to the invention. We can then save in cost and space by adding additional sensors.
• a control unit 5 establishes a thermal profile for different parts of the body of the occupant (s) [/, from images taken by the camera (s). Said thermal profile notably includes all the parameters and quantities influencing the state and the thermal feeling of the occupant (s) U.
• the control unit 5 comprises in particular a memory unit and calculation means for storing the images and parameters measured or estimated by the sensors and establishing therefrom a thermal profile.
• This memory unit and the calculation means can in particular be shared in the context of vehicle on-board electronics controlling other components of the vehicle, or else located in a dedicated logic module.
• the control unit 5 is connected to the thermal management module 3.
• the thermal management module 3 comprises for example a blower 7, which generates an air flow.
• the thermal management module 3 also includes one or more conditioning devices 9, for example a heat exchanger or an electrical resistance, through which the air flow generated by the blower 7 passes.
• the flow of conditioned air is then directed to an air distribution device 11, comprising for example the aerators 13, and one or more flaps upstream of the aerators 13, distributing the air flow between said different aerators 13.
• the control unit 5 controls in particular the power of the blower 7, the power and / or a set temperature of the conditioning device 9 and the air distribution device 11.
• the control unit 5 uses in particular shape and contour recognition algorithms to create, from data from the detection module 1, a thermal profile I "and a set of spatial coordinates xyz" for each of the parts of the body. of occupant (s) U.
• the index h can be associated with the head or the face.
• the xyzi coordinates then contain the position in the space of the passenger compartment of various notable points of the head of the occupant U (chin, vertex, temples etc.).
• the index h can be associated with the whole neck, throat and shoulders, and so on for the other indices.
• the control unit 5 is in particular configured to detect, segment and position the body of each occupant U in several parts, corresponding in particular to different members of the occupant (s).
• a schematic outline of the human body is represented in FIG. 2, or an example of cutting is represented by dotted frames framing a portion of the body represented.
• the cut-out depicted distinguishes in particular: the head, the neck with the throat and shoulders, the torso, the abdomen, the left and right arms, the left and right hands, the left and right legs, the left and right feet.
• Other parts of the body can be distinguished such as the nape of the neck separately, the back, one or more fingers, the face, portions of the face, etc.
• more complex cuts can be made, for example by distinguishing the arms of the forearms, the calves and thighs, different parts of the head etc. Conversely, by grouping neighboring body parts a less complex cut is obtained, for example, we can define the trunk by grouping the torso, abdomen and the shoulders / neck assembly.
• control unit 5 collects data from the sensors of the detection module 1 such as the surface temperature or the dissipated heat flux (from the intensity of the far infrared thermal radiation for example ), the presence or absence of clothing covering the body portion, the presence and intensity of any solar radiation incident on the body part, proximity to an open window, etc.
• data from the sensors of the detection module 1 such as the surface temperature or the dissipated heat flux (from the intensity of the far infrared thermal radiation for example ), the presence or absence of clothing covering the body portion, the presence and intensity of any solar radiation incident on the body part, proximity to an open window, etc.
• control unit 5 establishes several thermal comfort index 7 n each representative of the thermal comfort felt at one of the body parts of the occupant U, whose zero or low absolute value indicates a high thermal comfort, while a large absolute value indicates discomfort.
• the thermal comfort index / also takes into account the temperature and intensity of the conditioned air flow distributed over the part of the body considered.
• said index / possiblycan for example vary from -3 to +3, the value 0 representing a situation of thermal equilibrium (taking into account the metabolic energy to be evacuated) where a predetermined portion of a sample of users feels significant thermal comfort on the body part considered.
• the positive values (from 0 to +3) then represent situations of feeling of heat, of increasing intensity with the deviation from the value 0.
• the negative values representing situations of feeling of cold, increasing in intensity with the deviation from the value 0.
• the control unit 5 will then regulate the operation of the thermal management module 3 by taking into account the thermal comfort indices of the body parts to create a thermal environment around the occupant by minimizing a sum of the absolute values of the indices of comfort ⁇ ⁇ I n ⁇ .
• this sum ⁇ ⁇ I n ⁇ can be compared to a threshold S. If ⁇ ⁇ I n ⁇ £ S no modification of the operation of the thermal management device is triggered. If ⁇ ⁇ I n ⁇ 3 S, the control unit will regulate the operation of the thermal management device to reduce the sum ⁇ ⁇ I n ⁇ .
• the coordinates xyz n of the body parts of the occupant U can in particular be used to directly determine or contain an estimate of the dimensions of the body part concerned (of index n). From said dimensions and from stored tables, the control unit 5 can then determine a morphological model of the occupant, and consequently estimate the surface, the volume or the mass (and therefore the surface / volume ratio) of the part of the body concerned.
• the tables can then contain models of distribution of the density of vascularization and nerve endings in the different parts of the body.
• the advantage of directing a flow of hot or cold air over a surface of the body covered with adipose mass is then limited, unlike for example the hands and in particular the fingers.
• the hands and fingers have high surfaces of heat exchange with the surrounding environment while being highly vascularized and innervated.
• the back of an occupant although it has a large apparent surface area, has few nerve endings.
• Weighting coefficients a n are then associated with the thermal comfort index / admirof each part of the body, the control unit 5 will then adapt the operation of the thermal management device to minimize the sum of the absolute values of the comfort indices thermal / occidentalweighted weighting coefficient associate
• FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating the method 200 of associated thermal management.
• the first step 201 is to take pictures of the expected positions of the occupant (s) of the vehicle, for example the seats possibly occupied (driver and passengers) by means, in particular of near and far infrared cameras. The images are then sent to the control unit 5.
• the body parts of the occupant [/, in particular if they are not covered with clothing, can in particular be identified in the form of hot spots or zones by means of the cameras far infrared.
• the data from other sensors of the detection module 1 are then also sent to the control unit 5.
• the second step 203 is the creation of a three-dimensional and morphological model of the occupant (s), by segmenting the parts of their bodies on the visible images.
• the third step 205 is the calculation of the thermal comfort indices / possiblyand of the possible morphological weighting coefficients a n are also calculated from data from the sensors and images from the infrared cameras.
• thermal comfort indices / borncan For example, the calculation of thermal comfort indices / borncan be done by measuring:
• the heat flow evacuated can also be calculated by evaluating the heat produced, supplied or absorbed in each part of the body due to metabolic activity and sunlight.
• the calculation of the thermal comfort indices / Wennof the different parts of the body is then done by comparing the calculated heat flux and a reference value corresponding to a thermal comfort situation.
• the control unit waits for a predetermined time interval dt and the process is repeated from the first step 201.
• the return to the first step 201 can be done when a sudden change in continuously measured parameters is noted, for example if the occupant changes position (difference in images from the cameras) or if the vehicle leaves a tunnel on a sunny day (increase in the brightness of the images from the cameras).
• the control unit 5 adapts in step 207 the operation of the thermal management module 3 according to predetermined methods from data from the sensors.
• the adaptation of the operation of the thermal management module 3 may in particular include the adjustment of parameters such as the temperature, the flow rate, the orientation and the shape of one or more of the conditioned air flows emitted by the aerators 13 in the passenger compartment.
• the method 200 is then repeated from the first step 201 after the predetermined time interval dt or when an abrupt change in the measured parameters is detected.
• control unit 5 can in particular modify the operating power of the blower 7 and of the conditioning device 9, or else switch the conditioning device from cooling operation (evaporator) to heating operation mode (electrical resistances).
• FIG. 4 briefly illustrates an aerator 13 of an air distribution device 11, produced in the form of a grid with movable slats or louvers.
• the aerator 13 comprises in particular several strips 15 aligned along their width. Said strips 15 serve, during the operation of the thermal management module 3, to deliver a laminar conditioned air flow.
• the lamellae 15 are movable in rotation along an axis of rotation A relative to a frame 17 carrying them. The rotation of the strips 15 is used for example to change the direction of the air flow along a horizontal right-left axis (relative to the usual direction of travel of the vehicle considered on a horizontal surface).
• the frame 17 is movable in tilting along a tilting axis B perpendicular to the axis of rotation A and substantially parallel to the alignment of the slats 15.
• the tilting of the frame 17 is used for example to change the direction of the air flow according to a vertical axis high down.
• the control unit 5 can in particular be connected to electric motors controlling the rotation of the slats 15 and the tilting of the frame 17. To adapt the operation of the thermal management device 3, the control unit 5 can then change the direction of the air flow by actuating said electric motors, and thus concentrating the distribution of conditioned air on the body parts of the occupants having a thermal comfort index of great absolute value and therefore maximum discomfort. We are looking for the minimum of the sum of the absolute values.
• the shape of the air flow can also be modified (converging or diverging air flow).
• control unit 5 can isolate the body parts of the occupant U whose comfort index / statistics of maximum absolute value , and concentrate the air flows from one or more aerators 13 on said parts of the body or discomfort is maximum, in particular by degrading the amount of air directed towards the other parts of the body of occupant U.
• control unit 5 actuates the motors to describe the oscillations in the air flow, for example circular, polygonal or ovaloid, passing successively over different parts of the body of the occupant U.
• L ' control unit 5 can then slow down the movement of the rotation and tilting motors when the aerators 13 are directed at a part of the body whose thermal comfort index / felicitis of significant absolute value compared to the other indices / admir of the others body parts, so as to maintain the flow of conditioned air longer on said part of the body where the discomfort is significant.
• the control unit 5 can accelerate the movement of the rotation and tilt motors when the aerators 13 are directed at a part of the body of the occupant U whose thermal comfort index / occidentalis sufficiently close from zero.
• control unit 5 can calculate an average comfort index Io and compare the index / heardof each part of the body with this average index Io. The control unit 5 can then redirect the flow of the parts of the body of index / mecanicof absolute value lower than that of the average index Io towards the parts of the body of index / admirof absolute value greater than that of l 'average index Io.
• control unit 5 can be configured to execute a step of estimating the power required by the operating mode of the management module.
• thermal 3 and an additional step of minimizing said total power can be incorporated in the step of regulating the thermal management module 3.
• a positive and increasing P tot term with the total power consumed can be added to the sum.
• This power term P tot can in particular be weighted by a weighting factor p whose value is modified according to a setpoint modified by the occupant [/, in particular by means of an interface indicating several power levels.
• the weighting factor p is of low value, or even zero.
• the optimization of the operation of the thermal management device 3 by the control unit 5 is then done with little or no consideration of power.
• the final air flow generated will have a large average flow rate, with a higher or lower temperature depending on whether the thermal management device operates as a heat extractor or heating.
• the weighting factor p is of value important: the term pP tot then quickly becomes preponderant in the sum previously mentioned. Optimizing the operation of the thermal management device 3 by the control unit 5 then takes the total power into account in a significant manner. The final air flow generated will on average have a lower flow rate, with a temperature closer to that of the passenger compartment, in particular compared to the previous case (low p).
• a step of reducing the noise generated by the thermal management device 3 can be implemented, in particular by adding a positive and increasing term A with the noise generated by the operating mode of the thermal management device 3 in the sum to minimize.
• This term A can again be weighted by a coefficient a of modifiable value to favor either silent operation (a high value) or a significant thermal management power (a low value or zero).
• the thermal management device 3 also includes a vehicle steering wheel heating device, its operating power is advantageously controlled by the control unit 5 as a function of the thermal comfort index / réelleof the hands or arms of occupant U.
• the thermal management device also comprises a seat heating device
• its power is controlled by the control unit 5 as a function of the thermal comfort index / nietho at least part of the body of occupant U such as the back, torso or abdomen of occupant U.
• the method and the thermal management system 100 according to the invention make it possible to improve and individualize the thermal comfort in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
• the method according to the invention makes it possible to offer occupants an improved thermal feeling, while potentially improving the energy consumption with equal feeling.
• the device according to the invention includes a large number of sensors which are already present in vehicles, and used in the context of other functional modules such as modules for detecting a decrease in alertness, gesture detection interfaces, non-attached occupant detection modules, etc.
• the additional cost caused by the implementation of the device according to the invention is therefore limited.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Air-Conditioning For Vehicles (AREA)
• Air Conditioning Control Device (AREA)

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• 2018
  • 2018-09-27 FR FR1858850A patent/FR3086582B1/fr active Active
• 2019
  • 2019-09-25 US US17/279,366 patent/US11981182B2/en active Active
  • 2019-09-25 JP JP2021517388A patent/JP7159462B2/ja active Active
  • 2019-09-25 EP EP19795270.8A patent/EP3856554A1/fr active Pending
  • 2019-09-25 WO PCT/FR2019/052263 patent/WO2020065218A1/fr unknown

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