Patent ID: 7677049
Filing Date: 2010-03-16
Classification: B60H,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A method of venting a refrigerant from an air conditioning system of a vehicle during a crash to mitigate leakage into a cabin of the vehicle, said method comprising the steps of; crashing a test vehicle having an air conditioning test system under a first set of predetermined conditions a number of first crash events, determining the existence of leakage of a test refrigerant from the air conditioning test system each of the number of first crash events, dividing the number of first crash events in which leakage of the test refrigerant under the first set of predetermined conditions existed by the number of first crash events to establish a first probability of leakage ratio, crashing the test vehicle under a second set of predetermined conditions a number of second crash events, determining the existence of leakage of the test refrigerant from the air conditioning test system each of the number of second crash events, dividing the number of second crash events in which leakage of the test refrigerant under the second set of predetermined conditions existed by the number of second crash events to establish a second probability of leakage ratio, correlating the predetermined conditions and the probability of leakage ratios to establish a probability of leakage relationship, sensing a condition of the vehicle to determine a probability of leakage ratio from the probability of leakage relationship, and venting the refrigerant from the air conditioning system in response to the probability of leakage ratio exceeding a predetermined threshold.