Patent Publication Number: US-2016229257-A1

Title: Vehicle and vehicle cabin air extraction system

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to air extraction systems for vehicles. 
     BACKGROUND 
     To permit air to flow from the passenger compartment of a vehicle to the ambient air surrounding the vehicle exterior, vehicles may include air extractors in the interior of the vehicle. 
     SUMMARY 
     A vehicle is provided. The vehicle includes an air extraction outlet located on an interior panel that partially defines an interior cabin of the vehicle. The air extraction outlet has a series of vanes that are configured to transition between open and closed positions. An actuator is utilized to transition the series of vanes between the open and closed positions. The air extraction outlet is configured to exhaust air from the cabin of the vehicle when the vanes are in the open position. The vehicle also includes a sensor and a controller. The controller is programmed to activate the actuator in order to transition the vanes between the open and closed positions based on a condition of the sensor. 
     A vehicle is provided. The vehicle includes a package tray that partially defines an interior cabin of the vehicle. An air extraction outlet is located on the package tray. The air extraction outlet has articulating vanes that are configured to exhaust air from the vehicle cabin when in an open position and obstruct a line of sight into an interior of the air extraction outlet when in a closed position. An actuator is configured to transition the articulating vanes between the open and closed positions. The vehicle also includes a sensor and a controller. The controller is programmed to activate the actuator in order to transition the articulating vanes between the open and closed positions based on a condition of the sensor. 
     A method of operating an air extraction system in a vehicle is provided. The method includes activating an actuator to transition articulating vanes of an air extraction outlet between open and closed positons, in response to a sensed condition of a cabin of the vehicle, to selectively exhaust air from the cabin. The air extractor outlet may be located on a panel partially defining the cabin of the vehicle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of a vehicle having air extractor outlets that are in open positions; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a vehicle having air extractor outlets that are in closed positions; and 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating an air extraction system of a vehicle. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a vehicle  10  is illustrated. The vehicle  10  may include a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system for the vehicle interior (also known as the vehicle cabin  12 ). The HVAC system may include a series of inlets  14  that deliver air to the vehicle cabin  12 . The air being delivered through the series of inlets  14  may or may not be heated or cooled before being delivered into the vehicle cabin  12 . The air entering the vehicle cabin  12  may be heated by a heating system that transfers heat from the vehicle&#39;s engine coolant to the air being introduced to the vehicle cabin  12  through a heat exchanger, such as a heater core. The air entering the vehicle cabin  12  may be cooled by an air conditioning system that utilizes a refrigerant to extract heat from the air being introduced to the vehicle cabin  12 . The air conditioning system may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, a drier, or other components that are typical to air conditioning systems. 
     Air extraction outlets  16  may be utilized to exhaust air from the vehicle cabin  12  to the surrounding environment. The air extraction outlets  16  may be connected to a series of ducts or channels that direct the extracted air to the surrounding environment. The air extraction outlets  16  may include a series of articulating vanes  18  that transition between an open position and a closed position. The articulating vanes  18  may also be referred to as baffles or louvers. The articulating vanes  18  are shown in the open position in  FIG. 1  and in the closed position in  FIG. 2 . The articulating vanes  18  of each air extraction outlet  16  may be connected by a series of mechanical links and the articulating vanes may each pivot about an axis to transition between the open and closed positions. The articulating vanes may also include partially opened positions between a fully opened position and a fully closed position. 
     Each air extraction outlet  16  may be connected to an interior component of the vehicle  10 , such as an interior trim component or panel. More specifically it may be desirable to place an air extraction outlet  16  on a tray package  20  or an interior trim component that is located adjacent to a window  22  of the vehicle  10 . A package tray is an interior trim component that is located below the rear window, above the trunk area, and behind the rear passenger seats. The articulating vanes  18  of an air extraction outlet  16  that is located adjacent to a window  22  may be angled to draw air away from the window  22  when in the open position, which may assist in defogging the window  22  by drawing the heavier moist air out of the cabin  12 . 
     The articulating vanes  18  of the air extraction outlet  16  are configured to block sight lines into an interior of the air extraction outlet  16  when in the closed position. The air extraction outlet  16  may include a series of frames or recesses that each vane  18  recedes into in order to block sight lines into the interior of the air extraction outlet  16  when in the closed position. In the alternative, the articulating vanes  18  may be overlapped or shingled in order to the block sight lines when in the closed position. 
     Actuators  24  may be linked or connected to the articulating vanes in order to transition the articulating vanes  18  between the open and closed positions. The actuators  24  may be pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders; motors, including electric and servo motors; electric solenoids or any other device that is capable linking to and transitioning the articulating vanes  18  between the open and closed positions. 
     The actuators  24  may be connected to a controller  26  that is configured to activate the actuators  24  in order to transition the articulating vanes  18  between the closed and open positions depending on a condition in the vehicle cabin  12 . The condition of the vehicle cabin  12  may be detected by a sensor  28 . The sensor  28  may be attached to interior portion of the vehicle  10  and in any position where the sensor  28  is capable of obtaining an accurate measurement of the condition in the vehicle cabin  12 . The condition of the vehicle cabin  12  may be a cabin pressure, cabin humidity, carbon monoxide content in the vehicle cabin, carbon dioxide content in the vehicle cabin, NO x  gas content in the vehicle cabin (including nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide), hydrocarbon content in the vehicle cabin (including gasoline fumes), or any other factor inside the vehicle cabin  12  that may contribute to a passenger&#39;s comfort, health, or safety. 
     Although two air extraction outlets  16  and one sensor  28  are depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the vehicle  10  may include one or more air extraction outlets  16  and one or more sensors  28 . In systems that include more than one air extraction outlets  16  and sensors  28 , the vehicle  10  may also be divided into zones. For example, the vehicle  10  may include front, middle, and rear zones or left side and right side zones. In vehicles  10  that include zones, the multiple air extraction outlets  16  may be operated and controlled independently of each other. For example, if the condition of the vehicle cabin  12  has exceeded a threshold in a first zone but not in a second zone, an air extraction outlet  16  designated to the first zone may be opened while an air extraction outlet  16  in the second zone may be closed. 
     Furthermore, the system may include sensors  28  configured to detect one or several of the vehicle cabin  12  conditions. Individual sensors  28  may be configured to detect several of the vehicle cabin  12  conditions, or multiple individual sensors that each detects only one of the vehicle cabin  12  conditions may be utilized. Air extraction outlets  16  may be configured to open when any of one of the vehicle cabin  12  conditions exceeds a threshold. 
     While illustrated as one controller, the controller  26  may be part of a larger control system and may be controlled by various other controllers throughout the vehicle  10 , such as a vehicle system controller (VSC). It should therefore be understood that the controller  26  and one or more other controllers can collectively be referred to as a “controller” that controls various actuators in response to signals from various sensors to control functions. The controller  26  may include one or more microprocessors or central processing units (CPUs) in communication with various types of computer readable storage devices or media. Computer readable storage devices or media may include volatile and nonvolatile storage in read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), and keep-alive memory (KAM), for example. KAM is a persistent or non-volatile memory that may be used to store various operating variables while the CPU is powered down. Computer-readable storage devices or media may be implemented using any of a number of known memory devices such as PROMs (programmable read-only memory), EPROMs (electrically PROM), EEPROMs (electrically erasable PROM), flash memory, or any other electric, magnetic, optical, or combination memory devices capable of storing data, some of which represent executable instructions, used by the controller  26  in controlling the vehicle  10 . 
     In the absence of an actuator, the articulating vanes  18  may include springs or dampers that allow the articulating vanes  18  to transition from the closed position to the open position when the pressure difference between each side of the air extraction outlet  16  surpasses a threshold. When the pressure difference returns to a value below the threshold, the springs or dampers may return the articulating vanes  18  to the closed position. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a method  100  of operating an air extraction system of the vehicle  10  is illustrated. The method may include operating one or several air extraction outlets  16  that may or may not be divided into zones. Multiple air extraction outlets may operate independently depending on a vehicle cabin  12  condition specific to each zone of the vehicle cabin  12 , as described above. 
     The method starts at step  102 . The method may be initiated by simply turning on the ignition switch of the vehicle, starting the engine, turning on the vehicle&#39;s HVAC system, or during any period when monitoring the vehicle cabin  12  may be appropriate. 
     The method  100  then moves on to step  104  where a current value of a vehicle cabin  12  condition is determined. The vehicle condition may include one or more of any of the conditions listed above or any other factor inside the vehicle cabin  12  that may contribute to the passenger&#39;s comfort, health, or safety. The vehicle cabin  12  condition may be detected by one or more sensors, as described above. 
     The method  100  then moves to step  106  where it is determined if the current value of the vehicle cabin  12  condition is above a predetermined threshold. If the vehicle cabin  12  condition is above the predetermined threshold, the method moves to step  108  where an air extraction outlet  16  is either transitioned to or maintained in the open position. If the vehicle cabin  12  condition is below the predetermined threshold, the method moves to step  110  where an air extraction outlet  16  is either transitioned to or maintained in the closed position. The air extraction outlet  16  may be specific to a zone in systems that include multiple air extraction outlets  16 . 
     The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics may be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes may include, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and may be desirable for particular applications.