Patent ID: 7954540

Claim:
A HVAC assembly for heating and cooling an occupant space of a vehicle, comprising: a HVAC housing duct downstream from a blower, said blower moving air through said housing duct; an upstream cold air evaporator in the HVAC housing duct providing cold air moving through a cold air inlet, a hot air heater core downstream of and below said evaporator providing hot air moving through a hot air inlet below and downstream of said cold air inlet, said hot air inlet and said cold air inlet being separated by a shared sealing boundary; a mixing zone in said housing duct downstream of said cold air inlet and downstream and above said hot air inlet; and a temperature mixing valve downstream of said cold air inlet and above said hot air inlet, wherein said temperature mixing valve comprises: a shaft including an axis; an upper paddle attached to the shaft that seals off cold air from entering the mixing zone; a lower paddle attached to the shaft that seals against said shared sealing boundary; and a yielding means to allow said lower paddle to initially move away from said shared sealing boundary over a predetermined angle of rotation before said upper paddle initially moves; whereby a portion of cold air to is received into said hot air inlet across said shared sealing boundary to mix in the mixing zone before said upper paddle moves and allows cold air into the mixing zone, thereby producing non-stratified air within the mixing zone.