Patent ID: 7325972

Claim:
A method for determining a temperature of an interior of a vehicle, the method comprising: measuring and storing a control value for a control element having a control element surface, the control value being representative of the temperature of the control element surface that is provided in the interior of the vehicle and measured with a temperature sensor when there is no air movement within the interior of the vehicle; providing a pulsed signal to a heat element of the control element through an impulse-damping segment of the control element so that the temperature sensor exhibits a temperature change; measuring a step response of the temperature sensor; comparing the step response of the temperature sensor with the control value to determine a damping amount of air flow on the heat element, wherein the damping amount comprises a change in temperature of the temperature sensor per a unit of time; comparing the determined damping amount to a predetermined damping amount value for a no air flow state of the heat element, determining a presence or absence of air flow in the interior of the vehicle on the basis of the comparison of the determined damping amount with the predetermined damping amount value; determining the temperature of the interior of the vehicle with a correction value based on the determination of the presence or absence of air flow and a temperature value from the temperature sensor; and providing the temperature of the interior of the vehicle to a vehicle system.