Patent ID: 8057288

Claim:
A contact-free air vent flow direction control device comprising: an air vent having at least one flow control blade that moves between a plurality of predetermined orientations each corresponding to a direction of air flow from the air vent; a positioning mechanism operably coupled to the flow control blade; a touch-less motion sensor that detects relative movement of objects proximate the touch-less motion sensor; a blower motor that selectively provides air flow to the air vent at a plurality of blowing speeds; and a control unit operably connected to the touch-less motion sensor and the positioning mechanism programmed to control operation of the positioning mechanism in order to position the flow control blade in a selected one of the predetermined orientations in response to a corresponding one of a plurality of predetermined movements substantially parallel to the motion sensor detected by the touch-less motion sensor, and the control unit being operably connected to the blower motor and programmed such that the control unit increases the blower speed of the blower motor in response to detected movement away from the touch-less motion sensor and the control unit decreases the air flow output level of the blower motor in response to detected movement toward the touch-less motion sensor.