Mazda Motor Corporation

Naoki Takata

Kazuhiro Miyagawa

Shinobu Kato

Daisuke Umetsu

Shinshi Kajimoto

Yasumasa Imamura

Naoki Nobutani

Juntaro Matsuo

A travel mode switching device for a vehicle is provided, which is switchable between a plurality of travel modes including a sport travel mode and a towing travel mode. The device includes a travel mode selection interface that allows a driver to select one of the travel modes, a towing detection sensor that detects a towing state, and a processor configured to execute a travel mode switching module to switch the travel mode to the travel mode selected by the travel mode selection interface, and a travel mode regulating module to regulate the selection of the sport travel mode by the travel mode selection interface when the towing state is detected by the towing detection sensor, and regulate the selection of the towing travel mode by the travel mode selection interface when the towing state is not detected.

Travel mode switching device for vehicle and display unit of the same

A front-seat air conditioner and a rear-seat air conditioner, which are independent from each other, are provided. An engine is automatically stopped under preset stop conditions. When the engine is automatically stopped in a case in which the number of passengers is a specified preset number (five, for example) or larger during heating, the operation of the rear-seat air conditioner is stopped (reduction of power consumption) and the operation of the front-seat air conditioner is continued (prevention of windshield glass from being fogged). Thereby, the windshield glass can be prevented from being fogged during the engine's automatic stop, reducing the power consumption of air conditioning.

Control device of vehicle

A blower fan is driven, and conditioning air flows down through an evaporator and then is supplied into a vehicle compartment. An idling-stop condition in a roof-open state is set to make an idling stop to be relatively easily attained, compared to a roof-closed state, so that a fuel economy can be improved. When an outside-air temperature is a specified temperature or higher or a solar-radiation intensity is a specified degree or greater at an engine's automatic stop, the blower fan is driven, so that the conditioning air is supplied toward a passenger in a manner of an electric fan. The evaporator through which the conditioning air flows down is sufficiently cool at the timing right after the automatic stop of the engine. Accordingly, it is preferable to configure such that the sufficiently-cooled conditioning air is supplied for a properly-long period of time.

Air-conditioning control device for vehicle

Growing community of inventors

Higashihiroshima, Japan

Naoki Takata