Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Wayne Frank Buescher

Gerhard Allan Dage

Christopher Mark Greiner

Halim Wijaya

Thomas Fox

Manfred Koberstein

William David Treharne

Elaine Y Chen

Shailesh Shrikant Kozarekar

Kirk Pebley

Eric Michael Rademacher

James C Rollinson

Ranganathan Madhavan

Gary A Dage

Shangshyan S Liao

A method and apparatus for controlling blower speed of an air conditioning system in a vehicle having a start/stop engine. When an auto stop event of the start/stop engine is entered, an ambient temperature and a second temperature (e.g., evaporator) of the air conditioning system are measured by sensors. A first cutback limit is determined in response to the ambient temperature. The blower speed is ramped to the first cutback limit by a controller. The engine is restarted and the blower speed is restored in response to the second temperature reaching a restart threshold.

Blower control for vehicle with start-stop engine

A system and method for environmental management of a vehicle automatically operates a vehicle climate control system to defog a vehicle windshield, while still operating at or near environmental comfort guidelines determined by a vehicle occupant. The method may be executed by an HVAC control system that is configured with a preprogrammed algorithm to operate an HVAC to achieve the desired results. A number of sensors can provide inputs to the control system, which can also receive inputs from a number of manual overrides operable by an occupant of the vehicle. The preprogrammed algorithm is configured to act on the various inputs to operate the HVAC to strike an appropriate balance between occupant comfort and windshield defogging.

System for environmental management of a vehicle

An engine configured to drive a compressor of a vehicle air conditioning system is controlled based on a threshold condition. In at least one embodiment, a comfort-level selection is received, a threshold condition is determined based on the comfort-level, and a vehicle interior condition is detected. The engine is requested to run if the interior condition exceeds the threshold condition.

System and method for controlling a vehicle engine

A climate control system and method for optimizing energy consumption in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is provided. By varying evaporator temperatures based on occupant settings and environmental conditions, electric compressor speed can be optimized to provide the necessary cooling capacities resulting in energy savings. Determining the impact that increasing or decreasing engine cooling fan speed has on the overall energy consumption of the climate control system without affecting target discharge air temperature provides for energy saving opportunities. Optimizing energy consumption according to the provided strategy provides for improved fuel economy without sacrificing passenger comfort.

Climate control system and method for optimizing energy consumption of a vehicle

A climate control system having a control head including a display providing at least one comfort level indicator and a fuel economy indicator is provided. The comfort level indicator displays a plurality of comfort level settings corresponding to relative thermal comfort in all weather conditions. Each comfort level setting corresponds to a range of temperatures so that once a comfort range is obtained, the climate control system will be reluctant to consume additional energy, thereby maintaining or improving the current fuel economy state. The fuel economy indicator provides for direct communication of the impact of comfort level settings on fuel economy.

Climate control head with fuel economy indicator

A climate control system includes a control head having a warmer/cooler temperature control for providing relative thermal comfort. A thermal comfort rating (TCR) corresponding to a range of passenger cabin temperatures is determined based upon a comfort level selection by an occupant using the control head. A control strategy employs look-up tables corresponding to the TCR to determine the speed of an electric compressor and the position of a temperature control blend door. The strategy provides for a relatively fast ramp down to a minimum compressor speed to improve fuel economy while maintaining a relative level of thermal comfort.

Systems and methods to control an engine configured to drive a compressor of a vehicle air conditioning system having a desired temperature are provided. A time until a threshold is reached is determined based on an environment condition and a vehicle interior condition. A request for the engine to run is removed if the time is greater than a minimum time.

A method for environmental management of a vehicle includes the steps of determining certain environmental conditions for the vehicle, and determining when it is desirable to defog the window based on the determined environmental conditions. A status of manual overrides is determined, and at least some automatically controllable functions of an HVAC system are implemented to effect defogging of a vehicle window when it is determined that none of the manual overrides has been selected.

System and method for environmental management of a vehicle

A vehicle compressor is controlled based on an environment parameter and a vehicle status parameter. In at least one embodiment, a temperature control system for a vehicle including an engine is provided. The system includes a compressor having a target operating speed. The system also includes an environment sensor arrangement configured to sense an environment parameter and a vehicle status sensor arrangement configured to sense a vehicle status parameter. The system further includes a control module that determines a maximum operating speed of the compressor as a function of both the environment parameter and the vehicle status parameter. The control module limits an operating speed of the compressor to the maximum operating speed if the target operating speed is greater than the maximum operating speed.

Vehicle compressor control system and method

A method and system determines when a climate control system of a hybrid vehicle can be operated without the use of an A/C compressor. The method and system make this determination by determining whether the vehicle is at idle or is being driven and determining whether or not the A/C compressor is required to function to maintain air conditioning comfort in the vehicle. The A/C compressor couples to an engine of the vehicle when the engine is on in order to function. The method and system turn off the engine and thereby turn off the A/C compressor if the A/C compressor is not required to function and if the vehicle is at idle. The method and system turn off the A/C compressor without turning off the engine if the A/C compressor is not required to function and if the vehicle is being driven.

Fuel efficient method and system for hybrid vehicles

An assembly for controlling the temperature of vehicle seats . Particularly, the assembly includes a controller which selectively provides electrical power to heating assemblies ; and and cooling assemblies ; and in order to heat or cool the seats in a desired manner while concomitantly obviating the need for high current switches within and/or upon the seats . The assembly includes a control panel which allows the temperature of the seats to be automatically or manually controlled in a desired manner.

Growing community of inventors

Canton, MI, United States of America

Wayne Frank Buescher