The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 15, 2022
Filed:
Feb. 18, 2019
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Paxton S. Williams, Milan, MI (US);
Scott Louis Frederick, Brighton, MI (US);
Scott P. Robison, Dexter, MI (US);
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US);
Abstract
System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to assisting in closing a trunk door of a vehicle by leveraging a Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) system in the vehicle. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting a position of the trunk door, and when the position of the trunk door is an open position, determining whether to activate the HVAC system to reduce air pressure in a trunk of the vehicle, where the trunk and the HVAC system are fluidly connected by an air duct. The method includes, in response to determining to activate the HVAC system to reduce air pressure in the trunk, pumping air out of the trunk through the air duct such that at least some of any increased air pressure caused by a trunk door closure is removed from the trunk. The method includes, when the position of the trunk door has changed from the open position to a closed position, deactivating the HVAC system to stop pumping air out from the trunk.