Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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VEHICLE REMOTE CONTROL AND AIR CLIMATE SYSTEM AND
ASSOCIATED METHODS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle control and air climate system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As it is well known, existing remote car starters are used to start the
vehicle's
main engine to indirectly heat or cools the passenger's cockpit. This is based
on
the fact that heating/cooling is generated by the main combustion motor which
is
also the vehicle's drive. However, with this known car starter it is not
possible to
directly control the climate system of the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle remote control
and
air climate system that includes a selectively operable air climate device or
a
combination of climate devices. The air climate device may be an electrically
powered heating and/or a conditioning and/or a ventilating system or any other
specifically designed apparatus for selectively heating or cooling the
vehicle, for
example. The vehicle remote control and air climate device may also include at
least one remote transmitter, a receiver at the vehicle for receiving signals
from at
least one remote transmitter and a controller at the vehicle. The controller
may be
connected to the receiver for performing at least one vehicle function based
upon
signals from the remote transmitter, and may also selectively operate the air
climate device.
According to the present invention, the system comprises either alone or in
combination:
a remote control system for controlling the original vehicle climate control
system which can be composed of an electric heater and/or an electric air
conditioner with associated air circulating system;
a remote control system for controlling the original vehicle climate control
system which can be composed of an electric heater and/or an electric air
conditioner with associated air circulating system and an associated
electricity
generator;
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a remote control system for controlling the original vehicle climate control
system which can require the ignition of a non-main drive combustion motor
with
associated air circulating system;
a remote control system for controlling the original vehicle climate control
system which can be composed of a combustible heater and/or a combustible air
conditioner with associated air circulating system; or
a remote control system for controlling the original vehicle climate control
system which can be composed of but not limited to any specifically designed
heater and/or air conditioner apparatus with associated air circulating
system.
Accordingly, the remote control system may be used for controlling the
original
vehicle manufacturer climate control system and/or an added climate control
system. The remote control system may set remotely the temperature to a pre-
fixed temperature or to a remotely fixed temperature.
Preferably, the remote control system requires a security bypass and/or other
modification(s) to be performed to the air climate system in order for the
system to
work.
Preferably, the remote control system requires security confirmation in case
any
kind of reject will be performed (gas or other) for climate system to be
activated,
by the user and/or by an intelligent system and/or using sensor(s) to
determine if
there is any potential danger for human life (GPS signal receiving, for
example).
Preferably, the remote control system includes additional optional features
like
security enhancement, door lock features and other similar remote actions,
using
any kind of link including data bus communications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a schematic bloc diagram for integration of the system in a
vehicle to
remotely control air climate, according to a preferred embodiment of the
present
invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a vehicle remote control and air climate
system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The
system
may include of the following elements that are numbered accordingly in Figure
1:
1. A remote control device (transmitter) which may send its signal(s) by
radio-frequency modulation (RF), by infrared (IR) or by any other remote
signal(s) that may be physically activated or not, including activation by a
computer, home automation system, by internet or by any other network;
2. A receiver for receiving signals from at least one remote transmitter,
which
may or may not be included in element 3;
3. A controller to operate actions of the remote control system which may or
not need to perform security bypass in the vehicle and/or which ma need
gas emission confirmation from the user, from an intelligent system or from
any combinations of sensors, in order to allow, for example, the ignition of a
combustible heater. The controller's program may be upgradeable or not,
schedulable or not, locally or remotely, it may use or not an external card
for its program and/or its features, may be compatible with a bunch of
subsystems and may recognize automatically in which car
make/brand/model/year it is connected in order to perform corrects actions;
4. A climate controller in order to control the climate system apparatus of
the
vehicle that may be from the vehicle manufacturer or from an added climate
system, which may be included or not in element 3, which may need or not
modifications to be performed in order to allow remote climate control;
5. Sub-system(s) for heat or cold generation that may be composed, for
example, of an electric heater and/or air conditioner, combined or not with
an electricity generator, and/or any kind of combustible heater/conditioner
and/or any apparatus used for climate control, including a combustion
motor that is not the vehicle's main motor drive directly, which cold/heat
generator that may be added or original from the vehicle manufacturer, with
or without the need to perform modifications in order to allow remote
climate control;
6. The vehicle's environment(s) that is to be remotely climate controlled;
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7. Optional vehicle functionalities control for security bypass or security
enhancement, and/or door locks features or any similar features, using the
data bus of the vehicle or not.
Advantageously, with the system of present invention, there is provided a
remote
control system that climates the vehicle's cockpit, whichever the way that the
vehicle may be powered now or in the future. This means that the remote
control
system may control an electric heater remotely, or any kind of specifically
designed combustible heater (gas, propane, hydrogen or any kind), or any
appliance that may be used to climate the vehicles.
In the case the vehicle uses an electric heating/cooling system; it could
imply the
need to start an electric generator, optionally or not, as a consequence of
the
remote command. In case the heat is generated by the coolant of an electric
generator (which generator would be mainly used to drive main electric motors
drives for a vehicle), the remote feature doesn't start the motor directly,
but
commands the cockpit heating/cooling by enabling the heating/cooling function
in
a said vehicle, which would indirectly conduct to starting a combustion motor.
This
could require or not to modify the original vehicle climate system for
permitting the
start of the motor if needed. If the presence of a key is required for
enabling
heating command and indirectly start a motor, the difference would reside in
the
fact that it is not the remote climate controller that jumps the start wire to
force
engine to start, but the system itself commands the start of the motor. So
this is an
indirect remote motor starting. It may also require the need to confirm the
location
of the car to ensure possible gas emission in the case it will generate some,
which
confirmation may come from the user, form an intelligent system and/or
combination of sensors (to mention GPS signal receiving as an example).
With the present invention, it is possible to remotely enable the climate
control, to
a preset/standard temperature (say 20 degrees), or to a temperature that could
be
controlled remotely as user want (user selectable on its remote control). One
has
to keep in mind that in the future, energy will be managed more tightly to
minimize
wasting, so the temperature won't go to its maximum possible, unless
requested,
like it is today.
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The present invention may work with any suitable remote control methods,
whichever the path(s) the command passes through. For example, it is possible
to
command the climate control by internet, or the commands may travel through
many kinds of networks, then reach the cellular phone network and then be
5 received by the system of the present invention. It could also simply be a
standard
known remote control as currently used, enhanced or not with temperature
control
adjustment.
The system of the present invention may use the vehicle's data bus to control
the
climate control or any other way (direct wire connect or combinations of wire
connect).
The system of the present invention may command an aftermarket climate system
or an "upgrade" system also, installed on a vehicle, or the original system of
the
vehicle manufacturer. It should include all modifications needed to be applied
on
the vehicle in order to be able to control the climate.
The system of the present invention allows the user to not necessarily perform
a
direct action for the system to be remotely activated. For example, in the
future an
intelligent house system may detect a user's life habits and detect that the
user is
leaving soon using the user's vehicle, it could command remotely to activate
the
climate system. Also, some detectors with personal identification IDs may
detect
that a user is going to the user's vehicle, and this may also command the
remote
climate system.
The system of the present invention may include additional control features
such
as door locks or any other similar feature and/or additional security features
(bypass and/or enhancement), whichever the kind of link is required (data bus
or
direct wire).
The system of the present invention may be remotely updatable by means of a
schedule controller. In this way, one may program a schedule in the car to
climate
the cockpit at predefined times (this may imply a kind of
activation/confirmation).
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in
detail herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, it is to be
understood
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that the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments and that
various
changes and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the
scope or spirit of the present invention.
