BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
A still better understanding of the cableless air conditioner control system and method of the present invention may be had by reference to the drawing figures wherein:
FIG. 1 is an illustration of the components of a prior art air conditioner in a 1930's automobile taken from the book How To Air Condition Your Car by Timothy Remus and Jack Chisenhall published in 1993;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear of a prior art dashboard mounted control panel assembly with two sheathed Bowden-style cables attached to the actuator arms behind the dashboard mounted control panel assembly;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a dashboard mounted control panel assembly showing the attachment of two cableless controls, according to the present invention, to the actuator arms behind the dashboard mounted control panel assembly;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the dashboard mounted control panel assembly shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the inside of the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly shown in FIG. 3 and in FIG. 4 with the housing portion opened;
FIG. 6A is a perspective view of the outside of the housing portion shown in FIG. 5A;
FIG. 6B is a perspective view of the inside of the housing portion shown in FIG. 6A;
FIG. 7A is a top plan view of the movable spring biased electrical conductor;
FIG. 7B is a side elevational view of the movable spring biased electrical conductor shown in FIG. 7A;
FIG. 8A is a first schematic illustrating the first step in the matching of the travel of the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly to an existing dashboard mounted control panel assembly; and
FIG. 8B is a second schematic illustrating the second step in the matching of the travel of the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly to an existing dashboard mounted control panel assembly;
FIG. 8C is a third schematic of the result obtained when the travel of the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly has been properly matched to an existing dashboard mounted control panel assembly.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
As best seen in FIG. 2, a prior art dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100 is shown removed from the dashboard of an older automobile. Within slots 102 of the face plate portion 104 of the dashboard mounted control assembly 100 are included one or more sliding manual controls 106. The sliding manual controls 106 are positioned to move along a substantially linear vertical or a substantially horizontal path to enable the occupant of a vehicle to control the temperature of the interior portion of an automobile. In the illustrated example the sliding manual controls 106 move one or more actuator arms 108 which are attached to sheathed Bowden-style cables 110. These sheathed Bowden-style cables 110 may control the position of an air inlet door (not shown) to select the use of either inside or outside air or an air outlet door (not shown) for directing air flow with respect to an air conditioner evaporator.
The prior art dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100 shown in FIG. 2 may be one that was available for installation as an accessory on an older automobile or an assembly for an older car that did not have any provision for control of an automobile air conditioner. Because the old car hobbyist working with a rebuilt automobile, a restored automobile, a hot rod, a street rod, or a custom car now desires to add an air conditioner, most old car hobbyists, particularly purists, desire to use the dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100 that was originally offered with their older automobile.
As explained above, the installation of an air conditioner into an automobile that did not originally have an air conditioner typically involves running one or more Bowden-style control cables 110 from the actuator arms 108 on the back of the dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100 to the various valves, vents and mechanical controls (not shown) which are typically part of an automobile air conditioning system.
As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, by use of the disclosed invention, the sheathed Bowden-style cables which are an essential part of a prior art automobile air conditioner may be removed.
Replacing the prior art Bowden-style cables 110 cables used on a prior art automobile air conditioner is a set of one or more linear slide pot potentiometer assemblies 20. As may be seen in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 showing the attachment of the linear slide pot potentiometer assemblies 20 to the actuator arms 108 back of the prior art dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100, the linear slide pot potentiometer assemblies 20 are attachable to the existing Bowden-style cable mounting points 112 originally used on the prior art dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100. Thus, in most cases, no modification to the actuator arms 108 extending from the rear portion of the existing dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100 is needed. Further, each linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 is held in position by a clamp 114. The clamp 114 attaches the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 to a bracket 116 generally available on the back of most dashboard mounted control panel assemblies 100. Thus, an important advantage of the disclosed system and method is that in most applications, no new mounting hardware needs to be constructed as the linear slide pot potentiometer assemblies 20 can be mounted satisfactorily using the same hardware previously used to mount the sheathed Bowden-style cable assemblies 110.
As may be seen in FIG. 5, the construction and operation of the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 of the present invention resembles that of a syringe. A movable spring biased electrical conductor 22, as shown in FIG. 5, extends from an openable housing 60. The flattened portion 24 of the movable spring biased electrical conductor 22 is mechanically connected to the end of one of the movable actuator arms 108 on the back of the dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100 using one of a plurality of holes 26 as shown in FIG. 5.
At the end 61 of the openable housing 60 where the rod portion 28 of the movable conductor 22 enters the housing 60 is a clamp 90. The clamp 90 attaches the openable housing 60 to a bracket or some other stationary mounting on the back of the prior art dashboard mounted control assembly 100. The clamp originally used with the sheathed Bowden-style cables 110 may be used in most installations. The openable housing 60 includes a hinge line 62 so that when folded and the side clips 64 engage the openings 66, the openable housing 60 snaps shut and encloses around the substantially cylindrical rod portion 28 of the movable conductor 22. As may be seen in FIG. 3 and in FIG. 4, an optional band 80 has been added to assure the openable housing 60 remains closed. On top of the movable conductor 22 is spring 30. Spring 30 contacts the inside 73 of the top 75 of the openable housing 60 and is used to bias a foot 32 on the end of the rod portion 28 of the movable conductor 22 against a stationary linear conductor 66 within the openable housing 60. The stationary linear conductor 66 is a substantially flat conductor affixed to the openable housing 60. Electrical connections 68 connected to the end of the stationary linear conductor 66 convey an electrical signal indicative of the electrical resistance related to the physical position of the foot 32 with respect to the stationary linear conductor 66. This electrical signal which is indicative of the physical position of the foot 32 on the stationary linear conductor 66 is then sent to an analog or digital control system. In the preferred embodiment, the electrical signal is sent to the software portion of a digital control system as described below. The software system uses this electrical signal to mechanically position the various valves, vents, and mechanical components which control the operation of the automobile's air conditioner.
An additional feature of the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 of the present invention is that both the direction of movement and the length of the movement of the foot 32 against the stationary linear conductor 66 may be recorded and divided into set of uniform gradations using a software system as described with respect to FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C.
As shown in FIG. 8A an old car hobbyist installing an automobile air conditioning system including the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 of the present invention can physically set a control to a position marked “COLD” or “COOL” on the dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100 then electrically mark the physical position of the foot 32 against the stationary linear conductor 66 in the software portion of the electronic controls for the automobile air conditioning system.
As shown in FIG. 8B, the automobile hobbyist can do the same thing at the opposite end of the manual control travel marked either “WARM” or “HOT”. Once again, the physical position of the foot 32 with respect to the stationary linear conductor 66 will be electrically marked in the software portion of the electronic controls for the automobile air conditioning system.
The software portion of the electronic controls for the automobile air conditioning system will then create a substantially linear gradient of positions between the marked positions at either end of the manual control travel. The result is that irrespective of the length of travel or the direction of travel of the manual temperature control on the dashboard mounted control assembly the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 will have created a range of temperature control positions matching the length of travel and the direction of travel of the manual control 106 in dashboard mounted control panel assembly 100. Thus, as shown in FIG. 8C, a range of temperature settings between the “COLD” or “COOL” position and the “WARM” or “HOT” position is automatically established. For example, the temperature provided by the setting shown in FIG. 8C will be substantially halfway between the two temperatures at the extreme end settings.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that while a linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 has been disclosed for use in the preferred embodiment, still other forms of variable electrical controls may be used. Such other forms of variable electrical controls may include an encoder, an array of switches or a substantially continuous switch where a signal is transmitted by wire to the air conditioning system. Alternatively, a wireless RF system may be used where the position of the panel mounted air conditioner control assembly is put into the form of an electrical signal transmitted wirelessly to the software portion of the electronic controls for the automobile air conditioning system. Software, similar to that disclosed in the preferred embodiment of the disclosed system and method, will enable the controls to be adapted for the direction of travel and the length of travel of the manual control.
Still others or ordinary skill in the art will understand that the linear slide pot potentiometer assembly 20 used in the disclosed system has few components and may be produced significantly more inexpensively than many more precise linear potentiometers currently available. Accordingly, the simple, inexpensive disclosed linear slide pot potentiometer assembly may be constructed and arranged for use in a wide variety of systems where a linear potentiometer is employed but the control accuracy needed is not extremely precise.
While the disclosed cableless air conditioner control system and method has been described according to its preferred and alternate embodiments, other modifications will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such modifications shall be included within the scope and meaning of the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080073071
