Sunshine sensor and air conditioner for vehicle
US5181654A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 2, 1991 |
| Grant date | Jan 26, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 2, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01J1/4228
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An air conditioner for use with a car employing a sunshine sensor having three light receiving elements. A first light receiving element faces upward and a second light receiving element and a third light receiving element are inclined toward a front side by an identical angle along an advancing direction of the car and are symmetrically inclined with respect the car advancing direction along a horizontal direction vertical to the car advancing direction. The inclination is determined such that a vector obtained by adding normal vectors respectively of light receiving surfaces of the light receiving elements has a direction substantially identical to a direction of sunshine which maximizes a quantity of heat supplied from the sunshine to the car. Outputs from the first, second, and third light receiving elements are added to each other to obtain a sunshine intensity.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.