Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a way to address environmentally exposed surfaces that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on September 28th, 2022, published on March 28th, 2024, and assigned serial number 0102867.
The Ford Authority Take
Over the past several months, Ford has filed a few patents that aim to improve our comfort inside of vehicles – at least as it pertains to temperatures. This includes filings for automatic heated and cooled seats, as well as a sun tracking and protection system, both of which are designed to either keep the interior of a vehicle from being too hot or too cold for comfort’s sake. Now, this new patent filing keeps that trend going by introducing another interesting idea – this time, for a way to address environmentally exposed surfaces that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.
These days, modern smartphones are able to warn users when those devices get too hot, and even take steps to rectify that problem, but it’s something that isn’t replicated in automobiles – at least for now. That could change if this patent sees the light of day, as it presents us with an idea for a system that could determine when a vehicle’s infotainment screen is exceeding a certain threshold in terms of temperature, then initiate a cooling procedure while also warning the user.
The concept here isn’t necessarily to protect the screen’s electronics, but rather, to keep users from touching the screen when it’s too hot. As Ford points out in the patent filing, this is a common issue – especially when the sun is shining directly in a vehicle – which is a problem that most of us are familiar with, whether that be from touching a hot screen, steering wheel, or seat belt buckle.
We’ll have more on this and all Ford patents soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford patent news, Ford business news, and comprehensive Ford news coverage.
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