US 5,117,638 · Granted 1992-06-02
The Heated and Cooled Seat Patent That Made Car Comfort Personal
Imagine a car seat that warms you up on a freezing morning or cools you down when you're sweating—that's what this patent does. It uses special air holes, heat pipes, or fluid-filled tubes hidden inside the seat cushion to make the temperature just right, controlled by a separate cooling or heating unit.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a seat with an outer layer (typically corduroy-textured fabric with small perforations) that allows conditioned air to flow through, combined with a cushion molded over that layer. What's protected is the specific construction method and the apparatus—either a fin structure, heat pipe, or fluid-circulating coils—that removes or adds heat to make the seat warmer or cooler. Anyone manufacturing a seat with this exact combination of perforated outer layer, foam cushion, and integrated heating/cooling system would be infringing.
Why it matters
Luxury vehicles have long competed on comfort features, and seat climate control became a selling point in high-end automobiles. By patenting this specific design—the combination of perforated fabric, molded foam, and integrated heat exchange—the inventor locked down a key technology that prevents competitors from using the same approach without licensing. This patent represents the engineering groundwork for heated and cooled seats that became standard in premium cars throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
Real-world use
When you sit in a luxury car's heated seat on a cold day or feel it cool you down during summer, you're experiencing technology directly descended from this 1992 patent design.
Original USPTO abstract
A selectively cooled or heated seat has an outer layer (40) of corduroy appearance with perforations (46) between wales through which conditioned air can flow. Alternatively, layers (47,52) are constructed of molded plastic or rubber. The seat construction is made by molding a cushion (64) of foam over the seat outer layer. The conditioning apparatus has a unitary fin structure (74) or, alternatively, a heat pipe (82) for removing or adding heat to the thermoelectric auxiliary heat exchanger (20). In a further modification, heat exchanging coils (34) located within the seat (24) have a fluid circulating through them and the conditioning apparatus auxiliary heat exchanger with ambient air being blown across the coils.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,117,638
- Filing date
- 1991-03-14
- Grant date
- 1992-06-02
- Assignee
- Steve Feher
- Inventor(s)
- FEHER; STEVE
- CPC class
- B60H1/00285
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