Abstract: A heat exchanger for an internal combustion engine's cooling system, said heat exchanger comprising a main and an auxiliary circuit and comprising two separated regions, one large region communicating by means of a first radiator tank with the main cooling circuit and the other, small region communicating by means of a second radiator tank with the auxiliary cooling circuit, characterized in that the radiator tanks may communicate with each other through a connection aperture receiving a controlled closing element and in that a drive acting on said closing element is used to selectively open or close the said connection aperture.

Abstract: The invention relates to a vehicle door comprising a braking function before a detected obstacle (3) and for damping the final position, which decelerates the movement of the vehicle door (2) by applying a braking torque, wherein an evaluation and control unit (7) determines the braking torque by evaluating an instantaneous door movement, which is sensed by a sensor system (6), or a sensed obstacle and actuates the damper (5) correspondingly.

Abstract: A vehicle door with a variable latching function which holds the vehicle door in a desired latched position by applying a latching torque using a controllable damper is described. An evaluation and control unit detects the desired latched positions by evaluating an instantaneous door movement sensed by a sensor system and actuates the damper using an actuator element. The evaluation and control unit releases the latched position after a corresponding activation is detected. The variable latching function acts on the vehicle door within a functional region which extends to a predefined opening region between a first opening angle and a maximum opening angle when the vehicle door drops below a predefined speed or comes to a standstill within the functional region.

Abstract: A method for energy management of air-conditioning units in motor vehicles in which each of the air-conditioning units has a plurality of air-conditioning compressors prevents very heavy loading of an engine of a motor vehicle and prevents the engine from almost stalling when the air-conditioning compressors start up, as currently occurs during starting of the engine of the motor vehicle, after idling of the engine of the motor vehicle, and after an acceleration process in which the engine was in the full load mode. Each of the air-conditioning compressors is allocated a different priority, with the highest priority, for example, assigned to the air-conditioning compressor for a front vehicle region which is intended, inter alia, to prevent the front windscreen from misting up by removing moisture from the air. A lower priority can be assigned to the air-conditioning compressor for a rear vehicle region.

Abstract: A vehicle door has an easy exit feature that holds the vehicle door in a desired latched position by applying a latching torque with a controllable damper. An evaluation and control unit detects the desired latched positions by evaluating an instantaneous door movement sensed by a sensor system, and accordingly actuates the damper. The evaluation and control unit releases the latched position after a corresponding activation has been detected. The easy exit feature is embodied as a variable latching function, and applies a maximum holding force to the vehicle door by way of the damper and locks the vehicle door in the desired latched position.

Abstract: A method for regulation of the operation of a vehicle auxiliary heating/auxiliary ventilation by making use of the heating energy provided by the auxiliary heating. The front and the rear system are activated until a certain limit temperature of the front and rear water circuit for heating or air-conditioning the vehicle interior is reached, so that the interior can be heated more rapidly and uniformly, due to the entire water circuit being heated. After the limit temperature of the front and rear water circuit is reached, only the front water circuit continues to be heated, for example, in order to defrost the windshield and to heat the front interior. If the blow-in temperature in the front interior has reached a certain threshold value or an internal deviation of a regulator lies below a predetermined further limit value, only the rear water circuit is switched on again.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for energy management of air-conditioning units in motor vehicles, in particular air-conditioning units having a plurality of air-conditioning compressors. The method according to the invention prevents very heavy loading of an engine of a motor vehicle and prevents the engine almost stalling when the air-conditioning compressors start up, as currently occurs during starting of the engine of the motor vehicle, after idling of the engine of the motor vehicle as well as after an acceleration process in which the engine was in the full load mode. For this purpose, each of the air-conditioning compressors is allocated a different priority, for example the highest priority is assigned to the air-conditioning compressor for a front vehicle region which is intended, inter alia, to prevent the front windscreen misting up by removing moisture from the air, and a lower priority to the air-conditioning compressor for a rear vehicle region.

Abstract: A device and a method for determining the freezing point of a washer fluid with a heater for heating the washer fluid. The invention provides a temperature sensor, which provides continuous electric signals, which represent the current temperature values of the washer fluid, and an analyzing and controlling unit, which ascertains the temperature behavior of the washer fluid from the signals and determines the characteristic values of the washer fluid from the ascertained temperature behavior.