Patent Grant
6848817
This invention relates to interior vehicle instrumentation and/or console lighting and, more particularly, to interior rearview mirror assemblies and interior lamp assemblies for vehicles which incorporate a low level light emitting source for non-glare producing illumination of instrumentation or controls within a vehicle, especially in the instrument panel or control console areas at the front of the vehicle passenger compartment.
Conventional lighting within vehicles includes general interior lighting for reading, entry of passengers at night and the like, as well as localized lighting for instrumentation and control switches. The former is typically provided by one or more lighting assemblies in the roof, header area, door panels or quarter window areas of the vehicle, while the latter is usually provided by means of individual light emitting sources at the rear of an instrument cluster or switch to provide back lighting visible from the front of the instrument or control. However, these conventional lighting sources fail to provide illumination of many other controls needed to fully operate the vehicle, leaving the driver or passenger to grope clumsily at night or in low light conditions to find items such as an ashtray, door handle, seat or window switch, heater control, cup holder, or the like. Alternately, the person may switch on a general overhead light to find a particular control or handle but creating high levels of unwanted glare causing unsafe driving conditions for the vehicle driver. Use of such a conventional overhead or other general illumination light emitting source has typically included an incandescent bulb requiring high power levels and creating additional heat within the vehicle. Such incandescent light bulbs are also subject to short life spans and frequent failure. Consequently, incandescent light bulbs are usually a service item in the vehicle normally requiring service instruction to the dealership and/or consumer and spare part inventory by the vehicle manufacturer. Moreover, use of such conventional lighting cannot be continuous during night vehicle use because of the high glare levels produced, thereby leaving many controls within the vehicle unidentified for most night driving or other low level light conditions.
Accordingly, the need was recognized for improved illumination of instrumentation, controls, and/or other areas within a vehicle which would avoid production of unwanted, unsafe glare yet identify necessary vehicle controls without typical backlit instrumentation and electrical control switches.
In recognition of the above, the present invention provides a centralized low level illumination source for use within the interior of a vehicle which obviates the need for local light emitting sources, such as those conventionally used to provide backlit illumination of control panel and control fascia instrumentation and controls, while also illuminating vehicle controls which were normally unlit and unidentified such as center consoles, shift levers, cup holders, parking brake levers, interior door handles, storage receptacles, sunroof controls, and the like. More specifically, the invention provides a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source in an interior rearview mirror assembly or interior vehicle lamp assembly which provides local area illumination taking advantage of the central, high-mounted, geographical location of the interior mirror assembly or other location of a lamp assembly within the vehicle.
In one form, the invention is an interior rearview mirror assembly for vehicles comprising a mirror case, a reflective mirror element within the case, a support for securing the assembly on a vehicle, a non-incandescent, directed, low level light emitting source, and a mount receiving the light emitting source, the light emitting source being positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle. Preferably, the mount is on or within at least one of the mirror case and support. The light emitting source may optionally be mounted on either the mirror case or on the mirror support such as the mirror mounting arm. When on the mounting arm, the light emitting source may be positioned at the header area of the arm where it connects to the vehicle roof, or be separately mounted such as in an instrument housing/pod suspended from the mounting arm. The mirror case may also include at least one lamp, typically incandescent, providing general illumination within the vehicle for reading, courtesy lighting during passenger entry, or the like, which lamp may be separately switched from the low level light emitting source.
The low level light emitting source avoids causing glare visible by the vehicle driver, and preferably provides illumination of less than about 60 lux, preferably less than about 25 lux, and most preferably less than about 10 lux at the locations desired to be illuminated. Preferably, the light emitting source is a solid state source such as a light emitting diode although vacuum fluorescent sources, electroluminescent sources (including both organic electroluminescent sources and inorganic electroluminescent sources), and semiconductor laser sources may also be used. The preferred light emitting diode is preferably mounted in a hollow mounting adaptor telescopingly receiving the diode in one end and optionally being closed by a lens at the other end. The adaptor is preferably mounted in the bottom wall of the mirror case to the rear of the reflective rear element or in a wall of an interior vehicle lamp assembly in a manner that avoids creation of unwanted glare. If desired, two or more of such low level light emitting sources may be incorporated in the mirror assembly at spaced locations for directing light at a desired or different portions of the vehicle interior, or may be grouped to provide more intense and/or broader area local illumination.
In the most preferred form, the light emitting diode low level light emitting source provides a maximum illumination of about 0.2 to 4.0 lux at about 22 to 26 inches at about 20 mA to about 50 mA current, or less, and about 2.0 volts to about 5.0 volts, or less. The diode is typically connected in series with a suitable electrical resistor (typically less than about 1500 ohms and greater than about 100 ohms in electrical resistance; more preferably, less than about 1000 ohms and greater than about 200 ohms in resistance) to reduce the current to the diode and, preferably, to enable connection to an ignition voltage of the vehicle (typically 9 to 16 volts with about 12 volts nominal) and may be controlled by the ignition switch of the vehicle power system and/or by a rheostat/dimmer switch located, for example, at the headlight control switch for the vehicle.
The interior rearview mirror assembly or interior vehicle lamp assembly incorporating the low level light emitting source of the present invention provides numerous advantages over prior known vehicle instrumentation or control illumination sources. The present light emitting source may be directed to specific areas of instrumentation or control switches and provides illumination of controls previously unlit such as shift levers, parking brake levers, ashtrays, cupholders, HVAC controls, radio knobs and the like. The light emitting source is small and compact in size and highly durable having a life span typically longer than the operational lifetime of the vehicle itself, and may be mounted in confined locations without concern for access for repair or replacement. The light emitting source preferably provides a defined pattern of light such as a cone of light which may be directed as desired without any separate reflector, separate lens, separate collimator, etc.; has low power consumption requirements and thus, desirably and optionally, may be illuminated whenever the ignition switch of the vehicle is at the accessory on position or at the ignition on position, day and night; creates virtually no heat within the vehicle; and is amenable to mounting in many areas for illumination of desired controls. Moreover, the light emitting source avoids the creation of unwanted, unsafe glare which could otherwise distract or temporarily disable a vehicle driver. The light emitting source may also be used separately or together with other low level light emitting sources, can be used with virtually any mirror assembly or interior lamp assembly and can be adjusted if mounted on or within the mirror case, or fixed in position on or within the mirror support such as on or within the mirror mounting arm or the coupling channel member, a separate instrument pod, or an interior lamp assembly. The light emitting source can also provide a variety of pleasing illumination colors without the need for separate coloring filters.
These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of the invention will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
Referring now to the drawings in greater detail,
Mirror assembly 10 includes a typically hollow mirror case 12 molded from resinous plastic material, preferably a fiber reinforced nylon plastic or an ABS plastic, or polypropylene, or other similar thermoplastic or thermoset material, and includes a similarly molded peripheral rim or bezel 12a also preferably from reinforced nylon or ABS plastic or polypropylene including spaced projections (not shown) snap-fitted into clips 14 integrally molded adjacent the periphery within case 12 (FIG. 4). Bezel 12a holds a prismatic, reflective rearview mirror element 16, preferably formed from transparent glass or resinous plastic material and having a reflective coating on its rear surface, fixed within the case. Mirror case 12 is preferably of the type described in commonly assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,448, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, and includes an overcenter pivot type day/night actuator assembly 18 including a toggle member 20 preferably molded from reinforced nylon and a pivot lever 22 preferably molded from acetal and of the type disclosed in commonly assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,288, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Movement of pivot lever 22 between the two positions shown in
In addition, mirror case 12 includes a pair of lamp assemblies 24, 26 positioned on either side of actuator assembly 18 within compartments 25, 27 defined by walls 28, 30 molded on the interior of the back wall 13 of mirror case 12. The bottom portion 15 of the periphery of mirror case 12 includes a pair of light openings 32, 34, each light opening communicating with the respective compartment 25, 27 through which light from lamp assemblies 24-26 passes out of the mirror assembly. Lamp compartments 25, 27 also communicate respectively with a series of openings 36 and a series of openings 38 (
As shown in
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As is also shown in FIGS. 1 and 3-7, the low level, directed, light emitting source 90 of the present invention is mounted in interior rearview mirror assembly 10 so as to direct low level light through the bottom wall 15 of the mirror case. A variety of emitting sources may be used as light emitting source 90, including, but not limited to, very high intensity amber and reddish-orange light emitting diode (LED) sources, such as solid state light emitting diode LED sources utilizing double heterojunction AlGaAs/GaAs material technology, such as very high intensity red LED lamps T-1¾ (5 mm) HLMP-4100/4101, available from Hewlett Packard Corporation, Palo Alto, Calif., or which use transparent substrate aluminum indium gallium phosphide (AlInGaP) material technology, commercially available from Hewlett Packard Corporation, Palo Alto, Calif. under the designation T-1¾ (5 mm) HLMT-DL00, HLMT-CH00, HLMT-CL00, HLMT-CH15, HLMT-CL15 and HLMT-DH00, or which use InGaAlP material technology available from Toshiba Corporation of Latham, N.Y., such as under the designation TLRH180D. Light emittance colors provided by such solid-state sources include orange, yellow, amber, red and reddish-orange, desirably without need of ancillary spectral filters. The preferred solid-state light emitting diodes, at 25° C. or thereabouts, operate at a forward voltage of about 2 volts to about 5 volts; have a luminous intensity (measured at the peak of the spacial radiation pattern which may not be aligned with the mechanical axis of the source package) of a minimum, at 20 mA current, of about 500 to about 5000 mcd (typical, about 700 to about 7000 mcd); operate at a forward current of about 20 mA to about 50 mA; emit with a dominant wavelength (CIE Chromaticity Diagram) of about 530 nm to about 680 nm; and have a viewing angle 2Θ½ (where Θ½ is the off-axis angle where the luminous intensity is one half the peak intensity) of about 5 degrees to about 25 degrees.
Alternatively, vacuum fluorescent sources, such as 12V battery driven, high luminance, vacuum fluorescent sources may be advantageously used. It may also be advantageous to use sources 90 which operate efficiently at about 12V or lower since these voltages are particularly amenable to motor vehicles. Also, ultrahigh luminance vacuum fluorescent sources, such as those suitable for heads-up-display applications in motor vehicles may be used with appropriate circuitry. Light emitting source 90 preferably produces a light level which, when measured at about 22 to 26 inches, is desirably less than about 60 lux, preferably less than about 25 lux, and most preferably less than about 10 lux, and has a low power consumption requiring a current less than about 200 mA, and preferably less than about 100 mA, and most preferably less than about 50 mA. Alternately, non-LED, non-incandescent light emitting sources can be utilized such as electroluminescent sources, or semiconductor laser sources. The electroluminescent sources may be either inorganic or organic electroluminescent sources. Light emitting source 90 preferably has a well-defined light pattern, such as a cone of directed, low level light which eliminates the need for reflectors or other separate optical components to direct the light where desired, is preferably mounted on or within the mirror case 12, the mounting arm 82 or the channel member 84, and positioned to direct light at the desired area of the vehicle interior, e.g., the instrument panel or console area, and generates low heat while having an extremely long and durable life which typically will outlast the operational life of the rearview mirror assembly and the vehicle on which it is mounted. If mounted on or within channel member 84, light emitting source 90 may be fixed to illuminate a predetermined location within the interior cabin. The small size of light emitting source 90, which preferably has a cross-sectional area less than about 4 cm2, and more preferably less than about 1 cm2, allows it to be easily positioned within the confined spaces of the rearview mirror assembly or interior lamp assembly. Because of their durability, these sources require little or no maintenance or repair thereby eliminating concern for access after mirror assembly 10 or an interior lamp assembly is manufactured. The preferred HLMT-DL00 diode from Hewlett Packard is available with a generally circular area of about 0.3 cm2 and requires only 20 mA current for operation and provides a 23° cone of directed light with a dominant amber color of a typical dominant wavelength of approximately 590 nm, and a typical intensity of 1500 millicandela (mcd). Preferably, a resistor of about 450 ohms to about 500 ohms, typically about 470 ohms, is connected in series with the preferred LED, with the ignition/battery voltage of the vehicle being directly applied across their series connection. Other colors such as green, orange, yellow, red and blue may also be obtained depending on the elemental composition of the diode or other light emitting source selected. Separate filters are not required to produce the colors. The low level illumination provided by the light emitting diode 90 preferably has a maximum of about 0.2 to 4.0 lux at a distance of between about 22 and 26 inches at current of about 20 mA to about 50 mA at about 2.0 volts to about 5.0 volts. A resistor 92 is preferably connected in series with the light emitting diode to act as a voltage divider so as to reduce the ignition voltage of the vehicle, which is in the range of 9 to 16 volts (nominally 12 volts), to the desired operating voltage of the light source 90 (while typically is in the range of about 1 volt to about 5 volts, with about 2 volts to about 4.5 volts most typical for the preferred solid-state, very high intensity LED sources). Resistor 92 preferably has a resistance of less than about 1500 ohms and greater than about 100 ohms; more preferably less than about 1000 ohms and greater than about 200 ohms.
As is best seen in
As shown in
Alternately, light emitting diode 90 and resistor 92 may be connected in series to the power system of the vehicle through a rheostat/dimmer switch 116 located, for example, at the headlight control switch 114. In this version, 60′ (
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Housing/pod 188 also includes a plug receptacle or recess 214 for receiving an electrical plug to couple electrical energy and/or electrical signals to the instruments mounted within housing/pod 188 by means of a suitable pin connector/electrical plug (not shown). A pin receptacle 216 is mounted in the bottom of recess 214 and is connected to a circuit board 218 mounted on supports 220 within the housing to provide a digital display compass or the like for use on the vehicle. In addition to the other instrumentation in housing/pod 188, a low level light emitting source 190 preferably comprising a light emitting diode of the type described above in connection with assembly 10 is mounted in a fixed position, extends through the wall of lower housing 192 in a hollow, cylindrical adapter 222 as described above in connection with assemblies 10, 120 and 150. Diode 190 is connected by suitable electrical wiring 224 to pin receptacle 216 for connection via an electrical plug to the general vehicle electrical system.
As will now be understood, when diode 190 is suitably mounted in adapter 222 in housing 188 as described above, housing 188 may be secured to coupler 186 forming a part of the rearview mirror assembly support such that light emitting diode 190 is directed downwardly to provide low level illumination of a desired portion of the instrument panel or console area of the vehicle which is generally positioned below the rearview mirror assembly as shown by
Referring now to
Preferably, variable reflectance, electro-optic reflective mirror cell 246 is an electrochromic mirror cell that includes a transparent, front glass sheet 260 and a transparent, rear glass sheet 262 having a reflective coating 263 applied to its rear surface. Front glass 260 and reflective rear glass 262 are slightly offset relative to one another such that the upper and lower edges project for connection to appropriate metal connection strips (not shown). A variable light transmittance, electrochromic layer 264 is sandwiched in the space between the front glass 260 and rear of glass 262. The front surface of rear glass 262 and rear surface of front glass 260 each have a transparent electroconductive coating, such as indium tin oxide or doped tin oxide or the like, to conduct electricity across the full contact extent of electrochromic layer 264 from the connection strips secured at the offset top and bottom of the front and rear glass sheets. When controlled by printed circuit 252, electrical voltage is applied across electro-optic cell 246 between front glass 260 and rear glass 262 causing a variation in the transmittance of layer 264 such as darkening or opacity to reduce the light reflected by the reflective rear glass 262. Electrochromic layer 264 may, for example, be an electrochromic layer such as is described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,140,455 and 5,151,816 or in the following publications: N. R. Lynam, “Electrochromic Automotive Day/Night Mirrors”, SAE Technical Paper Series, 870636 (1987); N. R. Lynam, “Smart Windows for Automobiles”, SAE Technical Paper Series, 900419 (1990); N. R. Lynam and A. Agrawal, “Automotive Applications of Chromogenic Materials”, Large Area Chromogenics: Materials and Devices for Transmittance Control, C. M. Lampert and C. G. Granquist, EDS., Optical Engineering Press, Washington (1990), the disclosures of which are each hereby incorporated by reference herein, or other as described above in assembly 10.
As also shown in
With reference to
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Accordingly, the low level light emitting source of the present invention can be located other than at an interior rearview mirror such as in an interior lamp assembly 280 which may be positioned in the headliner of the vehicle or over the passenger windows and used as a dome lamp, rail lamp or the like. In such case, the low light emitting source 310 and its series voltage limiting resistor 312 piggyback by convenient electrical connection to preexisting electrical wiring carrying ignition voltage to the interior lighting assembly or to other electrically operated accessories, components, and/or controls in the vehicle. As in the other assemblies described above, light emitting sources other than light emitting diodes can be used in mirror assembly 230 or interior lamp assembly 280 such as vacuum fluorescent sources, electroluminescent sources or semiconductor laser sources, all as described above. Furthermore, the non-incandescent, low level light emitting sources of the invention can be located in the vehicle at locations other than at mirror or interior lighting locations, but preferably in proximity to existing electrical wiring carrying ignition voltage to realize the benefits described above. The benefits of this invention are applicable in a variety of vehicles such as in convertibles equipped with lighted interior mirrors.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a non-incandescent, low level, low wattage light emitting source incorporating one of various types of emitting sources on an interior rearview mirror assembly or an interior vehicle lamp assembly to provide local area illumination taking unique advantage of the position of the rearview mirror assembly or interior lamp assembly when mounted in a vehicle. Rearview mirror assemblies and interior lighting typically mounted in the header region or in the upper windshield area of the vehicle can thus provide a desirable geographic location which provides a high-mount, typically electrically serviced, setting for the light emitting sources of this invention. Various forms of the invention can easily be accommodated to various different types of basic or added feature rearview mirror assemblies while the exact position of the low level light emitting source on the mirror assembly can be varied as desired from either the mirror case to the mounting arm to the overall support, such as for example, by means of a separate housing/pod. The emitting source provides a well defined pattern of light avoiding the need for separate reflectors, filters, collimators, diffusers or light stops, provides long life and pleasing color options, generates little heat and requires low power for operation but will typically outlast the operational lifetime rearview mirror assembly or interior lamp assembly itself and the vehicle in which it is mounted. Also, while generally, and preferably, illustrated herein as connected to the direct current (DC) voltage output of the vehicle ignition/battery system, the light emitting sources of this invention can, depending on their electrical characteristics and ancillary drive circuitry utilized, be operated by other electrical modes including pulsed direct current and alternating current voltage drives.
While several forms of the invention have been shown and described, other forms will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above are merely for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention which is defined by the claims which follow.
This is a continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 09/626,608, filed Jul. 27, 2000, by Brent J. Bos, Stephen J. Forbes and Roger L. Veldman, entitled VEHICLE INSTRUMENTATION/CONSOLE LIGHTING, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 09/287,926, filed Apr. 7, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,172, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/287,926, filed Apr. 7, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,321, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/367,844, filed Dec. 30, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,996, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09626608 | Jul 2000 | US |
| Child | 10082587 | US | |
| Parent | 09287926 | Apr 1999 | US |
| Child | 09626608 | US | |
| Parent | 08937480 | Sep 1997 | US |
| Child | 09287926 | US | |
| Parent | 08367844 | Dec 1994 | US |
| Child | 08937480 | US |
