The present disclosure generally relates to vehicle lamp assemblies, and more particularly, to vehicle lamp assemblies within a vehicle cabin.
Vehicle lamp assemblies are employed in vehicles and illuminate for various functions. For some vehicles, it may be desirable to have a vehicle lamp assembly that provides additional illumination within the vehicle.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle lamp assembly is provided herein. The vehicle lamp assembly includes a lighting device configured to couple to a headliner. One or more light sources are disposed within the lighting device. A controller is configured to selectively activate the one or more light sources. The illuminated one or more light sources direct light at a feature within a vehicle.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle lamp assembly is provided herein. The vehicle lamp assembly includes a first lighting device having one or more light sources. A second lighting device has one or more light sources. The second lighting device is disposed vehicle rearward of the first lighting device. A controller is configured to selectively activate the first and second lighting devices to direct light at a feature within a vehicle.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle lamp assembly is provided herein. The vehicle lamp assembly includes a first lighting device having first and second light sources. A first light-directing element is operably coupled with the first light source and is configured to direct light towards a first vehicle feature. A second light-directing element is operably coupled with the second light source and is configured to direct light towards a second vehicle feature. A controller is configured to selectively activate the first and second light sources.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
As required, detailed examples of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed examples are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to a detailed design and some schematics may be exaggerated or minimized to show function overview. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
In this document, relational terms, such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like, are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action, without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.
As used herein, the term “and/or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination.
The following disclosure describes a lamp assembly that may be disposed within a vehicle cabin. In some examples, the lamp assembly may be configured as an overhead lamp that is disposed above occupants once installed within the vehicle. The lamp assembly may include one or more light sources that are configured to illuminate predefined locations and/or features within the vehicle. The light sources may be selectively activated by a controller 48 based on a plurality of inputs based on detected conditions and/or occupant inputs.
Referring to
With further reference to
The user's electronic device 28 and the vehicle associated electronic device 30 may be any one of a variety of computing devices and may include a processor and memory. For example, the user's electronic device 28 and the vehicle associated electronic device 30 may be a cell phone, mobile communication device, key fob, wearable device (e.g., fitness band, watch, glasses, jewelry, wallet), apparel (e.g., a tee shirt, gloves, shoes or other accessories), personal digital assistant, headphones and/or other devices that include capabilities for wireless communications using IEEE 2.11, Bluetooth, and/or any other wired or wireless communications protocols. Further, the vehicle associated electronic device 30 may be a computer or any other electronic device that is disposed within the vehicle 10.
In various examples, the vehicle 10 and/or the vehicle associated electronic device 30 may communicate with the user's electronic device 28 through a wireless network. Accordingly, the network may be one or more of various wired or wireless communication mechanisms, including any desired combination of wired (e.g., cable and fiber) and/or wireless (e.g., cellular, wireless, satellite, microwave, and radio frequency) communication mechanisms and any desired network topology (or topologies when multiple communication mechanisms are utilized). Exemplary communication networks include wireless communication networks (e.g., using Bluetooth, IEEE 2.11, etc.), local area networks (LAN), and/or wide area networks (WAN), including the Internet, providing data communication services.
Moreover, the vehicle 10 and/or the vehicle associated electronic device 30 may include a wireless transceiver (e.g., a BLUETOOTH module, a ZIGBEE transceiver, a Wi-Fi transceiver, an IrDA transceiver, an RFID transceiver, etc.) configured to communicate with a compatible wireless transceiver of the user's electronic device 28. Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle 10 and/or the vehicle associated electronic device 30 may communicate with the user's electronic device 28 over a wired connection, such as via a USB connection.
The application 26 may be configured to utilize a device link interface to interact with the vehicle 10 and/or the vehicle associated electronic device 30. When connected to the vehicle 10, the application 26 may be configured to utilize information from vehicle sensors, actuators, and electronic control units. The application 26 may also be configured to operate when untethered from the vehicle 10, such as when the user is riding public transportation or walking. The application 26 may be further configured to communicate with servers via a communications network. The user may interact with the application 26 through a human-machine interface (HMI) 40 of the vehicle associated electronic device 30, via a web interface, or via the HMI 40 of the vehicle 10.
The vehicle 10 may be a manually operated vehicle (i.e. using a human driver) or may be autonomously driven by an onboard computer. Additionally, or alternatively, the vehicle 10 may be remotely controlled (e.g., via an operator located in a different location). In autonomous examples, the computer may be configured for communicating with one or more remote sites such as a server via a network. The one or more remote sites may include a data store. The vehicle 10, including the computer, is configured to receive information, e.g., collected data, from the one or more data collectors related to various components of the vehicle 10, e.g., a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator pedal, gearshift lever, etc. The computer generally includes an autonomous driving module that includes instructions for autonomously, i.e., without some, or any, operator input, operating the vehicle 10, including possibly in response to instructions received from the server. Further, the computer, e.g., in the module, generally includes instructions for receiving data, e.g., from one or more data collectors and/or an HMI 40, such as an interactive voice response (IVR) system, a graphical user interface (GUI) including a touchscreen or the like, etc.
The application 26 on the user's electronic device 28 and/or vehicle associated electronic device 30 may also be configured to alter lighting characteristics of the lamp assembly 12. For example, a user may alter the color of light emitted from the lamp assembly 12, alter the intensity of light emitted from the lamp assembly 12, and/or set parameters for activation of the lamp assembly 12, as will be described in greater detail below. For example, the lamp assembly 12 may illuminate in a first color (e.g., red) when an occupant enters the vehicle 10 and fails to secure an occupant restraint device (e.g., seatbelt 20) in the occupied seat and/or illuminate in a second color (e.g., green) when the occupant desires to utilize a feature 44 of the vehicle 10, such as the electronic port 24.
Referring further to
The vehicle 10 may further include one or more HMIs 40 that may be operably coupled with the lamp assembly 12 and utilized for illuminating the lamp assembly 12 in a variety of illumination patterns. The vehicle 10 may also include a microphone 42 that is also operably coupled to the controller 48. The microphone 42 may be a unidirectional microphone or an array of microphones. If the microphone 42 is a unidirectional microphone, the microphone is disposed, for example, in such a manner that the directivity thereof is directed toward the head of an occupant. An array microphone is a microphone in which multiple microphones are arranged close to each other in an array and whose directivity can be directed in any direction by signal processing. In some examples, an occupant within the cabin 14 may provide one or more commands and/or questions. In response, the lamp assembly 12 may illuminate in a predefined manner. In some instances, an occupant may be able to ask for a location of the electronic port 24, or any other feature 44, within the vehicle 10. In response, the controller 48 may illuminate a portion of the lamp assembly 12 that directs light at the desired feature 44. It will be appreciated that any feature 44 within the cabin 14 of the vehicle 10 may be illuminated in such a manner without departing from the teachings provided herein. Accordingly, the microphone 42 is operably coupled to the controller 48 and the lighting device 18 selectively illuminates one or more light sources 54 based on a user-provided voice command. For example, an occupant may ask for a door handle to be illuminated, for the electronic port 24 to be illuminated, for a cup holder to be illuminated, etc. and in response, the lamp assembly 12 may illuminate the appropriate light sources 54 (
With further reference to
The vehicle 10 may further include a sound system therein that includes one or more speakers. The speakers may be disposed proximate each seating location. Accordingly, in addition to, or in lieu of, the speaker proximate each respective seating area may assist in locating various features 44 of the vehicle 10. For example, in addition to the lamp assembly 12 illuminating the vehicle feature 44, the speaker proximate the seating area may direct the occupant to the location of the specific feature 44.
Additionally, the application 26 on the electronic device 28 may include a plurality of identifiable features 44 of the vehicle 10 that may be illuminated by the lamp assembly 12. Accordingly, when an occupant is unable to identify the location of a desired feature 44, that feature 44 can be selected through the electronic device 28. In response, the lamp assembly 12 may illuminate a portion thereof to direct light towards the desired feature 44. In some examples, the lamp assembly 12 may also illuminate safety features 44 of the vehicle 10 based on an input from the central area network (CAN) bus of the vehicle 10. For example, if the vehicle 10 detects an occupant within a specific location of the vehicle 10 and the seatbelt 20 for that location is disengaged, the lamp assembly 12 may illuminate the respective seatbelt 20, the identified seat, the occupant, and/or the seatbelt latch 22. Any other feature 44 that may be utilized in a similar manner may also be illuminated without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
In some examples, the lamp assembly 12 includes a controller 48 including control circuitry including LED drive circuitry for controlling activation and deactivation of one or more light sources 54. The controller 48 may be disposed in the vehicle 10, within the vehicle associated electronic device 30, and/or within the lighting device 18. The controller 48 may activate the light sources 54 based on a plurality of inputs from the vehicle associated electronic device 30, the user electronic device 28, the HMI 40, any sensor within the vehicle 10, etc. and may modify the intensity of the light emitted by the light sources 54 by pulse-width modulation, current control, and/or any other method known in the art. In various examples, the controller 48 may be configured to adjust a color and/or intensity of light emitted from the light sources 54 by sending control signals to adjust an intensity or energy output level of the light sources 54.
With further reference to
Referring to
The circuit board 52 may be configured as a printed circuit board (PCB) that is operably coupled to the controller 48. The circuit board 52 may be configured in any fashion known in the art including, but not limited to, any flexible PCB and/or rigid PCB. The light sources 54 may be disposed on the circuit board 52 with constant or variable spacing. The light sources 54 may include any form of light sources. For example, fluorescent lighting, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs), polymer LEDs (PLEDs), laser diodes, quantum dot LEDs (QD-LEDs), solid-state lighting, a hybrid of these or any other similar device, and/or any other form of lighting may be utilized within the lighting device 18. Further, various types of LEDs are suitable for use as the light sources 54 including, but not limited to, top-emitting LEDs, side-emitting LEDs, and others. Moreover, according to various examples, multicolored light sources 54, such as Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) LEDs that employ red, green, and blue LED packaging may be used to generate various desired colors of light outputs from a single light source 30, according to known light color mixing techniques.
Referring to
The optics 56 includes one or more light-directing elements 66. The light-directing elements 66 are arranged such that a first portion 62 of the light-directing elements 66 is configured to output incident light at an angle and another portion 64 of the light-directing elements 66 is configured to output incident light at a zero angle as demonstrated by the light rays in
Referring to
According to some examples, the lighting device 18 may be divided into a plurality of light-emitting regions, exemplarily shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
With continued reference to
The light sources 54 may be configured to emit light towards a lens assembly 92. The light sources 54 may emit light of the same color or be apportioned to selectively emit different colored light. Electrical power is supplied to the light sources 54 via wiring 94 that is electrically coupled to the vehicle power source 60. The lens assembly includes optics 56 that are positioned between the light sources 54 and a peripheral wall 84 of the body 76 and are configured to focus, collimate, or spread light emitted by the light sources 54 to project a light beam 98 of variable light density outwardly from the body 76 through the peripheral wall 84. In examples where the optics 56 collimate light emitted by light sources 54, the optics 56 may be fluted, the flutes having varying width, height, and depth. Furthermore, the beam pattern of the projected light beam 98 may be defined based on an optical interaction between the optics 56 and the peripheral wall 84. Accordingly, it is to be appreciated that the peripheral wall 84 may be configured to exhibit various optical characteristics.
Referring to
With respect to the presently depicted example, a lens assembly 102 may be optionally provided to focus, collimate, or spread light emitted by the light source cluster to project a light beam 104 of variable light density outwardly from the body 76 through the peripheral wall 84 in the direction generally specified by arrow 106. The lens assembly 102 includes optics 56 in optical communication with the light sources 54 and is fixedly supported within the housing assembly 72 by any suitable means. The optics 56 are generally positioned inside the housing assembly 72 to intercept light emitted from the light sources 54 and project the corresponding light beam through the peripheral wall 84 of the body 76. In some examples, the optics 56 may be fluted, the flutes having varying width, height, and depth. In addition, the projected light beam 104 may be defined based on an optical interaction between the optics 56 and the peripheral wall 84. Accordingly, it is to be appreciated that the peripheral wall 84 may be configured to exhibit various optical characteristics.
Due to the lack of any movable parts, the lighting device 18 described with reference to
Use of the present disclosure may offer a variety of advantages. For instance, use of the lamp assembly may provide additional functionality of the vehicle to occupants thereof. The lamp assembly may assist occupants in situations where a driver is not present. Moreover, the selective activation of light sources by the controller based on a plurality of inputs based on detected conditions and/or occupant inputs provide for a wide array of uses of the lamp assembly. The lamp assembly described herein may provide many additional benefits to the vehicle while being manufactured at a lower cost than current light assemblies.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle lamp assembly is provided herein. The vehicle lamp assembly includes a lighting device configured to couple to a headliner. One or more light sources are disposed within the lighting device. A controller is configured to selectively activate the one or more light sources. The illuminated one or more light sources direct light at a feature within a vehicle. Examples of the vehicle lamp assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
Moreover, a method of method of manufacturing a vehicle lamp assembly is provided herein. The method includes coupling a lighting device to a headliner. One or more light sources are positioned within the lighting device. A controller is coupled to the one or more light sources. The one or more light sources are selectively activated. The illuminated one or more light sources direct light at a feature within a vehicle.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle lamp assembly is provided herein. The vehicle lamp assembly includes a first lighting device having one or more light sources. A second lighting device has one or more light sources. The second lighting device is disposed vehicle rearward of the first lighting device. A controller is configured to selectively activate the first and second lighting devices to direct light at a feature within a vehicle. Examples of the vehicle lamp assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle lamp assembly is provided herein. The vehicle lamp assembly includes a first lighting device having first and second light sources. A first light-directing element is operably coupled with the first light source and is configured to direct light towards a first vehicle feature. A second light-directing element is operably coupled with the second light source and is configured to direct light towards a second vehicle feature. A controller is configured to selectively activate the first and second light sources. Examples of the vehicle lamp assembly can include any one or a combination of the following features:
It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described invention and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary examples of the invention disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials unless described otherwise herein.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” (in all of its forms, couple, coupling, coupled, etc.) generally means the joining of two components (electrical or mechanical) directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the two components (electrical or mechanical) and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two components. Such joining may be permanent in nature or may be removable or releasable in nature unless otherwise stated.
Furthermore, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected” or “operably coupled” to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Some examples of operably couplable include, but are not limited to, physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components. Furthermore, it will be understood that a component preceding the term “of the” may be disposed at any practicable location (e.g., on, within, and/or externally disposed from the vehicle) such that the component may function in any manner described herein.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the invention as shown in the exemplary examples is illustrative only. Although only a few examples of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connectors or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present innovations. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary examples without departing from the spirit of the present innovations.
It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps to form structures within the scope of the present invention. The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.
It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.