Illuminated virtual handle for power door system in motor vehicles
First Claim
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1. A closure panel system for a motor vehicle comprising:
- a handleless closure panel pivotably mounted to a vehicle body for movement between a closed position and a fully-open position, said handleless closure panel having a grasp area;
a latch assembly mounted to the handleless closure panel and equipped with a latch mechanism and a power-operated latch release mechanism to provide a power release function;
a presenter assembly operably disposed between the vehicle body and the handleless closure panel and equipped with a power-operated presenter mechanism to provide a power open function for moving the handleless closure panel from its closed position to a partially-open position;
an illumination assembly mounted on the handleless closure panel in proximity to the grasp area and having an illumination source operable to provide illumination; and
an electronic control system operable to actuate the power-operated latch release mechanism to release the latch mechanism and shift the latch assembly into an unlatched mode for releasing the handleless closure panel from latched engagement with the vehicle body;
actuate the power-operated presenter mechanism to shift the presenter assembly from a non-deployed mode to a deployed mode to move the handleless closure panel from its closed position to its partially-open position; and
activate the illumination assembly to an illuminated state to illuminate the grasp area of the handleless closure panel and provide a visual indication to a user that the handleless closure panel is in the partially-open position and ready to be moved to the fully-open position.
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Abstract
A closure system for a handleless door of a motor vehicle equipped with a power release latch assembly, a power opening presenter assembly, and an illumination assembly configured to illuminate a grasp area (virtual handle) of the handleless door upon the handleless door being moved to a partially-open position via the power opening presenter assembly.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A closure panel system for a motor vehicle comprising:
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a handleless closure panel pivotably mounted to a vehicle body for movement between a closed position and a fully-open position, said handleless closure panel having a grasp area; a latch assembly mounted to the handleless closure panel and equipped with a latch mechanism and a power-operated latch release mechanism to provide a power release function; a presenter assembly operably disposed between the vehicle body and the handleless closure panel and equipped with a power-operated presenter mechanism to provide a power open function for moving the handleless closure panel from its closed position to a partially-open position; an illumination assembly mounted on the handleless closure panel in proximity to the grasp area and having an illumination source operable to provide illumination; and an electronic control system operable to actuate the power-operated latch release mechanism to release the latch mechanism and shift the latch assembly into an unlatched mode for releasing the handleless closure panel from latched engagement with the vehicle body;
actuate the power-operated presenter mechanism to shift the presenter assembly from a non-deployed mode to a deployed mode to move the handleless closure panel from its closed position to its partially-open position; and
activate the illumination assembly to an illuminated state to illuminate the grasp area of the handleless closure panel and provide a visual indication to a user that the handleless closure panel is in the partially-open position and ready to be moved to the fully-open position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An illumination assembly for a handleless closure panel pivotably mounted to a motor vehicle body for movement between a closed position and a partially-open position via actuation of a power-operated presenter mechanism in response to a signal from an electronic control system to the power-operated presenter mechanism, the illumination assembly comprising:
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an illumination source configured to be mounted on the handleless closure panel in proximity to a grasp area of the handleless closure panel; and where the illumination source is configured to be connected in operable communication with the electronic control system for selective activation to an illuminated state to illuminate the grasp area of the handleless closure panel when the handleless closure panel is in the partially-open position. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification