Control head with electroluminescent panel in land mobile radio

• US 10,559,259 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2017
• Issued: 02/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: E F Johnson Company (JVC Kenwood Corporation)
• Original Assignee: E F Johnson Company (JVC Kenwood Corporation)
• Inventors: Frandsen, Troy, Dunnigan, William Earl, Reavill, Dulie
• Primary Examiner(s): Syed, Nabil H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eustaquio, Cal J
• Application Number:
  US15/853,492
• Publication Number:
  US 20180158416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/003 the elements being electronics drivers or controllers for operating the light source, e.g. for a LED array
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 23/04 the elements being switches safety devices F21V25/00
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2105/00 Planar light sources
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/20 Electroluminescent [EL] light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/60 Memory management
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/08 Details of timing specific for flat panels, other than clock recovery
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/30 using electroluminescent panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3258 with pixel circuitry controlling the voltage across the light-emitting element
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 13/83 characterised by legends, e.g. Braille, liquid crystal displays, light emitting or optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/401 for selecting or indicating operating mode
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 33/12 Light sources with substantially two-dimensional radiating surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/10 Controlling the intensity of the light

Abstract

An exemplary land mobile radio control head and method are provided. In one embodiment, the control head has the capability to utilize halo light of the control head to implement a multi-function indicator that communicates a state of the land mobile radio. In another embodiment, the control head has the capability to provide buffer images constructed from data received from the land mobile radio into a video stream for rendering on an electroluminescent display. In another embodiment, the control head provides the capability for a user to modify a configuration stored on the land mobile radio that defines one of several display modes to be utilized in generating data for use in forming images to be rendered on an electroluminescent display.

Claims

1. A control head for use with a land mobile radio, the control head comprising:

a first light source comprising a source of first light of a first hue and configured to illuminate a first light pipe of a first user interface input/output component and a second user interface input/output component with the first light of the first hue, the first light comprising a halo light;

a plurality of indicator light sources comprising a second light source comprising a source of second light of a second hue and a third light source comprising a source of third light of a third hue, the second light source and third light source in optical communication with a second light pipe of the first user interface input/output component,

wherein the second light source and the third light source are both configured to illuminate the second light pipe of the user interface input/output component with an indication illumination of at least one of the second hue and the third hue to provide an indicator light for the user interface input/output component,

wherein the first light source is configured to illuminate the first light pipe of the user interface input/output component to provide a first light comprising the halo light and of the first hue for the user interface input/output component,

wherein the first light pipe of the user interface input/output component and the second light pipe of the user interface input/output component both illuminate the first user interface input/output component, wherein the first user interface input/output component is configured to receive both the first light comprising the halo light provided from the first light source and the indication illumination provided from the plurality of indicator light sources;

a control system configured to determine a state of the land mobile radio to control activation of the first light source to provide the first light to the first light pipe; and

the control system further configured to control activation of at least a portion of the plurality of indicator light sources, in response to detecting a change in the state of the land mobile radio, to indicate the state of the land mobile radio via the indicator illumination of the first user interface input/output component, wherein the first light pipe of the first user interface input/output component is illuminated with at least (i) the first hue for an idle state of the land mobile radio, (ii) the second hue for a transmitting state of the land mobile radio, and (iii) a third hue for a receiving state of the land mobile radio.

2. The control head of claim 1, wherein the first light source is further configured to illuminate a plurality of further light pipes of a plurality of further user interface input/output components, wherein the first light source provides a halo light to the plurality of further user interface input/output components.

3. The control head of claim 1, wherein the user interface input/output component comprises an electroluminescent display.

4. The control head of claim 1, wherein the light provided by the first light source is a halo light.

5. The control head of claim 1, wherein the control system is further operable to generate display data on the user interface input/output component in accordance with a user-selected display mode.

6. The control head of claim 5, wherein the user-selected display mode is selected from various display modes defined by a configuration.

7. The control head of claim 1, wherein the control system comprises a master controller and a control head slave controller.

8. A method of operation for a control head for use with a land mobile radio, the control head having a first user interface input/output component with a first light pipe and a second light pipe and having a second user interface input/output component with the first light pipe, a first light source comprising a source of first light comprising a halo light of a first hue and in optical communication with the first light pipe of the first user interface input/output component and in optical communication with the second light pipe of the second user interface input/output component to illuminate the first light pipe and the second light pipe and having a plurality of indicator light sources comprising a second light source comprising a source of second light of a second hue and in optical communication with the second light pipe of the first user interface input/output component and a third light source comprising a source of third light of a third hue and in optical communication with the second light pipe of the first user interface input/output component, and a control system, the method comprising:

activating, via the control system, the first light source to provide a first light to illuminate (i) the first light pipe of the first user interface input/output component to provide a light for the first user interface input/output component and (ii) the second light pipe of the second user interface input/output component to provide a light for the second user interface input/output component;

determining, via the control system, a state of the land mobile radio; and

activating, via the control system, in response to detecting a change in the state of the land mobile radio, at least one of the plurality of indicator light sources to illuminate the first light pipe of the first user interface input/output component with an indication illumination to provide an indicator light for the first user interface input/output component to indicate the state of the land mobile radio via the indicator light;

wherein the first user interface input/output component is illuminated at least (i) the first hue for an idle state of the land mobile radio, (ii) the second hue for a transmitting state of the land mobile radio, and (iii) a third hue for a receiving state of the land mobile radio, and

wherein the first user interface input/output component is configured to receive both the first light provided from the first light source and the indication illumination provided from the plurality of indicator light sources.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first light source is further configured to illuminate a plurality of further light pipes of a plurality of further user interface input/output components, wherein the first light source provides a halo light to the plurality of further user interface input/output components.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the user interface input/output component comprises an electroluminescent display.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the light provided by the first light source is a halo light.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the indicator light is an indicator halo light.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the control system is further operable to generate display data on the user interface input/output component in accordance with a user-selected display mode.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the user-selected display mode is selected from various display modes defined by a configuration.

15. The control head of claim 8, wherein the control system comprises a master controller and a control head slave controller.

16. The method of claim 8, further comprising activating, via the control system, the first light source to illuminate the first light pipe of the user interface input/output component a first hue when the land mobile radio is in a first state.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first state is an idle state.

18. A control head for use with a land mobile radio, the control head comprising:

a first light source comprising a source of a first light of a first hue and configured to illuminate a first light pipe of a first user interface input/output component, wherein the first light source is user-dimmable;

wherein the first light source is further configured to illuminate a second light pipe of a second user interface input/output component to provide a halo light to the second user interface input/output component;

a second light source comprising a source of a second light of a second hue configured to illuminate the first light pipe and not the second light pipe;

a third light source comprising a source of a third light of a third hue configured to illuminate the first light pipe and not the second light pipe;

a control system configured to determine a state of the land mobile radio to control activation of (i) the first light source to provide the first light to the first light pipe and the second light pipe, (ii) the second light source to provide the second light to the first light pipe and not the second light pipe, and (iii) the third light source to provide the third light to the first light pipe and not the second light pipe;

the control system further configured to, in response to detecting a change in the state of the land mobile radio, indicate the state of the land mobile radio by controlling (i) the second light source to illuminate the first light pipe of the user interface input/output component with at least the second light of the second hue for a transmitting state of the land mobile radio and (ii) the third light source to illuminate the first light pipe of the user interface input/output component with at least the third light of the third hue for a receiving state of the land mobile radio.