VEHICLE ENTERTAINMENT AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM PERSONAL CONTROL UNIT WITH RACETRACK LIGHTING DESIGN
First Claim
1. A personal control apparatus for controlling an entertainment or communications system in a vehicle, comprising:
- a case;
a top surface comprising a rounded and elongated region comprising;
a plurality of user control elements; and
one or more illumination regions;
the apparatus further comprising;
an illumination source or sources located within the case, wherein illumination from the illumination source is transmitted through the one or more illumination regions to a user of the apparatus; and
an illumination diffuser located between the illumination source and the illumination regions of the top surface.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A personal control unit (PCU) for a transportation-based entertainment system comprises a number of buttons. Illumination is provided for the buttons by illuminating a border region that is rounded containing some of the keys, and is provided for some of the buttons themselves. A light diffusion mechanism is provided between the illumination source and the illuminated regions related to the keys so that the illumination appears even across the entire PCU. A controller may adjust the illumination level and color of the illumination source. A system may be provided for matching at least one of color and brightness of the PCU lighting with cabin lighting.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A personal control apparatus for controlling an entertainment or communications system in a vehicle, comprising:
-
a case; a top surface comprising a rounded and elongated region comprising; a plurality of user control elements; and one or more illumination regions; the apparatus further comprising; an illumination source or sources located within the case, wherein illumination from the illumination source is transmitted through the one or more illumination regions to a user of the apparatus; and an illumination diffuser located between the illumination source and the illumination regions of the top surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A system for controlling an illuminated appearance of a user interface device for an entertainment or communications system in a vehicle, comprising:
-
a personal control apparatus for controlling an entertainment or communications system in a vehicle, comprising; a case; an illumination source or sources located within the case, wherein illumination from the illumination source is transmitted through one or more illumination regions to a user of the apparatus; an input via which information related to at least one of color and brightness is provided; and an apparatus controller that adjusts at least one of the color and brightness of the illumination source based on the input information; the system further comprising; a system controller comprising; an input connected to an other system that generates information related to at least one of light color and brightness information of cabin lighting, or a processor that generates information related to at least one of light color and brightness information of cabin lighting; a processor that provides or converts the cabin lighting information into personal control apparatus lighting information so that the personal control apparatus illumination source can mimic the cabin lighting information; and an output connected to the input of the personal control apparatus to communicate the lighting information to the personal control apparatus.
-
Specification