Lighting control apparatus with diagnosis and warning feature
First Claim
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1. A lighting control apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
- a diagnosis circuit which diagnoses a malfunction of a light source which includes a plurality of lighting devices and emits light outside a vehicle;
a vehicle state determining circuit which determines a state of the vehicle; and
a malfunction warning circuit which operates the light source in one of predetermined warning lighting modes which is selected based on the state of the vehicle when the light source is determined by the diagnosis circuit as being malfunctioning.
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Abstract
A lighting control apparatus for a vehicle is provided which works to diagnose a malfunction of a light source which includes a plurality of lighting devices such as LEDs and emits light outside the vehicle. The lighting control apparatus determines a state of the vehicle. When the light source is determined to be malfunctioning, the lighting control apparatus operates the light source in one of predetermined warning lighting modes which is selected based on the state of the vehicle. This attracts a vehicle user'"'"'s attention to the malfunctioning light source.
23 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A lighting control apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
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a diagnosis circuit which diagnoses a malfunction of a light source which includes a plurality of lighting devices and emits light outside a vehicle; a vehicle state determining circuit which determines a state of the vehicle; and a malfunction warning circuit which operates the light source in one of predetermined warning lighting modes which is selected based on the state of the vehicle when the light source is determined by the diagnosis circuit as being malfunctioning. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A lighting control apparatus for a vehicle comprising:
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a diagnosis circuit which diagnoses a malfunction of each of a plurality of light sources each of which includes a plurality of lighting devices and which emit light outside a vehicle; a vehicle state determining circuit which determines a state of the vehicle; and a malfunction warning circuit which, when one of the light sources is diagnosed as being malfunctioning, operates only the one of the light sources in one of predetermined warning lighting modes which is selected based on the state of the vehicle.
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8. A lighting control system for a vehicle comprising:
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a light source which includes a plurality of lighting devices and which emits light outside a vehicle; an operating state sensor which monitors an operating state of the light source; a vehicle state monitor which monitors a state of the vehicle to provide a signal indicative thereof; and a lighting control apparatus which includes (a) a diagnosis circuit which diagnoses a malfunction of the light source based on the operating state of the light source, as monitored by the operating state sensor;
(b) a vehicle state determining circuit which determines the state of the vehicle based on the signal outputted from the vehicle state monitor; and
(c) a malfunction warning circuit which operates the light source in one of predetermined warning lighting modes which is selected based on the state of the vehicle when the light source is determined by the diagnosis circuit as being malfunctioning.
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Specification