CONTROL DEVICE HAVING BUTTONS WITH AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE BACKLIGHTING
First Claim
1. A method for controlling the illumination intensity of multiple locations of a control device, the method comprising:
- controlling a first light source of the control device to illuminate a first location of the control device to a first surface illumination intensity;
controlling a second light source of the control device to illuminate a second location of the control device to a second surface illumination intensity, the second surface illumination intensity being less than the first surface illumination intensity;
storing a first adjustment curve and a second adjustment curve in a memory of the control device;
determining an ambient light level that is indicative of the ambient light in a vicinity around the control device;
adjusting the first surface illumination intensity in response to the ambient light level using the first adjustment curve; and
adjusting the second surface illumination intensity in response to the ambient light level using the second adjustment curve.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A control device may comprise a plurality of buttons, a plurality of light sources located behind the respective buttons and configured to illuminate the buttons, a light detector circuit configured to measure an ambient light level around the control device, and/or a control circuit configured to control the light sources to adjust surface illumination intensities of the respective buttons in response to the measured ambient light level. Each button may comprise indicia indicating a function of the button. The control circuit set the first button as active and the second button as inactive in response to an actuation of the first button. The control circuit may, based on the measured ambient light level, control the light sources to illuminate the first button to an active surface illumination intensity, and to illuminate the second button to an inactive surface illumination intensity that is less than the active surface illumination intensity.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for controlling the illumination intensity of multiple locations of a control device, the method comprising:
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controlling a first light source of the control device to illuminate a first location of the control device to a first surface illumination intensity; controlling a second light source of the control device to illuminate a second location of the control device to a second surface illumination intensity, the second surface illumination intensity being less than the first surface illumination intensity; storing a first adjustment curve and a second adjustment curve in a memory of the control device; determining an ambient light level that is indicative of the ambient light in a vicinity around the control device; adjusting the first surface illumination intensity in response to the ambient light level using the first adjustment curve; and adjusting the second surface illumination intensity in response to the ambient light level using the second adjustment curve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for controlling an illumination intensity of each of multiple buttons of a control device, the method comprising:
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illuminating a first indicia on a first button of the control device using a first light source, the first indicia indicating a function of the first button; illuminating a second indicia on a second button of the control device using a second light source, the second indicia indicating a function of the second button; illuminating a third indicia on a third button of the control device using a third light source, the third indicia indicating a function of the third button; storing an active adjustment curve and an inactive adjustment curve; setting the first button as active, the second button as inactive, and the third button as inactive; controlling the first light source to illuminate the first button to an active surface illumination intensity; controlling the second light source to illuminate the second button to an inactive surface illumination intensity, the inactive surface illumination intensity being less than the active surface illumination intensity; controlling the third light source to illuminate the third button to the inactive surface illumination intensity; measuring an ambient light level in a vicinity around the control device using a light detector circuit of the control device; determining a first duty cycle to pulse-width modulate a first current conducted through the first light source to adjust the active surface illumination intensity in response to the ambient light level measured by the light detector circuit using the active adjustment curve; determining a second duty cycle to pulse-width modulate a second current conducted through the second light source to adjust the inactive surface illumination intensity in response to the ambient light level measured by the light detector circuit using the inactive adjustment curve; and determining a third duty cycle to pulse-width modulate a third current conducted through the third light source to adjust the inactive surface illumination intensity in response to the ambient light level measured by the light detector circuit using the inactive adjustment curve, wherein the second duty cycle is less than the third duty cycle. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification