Vehicle instrumentation/console lighting
First Claim
1. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle having an engine, at least one electrically operated accessory, and an accessory/ignition circuit with an ignition switch having an accessory on position for operating the accessory and an ignition on position for operating at least the engine and the accessory, said assembly comprising:
- a mirror case including a reflective mirror element;
a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle;
said assembly including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source; and
said light emitting source positioned on said assembly to provide directed, low level, local area illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle, said light emitting source including a light emitting diode and an electrical resistor connected in series with said light emitting diode, said light emitting diode being located on said assembly at a distance from the interior vehicle portion to be illuminated, said light emitting diode and resistor being adapted for connection to the accessory/ignition circuit of the vehicle whereby said light emitting diode will be continuously illuminated when the ignition switch is at one of the accessory on and ignition on positions.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Interior vehicle instrumentation and/or console lighting is provided by an interior rearview mirror assembly or interior lamp assembly incorporating a non-incandescent, directed, low level, low power, non-glare producing light emitting source. The source illuminates portions of the vehicle interior such as the instrumentation or controls in the instrument panel or console area. One or more of such light emitting sources is optionally mounted on or within the mirror case or mirror support separate from any conventional incandescent lamp or lamps which may be mounted in the mirror assembly to provide general interior lighting. Alternately, the light emitting source can be mounted on or within an interior vehicle lamp assembly such as a dome lamp, rail lamp, or the like. Preferably, the light emitting source is a solid state lamp such as a light emitting diode, is controlled via the ignition switch and/or a rheostat/dimmer switch, and most preferably provides a maximum illumination of about 0.2 to 4.0 lux at 22 to 26 inches at about 20 mA to about 50 mA or less current and about 2.0 volts to about 5.0 volts or less.
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Citations
79 Claims
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1. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle having an engine, at least one electrically operated accessory, and an accessory/ignition circuit with an ignition switch having an accessory on position for operating the accessory and an ignition on position for operating at least the engine and the accessory, said assembly comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said assembly including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source; and said light emitting source positioned on said assembly to provide directed, low level, local area illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle, said light emitting source including a light emitting diode and an electrical resistor connected in series with said light emitting diode, said light emitting diode being located on said assembly at a distance from the interior vehicle portion to be illuminated, said light emitting diode and resistor being adapted for connection to the accessory/ignition circuit of the vehicle whereby said light emitting diode will be continuously illuminated when the ignition switch is at one of the accessory on and ignition on positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 41)
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18. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said assembly including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source; and said light emitting source positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle; the vehicle including a windshield an interior roof, and a header area on the interior roof of the vehicle adjacent the windshield; said support being adapted for connection to the header area of the vehicle adjacent the windshield; said light emitting source being located on or within said support.
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19. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said assembly including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source; and said light emitting source positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle; a vehicle accessory mounting pod attached to said support;
said light emitting source being located on or within said pod.
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30. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said assembly including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source; and said light emitting source positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle; said support including a mounting arm, said light emitting source being mounted on or within said mounting arm. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said assembly including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source; and said light emitting source positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle; said mirror case including a pair of incandescent lamps for general illumination in the vehicle, said lamps being spaced from one another and said low level light emitting source. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle having an engine, at least one electrically operated accessory, and an accessory/ignition circuit with an ignition switch having an accessory on position for operating the accessory and an ignition on position for operating at least the engine and the accessory, said assembly comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said mirror case including at least two non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting sources, each of said light emitting sources positioned to provide directed, low level, local area illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle, said mirror case with said light emitting sources being located at a distance from the interior vehicle portion or portions to be illuminated, said light emitting sources including first and second light emitting diodes;
said assembly also including first and second electrical resistors, said first resistor connected in series with said first light emitting diode, said second resistor connected in series with said second light emitting diode, said light emitting diodes and resistors being adapted for connection to the accessory/ignition circuit of the vehicle whereby said light emitting diodes will be continuously illuminated when the ignition switch is at one of the accessory on and ignition on positions. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said mirror case including at least two non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting sources, each of said light emitting sources positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle; said light emitting sources including first and second light emitting diodes;
said assembly also including first and second electrical resistors, said first resistor connected in series with said first light emitting diode, said second resistor connected in series with said second light emitting diode.
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48. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said mirror case including at least two non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting sources, each of said light emitting sources positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle; said mirror case including a pair of incandescent lamps mounted for general illumination in the vehicle, said lamps being spaced from one another and said low level light emitting sources.
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49. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle having an engine, at least one electrically operated accessory, and an accessory/ignition circuit with an ignition switch having an accessory on position for operating the accessory and an ignition on position for operating at least the engine and the accessory, said assembly comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element and a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source; said light emitting source positioned on said assembly to provide directed, low level, local area illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle at a distance from said mirror assembly;
said light emitting source being selected from the group consisting essentially of a light emitting diode having an electrical resistor connected in series therewith, a vacuum fluorescent source, an electroluminescent source and a semiconductor laser source, said light emitting source being adapted for connection to the accessory/ignition circuit of the vehicle whereby said light emitting source will be continuously illuminated when the ignition switch is at one of the accessory on and ignition on positions. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52)
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53. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element and a non-incandescent directed, low level, light emitting source; said light emitting source positioned to provide directed, low level illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle; said reflective mirror element being an electro-optic element including an electrochromic medium adapted to darken when an electrical voltage is applied thereacross.
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54. An interior lamp assembly for a vehicle having an engine, at least one electrically operated accessory, and an accessory/ignition circuit with an ignition switch having an accessory on position for operating the accessory and an ignition on position for operating at least the engine and the accessory, said assembly comprising:
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a support adapted to secure said assembly to an interior portion of the vehicle; an incandescent lamp to provide general illumination within the vehicle; said assembly also including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source, said light emitting source positioned to provide directed, low level, local area illumination of an interior portion of the vehicle at a distance from said assembly and selected from the group consisting essentially of a light emitting diode having an electrical resistor connected in series with said light emitting diode, a vacuum fluorescent source, an electroluminescent source, and a semiconductor laser source, said light emitting source configured for connection to an accessory/ignition circuit of the vehicle whereby said light emitting source will be continuously illuminated when the ignition switch is at one of the accessory on and ignition on position. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle having an engine, at least one electrically operated accessory, and an accessory/ignition circuit with an ignition switch having an accessory on position for operating the accessory and an ignition on position for operating at least the engine and the accessory said assembly comprising:
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a mirror case including a reflective mirror element; a support for securing said assembly on the vehicle; said assembly including a light emitting diode positioned to provide directed, low level, local area illumination of at least one of an instrument panel area of the vehicle and a console area of the vehicle, and an electrical resistor connected in series with said light emitting diode, said assembly being located at a distance from the instrument panel area or console area of the vehicle to be illuminated, said light emitting diode and resistor being adapted for connection to the accessory/ignition circuit of the vehicle whereby said light emitting diode will be continuously illuminated when the ignition switch is at one of the accessory on and ignition on positions. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. An interior lamp assembly for a vehicle having an interior, an engine, and an accessory/ignition circuit with an ignition switch having an accessory on position for operating the accessory and an ignition on position for operating at least the engine and the accessory, said assembly comprising:
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a support, said support adapted to engage a portion of the vehicle interior and including an aperture therethrough; said assembly including a non-incandescent, directed, low level, light emitting source including a light emitting diode and an electrical resistor connected in series with said light emitting diode, said light emitting diode mounted on said support at a distance from an interior portion of the vehicle to be illuminated and in registry with said aperture to provide directed, low level, local area illumination of the interior portion of the vehicle through said aperture, said light emitting diode and resistor being adapted for connection to the accessory/ignition circuit of the vehicle whereby said light emitting diode will be continuously illuminated when the ignition switch is at one of the accessory on and ignition on positions. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79)
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Specification