Cup holder illumination
First Claim
1. A cup holder assembly, comprising:
- a housing having at least one cup holder defined by a bottom wall and an upwardly extending sidewall; and
a lighting system having a light ring light source and a light sensor, wherein the light sensor senses an amount of light reflected from an object received in the cup holder,a controller in communication with the light sensor and the light source to control the light source based on an input from the light sensor;
the controller being configured to determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing reflects light from the light ring light source of the lighting system, determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is non-reflective of light from the light ring light source of the lighting system and determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is translucent;
and wherein the light ring light source provides a light output having a luminous intensity relative to the amount of light reflected.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of controlling an ambient light feature of a cup holder assembly having one or more cup holders includes providing a light source having a light output of varying luminous intensity, sensing an amount of light reflected from an object received in one of the cup holders using a light sensor, and controlling the luminous intensity of the light output based on the amount of light reflected and the distance between the object and a sidewall of the cup holder assembly. In this method, a change in the amount of light reflected from an object received in one of the cup holders correlates to a change in the luminous intensity provided by the light source, and a change in the distance between the object received the cup holder and the sidewall of the cup holders correlates to a change in the luminous intensity provided by the light source.
30 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A cup holder assembly, comprising:
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a housing having at least one cup holder defined by a bottom wall and an upwardly extending sidewall; and a lighting system having a light ring light source and a light sensor, wherein the light sensor senses an amount of light reflected from an object received in the cup holder, a controller in communication with the light sensor and the light source to control the light source based on an input from the light sensor;
the controller being configured to determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing reflects light from the light ring light source of the lighting system, determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is non-reflective of light from the light ring light source of the lighting system and determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is translucent;and wherein the light ring light source provides a light output having a luminous intensity relative to the amount of light reflected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A cup holder assembly, comprising:
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a light sensor disposed in the cup holder assembly and configured to measure a reflectivity of an object received in the cup holder assembly; a light ring light source having a light output of varying luminous intensity; and a controller communicatively coupled to the light source and the light sensor for controlling the luminous intensity of the light output based on the reflectivity of the object; the controller being configured to determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing reflects light from the light ring light source of the lighting system, determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is non-reflective of light from the light ring light source of the lighting system and determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is translucent. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of lighting a cup holder, comprising the steps of:
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providing a light ring light source having a light output of varying luminous intensity; sensing an amount of light reflected from an object received in the cup holder using a light sensor; and controlling the luminous intensity of the light output based on the amount of light reflected, wherein a change in the amount of light reflected causes a change in the luminous intensity. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification