Vehicle interior lighting device

• US 9,821,712 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2016
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Heike, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Raleigh, Donald
• Application Number:
  US15/191,638
• Publication Number:
  US 20160375824A1
• Time in Patent Office: 515 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/74 for overall compartment lighting; for overall compartment lighting in combination with specific lighting, e.g. room lamps with reading lamps general lighting mounted on specific fittings B60Q3/20; general lighting for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/43
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/82 Switches specially adapted for vehicle interior lighting, e.g. switching by tilting the lens
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/85 for manual control of the light, e.g. of colour, orientation or intensity

Abstract

A vehicle interior lighting device according to an embodiment includes a housing, a cover provided on one end portion side of the housing, a light-emitting section provided on the inside of the housing, and a detecting section provided on the inside of the housing and configured to detect, via the cover, a change in energy involved in a motion of an operator and convert the detected change in the energy into an electric signal.

Claims

1. A vehicle interior lighting device comprising:

a housing;

a cover provided on one side of the housing;

a light-emitting section provided on an inside of the housing; and

a detecting section provided on the inside of the housing and configured to detect, via the over, a change in energy involved in a motion of an operator and convert the detected change in the energy into an electric signal,

the light-emitting section includes;

a substrate;

a light source provided on a surface on the cover side of the substrate; and

a first control section configured to control the light source on the basis of the electric signal, and

the detecting section includes;

a first electrode section provided on a surface on an opposite side of the cover side of the substrate;

a second electrode section provided on the surface on the cover side of the substrate; and

a second control section configured to apply a low-frequency AC voltage to the first electrode section and the second electrode section.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the detecting section is not exposed to a surface on an opposite side of the light-emitting section side of the cover.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein

the change in the energy is a change in electric field intensity, and

the detecting section generates an electric field and converts a change in the electric field intensity involved in the motion of the operator in the electric field into the electric signal.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode section is provided near a peripheral edge of the substrate.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode section assumes a frame shape.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein a width dimension of the first electrode section is longer than a width dimension of the second electrode section.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second electrode section is provided near a peripheral edge of the substrate.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the second electrode sections are provided.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein

a plane shape of the substrate is a square shape, and

a singularity of the second electrode section is provided near each of sides of the substrate.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second control section calculates, according to a position of the second electrode section and a change in electric field intensity in the second electrode section, a position where a disturbance of the electric field occurs, calculates, according to the calculated position where the disturbance of the electric field occurs, at least any one of a position, a moving direction, and speed of a detection target, and converts a calculated value into the electric signal.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the detection target is a hand of the operator.

12. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second control section calculates, according to a value of electric field intensity in the second electrode section, a distance between the vehicle interior lighting device and a detection target and converts a calculated value into the electric signal.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein, if the distance between the vehicle interior lighting device and the detection target decreases, a value of the electric signal increases.

14. The device according to claim 12, wherein the first control section starts the control of the light source when the value of the electric signal exceeds a predetermined value.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein the control of the light source is at least any one of lighting of the light source, extinction of the light source, dimming of the light source, toning of the light source, a change in a lighting pattern of the light source, and switching of a lighting mode of the light source.