Optical user interface system for automotive modules

• US 7,817,020 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2006
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Inventors: Plangger, David L., Blaker, David A., Watson, Alan R., Turnbull, Robert R., Bryson, Michael A., Poe, G. Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg; George A
• Assistant Examiner(s): LAU, HOI CHING
• Application Number:
  US11/550,225
• Publication Number:
  US 20080087797A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,463 Days
• Field of Search: 340/815.4, 340/438, 340/602, 340/375, 340/686.1, 348/148, 359/267, 359/265, 359/275, 359/838, 359/839, 359/841, 359/872, 362/494, 362/545, 362/460, 250/208.1, 250/214
• US Class Current: 340/438
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/20 for lighting specific fittings of passenger or driving compartments; mounted on specific fittings of passenger or driving compartments lighting for dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/229 Cup holders
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/258 Rear-view mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/267 Door handles; Hand grips
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/283 Steering wheels; Gear levers
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/80 Circuits; Control arrangements for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/12 Mirror assemblies combined with other articles, e.g. clocks
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1215 with information displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1223 with sensors or transducers
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/14 Semiconductor devices, e.g. diodes

Abstract

A rearview assembly for a vehicle including a mounting structure for mounting to a vehicle, a rearward viewing device, and housing with a position sensor, is provided. The position sensor includes first and second radiation emitters, a radiation reception element, and sensor processing circuitry coupled to one of the position sensors and the radiation reception element. The position sensor determines the position of an object in the vicinity of the rearward viewing device.

Claims

1. A rearview assembly for a vehicle, said rearview assembly comprising:

a mounting structure adapted to be mounted to a vehicle, said mounting structure including a housing;

a rearward viewing device for providing a rearward view to a vehicle occupant; and

at least one position sensor disposed in said housing, said position sensor including at least;

a first radiation emitter;

a second radiation emitter;

sensor processing circuitry coupled said first and second radiation emitters; and

radiation reception element coupled to said sensor processing circuitry, wherein said radiation reception element is configured to receive light emitted by said first emitter and not reflected by an object, and light emitted by second emitter and reflected by said object,

thereby adjusting a light intensity of said first radiation emitter based on the received light from said radiation reception element; and

wherein said at least one position sensor is configured to determine at least one of the distance of said object from said at least one position sensor and the position of said object on the surface of said rearward viewing device by monitoring said light intensity of said first radiation emitter.

2. The rearview assembly of claim 1, wherein said at least one position sensor is further configured to control at least one vehicle electronics device based on at least one of the determined distance and position.

3. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising light control circuitry and a light emitting device, wherein said light control circuitry is coupled to said position sensor and said light emitting device, and wherein said light control circuitry is configured to influence at least one of the amount and hue of light emitted by said light emitting device based on at least one of the determined distance and position.

4. The rearview assembly of claim 3, wherein said light control circuitry is further configured to determine when said object has touched said light emitting device based on at least one of the determined distance and position, and to influence at least one of the amount and hue of light emitted by said light emitting device when said light emitting device is touched.

5. The rearview assembly of claim 4, wherein said light emitting device is a maplight.

6. The rearview assembly of claim 5, further comprising a maplight switch, wherein said light control circuitry is further configured to determine when said object has touched said maplight switch based on at least one of the determined distance and position, and to influence at least one of the amount and hue of light emitted when said maplight switch is touched.

7. The rearview assembly of claim 3, wherein said light emitting device is a light configured to provide illumination in the vicinity of a transmission position indicator.

8. The rearview assembly of claim 3, wherein said light emitting device is a maplight.

9. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising a switch configured to control a vehicle electronics device, a switch backlight configured to provide light for said switch, and backlight control circuitry coupled to said position sensor and said switch backlight and configured to control the amount of light provided by said switch backlight, wherein said backlight control circuitry turns on said switch backlight only when said position sensor determines that said object is within 5 centimeters of said position sensor.

10. The rearview assembly of claim 9, wherein said backlight control circuitry turns off said switch backlight at a predetermined time after determining that said object is not in contact with a surface of said rearward viewing device adjacent to said sensor.

11. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising switch circuitry coupled to said position sensor and at least one vehicle electronics device, wherein said switch circuitry is configured to provide a signal to control the at least one vehicle electronics device based on at least one of the determined distance and position.

12. The rearview assembly of claim 11, wherein said the at least one vehicle electronics device is one of a maplight, electronic compass, garage door opener, mirror preset module and seat preset module.

13. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising rotary volume control circuitry coupled to said position sensor, wherein said rotary volume control circuitry is configured to incrementally alter the volume of a vehicle electronics device based the determined position.

14. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising rotary dimming control circuitry coupled to said position sensor, wherein said rotary dimming control circuitry is configured to incrementally alter the brightness of a light employed in the vehicle based on the determined position.

15. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising x-y slider volume control circuitry coupled to said position sensor, wherein said x-y slider volume control circuitry is configured to incrementally alter the volume of a vehicle electronics device based on the determined position.

16. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising x-y slider dimming control circuitry coupled to said position sensor, wherein said x-y slider dimming control circuitry is configured to incrementally alter the brightness of a light employed in the vehicle based on the determined position.

17. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising 2D slider control circuitry coupled to said at least one position sensor, wherein said 2D slider circuitry is configured to incrementally alter at least two parameters of a vehicle electronics device based on at least one of the determined position and distance.

18. The rearview assembly of claim 17, wherein the two parameters incrementally altered by said 2D slider control circuitry include left-right balance control and front-to-rear fader control for speakers employed in a vehicle.

19. The rearview assembly of claim 17, wherein the two parameters incrementally altered by said 2D slider control circuitry include left-right and up-down control for a mirror coupled to a vehicle.

20. The rearview assembly of claim 19, wherein said 2D slider control circuitry is further configured to determine how long said object has been in contact with said rearward viewing device, and is further configured to permit left-right and up-down control of said mirror only when an object has been in contact with said rearward viewing device for a predetermined amount of time.

21. The rearview assembly of claim 17, wherein the two parameters incrementally altered by said 2D slider circuitry are left-right and up-down field of view control for a camera coupled to a vehicle.

22. The rearview assembly of claim 21, further comprising zoom control circuitry configured to control the zoom function of a camera coupled to said vehicle based on at least one of the determined distance and position.

23. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising finger roll detection control circuitry coupled to said position sensor, wherein said roll detection control circuitry is configured to detect left-right and up-down rolling motion of said object in contact with the surface of said rearward viewing device, and wherein said finger roll detection control circuitry is further configured to incrementally alter at least two parameters of a vehicle electronics device based on the detected left-right and up-down motion.

24. The rearview assembly of claim 23, wherein the two parameters incrementally altered by said finger roll detection control circuitry are left-right and up-down control for a mirror coupled to a vehicle.

25. The rearview assembly of claim 23, wherein said finger roll detection control circuitry is further configured to determine how long an object has been in a certain position in contact with said rearward viewing device, and is further configured to permit left-right and up-down control of a mirror only when said object has been in a certain position in contact with said rearward viewing device for a predetermined amount of time.

26. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising central controller circuitry coupled to multiple position sensors, wherein said central controller circuitry monitors the multiple position sensors to determine when said object is detected by those sensors, and permits only the position sensor closest to said object to actively control a device for a period of time.

27. The rearview assembly of claim 1, further comprising central controller circuitry coupled to multiple position sensors, and a backlight associated with each position sensor configured to provide illumination in the vicinity of each position sensor, and configured to monitor the position sensors, wherein said central controller circuitry monitors the multiple position sensors to determine which position sensor is closest to said object in the vicinity of said rearview assembly, and increases the brightness of the backlight associated with the position sensor to which said object is closest.

28. The rearview assembly of claim 1, wherein said at least one position sensor is configured to provide the determined distance to a multi-sensor vehicle occupant sensing system to assist in the determination of the location of occupants within said vehicle.

29. A position sensing assembly for a vehicle, said position sensing assembly comprising:

a housing configured to contain at least one position sensor and having at least a first surface configured to emit radiation produced by said at least one position sensor, said housing also being configured to attach to a vehicle; and

said at least one position sensor including at least;

a first radiation emitter;

a second radiation emitter;

sensor processing circuitry coupled to of said first and second radiation emitters; and

a radiation reception element coupled to said sensor processing circuitry, wherein said radiation reception element is configured to receive light emitted by said first emitter and not reflected by an object, and light emitted by the second emitter and reflected by said object,

thereby adjusting a light intensity of said first radiation emitter based on the received light from said radiation reception element;

and wherein said at least one position sensor is configured to determine at least one of the distance of said object from said position sensor and the position of said object on said first surface of said housing by monitoring said light intensity of said first radiation emitter.

30. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said at least one position sensor is further configured to communicate at least one of the determined distance and position to a vehicle electronics device.

31. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said at least one position sensor is further configured to communicate at least one of the determined distance and position to a vehicle occupant.

32. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said at least one position sensor is further configured to control at least one vehicle electronics device based on at least one of the determined distance and position.

33. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said housing is a housing of a rearview assembly.

34. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said housing is a housing of an instrument panel.

35. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said housing is a housing of a floor console.

36. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said housing is a housing of an overhead console.

37. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said housing is a housing of a door panel.

38. The position sensing assembly of claim 29, wherein said housing is a housing of an external vehicle component.

39. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a maplight.

40. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a door latch backlight.

41. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is an outside mirror.

42. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a compass display.

43. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a switch backlight.

44. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a light configured to provide illumination in the vicinity of a transmission position indicator.

45. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is garage door opener.

46. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a mirror preset module.

47. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a seat preset module.

48. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a vehicle audio device.

49. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is camera.

50. The position sensing assembly of claim 32, wherein said vehicle electronics device is a vehicle occupant sensing system.