In-vehicle lighting device and operating method

• US 9,821,713 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2013
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jet Optoelectronics Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Jet Optoelectronics Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Tai, Chien-Hung, Wen, Michael Tai-Hao
• Primary Examiner(s): CASS, JEAN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US14/047,793
• Publication Number:
  US 20150100203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,506 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/745 using lighting panels or mats, e.g. electro-luminescent panels, LED mats
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/80 Circuits; Control arrangements for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/85 for manual control of the light, e.g. of colour, orientation or intensity

Abstract

The invention uses the backlight of a display monitor such as LCD monitor or OLED monitor as the lighting to replace dome light lamp in a vehicle.

The in-vehicle lighting device has an input circuit for inputting commands to generate the dome light, a control circuit for receiving the commands and outputting an equivalent panel signal, and a display monitor for receiving the equivalent panel signal and emitting the dome light based on the equivalent panel signal.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle lighting device set inside a vehicle for emitting dome light, the in-vehicle lighting device comprising:

an input circuit for inputting a plurality of commands comprising characteristic of the dome light, wherein the characteristic of the dome light includes a predetermined and focused shape, color, and brightness of the dome light;

a scalar processor wherein the scalar processor receives a data from an MCU processor;

wherein the data describes the predetermined and focused shape, color, and brightness of the dome light and the scalar processor outputs a panel signal representing the predetermined and focused shape, color and brightness of the dome light, and the panel signal generated by the scalar processor applied to a display monitor to emit the dome light with the characteristics of the predetermined and focused shape, color and brightness, therefore the scalar processor controlling the predetermined focused shape, color, and brightness of the dome light;

wherein the display monitor receives the panel signal to emit the dome light that matches the predetermined and focused shape, color and brightness characterized in the panel signal received from the scalar processor or display a plurality of multimedia contents based on the panel signal, wherein a backlight of the display monitor or the display monitor itself is used to generate the dome light with the characteristics of the predetermined and focused shape, color and brightness as dome light lamp of the vehicle when the display monitor is used as the dome light lamp of the vehicle, and the backlight of the display monitor or the display monitor itself is used to provide backlight of the multimedia contents when the display monitor is used to play the multimedia contents.

2. The in-vehicle lighting device of claim 1, further comprising a power source for supplying voltage to the control circuit.

3. The in-vehicle lighting device of claim 2, further comprising an action trigger for producing trigger signals in response to vehicle events and providing the trigger signal to the control circuit;

wherein the vehicle events comprise door opening, door closing, engine starting, engine shutting down, vehicle stopping, vehicle moving, vehicle turning.

4. The in-vehicle lighting device of claim 3, wherein the input circuit is connected to the control circuit for writing a plurality of settings into the control circuit, and the control circuit comprises an MCU processor for receiving the commands from the input circuit, and the control circuit is capable of receiving the trigger signals from the action trigger;

wherein the settings indicate a plurality of statuses of the display monitor under different situations of the vehicle, the setting comprising turning on/off of the display monitor.

5. The in-vehicle lighting device of claim 4, wherein the control circuit comprises a memory for storing the plurality of settings from the MCU processor and for MCU processor to retrieve settings from.