Smart grille assembly and modular grille assembly system for a motor vehicle
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsDavid Brian Glickman, Mohan Kamath, Stuart C. Salter, Paul Kenneth Dellock, Harry Lobo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A grille assembly for a motor vehicle includes a grille support mounted to the motor vehicle and a grille module carried on the grille support. The grille module includes a grille, and a plurality of electronic devices and a controller carried on the grille. A related modular grille assembly system includes the grille assembly as well as human interface controls and a control module carried on the motor vehicle.
Claims20
A grille assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- a grille support mounted to said motor vehicle;
- a grille module carried on said grille support, said grille module including a grille, a plurality of electronic devices carried on said grill and a controller carried on said grille and configured to communicate information respecting said plurality of electronic devices carried on said grille over an area network of said motor vehicle.
A modular grille assembly system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- a grille support mounted to said motor vehicle;
- a grille carried on said grille support;
- a plurality of electronic devices carried on said grille;
- human interface controls carried on said motor vehicle;
- a control module carried on said motor vehicle;
- and
- a controller carried on said grille and configured to communicate information respecting said plurality of electronic devices carried on said grille over an area network of said motor vehicle to said control module, said modular grille assembly system being further characterized by said control module being adapted to configure said human interface controls for said plurality of electronic devices.
A method of configuring human interface controls of a motor vehicle for operating a plurality of electronic devices carried on a particular grille module, comprising:
- selecting a grille from a plurality of different grilles;
- mounting the selected grille onto a grille support of the motor vehicle;
- communicating, by a controller carried on said selected grille, information respecting said plurality of electronic devices to a control module on the motor vehicle;
- and
- configuring, by said control module, said human interface controls for operating said plurality of electronic devices.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.