Central control panel for vehicles and method of controlling same
AssigneesHyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
InventorsYoung Rok Choi, Eup Jung Choi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A central control panel for vehicles and a method of controlling the same are provided. The central control panel for vehicles includes a touch pad, a PCB disposed under the touch pad and a lighting unit that is mounted on the PCB and includes a plurality of LEDs. An outdoor air temperature sensor senses an outdoor air temperature of a vehicle and a controller adjusts a temperature of the touch pad by changing a temperature of the lighting unit based on the sensed outdoor air temperature. The central control panel for vehicles further includes a top ring that transmits light emitted from the LEDs to the outside and to surround a perimeter of the touch pad.
Claims20
A central control panel for vehicles, comprising:
- a touch pad;
- a printed circuit board (PCB) disposed under the touch pad;
- a lighting unit mounted on the PCB and having a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs);
- an outdoor air temperature sensor configured to sense an outdoor air temperature of a vehicle;
- and
- a controller configured to adjust a temperature of the touch pad by changing a temperature of the lighting unit based on the sensed outdoor air temperature.
A method of controlling a central control panel for vehicles, comprising:
- receiving, by a controller, a door unlock signal;
- pre-booting, by the controller, an audio video navigation (AVN) system of a vehicle and measuring an outdoor air temperature;
- when the measured outdoor air temperature is a designated temperature or less, increasing, by the controller, a temperature of the touch pad by changing a temperature of the lighting unit by providing a pulse width modulation (PWM) driving signal to light emitting diodes (LEDs) of the central control panel and adjusting a duty cycle of the PWM driving signal;
- and
- executing, by the controller, a temperature increase mode to indicate change in the temperature of the touch pad as change in color of light from the lighting unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.