US 9,539,942 B2 · Cup holder illumination

Abstract

A method of controlling an ambient light feature of a cup holder assembly having one or more cup holders includes providing a light source having a light output of varying luminous intensity, sensing an amount of light reflected from an object received in one of the cup holders using a light sensor, and controlling the luminous intensity of the light output based on the amount of light reflected and the distance between the object and a sidewall of the cup holder assembly. In this method, a change in the amount of light reflected from an object received in one of the cup holders correlates to a change in the luminous intensity provided by the light source, and a change in the distance between the object received the cup holder and the sidewall of the cup holders correlates to a change in the luminous intensity provided by the light source.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A cup holder assembly, comprising:

a housing having at least one cup holder defined by a bottom wall and an upwardly extending sidewall;
and
a lighting system having a light ring light source and a light sensor, wherein the light sensor senses an amount of light reflected from an object received in the cup holder,
a controller in communication with the light sensor and the light source to control the light source based on an input from the light sensor;
the controller being configured to determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing reflects light from the light ring light source of the lighting system, determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is non-reflective of light from the light ring light source of the lighting system and determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is translucent;
and wherein the light ring light source provides a light output having a luminous intensity relative to the amount of light reflected.

3 more elements

A cup holder assembly, comprising:

a light sensor disposed in the cup holder assembly and configured to measure a reflectivity of an object received in the cup holder assembly;
a light ring light source having a light output of varying luminous intensity;
and
a controller communicatively coupled to the light source and the light sensor for controlling the luminous intensity of the light output based on the reflectivity of the object;
the controller being configured to determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing reflects light from the light ring light source of the lighting system, determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is non-reflective of light from the light ring light source of the lighting system and determine whether a beverage container in the at least one cup holder of the housing is translucent.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Cup holder illumination

Life of this patent

Cup holder illumination

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20