Vehicle communication grille

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10753568-B2
Application number	US-201715596280-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2017
Priority date	May 16, 2017
Publication date	Aug 25, 2020
Grant date	Aug 25, 2020

Abstract

A vehicle lighting system includes an illuminated grille assembly. The illuminated grille assembly includes a plurality of grille bars each having at least one light source. A control system is configured to control the illuminated grille assembly to emit combinations of lighting effects from the plurality of grille bars for indicating a plurality of visually distinctive operating behaviors of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle lighting system, comprising:
an illuminated grille assembly including a plurality of grille bars each having at least one light source; and
a control system configured to control the illuminated grille assembly to emit combinations of lighting effects from the plurality of grille bars for indicating a plurality of visually distinctive operating behaviors of the vehicle,
wherein the control system includes at least one control module that includes a processing unit and a memory.

2. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of visually distinctive operating behaviors are visually distinctive in terms of at least color and brightness.

3. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of visually distinctive operating behaviors are visually distinctive in terms of a total amount of the plurality of grille bars that are illuminated.

4. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of grille bars include housing, the at least one light source, and at least one optic device.

5. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 4 , wherein the housing includes a metallic film secured to a plastic part and a plastic backing secured to the plastic part.

6. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 4 , comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) housed within the housing.

7. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the at least one light source is a light emitting diode (LED).

8. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 7 , wherein the LED is a multi-colored LED.

9. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to turn a first portion of the light sources ON and turn a second portion of the light sources OFF to create a symbol within the illuminated grille assembly.

10. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.

11. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control system is configured to control the illuminated grille assembly to simulate a blink or a nod.

12. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 1 , wherein said control system is configured to control the illuminated grille assembly to automatically illuminate each of said plurality of grille bars in red in response to a gear selection of the vehicle being positioned in a reverse gear.

13. A vehicle lighting system, comprising:
an illuminated grille assembly including a plurality of grille bars,
wherein each of the plurality of grille bars includes a housing, a light source, and a printed circuit board; and
a control system configured to control the illuminated grille assembly to emit combinations of lighting effects from the plurality of grille bars for indicating a plurality of visually distinctive operating behaviors of the vehicle,
wherein the plurality of visually distinctive operating behaviors are visually distinctive in terms of color, brightness, and flashing or pulsing action,
wherein the control system includes at least one control module that includes a processing unit and a memory.

14. The vehicle lighting system as recited in claim 13 , wherein the vehicle lighting system is part of an autonomous vehicle, and the autonomous vehicle includes a global positioning system (GPS) configured to communicate a vehicle position to the control system and a sensor system configured to communicate information about an environment within which the autonomous vehicle is operating to the control system.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Salter Stuart C
• Dellock Paul Kenneth
• Buttolo Pietro
• Surman James J
• Huebner Annette Lynn

Classifications

• F21S43/195 Primary

  Details of lamp holders, terminals or connectors · CPC title

• B60Q1/2661 Primary

  mounted on parts having other functions (on wheels B60Q1/326) · CPC title

• B60Q1/507

  specific to autonomous vehicles · CPC title

• B60Q2900/40

  Several lamps activated in sequence, e.g. sweep effect, progressive activation · CPC title

• B60Q1/543

  for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle (indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045) · CPC title