Door trim pull cup ambient light

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9533615-B2
Application number	US-201113326829-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2011
Priority date	Dec 15, 2011
Publication date	Jan 3, 2017
Grant date	Jan 3, 2017

Abstract

An interior door trim component for an automotive vehicle. The door trim component includes a main body having an exterior surface for facing the interior of the vehicle and a door pull configured to allow for pulling thereon and closing of the door of the vehicle. The door pull is spaced apart from the main body by a distance that allows the fingers of a vehicle occupant's hand to extend into the area between the door pull and the main body. A light emitting assembly is mounted adjacent to the door pull and is oriented to emitt light in a direction away from the door pull and toward the exterior surface of the main body.

First claim

We claim:

1. An interior door trim component for an automotive vehicle, the interior door trim component comprising:
a main body;
a door pull attached to the main body, a portion of the door pull being spaced apart from the main body of the interior door trim component by a distance allowing fingers of a vehicle occupant's hand to extend between the door pull and the main body, the portion of the door pull spaced apart from the main body having a top surface, an upper portion spaced a first distance apart from the main body, and a lower portion spaced a second distance apart from the main body, the first distance being less than the second distance and the upper portion tapering toward the lower portion;
a light emitting assembly comprising a light pipe positioned around a light source and coupling light from the light source to a light emitting face, the light emitting assembly mounted adjacent to the door pull and disposed between the door pull and the main body, the light emitting assembly being oriented to emit light in an upward direction away from the door pull and toward the main body, wherein the upper portion of the door pull is oriented to block light directed toward at least the top surface of the door pull; and
a receiving cavity defined by the light pipe, the door pull, and the main body, wherein the light source is positioned within the receiving cavity.

2. The interior door trim component of claim 1 , wherein the door pull extends inwardly and has a top portion spaced from the main body.

3. The interior door trim component of claim 1 , wherein the light emitting face of the light pipe is located adjacent to an exterior surface of the door pull.

4. The interior door trim component of claim 1 , wherein the light emitting face of the light pipe is located adjacent to an outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull, which outwardly facing exterior surface faces the main body, wherein the outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull, an exterior surface of the main body, and an upward facing third surface disposed therebetween define a pull cup, wherein the light emitting assembly is located within the pull cup.

5. The interior door trim component of claim 1 , wherein the door pull is located relative to light emitting face of the light pipe and is arranged to block light from the light emitting assembly from being directed away from the main body and toward the vehicle occupant.

6. The interior door trim component of claim 1 , wherein the door pull is formed as part of an armrest.

7. A trim component for an automotive vehicle, the trim component comprising:
a main body having an exterior surface;
a door pull attached to the exterior surface of the main body, the door pull having an outwardly facing exterior surface that is spaced apart from the main body of the trim component by a distance allowing fingers of the vehicle occupant's hand to extend between the door pull and the main body;
a bottom wall disposed between the outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull and the exterior surface of the main body and directly above and separate from a portion of the door pull attached to the exterior surface of the main body;
a light emitting assembly mounted adjacent to the door pull and disposed between the door pull and the main body below the bottom wall, the light emitting assembly including a light source and a light collecting element having a light emitting face, the light emitting face being oriented to direct light in an upward direction toward the main body, wherein the door pull is arranged to block light from the light emitting assembly from being directed away from the main body with at least an upper portion of the door pull, wherein the upper portion of the door pull is spaced a first distance from the exterior surface of the main body, a lower portion of the door pull is spaced a second distance from the exterior surface of the main body, and the first distance is less than the second distance; and
the bottom wall and the portion of the door pull attached to the exterior surface of the main body defining a receiving space for the light source.

8. The trim component of claim 7 , wherein the light emitting element includes a lens and a light source.

9. The trim component of claim 7 , wherein the door pull defines a portion of a pull-cup, the pull-cup further including the bottom wall extending from the door pull to the main body, wherein the light emitting face is one of located between the bottom wall and the outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull, located in the door pull, and located in the bottom wall.

10. The trim component of claim 9 , wherein the light emitting element includes a lens and a light source.

11. The trim component of claim 10 , wherein the lens is located at the interface of the door pull and the bottom wall of the pull-cup.

12. The trim component of claim 11 , wherein the light source is interiorly located within a portion of an armrest that includes the door pull.

13. The trim component of claim 10 , wherein the door pull is positioned relative to the light emitting assembly and is arranged to block light from the light emitting assembly from being directed away from the main body and toward the vehicle occupant.

14. The trim component of claim 7 , wherein the light emitting assembly is located adjacent to an exterior surface of the door pull.

15. The trim component of claim 7 , wherein the light emitting assembly is located adjacent to the outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull.

16. An interior door trim component for an automotive vehicle, the interior door trim component comprising:
a main body having an exterior surface;
a door pull attached to the exterior surface of the main body, the door pull having an outwardly facing exterior surface that is spaced apart from the main body of the interior door trim component by a distance allowing fingers of the vehicle occupant's hand to extend between the door pull and the main body;
a bottom wall disposed between the outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull and the exterior surface of the main body and directly above and separate from a portion of the door pull attached to the exterior surface of the main body;
a light emitting assembly positioned adjacent to the door pull and disposed between the door pull and the main body below the bottom wall, the light emitting assembly including a light collecting element and a light source positioned within the light collecting element, the light collecting element having a light emitting face oriented to direct light in an upward direction toward the main body; and
the bottom wall and the portion of the door pull attached to the exterior surface of the main body defining a receiving space for the light source.

17. The interior door trim component of claim 16 , wherein the light emitting face is located between the bottom wall and the outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull.

18. The interior door trim component of claim 16 , wherein the light emitting face extends through the bottom wall.

19. The interior door trim component of claim 16 , wherein the door pull is formed as an integral and stationary part of an armrest and the spacing of the outwardly facing exterior surface of the door pull from the main body defined by the distance allowing fingers allowing fingers of the vehicle occupant's hand to extend between the door pull and the main body remain the same when the vehicle occupant is pulling on the door pull and when the vehicle occupant is

Assignees

• Moberg Joshua L
• Middleton Nicholas K
• Toyota Motor Eng & Mfg North America Inc

Inventors

• Moberg Joshua L
• Middleton Nicholas K

Classifications

• B60Q3/0216 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60Q3/0233

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60Q3/267 Primary

  Door handles; Hand grips · CPC title

• B60Q3/217

  Doors, e.g. door sills; Steps · CPC title

• B60R13/0243

  Doors · CPC title