Lighting device for vehicles with control of plurality of portions using proximity sensors

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This patent application is a partial continuation of US patent application No. 14 / 257,309, filed April 21, 2014 and entitled "VEHICLE READING LAMP WITH LOW INTENSITY LIGHT SETTING", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD TO WHICH INVENTION RELATES.

[0002] The present invention relates generally to vehicle lighting, and more specifically to directional lighting of the interior of a vehicle.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Currently, some lighting devices require the user to interact with an external lens in order to activate and deactivate the lighting devices. One disadvantage of this design is that the passenger of a vehicle typically must rely on tactile sensations to find an external lens when darkness conditions occur. As a result, some passengers of the vehicle may be distracted by the need to feel the position of the external lens, if desired, to activate the lighting devices. Therefore, there is a need for a lighting device that allows the passenger of the vehicle to intuitively activate and adjust the intensity of the light emitted from the device.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[0004] According to one aspect of the present invention, a vehicle lighting system is described. The lighting system contains a group of light sources that have many areas. Each of the sections has a proximity sensor, configured to transmit a signal for controlling a section of a plurality of areas. The controller communicates with light sources and proximity sensors. The controller is configured to activate, upon selection, a first portion of a group of light sources in response to detecting a first approximation and activating a plurality of portions in response to detecting a second approximation.

[0005] According to another aspect of the present invention, a lighting device for a vehicle is described. The lighting device contains many light sources that have many areas or areas of illumination, each has a lot of proximity sensors. The controller communicates with light sources and proximity sensors. The controller is configured to activate, at the choice of each site, in response to the detection of the first approximation, and the optional activation of a plurality of sites in response to the detection of the second approximation.

[0006] According to another aspect of the present invention, a lighting device is described. The lighting device comprises a plurality of directional light sources located in a plurality of areas, each section containing a proximity sensor. The controller communicates with light sources and proximity sensors. The controller is configured to activate at the choice of each site in response to the detection of the first approximation and the activation of the choice of multiple sites in response to detection of the second approximation.

[0007] These and other aspects, objectives, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon examination of the following description, formula, and attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] In the drawings:

[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing illustrating a front passenger compartment of a vehicle having a ceiling console using two reading lamps;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing illustrating a reading lamp using a capacitive detection configuration;

[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a reading lamp control circuit;

[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a reading lamp control circuit;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a reading lamp control procedure;

[0014] FIG. 6 is a schematic of a lighting device for a vehicle;

[0015] FIG. 7A is a top cross-sectional view of the lighting device shown in FIG. 6, along the line 1-1 section.

[0016] FIG. 7B is a side sectional view along section line II-II of the illumination device shown in FIG. 7A;

[0017] FIG. 8 is a schematic of a lighting device for a vehicle;

[0018] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the lighting device shown in FIG. 8, along the line III-III section; and

[0019] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a method for controlling a lighting device in accordance with the invention.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] In accordance with the requirements herein described in detail embodiments of the present invention. However, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples of the invention, which may be implemented in various and alternative forms. The drawings do not necessarily reflect a detailed diagram, and some schematic elements may be exaggerated or minimized to demonstrate the general appearance of the functions. Consequently, the specific details of the design and functions disclosed in this document should not be interpreted as limiting, but merely as representing the basis for informing a person skilled in the art about various applications of the present invention.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, the front part of the vehicle passenger compartment 10 for a wheeled vehicle 12 is shown generally as having at least one reading lamp 14 mounted in the ceiling console 16. In the illustrated embodiment, the ceiling console 16 is mounted on the inside of the front passenger roof panel vehicle 10 and is located in a central location in front of the vehicle 10. As shown for example, two reading lamps 14 are mounted on the ceiling console 16, one located in such a way as to ensure greater accessibility to the driver of the vehicle 12, and the other positioned so as to ensure greater accessibility to the passenger in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. While two reading lamps 14 were shown generally in FIG. 1, it should be understood that one or more reading lamps 14 may be mounted in other locations of the ceiling console 16 or other locations on board the vehicle 12. In addition, one or more switches 18 may be provided to allow the vehicle occupant to manually activate lamp 14 for reading. As shown for example, the switch 18 is located next to each corresponding reading lamp 14 to allow each reading lamp 14 to be independently controlled. In addition, or alternatively, one or more switches 18 may be located elsewhere on board the vehicle 12, for example, on the dashboard 20 of the vehicle, as shown for example in FIG. 1. However,

[0022] Referring to FIG. 2, the reading lamp circuit 14 is shown according to one embodiment. The reading lamp 14 includes an outer lens 22, which is accessible to passengers of the vehicle, and a light source 24 for illuminating the outer lens 22. A light source 24 is generally provided behind the outer lens 22 and may include one or more light-emitting diodes ( LED) to allow light source 24 to emit one or more types of colored light. In order to diffuse the light emitted from the light source 24, the diffusing optics 26 may be located between the light source 24 and the external lens 22 to ensure uniform distribution of light through the external lens 22 when the light source 24 is activated. The activation of the light source 24 can be performed in a variety of ways. For example, in one embodiment, the outer lens 22 may be implemented in a push configuration, in accordance with which the vehicle occupant presses or presses the outer lens 22 inward to activate the light source 24. As a supplement or alternative, the light source can be activated via a corresponding switch (for example, switch 18) on the ceiling console 16 and / or on board the vehicle 12, as previously described.

[0023] In the illustrated embodiment, the proximity sensor, shown and described herein as a capacitive sensor 28, may be provided behind and attached to the outer lens 22. Capacitive sensor 28 provides an activation detection field that spans the outermost surface of external lens 22 and can detect capacitive changes resulting from a conductor, such as a passenger's finger of a vehicle located in the activation detection area of ​​capacitive sensor 28 (for example, touching an external lens 22). In one embodiment, if the capacitive change satisfies or exceeds a predetermined threshold level, the light source 24 may be instructed to activate accordingly.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 3, the reading lamp 14 may further include a controller 30 in electrical communication with the capacitive sensor 28 and the light source 24. In this configuration, when capacitive sensor 28 detects a change in capacitance, controller 30 may respond by activating / deactivating light source 24 accordingly. As shown, controller 30 may include circuitry such as processor 32 and controller memory 34. According to one embodiment, the procedure 36 for controlling the lamp 14 for reading is stored in the memory 34 of the controller and executed by the processor 32. In addition, the controller 30 can receive input data from one or more user input devices 38 (for example, switch 18) and / or one or more vehicle equipment shown as a vehicle on-board sensor 40, configured to detect the presence of dark conditions. In order to drive the light source 24, the controller 30 may be supplied with electricity from the power source 42, which may be an on-board vehicle power source or an independent power source.

[0025] The controller 30 is configured to instruct the light source 24 to generate low-intensity light to assist the vehicle occupant in determining the location of the lamp 14 for reading in dark conditions. This feature is especially useful for reading lamps 14, which use the push-down or capacitive detection configuration described in this document, both of which require the vehicle occupant to find the external lens 22 and perform some action on it. In addition, the aforementioned function can be implemented autonomously and / or called manually. In some embodiments, the controller 30 may receive a signal from the light sensor 40 or any signal corresponding to an input signal indicating the presence of dark conditions.

[0026] Low intensity light can be expressed as a dim glow (eg, ambient lighting) to improve driving conditions without distracting the driver. In addition or alternatively, the light source 24 may be manually activated using the user input device 38. In any case, if a reading lamp 14 is provided, equipped with a low-intensity light function, vehicle passengers can visually locate the external lens 22 in dark conditions, if desired, activate the reading lamp 14 to form the working light. In such cases, the controller 30 may instruct the light source 24 to switch from low intensity light to high intensity light.

[0027] Each adjustment of the light intensity can be expressed as light of the same color or a different color and can be selected by the passenger of the vehicle using any suitable user input device 38 (for example, the center console of the vehicle). Thus, depending on which color options are available, it should be easily understood that the light source 24 may include one or more LEDs. In one embodiment, low intensity light is expressed as blue light, and high intensity light can be expressed as white light. As further shown in FIG. 3, the light source 24 may include an LED module 44 having red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes, and therefore a blue LED provides low intensity blue light, and a combination of red, Green and blue LED provides high intensity white light. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the LED module 44 may have a blue LED to provide low intensity blue light and a white LED to provide high intensity white light. In either of the two embodiments, the controller 30 may provide each LED with shaped pulse width modulation (PWM) signals in order to create a corresponding light intensity and light color. Alternatively, the controller 30 can directly energize the current to each LED in order to do the same. In either of the two embodiments, the controller 30 may provide each LED with shaped pulse width modulation (PWM) signals in order to create a corresponding light intensity and light color. Alternatively, the controller 30 can directly energize the current to each LED in order to do the same. In either of the two embodiments, the controller 30 may provide each LED with shaped pulse width modulation (PWM) signals in order to create a corresponding light intensity and light color. Alternatively, the controller 30 can directly energize the current to each LED in order to do the same.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 5, illustrates a procedure 36 for controlling the reading lamp 14 according to one embodiment. The procedure begins at step 52 and proceeds to step 54 to check if darkness conditions occur. As previously described, the controller 30 may receive a signal from the sensor 40 of the light, indicating the presence of dark conditions. If dark conditions occur, procedure 36 proceeds to step 56, where controller 30 instructs light source 24 to generate low intensity light of the first color, and procedure 36 proceeds to step 58. If dark conditions do not occur, procedure 36 skips step 56 and skips to step 58. If necessary, step 54 can be manually bypassed using the user input device 38, thereby

[0029] At step 58, procedure 36 checks whether the passenger of the vehicle has activated the light source 24. For a reading lamp 14 using a capacitive detection configuration (FIG. 2), activation may occur when a passenger of a vehicle places a conductor (eg, a finger of a passenger of a vehicle) in the vicinity of a capacitive sensor 28, thereby causing a capacitive change to be detected and reported to the controller 30. Alternatively, for the reading lamp 14 applying the push configuration, activation may occur when the passenger of the vehicle presses or presses on the outer lens 22. One or the other gom If light source 24 has been activated, the routine 36 proceeds to step 60, where the controller 30 instructs the light source 24 to form a high-intensity light of a second color, if step 56 was previously skipped. Alternatively, when step 56 was previously performed, controller 30 instructs light source 24 to switch from low intensity light of the first color to light high intensity of the second color.

[0030] Following the completion of step 60, procedure 36 proceeds to step 62 and waits until the passenger of the vehicle deactivates the light source 24. For example, for a reading lamp 14 applying a push configuration, pressing or pressing the outer lens 22 a second time will typically deactivate the light source 24. For the reading lamp 14 using the capacitive detection configuration, the light source 24 can be deactivated when the capacitive sensor 28 detects a capacitive change, while the light source 24 emits a high intensity light. After the light source 24 has been deactivated, procedure 36 returns to step 54. With regard to the above procedure 36, it should be understood that the first color and the second color can be the same color or different color, and as described earlier,

[0031] Accordingly, in this document, lamp 14 for reading a vehicle and a method for controlling it were presented with the achievement of an advantage. The reading lamp 14 includes a light source 24, which is capable of manually or automatically activated to form low intensity light to illuminate the outer lens 22 of the reading lamp 14. Thus, for the reading lamp 14, which is activated as a result of user interaction with the external lens 22, the dim illumination formed from the source 24 of the light greatly assists vehicle passengers in visually determining the location of the external lens 22 in dark conditions. As a result, vehicle passengers who require working lighting can easily find and activate the reading lamp 14, thereby causing the output light to switch from low intensity light to high intensity light. Thus, by providing a low-intensity light function, the passenger of the vehicle gets rid of the need to search by touch when trying to activate the lamp 14 for reading at night, or when other dark conditions occur.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic drawing of a vehicle lighting device 70 is shown. The lighting device 70 comprises a plurality of lighting zones 72 or areas. Each of the lighting zones 72 may contain a plurality of light sources 73, each of which is configured to illuminate a substantially separate portion of the passenger compartment 10. In some implementations, the lighting device 70 may include an elongated light strip located in the facing panel 74 or the surface of the vehicle. As illustrated, the lighting device 70 is located in the passenger door 76 and configured to illuminate the front portion of the passenger compartment 10.

[0033] In this example, the lighting device 70 is demonstrated as having a first zone 82, a second zone 84, a third zone 86, and a fourth zone 88. The lighting device 70 includes a controller (eg, controller 30) configured to control the light emitted from each of multiple zones 72 lighting. The controller is configured to control the illumination of a plurality of illumination zones 72 in response to detecting an approach of the object 90 through a plurality of proximity sensors. In some implementations, the controller communicates with a plurality of capacitive proximity sensors configured to transmit signals to the controller corresponding to finding the object 90 in the first approximation and the second approximation. The proximity sensors, as well as the detection of the proximity object 90, are further described with reference to FIG. 7A and 7B. Although capacitive sensors are described in this document, proximity sensors may include inductive sensors, optical sensors, temperature sensors, resistance sensors, etc. or a combination thereof. The object 90 may comprise any form of an object that can be detected by means of a proximity sensor, for example, a hand or a finger of a passenger of a vehicle.

[0034] In operation, the controller is configured to illuminate the choice of a particular illumination zone (for example, the first zone 82) from a plurality of illumination zones 72 in response to the object 90 detected in the first approximation. If the controller continues to detect the object 90 as a first approximation for a predetermined period of time, the controller is configured to adjust the brightness or the illumination intensity of a particular illumination area. If the controller continues to detect the object 90 as a first approximation for the second predetermined period of time, the controller is configured to deactivate a particular illumination area. Thus, the lighting device 70 may be configured to provide light with multiple intensities or illumination levels projected from each zone from the plurality of illumination zones 72.

[0035] The controller may also be configured to illuminate an option of more than one of a plurality of lighting zones 72 in response to the object 90 detected in the second approximation. For example, the controller may activate the first illumination zone 82 and the second illumination zone 84 in response to the object 90 detected in the second approximation. In some implementations, the controller may activate all of the light zones from the plurality of light zones 72 in response to the object 90 detected in the second approximation. In addition, the controller can be configured to control the intensity of more than one illumination zone in response to the detection of the object 90 in the second approximation for a predetermined period of time.

[0036] FIG. 7A and 7B show a top cross-sectional view along section line 1-1 and a cross-sectional side view along section line 2-2 of a lighting device 70, respectively. FIG. 7A shows the first lighting zone 82 and the second lighting zone 84. In some implementations, the lighting device 70 may comprise a communication circuit 102 located close to the rear surface 104 of the lighting device 70. The communication circuit 102 is configured to transmit control signals from a plurality of control circuits 106 to activate and control each light source from a plurality of light sources 73. The lighting device 70 may comprise a control circuit 106 corresponding to each lighting zone from a plurality of lighting zones 72.

[0037] Each light source from a plurality of light sources 73 may be mounted on the front surface 108 of the communication circuit 102. Close to each light source, the optics 110 is located in the plug-in support 112. The plug-in supports 112 are attached to the communication circuit 102 and / or one or more intermediate layers, so that the optics 110, the plug-in supports 112 and the communication circuit 102 form an intermediate assembly of the lighting device 70. The plug-in the supports 112 may correspond to a molded plastic made to hold the optics 110. In some implementations, the optics 110 and plug-in supports 112 may correspond to a plastic base structure. In such implementations, the optics 110 may be cast using a transparent polymeric material, and the plug-in supports 112 may be cast with an opaque polymeric material.

[0038] The transparent material of each of the optical elements 110 can be adapted to focus the light emitted from each light source from a plurality of light sources 73. Each optical element 110 may be configured to project light outwards from a particular light source along a channel formed by means of plug-in supports 112. In this configuration, each optical element 110 is configured to direct light from the light source to a substantially separate section of the passenger compartment 10. In Such configurations of the lighting device 70 is made in the form of a source of directional light, made with the possibility of lighting the choice of many sections of the passenger compartment 10, p and wherein each of the portions may be substantially separate.

[0039] The optics 110 and the plug-in supports 112 can form the outer surface 114 of the lighting device 70. A plurality of proximity sensors 116 can be located on the outer surface 114 and correspond to each zone of the plurality of illumination zones 72. For example, each of the lighting zones 72 may include an proximity sensor 116 to track the object 90 in the vicinity of a specific zone (for example, the first lighting zone 82). In this configuration, the lighting device 70 is configured to detect the presence of the object 90 close to each zone and transmit a signal to the controller corresponding to the presence of the object 90.

[0040] In some implementations, each of the proximity sensors 116 may correspond to capacitive pads printed on the outer surface 114 of the lighting device 70. In some implementations, the outer surface 116 may correspond to the insulated inner surface of the outer layer 124. The proximity sensors 116 may likewise be printed and / or located on the rear surface 104. Capacitive pads may be substantially transparent and printed on the outer surface 114 in conductive material, such as copper, oxide indium and tin (ITO), etc. Thus, the light emitted from each of the light sources can be emitted through the proximity sensors 116 without significantly interfering with the light emission.

[0041] Each of the proximity sensors 116 communicates with the communication circuit 102 via the conductive connector 118. Each conductive connector 118 extends from the proximity sensor 116 located on the outer surface 114 of the lighting device 70 to the front surface 108 of the communication circuit 102. The communication circuit 102 also communicates with the control circuit 106 and the controller. In this configuration, the controller is configured to receive signals (eg, voltage signals) identifying the detection of the object 90. Based on the magnitude or any other identified signal characteristic for signals received from the proximity sensors 116, the controller is configured to identify whether the object 90 is within the first approximation 120 or the second approximation 122,

[0042] For example, the controller may identify that object 90 is within the first approximation 120, in response to a signal from a particular proximity sensor (for example, a proximity sensor corresponding to the first zone 82) that exceeds the first threshold value. The controller may also identify that the object 90 is within the second approximation 122, in response to a signal from a particular proximity sensor, greater than the second threshold value. After the controller receives a signal from one of the proximity sensors 116, the controller is configured to control a plurality of light sources 73 of the lighting device 70 corresponding to the specific area in which the object 90 is detected. As shown in FIG. 6, a controller having activated light sources 73 is illustrated, corresponding to the first illumination zone 82 in response to object detection by the proximity sensor 116 located in the first illumination zone 82 in the first approximation 128. Thus, the controller is configured to activate and control the intensity of light emitted from each zone from a plurality of zones 72. Additional details describing the control method for lighting devices are given with reference to FIG. ten. referring to FIG. ten. referring to FIG. ten.

[0043] The lighting device 70 may further comprise an outer layer 124 located above the proximity sensors 116 on the outer surface 114 of the lighting device 70. The outer layer 124 may correspond to a decorative film forming a class A surface (for example, a surface from which a vehicle passenger can regularly to interact). The outer layer 124 may be formed of a transparent or translucent polymeric material and the insert is molded so that the outer layer 124 is applied to the outer surface 114. The outer layer 124 may include various decorative aspects and / or identifiers corresponding to the lighting device 70.

[0044] The back surface 104 of the communication circuit 102 may be configured to be mounted on the surface of the vehicle by means of glue. Communication circuit 102 may comprise any form of circuit, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), a flexible or plastic circuit, a flexible printed circuit board, a flexible imprint, or a flexible circuit. In some implementations, the communication circuit 102 may be made in the form of a flexible or plastic construction, so that the circuit 102 may bend in width and length and correspond to changes in the surface of the vehicle. The communication circuit 102 may be formed from a variety of materials. In some implementations, the communication circuit 102 may be formed from various layers, for example, base layers, tie layers, protective layers, and conductive layers. The base layer can be formed from a carrier film having a polymer structure,

[0045] The controller communicates with each control circuit 106 through the communication circuit 102 and can be implemented similarly to the controller 30. The controller may include at least one circuit configured to control the brightness of each of the plurality of light sources 73. For example, the controller may communicate with each of the control circuits 106 and is configured to control the brightness of the sources 73 of the light corresponding to a particular area of ​​illumination (for example, the first area 82 of the illumination). In this configuration, the controller may serve to issue control signals to each of the plurality of lighting zones 72 through the control circuit 106 corresponding to each zone.

[0046] The controller contains a luminance control circuit that is configured to control the brightness or intensity of each of the light sources 73 through the control circuit 106 in response to a signal received from the controller. In some implementations, the intensity of the light sources 73 may be controlled by the controller by controlling the voltage / current signal in a periodic signal, for example, a pulse-width modulation signal transmitted from the control circuit 106. In response to the frequency of the periodic signal, each light source can output a light level that can be perceived as brighter or dimmer, corresponding to faster or slower frequencies, or longer or shorter pulse durations. For example, the brightness of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) corresponding to light sources 73,

[0047] In an exemplary implementation, each light source from a plurality of light sources 73 may correspond to an LED or similar lighting device. For example, each of the light sources 73 may be implemented using phosphoric LEDs, organic LEDs (OLED), dotted quantum LEDs, or any other similar lighting technology. Although many LEDs are described in detail, other similar light sources can be implemented as light sources (for example, fluorescent lamps, incandescent lamps, xenon lamps, etc.) without departing from the spirit of the invention. Each light source from a plurality of light sources 73 may also correspond to a group of LEDs, for example, an array of red, green, blue (RGB) pixels, a two-color LED, a three-color LED, a multi-color LED, etc.

[0048] Turning now to FIG. 8 and 9, an implementation of a lighting device 130 according to the invention is shown. For clarity, similar aspects and details of the lighting device 130 may be omitted or described using similar reference numbers for the lighting device 70. The lighting device 130 is shown located on the vehicle roof section 132 and contains a plurality of lighting zones 134 arranged in an array. The plurality of illumination zones 134 comprises a first illumination zone 142, a second illumination zone 144, a third illumination zone 146 and a fourth illumination zone 148. The lighting device 130 may be designed and operated similarly to the lighting device 70, and in this configuration may also be configured to illuminate portions of the passenger compartment 10 of the vehicle,

[0049] Each lighting zone of a plurality of lighting zones 134 may contain one or more light sources 73, which may optionally be illuminated by a controller, as described herein, to illuminate essentially individual portions of the passenger compartment 10. For example, each of the lighting zones can be directed from the lighting device 130 as follows: the first lighting area 142 towards the driver’s side, the second lighting area 144 towards the passenger side, the third area 146 lit Oia, directed to the dashboard on the driver's side, and the fourth lighting zone 148, directed to the dashboard on the passenger side. In this configuration, the lighting device 130 may optionally illuminate various portions of the passenger compartment 10,

[0050] Referring to FIG. 9, a cross-sectional view of the illumination device 130 along a section line III-III is shown showing the first illumination zone 142 and the second illumination zone 144. Similar to the lighting device 70, the lighting device 130 includes light sources 73 installed in the communication circuit 102. In this configuration, the controller is configured to control the light sources 73 of each zone from the plurality of lighting zones 134 through the control circuit 106. The light sources 73 are configured to emit light through optical elements 110 that are located close to each light source.

[0051] In this implementation, the plug-in supports 150, similar to the plug-in support 112, are configured to position each of the optical elements 110 such that the light emitted from the plurality of light sources 73 is scattered radially outward from the outer surface 114 of the lighting device 70. The plug-in supports 150 can be formed similarly to the plug-in supports 112. The plug-in supports 150 can additionally be placed so that the light emitted through each of the optical elements 110 is directed radially outward from each of the sources Ikov beam 73 by providing angular separation extending from the front surface 102 of communication circuit 108 to the outer surface 114 of the lighting device 130.

[0052] The lighting device 130 may also contain a plurality of proximity sensors 116, each of which communicates with a communication circuit 102 via a conductive connector 118. Each proximity sensor 116 may correspond to an area of ​​a plurality of lighting zones 134, so that the controller is configured to detect an object 90 and controls for the selection of each of the lighting zones 134. The controller is configured to control the choice of each of the zones 134 of illumination, detecting the object 90 in the first approximation 120 or the second approximation 122, corresponding to each zone from a variety of zones 134 of illumination. Thus, the lighting device 130 is configured to activate, by choice, each of the illumination zones 134, as well as control the illumination intensity of the light sources 73, as further described with reference to FIG. ten.

[0053] Turning now to FIG. 10, a block diagram of a method 160 for controlling a lighting device is shown. For clarity, method 160 is described in relation to the lighting device 70; however, it can be understood that method 160 may be widely applicable to a variety of lighting devices in accordance with the invention. The controller may begin by activating the lighting device 70 in response to a vehicle event (162). After activation, the controller of the lighting device 70 may initialize and activate a plurality or all of the lighting zones 82, 84, 86 and 88 (164). A vehicle event may correspond to detecting the approach of a vehicle key, opening a door, ignition sequence, or any other vehicle event. After activation, the controller can continue to support the highlight of zones 82,

[0054] While the vehicle is running, and the controller can monitor proximity sensors 116 for object 90 detected in the first approximation 120 or the second approximation 122 (168). During tracking of the proximity sensors 116, the controller is configured to identify whether object 90 is detected near one of the proximity sensors 116 (170). If the controller does not detect the object in the first approximation 120 or the second approximation 122, the controller may continue to monitor the proximity sensors 116, returning to step 168. If the object 90 is detected near one of the proximity sensors 116, the controller is configured to determine whether the object 90 is in first approximation 120 or second approximation 122 (172).

[0055] If the object 90 is detected in the first approximation 120, the controller may first activate the zone or section of the lighting device 70 corresponding to the particular proximity sensor from which the proximity detection signal is received (174). If the proximity sensor continues to detect the object 90 in the first approximation 120, the controller can adjust the light level or the light intensity of the light zone corresponding to the proximity sensor (176). For example, the controller may increase or decrease the illumination intensity of the sources 73 of the light in the first zone 82 during a plurality of predetermined time intervals corresponding to the duration of detection by the proximity sensor of the object 90.

[0056] The controller is further configured to determine whether the object 90 remains in the first approximation 120 for a time longer than the off time (178). The off time can be a predetermined time corresponding to a set of predetermined time intervals during which the controller can adjust the intensity level of the light zones. If object 90 is detected by the proximity sensor for a time longer than the off time, the controller can deactivate the illumination area corresponding to the proximity sensor to which object 90 is the closest (180). If the off time is not exceeded, the controller may maintain the light level or return to step 176 to adjust the light level. The controller may continue to monitor the proximity sensors 116 to detect the object 90 at step 168,

[0057] If the object 90 is detected in the second approximation 122 by any of the proximity sensors 116, the controller may activate a plurality of lighting zones of the lighting device (182). For example, the controller can activate all of the illumination zones 184 in response to detection in the second approximation 122. If at least one of the proximity sensors 116 continues to detect object 90 in the second approximation 122, the controller can adjust the level or intensity of the light of the illumination zones (184). For example, the controller may increase or decrease the illumination intensity of light sources 73, corresponding to a plurality of illumination zones 72 during a plurality of predetermined time intervals. Each of the specified time intervals can correspond to the duration of the proximity sensor's detection of the object 90 in the second approximation 122.

[0058] The controller is further configured to determine whether the object 90 remains in the second approximation 122 for a time longer than the off time (186). If the object 90 is detected by at least one of the proximity sensors 116 for a time longer than the off time, the controller may deactivate a plurality of lighting zones (188). If the off time is not exceeded, the controller may maintain the light level or return to step 184 to adjust the light level.

[0059] The lighting device, systems, and corresponding methods described herein, provide lighting devices that can be used to illuminate a selection of different areas of the vehicle. The various implementations described in this document provide a reliable and affordable lighting system that can be used in various applications. It should be understood that changes and modifications may be made in the above structure that are not beyond the intent of the present invention, and further, it should be understood that such an intent is intended to be covered by the following claims, to the extent that the wording of this claims is clearly does not indicate otherwise.