Light-based controls in a toroidal steering wheel
US10007422B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 23, 2016 |
| Grant date | Jun 26, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 23, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04M2250/22
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A steering wheel for a vehicle, including front and back semi-toroidal surfaces joined at their outer circumferences by a light guide in the shape of a circular rim, and enclosing a toroidal volume having a cavity therein, a PCB mounted in the cavity, an alternating array of invisible-light emitters and receivers mounted on the PCB, such that the light guide projects invisible-light beams emitted by the emitters radially outward of the steering wheel, and directs reflections of the projected light beams off of a driver's hands radially inward to the steering wheel toward the receivers, and a processor connected to equipment mounted away from the steering wheel, the processor synchronously activating each emitter with a respective neighboring receiver, identifying a driver's hand gestures along an arc of the light guide based on reflected light detected by the receivers, and controlling the equipment in response to the thus-identified hand gestures.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.