The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 06, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 28, 2000
Frederick T. Bauer, Holland, MI (US);
Lois Bauer, Holland, MI (US);
John K. Roberts, East Grand Rapids, MI (US);
Joseph S. Stam, Holland, MI (US);
Gentex Corporation, Zeeland, MI (US);
Abstract
A vehicle system is disclosed that includes a vehicle lamp assembly including a plurality of LEDs that emit white light so as to function as an illuminator light. The lamp assembly also may include a plurality of LEDs that emit colored light, such as red or red-orange, so as to function as a signal light. Alternatively or additionally, the lamp assembly may include a camera of a vehicle imaging system. The lamp assembly may serve as a center high mounted stop light or as a tail light. The system also includes a controller that rapidly pulses the LEDs on and off at a rate that is imperceivable by the human eye. The pulsing intervals of the LEDs may be related to the readout intervals of the camera sensor array. In this manner, the LEDs may be pulsed on during camera readout so as to increase their intensity while the camera is capturing an image, or may be pulsed off during camera readout to prevent feedback glare from interfering with image capture by a highly sensitive image sensor array of the camera.