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:
Jul. 12, 2011
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2008
Joseph F. Mercurio, Birmingham, MI (US);
Michael H Thomas, Royal Oak, MI (US);
IN Woong Lee, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Marko Macura, Eindhoven, NL;
Peter G. Matthews, Amsterdam, NL;
Joseph F. Mercurio, Birmingham, MI (US);
Michael H Thomas, Royal Oak, MI (US);
In Woong Lee, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Marko Macura, Eindhoven, NL;
Peter G. Matthews, Amsterdam, NL;
GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A vehicle includes a passenger compartment, a touch-screen for receiving an input signal from an occupant when the occupant touches the touch-screen, an output device, and a controller. The controller changes a characteristic of an electromagnetic wave in the form of visible light and/or an audible sound, which is transmitted into the passenger compartment via the output device in response to the input signal. The output device includes light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LED) or electro-luminescent (EL) ribbon and a speaker. The controller presents a predetermined set of lighting and/or sound options on the touch-screen which the occupant can touch to generate the input signal, thus selectively illuminating the light sources or playing a particular sound file. The controller can also play a digital sound file whenever a corresponding vehicle condition is detected.