| US 7,495,548 B2 | ||
| Vehicle cabin lighting apparatus | ||
| Hiroyuki Yabashi, Tokyo (Japan); Yasuhiro Miyamoto, Hyogo (Japan); Norimitsu Hasegawa, Hyogo (Japan); and Shigeru Ichida, Hyogo (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Appl. No. 10/573,983 PCT Filed Jun. 06, 2005, PCT No. PCT/JP2005/010370 § 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Mar. 30, 2006, PCT Pub. No. WO2006/013676, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 09, 2006. |
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| Claims priority of application No. 2004-230952 (JP), filed on Aug. 06, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0279959 A1, Dec. 14, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. B60Q 1/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 340—425.5 [340/425.5; 340/458; 340/461; 340/436; 345/6; 345/7] | 16 Claims |
| 1. A vehicle cabin lighting apparatus comprising:
a monitor mounted to a ceiling of a vehicle cabin;
a monitor folding-or-unfolding detector for detecting whether said monitor is placed in a folded or unfolded state;
a monitor controller for determining whether said monitor is placed in a video display mode or lighting mode based on a detection
output of said monitor folding-or-unfolding detector, for controlling an operation of said monitor according to a result of
the determination, and for applying, as illumination light, light emitted out of said monitor to the vehicle cabin when said
monitor is placed in the lighting mode; and
wherein the monitor controller controls the operation of said monitor so that said monitor enters the lighting mode when said
monitor is placed in the unfolded state, and so that said monitor enters the video display mode when said monitor is placed
in the unfolded state, and so that said monitor enters the video display mode when said monitor is placed in the folded state.
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