Patent ID: 6240347
Filing Date: 2001-05-29
Classification: B60K,B60R,G02B

Abstract:
Apparatus in a automotive vehicle wherein said vehicle has a passenger cabin with a steering wheel, an instrument panel, and a front window, said apparatus for controlling a controllable accessory having a plurality of controllable function parameters, said apparatus comprising:a speech processor coupled to said controllable accessory, said speech processor recognizing spoken sounds and transmitting corresponding commands to said controllable accessory;a central display/control unit coupled to said controllable accessory, said central display/control unit including a visual display displaying current values of said controllable function parameters and including a plurality of control elements for manually selecting desired changes in said current values, said central display/control unit transmitting commands corresponding to said desired changes to said controllable accessory;reconfigurable control elements coupled to said speech processor and said central display/control unit and mounted on said steering wheel for adjusting current values of said controllable function paramcters, wherein said reconfigurable control elements can be reconfigured to a selected parameter by either said speech processor or said central display/control unit; anda heads-up display coupled to said speech processor and said central display/control unit displaying at least one indicator above said instrument panel, said indicator corresponding to said selected parameter to identify a current configuration of said reconfigurable control elements;wherein said speech processor and said central display/control unit pass a token between them which identifies which one of said speech processor or said central display/control unit can interact with said reconfigurable control elements and said heads-up display at any particular time.