Abstract:
An automobile head unit display system including an antenna, a lightbox assembly and a circuit board is described therein. The antenna is attached to the lightbox system, while the lightbox assembly is attached to the circuit board. The antenna and the lightbox assembly are in communication with the circuit board.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention generally relates to automobile head units and more particularly to automobile head units capable of receiving one or more wireless protocols.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Known Technology  
         [0004]     There are a growing number of devices, such as cellular phones, that use one or more wireless protocols to communicate with other devices. One common wireless protocol is Bluetooth™. Bluetooth™ is a wireless short-range communication protocol for data and voice between both mobile and stationary devices.  
         [0005]     Automobile manufacturers are currently discovering new uses for Bluetooth and other wireless protocols for automobiles. One such use is to synchronize a Bluetooth™ enabled cellular-phone with the entertainment system of the automobile. The entertainment system of the automobile may be a radio, CD player, DVD player, automobile navigation unit or any device or combination of devices which provide information or entertainment to an occupant of an automobile. For example, when a Bluetooth™-enabled cellular phone receives an incoming call, the entertainment system of the automobile may be able to lower the volume of the radio and display the caller ID of the incoming caller on a head unit of the entertainment system. The head unit has a display which traditionally would display the radio station or the track number of a CD.  
         [0006]     However, in order for the entertainment system of the automobile to synchronize with a Bluetooth™ enabled device, an antenna for receiving the Bluetooth™ signal is to in communication with the entertainment system. Thus, the antenna to be placed such that the antenna has adequate reception of the Bluetooth enabled device.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     In overcoming the drawbacks and limitations of the known technology, an automobile head unit display system is disclosed. The automobile head unit display system includes an antenna, a lightbox assembly and a first circuit board. The antenna is attached to the lightbox system, while the lightbox assembly is attached to the first circuit board. The antenna and the lightbox assembly are in communication with the first circuit board.  
         [0008]     The lightbox assembly has a lightbox, a display attached to the lightbox and a bracket for attaching the display to lightbox. Typically, the lightbox is constructed of a non-conductive material and the display is a liquid crystal display. To provide backlighting for the display, the first circuit board has one or more light sources, usually light emitting diodes.  
         [0009]     The antenna has a receiving area and a feed in communication with the receiving area. Preferably, the antenna is a planar inverted f-antenna. The receiving area is configured to face the occupant compartment of the automobile for preferred data reception and is configured to receive at least one of the following wireless communications signal protocols: IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11x, HomeRF™ or Bluetooth™.  
         [0010]     Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent to those persons skilled in the art after a review of the following description, with reference to the drawings and claims that are appended to and form part of this specification. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a occupant compartment of an automobile having an automobile head unit display system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the automobile head unit display shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a lightbox assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a side view of an antenna attached to the lightbox assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is an exploded top view of a daughterboard and the lightbox assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates an occupant compartment of an automobile. As shown, the compartment  10  includes an automobile head unit display system  12  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the automobile head unit display system  12  preferably includes a daughterboard  14  having a back  15  and a front  17 . Attached to the front  17  of the daughterboard  14  is a lightbox assembly  16 . As will be described below and shown in  FIG. 5 , the lightbox assembly  16  is in communication with the daughterboard  14  and is preferably attached to the daughterboard  14  through the use of one or more clips. The daughterboard  14  also includes a first connector port  18 .  
         [0018]     The automobile head unit display system  12  may also include a motherboard  20  having a second connector port  22 . In this embodiment, a cable  24  is provided to electrically connect the daughterboard  14  to the motherboard  20 . Preferably, the cable  24  has first and second ends  25 ,  27 . The first end  25  connects to the first connector port  18  and the second end  27  connects to the second connector port  22  to electrically connect the daughterboard  14  and the motherboard  20  for data transmission.  
         [0019]     Preferably, the motherboard  20  will be disposed within an electrically shielded housing  26  to prevent electromagnetic interference from interfering with the motherboard  20  or other components of the system  12 . The housing  26  includes a daughterboard support member  28 . When fully assembled, the daughterboard  14  is supported and held in place by the daughterboard support member  28  and a bezel  30  having a viewing area  32 . The bezel  30  covers the daughterboard  14  and is attached to the housing  26  such that the viewing area  32  of the bezel  30  will allow an occupant of the automobile to view the lightbox assembly  16  through the viewing area  32 .  
         [0020]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , in this embodiment, the lightbox assembly  16  generally includes a lightbox  34 , a display  46  and a bracket  50  retaining the display  46  to the lightbox  34 . Preferably, the lightbox  34  is made of a non-conductive material such as plastic, and has an inner side  36  and an outer side  38  opposite the inner side  36 . The inner side  36  of the lightbox  34  includes retaining clips  40 ,  41  extending therefrom for retaining the lightbox assembly  16  to the front  17  of the daughterboard  14  as will be further described in a later paragraph.  
         [0021]     Two channels  42  and  44  are formed through the lightbox  34  from the inner side  36  to the outer side  38 . However, any number of channels may be formed. The display  46  is placed on the top side  38  of the lightbox  34 . Preferably, the display  46  is a liquid crystal display. Extending from the display  46  are a plurality of display pins  48 . Preferably, the bracket  50  retains the display  46  to the lightbox  34  through the use of an adhesive or by frictional engagement.  
         [0022]     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , an antenna  52  attaches to one of the sides of the lightbox assembly  34 . Preferably, the antenna  52  is attached to the lightbox assembly  34  by any suitable means e.g. by using adhesive, fasteners, or the antenna  52  may be attached the lightbox assembly  16  by molding the lightbox  34  around the antenna  52 .  
         [0023]     In this embodiment, the antenna  52  has a receiving area  54  in communication with a feed pin  56  and a ground pin  58 . Preferably, the antenna of  52  is a planar inverted f-antenna, capable of receiving one or more wireless signal protocols such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11x, HomeRF™ and Bluetooth™. By having the antenna  52  attached to the lightbox assembly  16  as described above, the receiving area  54  will face the occupant compartment of the automobile, placing the antenna  52  in a position for preferred data reception.  
         [0024]     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the front  17  of the daughterboard  14  and the lightbox assembly  16  with the antenna  52  attached thereto is shown. The front  17  of the daughterboard  14  has one or more light sources  54 . Preferably, the light sources  54  are light emitting diodes. When the lightbox assembly  16  is attached to the daughterboard  14 , the light sources  54  provide light, which passes through the channels  42 ,  44  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ), to backlight the display  46 .  
         [0025]     The front  17  of the daughterboard  14  has a number of through holes  60 ,  62 ,  64 ,  66 . The though holes extend through the depth of the daughterboard  28 . The retaining clips  40 ,  41  as well as additional clips on the lightbox  34  are placed through the through holes  60 ,  62 ,  64 ,  66  and attach the lightbox assembly  16  to the daughterboard  14 .  
         [0026]     The daughterboard  14  also includes a display port  68 . When the lightbox assembly  16  is attached to the daughterboard  14 , the communication lines  48  of the display  40  extend to the display port  66 , such that the display pins  48  are electrically connected to the display port  66 , placing the display  46  in communication with the daughterboard  14 .  
         [0027]     The daughterboard  14  also includes a feed port  70  and a ground port  72 . When the lightbox assembly  16  attached to the daughterboard  14  the feed pin  56  and the ground pin  58  will extend through the feed port  70  and the ground port  72  respectively. This places the antenna  52  in communication with the daughterboard  14 .  
         [0028]     As a person skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the above description is meant as an illustration of implementation of the principles this invention. This description is not intended to limit the scope or application of this invention in that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change, without departing from the spirit of this invention, as defined in the following claims.