Abstract:
A boarding device for a vehicle has an upper surface, and a lower surface. A step area is defined in the upper surface, and a light emitting device with corresponding control circuitry is set in a recess of the bottom side. The light emitting device provides illumination for the step area, so as to make boarding the vehicle more safe and convenient.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to boarding devices for motor vehicles, and more particularly, the present invention describes a boarding device that uses a light emitting device to illuminate a surface of the boarding device.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    People use motor vehicles, such as automobiles, motorcycles, and metro buses, every day. As a result, many advances have been made in the field of motor vehicles. Instead of using metal wheels, most motor vehicles today have rubber tires. Cranks no longer need to be turned to start a motor, but instead a simple turn of a small metal key starts the motor. Another improvement made for motor vehicles was the advent of adding footpads below doors, which both drivers and passengers use to enter the vehicle.  
           [0005]    Please refer to FIG. 1, which illustrates a prior art footpad  30 . The footpad  30  is mounted under a door frame  22  of a truck  20  for assisting a person to get into the truck  20 . The footpad  30  comprises a bottom side  31 , a top side  32 , and a connector  33  for connecting with the door frame  22  of the truck  20 . Users are allowed to step on the top side  32  of the footpad  30  to board the truck  20 . As the footpad  30  is set near or at a midpoint between the bottom of the door and the ground, the users do not need to overstretch or overexert their leg when boarding the truck  20 . It is therefore convenient for users.  
           [0006]    However, one small problem occurs when using the footpad  30 . In the night, the footpad  30  (no longer visible) has changed from helpful device to harmful obstacle. It should be obvious that the lack of visibility is not limited to night time, but can also occur when a pattern of a background of the footpad  30  appears very similar to the actual surface of the footpad  30 . When attempting to board the truck  20 , users must very carefully use their leg and their sense of touch to discern a position of the footpad  30 . This can be a time-consuming, or even a painful process.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a boarding device, used in a motor vehicle, that uses a light emitting device (LED) to increase a visibility of the boarding device, so that a user can avoid shin and foot injuries when boarding the motor vehicle, and can save precious seconds wasted searching for the boarding device.  
           [0008]    Briefly, the present invention is a boarding device that comprises a flat upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface has a step area at a center portion for a person to step on. The lower surface has a recess used for installing a light emitting device that increases visibility of the step area.  
           [0009]    It is an advantage of the present invention that the step area has greater visibility, which leads to fewer injuries and saves time in boarding the motor vehicle.  
           [0010]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art footpad mounted on a truck.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a diagram of a footpad, according to the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a diagram of a second embodiment footpad, according to the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a diagram of a third embodiment footpad, according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]    Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a diagram of a footpad  40  acting as a boarding device according to the present invention. The footpad  40  is mounted on a car having a door frame (not shown), and the foot pad  40  is positioned under the door frame of the car for assisting the person to get into the car.  
         [0016]    As shown in FIG. 2, the footpad  40  comprises a step board  42  and a light emitting device  44 . The step board  42  has a flat upper surface  46 , and a lower surface  48 . The upper surface  46  comprises a step area  50  near its center portion for a user to step on. The lower surface  48  comprises a recess  52  positioned under the step area  50 , for placement of the light emitting device  44 . The recess  52  is a through hole from the lower surface  48  to the upper surface  46 . Above the light emitting device  44  is a transparent plate  54  fixed at the upper surface  46  of the step board  42  and covered above the recess  52 . The transparent plate  54  is used to protect the light emitting device  44  from damage resulting from the foot of the driver or other sources.  
         [0017]    As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting device  44  comprises a circuit board  56  and a plurality of light emitting diodes (LED)  58  installed on the circuit board  56  for emitting the light. The footpad  40  further comprises a control circuitry  60  electrically connected to the light emitting device  44  for controlling the light emitting device  44 . The control circuitry  60  can be installed in the recess  52 , on the circuit board  56 , or any other place.  
         [0018]    When the driver opens a door (not shown) of a vehicle (not shown) to which the footpad  40  is connected, the control circuitry  60  controls the light emitting device  44  to turn on and shine light upward through the recess  52  to illuminate the step area  50  of the footpad  40 . Due to the illumination, the driver can readily spot a location of the footpad  40 , and conveniently board the vehicle. Upon closing the door, the light emitting device  44  turns off. Though in this example, the control circuitry  60  controls the light emitting device  44  to turn on and turn off according to a state of openness of the door, it should be obvious to one skilled in the art that the control circuitry  60  could be programmed to respond in various ways to various conditions. Some possible conditions and responses are presence of heat indicating an approaching passenger causing the light emitting device  44  to turn on, or presence of sufficient light causing the light emitting device  44  not to turn on. For a case where the light emitting device  44  is a plurality of light emitting devices arranged in a grid, even more options are available. Upon receiving a signal from an electronic key opener, the control circuitry  60  may cause the light emitting device grid to display a message, such as “Welcome” or “Please step on me,” depending on a preference of the user.  
         [0019]    Please refer to FIG. 3, which illustrates a second embodiment footpad  70  of the present invention. In this second embodiment, a light emitting device  72  is set under a protrusion  74  of an upper surface  76  of a step board  78 . The protrusion  74  is used to protect the light emitting device  72  from being directly stepped by a person. The footpad  70  further comprises an angled reflective surface  80  in a recess  84 . Light (as indicated by the dashed line  82 ) is emitted from the light emitting device  72 , and reflects off of the angled reflective surface  80  to shine at the driver, indicating the position of the footpad  70 .  
         [0020]    Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a diagram of yet a third embodiment footpad  90  of the present invention. The footpad  90  includes a vertical flange  92  installed at one side of an upper surface  94 . The vertical flange  92  comprises a recess  96  on its vertical side  98  wherein a light emitting device  100  is installed in the recess  96  and protected by the vertical flange  92  from being touched by the person&#39;s foot. A step area  102  of the footpad  90  comprises a plurality of small protrusions  104  for reflecting the light. Again, as indicated by the dashed lines, light is emitted from the light emitting device  100 , and reflects now off of the plurality of small protrusions  104  to indicate the position of the footpad  90 .  
         [0021]    The present invention boarding device, in using the light emitting device, improves visibility of the step area of the footpad, thereby reducing the risk of injury for the driver, and saving precious seconds when boarding the vehicle.  
         [0022]    In addition, although the step board of the boarding device according the present invention is illustrated as a footpad in above embodiments, it can also be an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal or a clutch pedal of a motor vehicle. A person skilled in the art can easily apply this technique to the pedals after reading above disclosure.  
         [0023]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.