Patent Publication Number: US-2004046899-A1

Title: Vehicle interior projection entertainment system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to vehicular interiors, and in particular to a projection entertainment system incorporated with vehicular interior structures.  
       [0003] 2. Background of the Invention  
       [0004] Typically, vehicular entertainment systems for viewing television broadcasts from an antenna, digital video discs (DVDs), or the like, comprise a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen or other hard-wired screen devices. The hard-wired screens are usually mounted to the headliner and are limited in viewing area so as not to obstruct the driver&#39;s sight-line in the rear-view mirror. As a result, passengers in the rear portion of the vehicle are limited to enjoying the picture on a small viewing area.  
       [0005] Even further, if the hard-wired screens are installed remote from the assembly line in the after market, the after market installation usually results in the removal and drilling of holes in the headliner so that the hard-wired screen may be installed. Such alterations may reduce the value of the vehicle if the owner wishes to remove the hard-wired screen prior to selling the vehicle.  
       [0006] Thus, a need exists for a vehicular interior entertainment system that increases the viewing area of the screen while not obstructing the view of the driver. There also is a need for a vehicular entertainment system that may be installed on the assembly line or modularly installed in the vehicle interior trim prior to when the vehicle is assembled on the assembly line in order to limit the after market installation damage to the vehicle interior.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] In a first embodiment of the invention, a vehicular entertainment system is described. The vehicular entertainment system comprises a projector and a semi-transparent screen. The projector projects an image in a vehicle. The semi-transparent screen is deployable from an interior trim component for receiving the projected image in the vehicle.  
       [0008] Another embodiment of the invention is a vehicular entertainment system deployable from a headliner comprising a projector and a semi-transparent screen including a screen stabilizer. The projector is deployable from the headliner. The semi-transparent screen is defined by a viewing surface having a length and a width. The semi-transparent screen is deployable from the headliner and is adapted to receive a projected image projected from the projector. The screen stabilizing system stabilizes the semi-transparent screen.  
       [0009] Another embodiment of the invention is a vehicular entertainment system deployable from a headliner and a base pan. The vehicular entertainment system comprises a projector and a semi-transparent screen including a screen stabilizer. The projector is deployable from the base pan. The semi-transparent screen is defined by a viewing surface having a length and a width. The semi-transparent screen is deployable from the headliner and is adapted to receive an image projected from the projector. The screen stabilizing system stabilizes the semi-transparent screen.  
       [0010] Another embodiment of the invention is a vehicular entertainment system, deployable from a headliner and a rear seat including a pivotable armrest near the trunk. The vehicular entertainment system comprises a projector and a semi-transparent screen including a screen stabilizer. The projector is operable when the armrest is pivotably deployed. The semi-transparent screen is defined by a viewing surface having a length and a width. The projector is deployable from the headliner and is adapted to receive an image projected from the projector. The screen stabilizing system stabilizes the semi-transparent screen.  
       [0011] Another embodiment of the invention is a vehicular entertainment system comprising means for projecting an image in a vehicle and means for receiving and viewing the projected image in the vehicle.  
       [0012] Various additional aspects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
     [0013]FIG. 1 is an environmental view of a vehicle interior including the projection entertainment system (PES);  
     [0014]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an installation arrangement for a screen of the PES according to one embodiment of the invention;  
     [0015]FIG. 3 is a magnified view of a component of the installation arrangement of the PES according to FIG. 2;  
     [0016]FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a step of installing the screen of the PES according to FIG. 2;  
     [0017]FIG. 4B is a perspective view of a step of manually deploying the screen of the PES according to FIG. 2;  
     [0018]FIG. 4C is a perspective view of a step for securing the screen of the PES of FIG. 4B according to one embodiment of the invention;  
     [0019]FIG. 4D is a perspective view of a step for securing the screen of the PES of FIG. 4B according to another embodiment of the invention;  
     [0020]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an installation arrangement of the screen of the PES according to another embodiment of the invention;  
     [0021]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an installation arrangement of the screen of the PES according to another embodiment of the invention;  
     [0022]FIG. 7 is flow chart of an electrical system for deploying and stowing the screen of the PES of FIGS. 2, 5 and  6 ;  
     [0023]FIG. 8A is a partial phantom view of the side of a mini-van illustrating a location of a projector according to one embodiment of the invention;  
     [0024]FIG. 8B is a partial phantom view of the side of a mini-van illustrating a location of a projector according to another embodiment of the invention;  
     [0025]FIG. 9A is a perspective view of the installation arrangement of the projector of FIG. 8B according to one embodiment of the invention;  
     [0026]FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the installation arrangement of the projector according to FIG. 9A;  
     [0027]FIG. 10 is a partial phantom view of the side of a sedan illustrating a position of a projector according to another embodiment of the invention;  
     [0028]FIG. 11A is a perspective view of the installation arrangement of the projector of FIG. 10 in a stowed position according to one embodiment of the invention; and  
     [0029]FIG. 11B is a perspective view of the installation arrangement of the projector of FIG. 11A in a deployed position according to one embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0030] A vehicular projection entertainment system (PES)  10  comprises means for receiving and viewing a projected image and means for projecting an image. The means for receiving and viewing a projected image comprises at least a screen  12  (FIGS.  1 ,  4 B- 6 ,  8 A- 8 B,  10 - 11 B). The means for projecting an image comprises at least a projector  14  (FIGS. 1 and 8A- 11 B). The screen  12  and projector  14  may be deployable from a stowed to an in-use position from an interior trim component of a vehicle. The screen  12  and the projector  14  may be deployed manually by hand (FIG. 4B) or by actuating electrical circuitry with an actuating device (FIG. 7).  
     [0031] The screen  12  may be located on the exterior surface of the interior trim component, for example, a headliner  16  (FIGS.  1 - 5 ), B-pillar, rear portion of a front seat, or the like. Alternatively, the screen  12  may be modularly incorporated into the interior structure of the interior trim component, for example the headliner  16  (FIG. 6), B-pillar, rear portion of a front seat, or the like. When in the stowed position, the screen  12  may be hidden from view of the vehicle passengers.  
     [0032] The projector  14  may also be located on the exterior surface of the interior trim component, for example, the headliner  16 , B-pillar, or the like. The projector  14  may alternatively be modularly incorporated into the interior trim component, for example, the headliner  16 , B-pillar, or the like (FIG. 8A). Alternatively, the projector  14  may be located about the exterior surface or within the interior structure of a base pan  18  (FIGS. 1, 8B). Even further, the projector  14  may also be located in a structural member  20  located about an exterior surface of the base pan  18  (FIGS.  9 A- 9 B). Yet even further, the projector  14  may be located in a structural member, for example, an armrest  22 ; alternatively, the projector  14  may project an image through an opening  24  of a rear passenger seat  26  (FIGS.  10 -  11 B). When in the stowed position, the projector  14  may be protected and hidden from view of the vehicle passengers.  
     [0033] Referring now to FIG. 1, the screen  12  and projector  14  are shown located in the interior of a mini-van  11  (FIGS.  1 , and  8 A- 9 B). Alternatively, the screen  12  and the projector  14  may be similarly located in a sedan  13  (FIGS.  10 - 11 B). Although not shown, the PES  10  may also be deployable from within any vehicle such as a bus, train, or the like. The screen  12  and projector  14  are at least two components that cooperate in the PES  10  for passengers seated in the rear portion of the vehicle. The projector  14  may project images from a plurality of entertainment sources including television broadcasts from an antenna, digital video discs (DVDs), video tapes, still image slides, or the like. The projector  14  may be any projector that is applicable for the various entertainment sources listed above. Although not shown in detail in the following drawings, all wiring is assumed to be incorporated into or behind the vehicle interior&#39;s trimmed surfaces.  
     [0034] The screen  12  is a flexible, light-weight material comprising a plurality of micro-perforations that renders the screen  12  as a semi-transparent material. The screen  12  may have a viewing area defined by any desirable width, W, and length, L (FIG. 4C). Because the screen  12  is semi-transparent, the driver&#39;s sight-line in the rear-view mirror is not fully hindered when the screen  12  is deployed. As a result of the semi-transparent qualities of the screen  12 , the viewing surface of the screen  12  may be maximized, thereby creating a “big screen” effect for passengers seated in the rear area of the vehicle and maintaining the driver&#39;s rear-viewing through the rearview mirror. A similar screen material is described in detail in U.S. Pat No. 4,673,609, which is entitled “Unidirectional Panel.” The screen material is commercially available from 3M, and is sold under the trade-name of Scotchcal.  
     [0035] According to one embodiment of the invention, as seen in FIGS.  2 - 4 A, an installation arrangement for the screen  12  of the PES  10  may be located on the outer surface of an interior trim component, such as the headliner  16 . For purposes of illustration, an example comprising the headliner  16  is shown in the following embodiments. However, it is contemplated that the screen  12  may be deployed from other interior trim components such as a B-pillar, rear portion of a front seat, or the like. The screen  12  may be rolled on a tube  28  (FIGS.  4 A- 4 D) and cooperates with a pair of spring-loaded clips  30  (FIGS.  2 - 4 D). More specifically, the tube  28  may be a ‘pull-pull’ tube  28  for mechanically stowing and deploying the screen  12 . The mechanics for the ‘pull-pull’ tube  28  is similar to the mechanics, for a ‘pull-pull’-type window shade. Referring to FIG. 3, each spring-loaded clip  30  includes a lip portion  32 , frictional ribs  34 , and a base  36  for slideable movement of the clip  30 .  
     [0036] Referring to FIG. 4A, the screen  12 , which is stowed and rolled in the tube  28 , may be affixed to the spring loaded clips  30  by manually pushing each clip  30  in opposite directions about the frictional ribs  34 . Each clip  30  is pushed with a minimal amount of force by one&#39;s fingers, F F , which overcomes a lateral force F L  (FIG. 4B) of the springs, in order to slide the clips  30  outward on the base portions  36 . The ends of the storage tube  28  may be mated with the lip portions  32  of the spring-loaded clips  30  and locked into place by ceasing the minimal outward finger force, F F , on the spring-loaded clips  30  applied by one&#39;s fingers.  
     [0037] As seen in FIG. 4B, once each end of the tube  28  is located about the lip portions  32 , the screen  12  may be unrolled by hand. In order to prevent damage to the screen  12 , storage tube  28 , or dislocation of the base portions  36  of the spring-loaded clips  30  from the headliner  16 , each lip portion  32  may be designed with a tapered surface at an angle, θ, approximately equivalent to 45° (FIG. 3). The angle, θ, permits the storage tube  28  to be dislocated from the spring clips  30 . The dislocation may occur in a situation when a force greater than the downward force, F (FIG. 4B), is applied to the screen  12  that is greater than the lateral spring force F L  acting on each end of the tube  28 . Thus, the tapered surface at an angle, θ, protects the screen  12  from damage when it is undesirably pulled on.  
     [0038] Once the vehicle is in motion, the lightweight screen  12 , upon full deployment, is apt to sway to and fro from its installed position. Referring to FIG. 4C, in order to overcome the potential of the screen  12  swaying to and fro, a screen stabilizing system  38  including tethers  40 , with locating hooks  42 , may extend from the bottom of the screen  12  at a deployment bar  44 . Each hook  42  may anchor to a fixed structure  46  located on the lower trim of the front bucket seats, second row seating, base pan area, or the like of the vehicle. Referring to FIG. 4D, an alternate embodiment of the screen stabilizing system  38  may include a pair of rods  48 , which may be transparent to provide the driver with a less obstructed rear view, that may hingedly deploy from the storage tube  28 .  
     [0039] Although not shown, a second pair of rods, which may also be transparent, may hingedly deploy from the opposite side of the storage tube  28  in order to ‘sandwich’ each end of the screen  12 . If desired, the tethers  40  and plastic rods  48  may be used either singularly, or in combination with each other. Alternatively, the screen stabilizing systems  38  may be obviated by designing the screen  12  to have a larger width, W, than the distance, D (FIG. 4C), between the front two bucket seats. In this particular embodiment, the screen  12  may be prevented from entering the driver&#39;s area by abutting the back portion of the front bucket seats.  
     [0040] Referring now to FIG. 5, another installation arrangement of the screen  12  on the headliner&#39;s exterior may comprise a framed, pivotable hinge structure  50 . The pivoting action of the screen  12  may occur by using a pair of snap-action hinges  52  that may be manually actuated when deploying the screen  12  to and from a stowed position. The structure  50  may include at least two support rods  54 , which may be transparent to provide the driver with a less obstructed rear view, which also provides a sturdy frame for the screen  12 . If desired, the installation arrangement may include the screen stabilizing system  38 , such as the tethers  40  with hooks  42  described above.  
     [0041] Referring now to FIG. 6, an installation arrangement of the screen  12  may be modularly incorporated into the interior structure of the headliner  16 . The screen  12  may be manually deployable from a cylindrical pull-pull dispensing device  55  by a deployment bar  44 , tab  56 , hook  58 , or the like, by a downward force, F. If desired, the screen stabilizing system  38  including the tethers  40  and transparent plastic rods  48  may be used either singularly, or in combination with each other in this particular embodiment.  
     [0042] Although each of the installation arrangements of the screen  12  discussed above in FIGS.  2 - 6  disclose manually deployed embodiments, the screen  12  may be deployed by other means including hydraulic deployment, pneumatic deployment, electrical deployment  60 , or the like. Referring to FIG. 7, electrical deployment  60 , for example, may be actuated with similar circuitry used to operate a power window, such as an actuating mechanism including a power source  62  and a motor  64 , coupled to an input switch  66  and a polarity switch  68 .  
     [0043] Referring now to FIGS. 8A and 8B, the projector  14  of the PES  10  may be located in a mini-van  11 . According to FIG. 8A, the projector  14  may be located in an interior trim component, for example, the headliner  16 . Similar to the embodiments of the screen  12  discussed above, the projector  14  may be either located on the exterior of the headliner  16 , or alternatively on other interior trim components including B-pillars, or the like. The projector  14  may also be modularly incorporated into the interior structure of the headliner  16 , or alternatively on other interior trim components including B-pillars, or the like.  
     [0044] In this particular embodiment discussed above for FIG. 8A, the projector  14  may be deployed either manually, hydraulically, pneumatically, electrically, or the like, as discussed above in similar fashion to the screen  12 . It is also desirable to direct light,  15 , of the image from the projector  14  at an angle into the screen  12  that permits the light,  15 , to pass through the micro-perforations and onto the floor of the vehicle behind the driver&#39;s sight-line so that the driver is not distracted by the image.  
     [0045] According to FIGS.  8 B- 9 B, the projector  14  may alternatively be located about the base pan area  18  of the vehicle. As seen in greater detail in FIGS. 9A and 9B, according to one embodiment of the invention, the projector  14  may be located in a structural storage bin  20  over the carpeted base pan  70  and adjacent to the rear sill and trim plate area  72 . By stowing the projector  14  in the structural bin  20 , design alterations of the base pan  18  may be kept to a minimum for accommodating the projector  14 . As seen more clearly in FIG. 9B, the structural bin  20  includes a door panel  74  for protecting and hiding the projector  14  from the view of passengers in the vehicle. The projector  14  is also shown to be desirably stored at the rear most portion of the mini-van  11  so that the viewing area of the screen  12  may be maximized on an inclined angle. Although not shown, the projector  14  may be located within the interior structure of the base pan  18  and be deployed either manually, hydraulically, pneumatically, electrically, or the like, as discussed above in similar fashion to the screen  12 .  
     [0046] Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 11A- 11 B, the projector  14  of the PES  10  may be located in a sedan  13 ; however, it is also contemplated that the following embodiment could also be equally applied to a non-sedan vehicle such as minivan  11 , van, sport-utility vehicle (SUV), or the like. In this embodiment, the projector  14  may be located in the rear seat structure, such as in the armrest  22 . Referring to FIG. 11A, the armrest  22  is shown in a stowed position and hides the projector  14  from view of the passengers. Once the armrest  22  is deployed (FIG. 11B), the projector  14  may pivot to an inclined angle at the rear portion of the armrest  22 .  
     [0047] Alternatively, the projector  14  may be located in the trunk area. If the deployment of the armrest  22  is designed as a ‘ski passage’  24  for transporting items that have a length greater than the depth of the trunk, the projector  14  may be able to project an image from the trunk through the ski passage  24 . Yet even further, the rear seat  26  may further comprise an opening  24 , which is similar to the ski passage, that may allow the projector  14  located in the trunk to transmit the image to the screen  12  located on the headliner  16 . If a DVD player/changer is located in the trunk area, the projector  14  may directly be attached to the DVD player/changer.  
     [0048] In the embodiments discussed above for FIGS.  8 B- 11 B (i.e. when the projector  14  is located about the base pan  18  or rear seat area  26  for either a mini-van  11  or sedan  13 ), it is desirable to direct the projected light,  15 , into the screen  12  at an angle that permits light,  15 , to pass through the micro-perforations and into the headliner  16  behind the driver&#39;s head. It is also desirable to project the light,  15 , at an angle divergent from the rear-view mirror viewing angle of the driver&#39;s sight-line. It is also desirable to locate the projector  14  as far back as possible in the rear portion of the vehicle in order to maximize the viewing area of the screen  12 , thereby resulting in a ‘big screen’ effect.  
     [0049] Thus, the inventive projection entertainment system (PES)  10  described above provides the feature of a ‘big screen’ effect for passengers seated in the rear portion of a vehicle by increasing the viewing area of the screen  12  while not entirely obstructing the view of the driver. The inventive PES  10  may be installed on the assembly line or be modularly installed in the vehicle interior trim prior to when the vehicle is assembled on the assembly line in order to limit after market installation damage to the vehicle interior.  
     [0050] Although certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, the invention is not limited to the illustrations described and shown herein, which are deemed to be merely illustrative of the best modes of carrying out the invention. A person of ordinary skill in the art will realize that certain modifications and variations will come within the teachings of this invention and that such variations and modifications are within its spirit and the scope as defined by the claims.