Patent ID: 8254734

Claim:
A vehicle switch assembly comprising: a plurality of manually operated switching actuators mounted in a vehicle at a location accessible to an operator driving the vehicle, wherein each of the manually operated switching actuators is associated with an electrically powered device mounted on the vehicle; a plurality of electronic non-contact sensing devices, wherein at least one of the electronic non-contact sensing devices is associated with at least one of the plurality of manually operated switching actuators and mounted in proximity to the manually operated switching actuators such that the non-contact sensing device can sense movement of the manually operated switching actuators; a microprocessor operatively connected to at least one of the plurality of electronic non-contact sensing devices; and a memory associated with the microprocessor and including program logic for controlling the electrically powered device, wherein at least one of the electronic non-contact sensing devices senses movement of one of the manually operated switching actuators and transmits a first signal to the microprocessor, wherein the microprocessor is configured to access the memory to retrieve program logic for controlling the electrically powered device and to send a second signal to energize or de-energize the electrically powered device based on the first signal.