Patent ID: 7009504

Claim:
A vehicle accessory control panel for controlling at least two vehicle accessory systems, said control panel comprising: a plurality of switches that is reconfigurable to provide at least two sets of switch functions; a plurality of graphics for identifying switch functions; a plurality of illumination elements for illuminating said plurality of graphics; a first mode selector switch for selecting said first mode; and a second mode selector switch for selecting said second mode; wherein said switches are reconfigurable in first and second non-simultaneous modes to enable a respective set of accessory switch functions for controlling a respective vehicle accessory system, wherein a respective set of illumination elements is activated for illuminating a respective set of graphics identifiable with a selected set of accessory switch functions, wherein a first set of graphics identifies a first set of accessory switch functions in response to enabling said first set of accessory switch functions, wherein a second set of graphics identifies a second set of accessory switch functions in response to enabling said second set of accessory switch functions, wherein a wakeup protocol includes a sequential illumination learning mode scheme for visually identifying each said respective set of accessory switch functions, and wherein said learning mode scheme sequentially illuminates a respective mode selector switch and respective graphics for identifying said respective set of accessory switch functions associated with said respective mode switch.