Patent ID: 7547119

Claim:
A vehicle interior light system for illuminating an interior space of a vehicle, the light system comprising: an enclosure defining an internal space and a front opening; a rear substrate connected to the enclosure within the internal space thereof, the rear substrate being opposed to and spaced from the front opening; a lamp connected to the rear substrate of the enclosure so as to emit a visible light toward the front opening; a lens attached to the front opening of the enclosure so as to cover the front opening and the lamp within the enclosure so as to allow emitted light from the lamp to illuminate the interior space of the vehicle, the lens having a back surface which faces inwardly toward the substrate within the internal space of the enclosure, and a front surface which faces outwardly toward the interior space of the vehicle; a touch sensor positioned within the internal space of the enclosure at a sensor location in contact with or closely adjacent to the back surface of the lens so as to establish a sensor region on the front surface of the lens opposite to the sensor location; a control circuit fixed to the rear substrate of the enclosure; and an electrical conductor establishing electrical connection between the touch sensor and the control circuit, wherein the control circuit includes: a sensor circuit configured to detect the capacitance of a human body when the front surface of the lens is touched or approached by a finger or the like at the sensor region and responsively generating an output in response thereto; and a switching circuit configured to turn the lamp on and off in response to receiving the output from the sensor circuit, and wherein the electrical conductor comprises an electrically conductive support post for electrically connecting the touch sensor and the control circuit, the support post having one end attached to the rear substrate and having an opposite end attached to the touch sensor so as to support the touch sensor in vertically spaced relationship to the rear substrate.