Patent ID: 8032280

Claim:
A switch control system for controlling operation of a movable portion of auxiliary equipment in a vehicle, comprising: a hardware switch including a switch operator which is manually operable to generate a usage command for operating the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment; a software switch, displayed on a screen, the display of the software switch including an information portion indicating the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment and a command portion for manual input of a usage command through the screen; and switch-identifying information provision means for, responsive to operation of the hardware switch, providing information identifying the software switch that corresponds to the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment to be operated responsive to the usage command generated by operation of the hardware switch, and for, responsive to operation of the software switch, providing information identifying the hardware switch that corresponds to the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment to be operated responsive to the usage command generated by operation of the software switch; and wherein the switch identifying information provision means, responsive to operation of the hardware switch, displays on the screen (1) an image indicating the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment to be operated in accordance with the usage command generated by operation of the hardware switch, (2) an arrow image indicating operation of the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment to be operated by the hardware switch, and (3) the command portion of the software switch for operation of the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment to be operated in accordance with the usage command generated by operation of the hardware switch; and wherein the switch-identifying information provision means, responsive to operation of the hardware switch, highlights the command portion of the software switch corresponding to the operation of the movable portion of the auxiliary equipment to be operated in accordance with the usage command generated by operation of the hardware switch.