GRAPHICAL DISPLAY ASSEMBLY FOR DEPICTING VEHICLE SHIFTER POSITION

Abstract

A graphical display subassembly integrated into a vehicle shifter assembly including a surface display which can incorporate any of transistor LCD or organic LED interior components, such as which can be presented into either of segmented or OLED/TFT pixelated image display variants. In either instance, a connector end of an associated harness or ribbon cable extends from the graphical display and, when connected to a remote PCB board integrated into the shifter assembly, is configured to provide variable display options not limited to shifter position and including variable supporting graphics and other designs.

Claims

1. A graphical display subassembly integrated into a vehicle shifter assembly, the shifter assembly including a main shifter body incorporating a printed circuit board assembly, said display subassembly comprising: a subset body having a surface display adapted to being integrated into an exposed surface of the main shifter body; one or more illuminating components integrated into said subset body and communicable with said surface display; a connector extending from said subset body and communicating with the printed circuit board assembly in order to receive signals for selectively illuminating portions of said surface display to represent a selected gear shift position of the vehicle.

2. The graphical display subassembly of claim 1, said illuminating components further comprising LED elements integrated into the display for presenting a pixelated image upon said surface display.

3. The graphical display subassembly of claim 1, said surface display further comprising either of thin film transistor display or an organic light emitting diode display.

4. The graphical display subassembly of claim 1, said illuminating components further comprising segmented LCD elements with LED backlight elements.

5. The graphical display subassembly of claim 1, further comprising a wire harness extending from said subset body and terminating in said connector.

6. The graphical display subassembly of claim 1, further comprising a ribbon cable extending from said subset body and terminating in said connector.

7. The graphical display subassembly of 4, further comprising the segmented display utilizing said wire harness to control any of power, intensity, activation or deactivation of said LED elements.

8. The graphical display subassembly of claim 7, further comprising said ribbon cable controlling both individual activation and deactivation of said LCD elements.

9. The graphical display subassembly of claim 6, further comprising said ribbon cable providing for a pixelated image display each of lighting, image set and color control.

10. The graphical display subassembly as described in claim 1, said surface display including a clear image glass having a current selected gear alternatively represented in enlarged depiction in the center of said display

11. The graphical display subassembly as described in claim 1, the printed circuit board assembly further including a main microcontroller with a serial communication protocol not limited to any of LIN, SPI, and 12C adapted to communicate with said illuminating components in said display surface.

12. The graphical display subassembly as described in claim 1, the printed circuit board assembly further including a main microcontroller with a serial communication protocol not limited to a parallel interface between the main microcontroller and said display surface.

13. The graphical display subassembly as described in claim 1, further including a parallel interface from a main microcontroller incorporated into the printed circuit board assembly in communication with said display.

14. The graphical display subassembly as described in claim 6, said ribbon cable further comprising a wire for individual LCD segments controlled by a main microcontroller adapted to being incorporated into the printed circuit board assembly.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Reference will now be made to the attached drawings, when read in combination with the following detailed description, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rotary shifter assembly housing according to one non-limiting variant of the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the shifter assembly of FIG. 1;

[0017] FIG. 3 is a perspective of a display subassembly as depicted in FIG. 2 and which can include any variation of either of segmented or TFT/OLED displays which are capable of being illuminated via signals originating from the remote located printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) via the associated connector;

[0018] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective of FIG. 3 and better depicting either of alternate versions of display subassembly utilizing a backlit/LED wire harness for a TFT/OLED display or, alternatively, a cable ribbon extending from a segmented display in which selected areas of the display are selectively illuminated by instructions issued by the PCBA via the connector;

[0019] FIG. 4A is an exploded view of a segmented display variant with base LCD layer with ribbon circuits to LCD segments, intermediate silkscreen polarizer layer with example of polarizer to cover white LCD slots with red silkscreen and top glass layer;

[0020] FIG. 4B is a plan view of the LCD layer with LCD segments and ribbon cable circuits;

[0021] FIG. 4C is a plan view of the silkscreen polarizer layer applied over the LCD layer;

[0022] FIG. 5 is a Prior Art illustration of a shifter assembly by which each of shifter gear indication and gear position are managed by various components including color and brightness varying LED elements mounted directly to the PCBA, in addition to light pipes extending between the PCBA and an etched or painted surface of the shifter display in order to illuminate the desired shifter position;

[0023] FIG. 6 is an illustration of the graphical display such as incorporating the segmented cable ribbon derived from FIG. 4 and again integrated into a rotary shifter housing;

[0024] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a rotary shifter assembly similar to that shown in FIG. 1 and depicting an alternately configured surface variation of an integrated display;

[0025] FIG. 8A illustrates a series of related illustrations of segmented display variations which can include provision of a specific template surface for the display subassembly in combination with the ability to illuminate various segments of the display via the PCBA in order to achieve numerous alternative illumination patterns;

[0026] FIG. 8B is similar to FIG. 8A and illustrating a variety of TFT/OLED surface display options utilizing a generic template surface which, in combination with the remote PCBA and associated wire harness/connector, allows for limitless color and display patterns;

[0027] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a linear gate style shifter assembly utilizing the graphical display subassembly;

[0028] FIG. 10 is a sectional illustration of a rectangular shaped display surface incorporating any of the segmented or TFT/OLED style displays consistent with those described throughout FIGS. 1-9; and

[0029] FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate varying examples of color and pattern schemes applicable to any shifter surface display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] With reference to the appended illustrations, the present invention discloses a novel graphical display system which replaces existing Prior Art shifter assembly designs, such as previously referenced in FIG. 5. More specifically, the present invention replaces the use of traditional light-emitting diodes integrated into the PCBA and requiring lighting pipes or sliding color screens which communicate the illumination of LED's to a remote surface located screen display (such further being etched or painted in order to provide a specific shifter position designation PNRD, with a cheaper, easier produced and adaptable display subassembly which can be configured from any of a thin film transistor, printed LCD and/or organic LED components (collectively referenced as a pixelated image) or, alternatively, a segmented display contained within a graphic display assembly which is connected to a PCB via a connector, and in order to provide more varied options for creating different illuminating display surfaces which are not limited to those depicted by the existing assemblies.

[0031] By way of general explanation of the known technical art, a thin-film transistor (TFT), such as which can be incorporated into the displays of FIGS. 3-4, is a special kind of MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) made by depositing thin films of an active semiconductor layer as well as the dielectric layer and metallic contacts over a supporting (but non-conducting) substrate. A common substrate is glass, because the primary application of TFTs is in liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). This differs from the conventional bulk MOSFET transistor, where the semiconductor material typically is the substrate, such as a silicon wafer.

[0032] An organic light-emitting diode (OLED or Organic LED), also known as an organic EL (organic electroluminescent) diode, is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light in response to an electric current. This organic layer is situated between two electrodes; typically, at least one of these electrodes is transparent. OLEDs are used to create digital displays in devices such as television screens, computer monitors, portable systems such as smartphones, handheld game consoles and PDAs. A major area of research is the development of white OLED devices for use in solid-state lighting applications.

[0033] There are two main families of OLED: those based on small molecules and those employing polymers. Adding mobile ions to an OLED creates a light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) which has a slightly different mode of operation. An OLED display can be driven with a passive-matrix (PMOLED) or active-matrix (AMOLED) control scheme. In the PMOLED scheme, each row (and line) in the display is controlled sequentially, one by one, whereas AMOLED control uses a thin-film transistor backplane to directly access and switch each individual pixel on or off, allowing for higher resolution and larger display sizes.

[0034] An OLED display works without a backlight because it emits visible light. Thus, it can display deep black levels and can be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display (LCD). In low ambient light conditions (such as a dark room), an OLED screen can achieve a higher contrast ratio than an LCD, regardless of whether the LCD uses cold cathode fluorescent lamps or an LED backlight.

[0035] Finally, and as is generally known, segmented displays, also termed LCD displays, static displays or glass-only displays, are constructed of two pieces of ITO (Indium tin oxide) glass with a twisted nematic fluid sandwiched in between. A static display is a segment display with one pin for every one segment. Further reference to examples of LCD segmented displays will be further had with reference to FIGS. 4A-4C.

[0036] A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly, instead using a backlight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome. LCDs are available to display arbitrary images (as in a general-purpose computer display) or fixed images with low information content, which can be displayed or hidden, such as preset words, digits, and seven-segment displays, as in a digital clock. They use the same basic technology, except that arbitrary images are made up of a large number of small pixels, while other displays have larger elements. LCDs can either be normally on (positive) or off (negative), depending on the polarizer arrangement. For example, a character positive LCD with a backlight will have black lettering on a background that is the color of the backlight, and a character negative LCD will have a black background with the letters being of the same color as the backlight. Optical filters are added to white on blue LCDs to give them their characteristic appearance.

[0037] Given the above general explanations of know versions of TFT, OLED (collectively termed pixelated image created) and LCD printed segmented displays utilized in the present invention, such a display subassembly is generally represented in FIG. 3 (as well as in exploded view in FIG. 4) and is in turn incorporated into a reconfigured shifter assembly depicted in perspective in FIG. 1 generally at 50 and in exploded fashion in FIG. 2. Components of the overall assembly include a main housing (shifter core) having a generally rectangular body 52 with a lid 54 and bottom cover 56 to configure an interior 52 for supporting the package components of the assembly. Among these are included an interior mounted printed circuit board assembly 58 (PCBA) which is typically located proximate the bottom cover 56 and which can include a built in main microcontroller 59 or other suitable processor component.

[0038] A shifter handle subassembly 60 is provided which secures to the lid 54 via annular shaped receiving structure 62. A display subassembly, generally represented at 64 and forming a portion of the present invention, includes a display surface 66 which is supported within a subset frame or housing 67 which in turn mounts within a mating inner support surface 68 of the handle subassembly 60 forming a portion of the main shifter body. Without limitation, the housing 67 can be provided as a metal material, with the display surface 66 any type of image glass within which is integrated the desired segmented or TFT/OLED display. As will be further described, variations of the display subassembly can include a wire harness (see pair of wires collectively represented at 70) and/or a segmented ribbon 72, an end connector 74 configured at the end of the harness 70 for engaging an output location of the PCBA 58 in communication with a main microcontroller component of the PCBA 58.

[0039] A closeout display 74 is provided and encloses the display subassembly display surface 66 and surrounding frame housing 67. A lens 76 is also provided and covers the display 74 in a manner which transparently reveals and protects the display surface 66.

[0040] As depicted in FIG. 1, the display subassembly 64 is provided separate from the main PCBA 58 and would likely communicate with the main microcontroller on the main PCBA via such as a serial communication protocol (LIN, SPI, 12C, etc.). Alternatively, a parallel interface is envisioned between the main microcontroller/PCB and the graphic display 66 in substitution for the above listed serial communication options. In such an application, the main microcontroller/PCB to graphic display interface will initially be parallel, with the ribbon style cable 72 extending from the graphic display and connecting into an input location for the PCB using the appropriate mating connector 74. As further understood, the ribbon cable will have a wire for each individual LED/LCD segment controlled by the main microcontroller and so that subset areas of the display surface 66 are illuminated based upon the collection of outputs provided from the PCBA 58.

[0041] In comparison to the prior art variants of known shifter assemblies (again referencing FIG. 5), the display subassembly of the present assembly both reduces part content as well as enables the ability to provide higher quality graphics. This can also include the display indicating a large character for the current E-shift position in the center of the screen (see as designated at 78 for P or park position in FIG. 1), with the non-current characters indicated in smaller font in their relative positions above the enlarged currently indicated position (see further at 80, 82, 84, 86 and 88 for each of P, R, N, D and M positions.

[0042] Reiterating the above description, a TFT/OLED (thin film transistor or organic light emitting diode) display subassembly permits provision of a display surface 66 selected from the above referenced options and which not required to be pre-etched or painted with the various letter designations, thereby allowing varying representations at the display location 78 selected from the options peripherally located at 80-88. In this fashion the image sets and colors are controlled through the main PCBA 58 and the TFT/OLED display can be variably changed to any image sets contained within the PCBA memory.

[0043] With further reference to FIGS. 4A-4C, in a segmented LCD display shown in FIG. 4A at 65, 67, 69, 71, etc., are circuits which connect the FPC ribbon cable channels to appropriate segments for activation. The LCD segments further correspond to the shifter position lettering again referenced at 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, etc., which are specifically printed in the representation desired associated with a variant 66 of the display surface (see as compared to at 66 in FIG. 3).

[0044] A silkscreen 75 is laminated onto a polarized layer 73 to provide the color desired when the LCD for the desired segment is activated and so that the representation desired is specifically tooled and contained within the display subassembly, and further such that any change in color for various segments would require a silkscreen of that desired color to be located on the polarized layer over the LCD segment(s). Also depicted in the exploded view of FIG. 1 is a top glass layer 77, such as which can be correspondingly integrated into the variant 64 of FIG. 3 which can include any suitable TFT/OLED display. Without limitation, each vehicle platform or desired difference in image to display selected would be a separately tooled display, but could be packaged in the exact same shifter only requiring adjustments to the software to control the newly tooled display.

[0045] Referring again to FIG. 3, a perspective of the display subassembly 64 depicted in the overall shifter assembly of FIG. 2 can again include any variation of either of a segmented display (via ribbon 72) or TFT/OLED displays (via harness 70) which are capable of being illuminated via signals originating from the remote located printed circuit board assembly (PCBA 58) via the associated connector which is represented at 74 at the end of the harness 70 (with the ribbon style cable 72 usually being connected in a varying fashion to the PCBA 58 in communication with its microcontroller and outputs). While the present invention contemplates the variants in which aspects of different types of displays can be combined, these are typically provided as alternate options.

[0046] FIG. 4 again provides an exploded perspective of FIG. 3 and better depicting the wire harness 70 for operating the LED's associated with the segmented display. The cable ribbon 72 is further utilized on the segmented display in order to control/activate the segments desired for allowing the LED lights 90-06 to pass through. In the alternative variant of TFT/OLED display, the LED controls are built into the ribbon cable communication.

[0047] The internal LCD board within the display has the printed circuits and printed LCD segments contained for the exact image desired. Additional to the reduction in part content such as associated with a Prior Art version of shifter assembly depicted in FIG. 5, the display subassembly 64 provides the added quality control benefits of establishing better color consistency in the displays, as well as avoiding issues of paint and etch wearing in the display surface, light bleeding and the like. As such, the display screen 66 operates without any pre-etching or painting of the surface in order to provide the desired shifter location designations or additional supporting design indicia.

[0048] Also generally represented at 90, 92, 94, and 96 are a collection of illuminating elements (such as including but not limited to LED style elements) and which, of note, are incorporated into the display subassembly housing 67 rather than being located at the remote PCBA 58 which would otherwise require use of the additional light pipes and supporting structure. The configuration of the LED (or alternate LCD) lighting elements is such that they integrate into the display subassembly and communicate with locations of the TFT/OLED or other display composition in order to respond to the signals issued by the PCBA 58 in order to vary the visual representations. In this manner, the display glass or other surface 66 can present any desired pixelated image (TFT) or LCD segmented image (segmented display).

[0049] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a modified version of a graphical display subassembly, generally at 98, such as incorporating a variation of a segmented cable ribbon 100 (similar to that derived from FIG. 4 with an end situated connector location 102). The display subassembly is shown integrated into another variation of a rotary shifter housing, generally at 104 in FIG. 7, and again depicting an alternately configured surface variation of an integrated display in which the graphical display surface 106 can include an enlarged designation 108 (see as D1) selected from peripheral designations 110-118 for each of PRNDM shifter positions.

[0050] Again, the enlarged selected or peripheral menu position displays are understood to be generated by the software inputs from the PCBA and associated micro-controller such that a TFT/OLED variant display surface 106 is otherwise clear (non-etched or painted) and such that any possible graphical depiction or styling is possible including changing future depictions presented on a given display surface simply by changing the software inputs. This can include the option for the vehicle operator to vary any of color, intensity, script and/or size of the shifter positions indicated, as well as the ability to change any supporting graphics or commercial representations associated with the vehicle type and model.

[0051] Again, and with alternate reference to a segmented display surface, the associated controls allow for activation/deactivation of preprinted segments on the internal segmented display circuit. Brightness is also controlled through the shifter PCBA in communication with the LEDs. Color is controlled by silkscreens that are predetermined from design to design, images are predetermined based on the design. If new images are desired from platform to platform or customer to customer, a different segmented display circuit and silkscreen set would be needed, the shifter PCBA software for control and communication would be updated, but the remainder of the shifter could be common (which is not true for light pipe/traditional style shifter displays).

[0052] Proceeding to FIG. 8A, a series of related illustrations are shown at each of 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 and 130 of segmented display variations (such as utilized with the ribbon cable 72 variant) and which can include provision of a specific template surface for the display subassembly in combination with the ability to illuminate various segments of the display via the PCBA in order to achieve numerous alternative illumination patterns. Additional to the shifter position designations PRNDM which can be indicated at any location of the graphical display, additional and changing graphics (such as generally represented at 132 in the subset view for display variation 120) can adapt to different shapes and stylings such as corresponding to any branded vehicle manufacturer (e.g. Ford, G.M., Fiat Chrysler, Volkswagen) as well as any subset vehicle make or model (e.g. Mustang, Ram, Jeep) and the like.

[0053] FIG. 8B is similar to FIG. 8A and illustrates a variety of TFT/OLED surface display options, such as using the wire harness version 70 in combination with a generic template surface 66 which, in combination with the remote PCBA 58 and associated wire harness/connector 74, allows for presentation of limitless color and display patterns. These are represented individually at 134, 136, 138, 140, 142 and 144 and which can also envision any gear (shifter position) indication methodology or strategy not limited to standard PRND depictions, as well as providing unlimited flexibility as to varying color and image representation (such as again only limited by the software inputs from the PCBA). This functionality again allows for one display to be use for any number of images thereby rendering it not tooling specific and which is otherwise required by many prior art pre-etched or painted display surfaces. It is further envisioned that the segmented images of FIG. 8A can also be duplicated on any TFT style representation.

[0054] FIG. 9 provides an illustration of a linear gate style shifter assembly, generally at 146, utilizing another variation of the graphical display subassembly of the present invention, an associated display screen for which is further referenced at 148 and likewise depicted in sectional illustration in FIG. 10. Without limitation, the screen display 148 is not limited to round displays such as associated with rotary style shifters and can alternatively be provided as a rectangular shaped display surface (as shown), or any square, octagonal or other shape incorporating any of the segmented or TFT/OLED style displays consistent with those described throughout FIGS. 1-9. It is also envisioned that the display technology can be applied to other shifter styles not limited to any of lever shifters, push button shifters, column shift configurations and the like, as well as being applicable to any other technological application within a vehicle.

[0055] Finally, FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate varying examples, at 150, 152, 154 and 156 of color and pattern schemes applicable to any shifter surface display (additional to that depicted at 148). Additional to the variations in script and supporting graphics, the individual schemes can also encompass different color patterns or combinations as made possible by the selected illuminating (LED or LCD) components configured within the display subassembly housing and which interface directly with the display surface. By comparison LED/LCD screens use a backlight to illuminate their pixels, while OLED's pixels actually produce their own light. In this fashion, OLED pixels are often referred to as emissive, while LCD's are transmissive.

[0056] In this fashion, all traditional functionality for lighting and indication is contained within a graphical display assembly and connected to a separate PCB (not shown) via the extending connector. Additional advantages of the present design include reduced part content (e.g. the ability to remove light pipes such as are required in prior art PC boards with LEDs) and the ability to provide higher quality graphics to the display, and as opposed to prior art sliding color screens given the ability of the present design to indicate shifter position without being dependent upon it's physical position.

[0057] Outside of the variants illustrated and disclosed herein, another possible methodology in reference to a TFT/OLED display would indicate a large character for the current E-shift position in the center of the screen, with the non-current characters being arranged in smaller font in their relative positions above the large currently indicated position. It is also envisioned that the present invention can contemplate other graphical depictions beyond those shown,

[0058] Having described our invention, other and additional preferred embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains, and without deviating from the scope of the appended claims.