Lighted Cup Holder With Ambient Sensing for Low-Visibility Seating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Seating arrangements in vehicles, aircraft, boats, and theaters often face difficulties in locating cup holders in dark or low-visibility conditions, leading to spills, distractions, and increased cleaning costs due to the inability to easily access these holders.
Innovation Solution
A lighted cup holder is integrated into the seating arrangement, featuring a light-producing source within the cup holder body that illuminates the receptacle, with a light-sensitive element controlling the light to activate only in reduced visibility conditions, and can include a master and slave configuration for multiple holders.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a cup holder is integrated into the seating arrangement, then ease of access is improved, but visibility in dark conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies illumination by incorporating a light source within the cup holder assembly to emit light, changing the visual state of the cup holder from dark/invisible to illuminated/visible. This allows the cup holder to be easily located in dark conditions without altering its physical structure or position.
2Illumination intensity
If lighting is added to illuminate the cup holder, then visibility is improved, but distraction to occupants worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting is localized specifically to the cup holder area rather than illuminating the entire seating environment. The light source is positioned to illuminate only the receptacle and immediate surrounding area, providing necessary visibility while minimizing stray light that could distract occupants.
Solution Approach 2:
The lighting system provides continuous illumination whenever darkness conditions exist, ensuring the cup holder remains consistently visible and accessible throughout dark periods without requiring repeated activation or adjustment.
3Extent of automation
If ambient light sensing is implemented, then automatic control is improved, but device complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The lighting system is self-regulating through the use of an ambient light sensor that automatically detects darkness conditions and activates the light source without requiring user intervention. The system serves itself by monitoring environmental conditions and making autonomous control decisions.
Solution Approach 2:
The ambient light sensor provides feedback about environmental lighting conditions to the control system, which then adjusts the light source accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables automatic adaptation to changing darkness conditions while maintaining relatively simple control logic.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates easy location and use of cup holders in dark or low-visibility conditions without distracting occupants, reducing spills and enhancing safety and cleanliness by providing inconspicuous indirect lighting.
Implementation Method 1
a light-sensitive element controlling the light to activate only in reduced visibility conditions
Implementation Method 2
a light-producing source within the cup holder body that illuminates the receptacle
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus include attaching a lighted cup holder to a seating arrangement. The lighted cup holder includes a cup holder body and a light-producing light source, with the cup holder body being attached to the seating arrangement and having a cup receptacle therein, the light-producing source being disposed within the cup receptacle for illuminating the receptacle. A light-sensitive element operatively connected to the light source selectively controls production of light by the light source in such a manner that illumination of the cup holder is provided only under conditions where visibility is reduced to the point that it becomes difficult to locate the cup holder. The light-sensitive element is mounted on a master lighted cup holder and controls illumination of the master lighted cup holder and one or more slave lighted cup holders operatively connected to the master lighted cup holder.