FR3057511A1 - STORAGE OF VEHICLE WITH MASK - Google Patents

Abstract

Storage (11) of a motor vehicle, forming in particular a glove box, comprising: - at least one wall (12) visible from a passenger compartment of the vehicle, - a light source arranged inside said storage compartment, characterized in that the wall (12) comprises at least one portion (13) transparent with a mask, so as to have at least: - a first state, in which the mask, in cooperation with the illuminated light source, leaves the portion (13) transparent ; - A second state, wherein the mask, in cooperation with the light source off, makes the portion (13) opaque.

Description

Holder (s): PEUGEOT CITROEN AUTOMOBILES SA Société anonyme.

Extension request (s)

Agent (s): PEUGEOT CITROEN AUTOMOBILES SA Public limited company.

VEHICLE STORAGE WITH MASK.

FR 3,057,511 - A1 (g) Storage (11) of a motor vehicle, in particular forming a glove compartment, comprising:

- at least one wall (12) visible from a passenger compartment of the vehicle,

- a light source arranged inside said storage, characterized in that the wall (12) comprises at least one transparent portion (13) with a mask, so as to present at least:

- A first state, in which the mask, in cooperation with the light source on, leaves the transparent portion (13);

- A second state, in which the mask, in cooperation with the extinct light source, makes the portion (13) opaque.

VEHICLE STORAGE WITH MASK The present invention generally relates to storage, in particular forming a glove box, mounted in a motor vehicle.

It is known in the prior art 5-glove box devices comprising a transparent portion in order to see the content of the glove box.

Document JP2007137234 indeed discloses a glove box comprising a movable wall with a transparent portion and electroluminescent lighting. The contents of the glove box are advantageously made visible through the transparent portion without the need to open the movable wall. In return, this system has the particular disadvantage of also making visible through the transparent wall the contents of the glove box when the light is off, which can lead to theft of the contents of the glove box. This system also has the disadvantage of not providing evidence of the contents of the glove box when the occupant leaves the vehicle at night, for example, in order to prevent any forgotten content. This is indeed particularly interesting in the context of a car-sharing vehicle.

An object of the present invention is to address the drawbacks of the prior art document mentioned above and in particular, first of all, to provide storage such as a glove box whose content is invisible in normal use (so as not to disturb the occupants), and which allows a quick and simple visual verification of the contents of the storage by the occupant of the vehicle, without the need to open it, when he leaves the vehicle for example .

For this, a first aspect of the invention relates to the storage of a motor vehicle, in particular forming a glove compartment, comprising:

- at least one wall visible from a passenger compartment of the vehicle,

- a light source arranged inside said storage, characterized in that the wall comprises at least one transparent portion with a mask, so as to present at least:

- A first state, in which the mask, in cooperation with the light source on, leaves the transparent portion;

- a second state, in which the mask, in cooperation with the extinguished light source, makes the portion opaque.

The mask can be defined as a protective element, either mechanical or chemical, intended to delimit certain areas in a masking operation. The mask allows you to modify the appearance of the transparent wall: with the light off, the wall seems opaque, and with the light on, the wall seems (or becomes) transparent again.

The mask is arranged so as to make the contents of the glove box invisible from the passenger compartment or from outside the vehicle when the light source is switched off. This is an effective way to limit theft in the event of unsafe exposure of the contents of the glove box. Likewise, this makes the contents of the glove box invisible while driving so as not to disturb the driver in his driving. When the light source is switched on, the contents of the glove box are then visible from the passenger compartment through the transparent portion.

This makes it possible to offer a vehicle with practical functionality and upgrading, in order to suggest to the driver or passengers to check the content of the glove box when they leave the vehicle, for example. This is therefore particularly advantageous for vehicles available in carsharing, whose drivers change regularly and whose number of forgotten contents of the glove box can cause economic problems or

-3 organization. In addition, the transparent portion can also be arranged to make the entire contents of the glove box visible when the light source is switched on, and not just a small part of the glove box.

Advantageously, the mask is a screen-printed coating with a succession of spaced opaque lines deposited on the transparent portion. The opaque lines represent at least 50% of the surface of the transparent portion. For example, if the lines are 0.5 mm wide, they are spaced 0.5 mm or less. A screen-printed coating offers many decor possibilities.

This allows to offer a glove box with an efficient and inexpensive coating, suitable for fulfilling the masking function.

Advantageously, the mask is a separating blade, such as a one-way mirror. A separating plate is an optical means of allowing only part of the received light rays to pass, by separating an incident ray into a reflected ray and a refracted ray. It is usually a semi-reflecting mirror, or one-way mirror.

This allows to offer a glove box with a widespread technology and inexpensive, to hide or show the contents of the glove box, in cooperation with the light source.

Advantageously, the mask comprises liquid crystals and the storage comprises supply means, so as to present:

- the first state, in which the liquid crystals are energized by the supply means to leave the transparent portion;

- the second state, in which the liquid crystals are de-energized by the supply means to make the portion opaque.

In other words, when the liquid crystals are under tension, the wall is made transparent and the contents visible. When

- the liquid crystals are switched off, the wall is made opaque and the contents invisible from the passenger compartment or the exterior of the vehicle. The wall can sandwich a thin film of liquid crystals.

This allows to offer an inexpensive and elegant glove box, meeting the need for protection against theft and verification of the contents of the glove box. In addition, liquid crystals offer a great freedom of use by the dissemination of information or images for example. Backscattering of information and or images on the wall is also possible.

Advantageously, the light source and the power supply means are coupled.

This allows to propose a storage with an optimized operation.

Advantageously, the mask comprises at least one chemical coating.

This allows to offer a glove box with an efficient and inexpensive design.

Advantageously, the mask comprises at least one film.

This allows to offer a glove box with an easily formable part. In addition, the film is readily available, with a wide variety of decorations available.

Advantageously, the wall includes a movable portion.

The operation with a movable portion is then as follows: when the movable portion is closed, the contents of the glove box are visible when the light is on and invisible when the light is turned off. When the movable portion is open, the light improves visibility, in addition to the ambient light.

This makes it possible to offer an easy-to-use glove box and adapted to the environment of the passenger compartment.

A second aspect of the invention is a dashboard comprising storage according to the first aspect of the invention.

A last aspect of the invention is a motor vehicle comprising storage according to the first aspect of the invention.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly on reading the detailed description which follows of an embodiment of the invention given by way of nonlimiting example and illustrated by the appended drawings, wherein :

FIG. 1 represents a view of storage from a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle according to the present invention (with a transparent wall portion made opaque by a mask), FIG. 2 represents a view of storage from the passenger compartment according to the present invention (with the transparent wall portion left transparent by the mask), Figure 3 shows a view of storage from the passenger compartment according to the present invention, Figures 4a and 4b show a view of the simplified concept of storage according to the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a view from the interior of a storage unit 11 according to the present invention. According to a preferred embodiment, a dashboard 10 comprises storage 11 such as a glove box, comprising at least one wall 12 visible from the passenger compartment and a portion 13 of transparent wall with a mask. The wall portion 13 is shown opaque in FIG. 1, thanks to the mask included in the portion 13. In fact, the portion 13 has a state, hereinafter called the second state, in which the mask, in cooperation with a light source 14 off, makes the portion 13 opaque, in order to make the contents 22 (visible in FIG. 2) invisible from the storage 11.

Figure 2 shows a view of storage 11 from the passenger compartment according to the present invention. The mask, in cooperation with the light source 14 on, leaves the transparent portion 13 in a state, hereinafter called the first state, in order to make the contents 22 of the storage unit visible. According to a preferred embodiment, the mask is a screen-printed coating deposited on the transparent portion. The screen-printed coating is produced using printing of opaque lines spaced from one another according to a preferred embodiment. The cooperation of the mask and the light source 14 makes it possible to leave the portion 13 transparent when the light source 14 is switched on and to make the portion opaque when the light source 14 is switched off. Typically, the transparent portion 13 is made of plexiglass, polycarbonate or even of tempered-laminated glass.

Figure 3 shows a view of storage 11 from the passenger compartment according to the present invention. The wall 12 comprises a portion movable relative to the storage 11 and to the dashboard 10, according to a preferred embodiment. The lit light source 14 also illuminates the interior of the storage compartment 11 when the wall 12 is open, so as to facilitate viewing in the storage compartment 11 from the passenger compartment.

FIG. 4a represents a view of the simplified and schematically represented concept of the storage unit 11, with the transparent wall portion 13 and the light source 14 arranged inside the storage unit 11, according to a preferred embodiment. When the light source 14 is switched on, the mask deposited on the transparent portion 13 lets the light pass from the interior to the outside and makes (or leaves) the portion 13 transparent, in order to make the content 22 visible from the passenger compartment. storage 11.

Figure 4b shows a view of the simplified concept of storage 11 arranged in the same way as in Figure 4a. The mask deposited on the portion 13 blocks the ambient light 30, diagrammatically shown, in order to partially or completely darken the storage 11 and to hide or hide the content 22 of the storage 11 in cooperation with the light source 14 off. In other words, the mask limits the entry of light and somehow traps the light which can pass, however, making the portion 13 transparent.

It will be understood that various modifications and / or 5 improvements obvious to those skilled in the art can be made to the various embodiments of the invention described in the present description without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims . In particular, reference is made to all the possible aesthetic improvements on the wall 12 and / or on the transparent portion 13.

Claims (9)

1. Storage (11) of a motor vehicle, in particular forming a glove box, comprising: - at least one wall (12) visible from a passenger compartment of the vehicle, - a light source (14) arranged inside said storage, characterized in that the wall (12) comprises at least one transparent portion (13) with a mask, so as to present at least: - A first state, in which the mask, in cooperation with the light source (14) on, leaves the transparent portion (13); - A second state, in which the mask, in cooperation with the light source (14) turned off, makes the portion (13) opaque. 2. Storage (11) according to claim 1, wherein the mask is a screen-printed coating with a succession of spaced opaque lines deposited on the transparent portion (13). 3. Storage (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the mask is a separating blade, such as a one-way mirror. 4. Storage (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the mask comprises liquid crystals and in which the storage comprises supply means, so as to present: - The first state, in which the liquid crystals are energized by the supply means to leave the portion (13) transparent; - the second state, in which the liquid crystals are de-energized by the supply means to make the portion (13) opaque. 5. Storage (11) according to the preceding claim, wherein the light source (14) and the supply means are coupled. -96. Storage (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the mask comprises at least one chemical coating. 7. Storage (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the mask comprises at least one film. 8. Storage (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the wall (12) comprises a movable portion. 9. Dashboard (10) comprising storage according to any one of the preceding claims. 10. Motor vehicle comprising at least one storage unit (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 8. 1/3