Patents by Inventor Benno Forstner

Benno Forstner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and device for controlling vehicle interior lighting
    Patent number: 5604407
    Abstract: A method and device for controlling vehicle interior lighting as a function of certain lighting-relevant states, in which the respective turning-on or turning-off process takes place with dimming. The dimming parameters, such as turning-on or turning-off dimming time or desired final brightness, are selected in advance as a function of the vehicle state that activated the control process, which permits a highly variable and situation-specific lighting control. The lighting control unit, depending on signals from a sensor group and according to a program stored in a program memory, controls a lighting device through a controllable switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 18, 1997
    Assignee: Mercedes-Benz AG
    Inventors: Rudolf Andres, Armin Staehle, Reinhold Mickeler, Volker Petri, Helmut Grickscheit, Benno Forstner, Dieter Freerichs