Vehicle illumination systems and methods

1. An illumination system within a vehicle, the illumination system comprising:

a light guide having an outer surface and an inner surface that extend between a first end and a second end of the light guide;

at least one visible light source disposed adjacent the first end of the light guide, the light source emitting visible light into the first end of the light guide; and

a lens having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface of the lens being disposed adjacent the outer surface of the light guide, and the outer surface of the lens being covered by an opaque cover, the opaque cover defining transparent and/or translucent portions,

wherein the light guide transmits visible light from the visible light source through at least a portion of the outer surface of the light guide, and the light from the outer surface of the light guide passes through the lens and the transparent and/or translucent portions of the opaque cover.

2. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the illumination system is coupled to a rim of a steering assembly, and the opaque cover matches an outer cover around the rim.

3. The illumination system of claim 2 , wherein the light guide and lens have an arcuate shape corresponding to a radius of curvature of the rim of a steering assembly.

4. The illumination system of claim 2 , wherein the outer surface of the lens includes a curvature corresponding to a curvature of a portion of the rim adjacent to the lens.

5. The illumination system of claim 4 , wherein the inner surface of the lens has a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the outer surface of the lens and the curvature of the portion of the rim adjacent to the lens,

wherein the inner surface and outer surface of the lens form an arcuate shape as viewed from a cross section of the lens as viewed from a plane that bisects the inner and outer surface.

6. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the opaque cover is leather, and the transparent and/or translucent portions are perforations defined in the opaque cover.

7. The illumination system of claim 6 , wherein a width or diameter of the perforations ranges between 0.2 mm and 4.75 mm.

8. The illumination system of claim 6 , wherein a diameter of the perforations at a location adjacent a midline of the light guide is greater than a diameter of the perforations at a location adjacent the first end of the light guide.

9. The illumination system of claim 6 , wherein the perforations are filled with a transparent or translucent material.

10. The illumination system of claim 6 , wherein a spacing density between adjacent perforations increases from a location adjacent the first end of the light guide toward a location adjacent the midline of the light guide.

11. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the light source is a visible light emitting diode (LED).

12. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises a first visible LED adjacent the first end of the light guide and a second visible LED adjacent the second end of the light guide.

13. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the first visible LED emits a first color of light, and the second visible LED emits a second color of light.

14. The illumination system of claim 13 , wherein the first and second color are the same.

15. The illumination system of claim 13 , wherein the first and second color are different.

16. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the outer and inner surfaces of the light guide are arcuate-shaped between the ends of the light guide and spaced apart and opposite each other relative to a plane that extends through the first and second ends of the light guide and is parallel to the outer and inner surfaces of the light guide.

17. The illumination system of claim 16 , wherein the lens has a first end and a second end, and the outer and inner surfaces of the lens are arcuate-shaped between the ends of the lens as viewed from a first plane that extends through each end and as viewed from a second plane that extends perpendicular to the outer and inner surfaces of the lens.

18. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the opaque cover is an opaque coating on the lens, and the transparent and/or translucent portions are etched from the opaque coating.

19. The illumination system of claim 1 , wherein the light guide comprises two or more light guide segments, the two or more light guide segments being separately formed, and wherein the at least one light source comprises two or more light sources, each light source being disposed adjacent an end of the respective light guide segment, the light sources being separately controllable for illuminating separately or simultaneously.

20. The illumination system of claim 19 , wherein adjacent surfaces of the light guide segments abut each other at an interface and the interface comprises a light blocking material for preventing light from the segments from being emitted into the adjacent segments.

21. The illumination system of claim 1 further comprising:

at least one infrared (IR) light source disposed adjacent the light guide, the IR light source emitting IR light into the light guide,

wherein the light guide transmits IR light from the IR light source through at least a portion of the outer surface of the light guide,

wherein the lens includes an infrared transmissive portion that allows the passage of IR light through it and does not allow the passage of visible light.