A vehicle signal light optical system

Abstract

The present invention provides an automotive signal light optical system, which comprises in sequence: an LED light source and a thick-walled light guide structure. The small-angle light incident surface increases the skin texture to make the lighting effect more uniform. Each subunit in the thick-walled light guide structure comprises a parabolic pull-up surface 1, and a 45-degree surface 1 matched therewith, a parabolic pull-up surface 2, and a 45-degree surface 2 matched therewith, so that the optical efficiency is greatly improved, the width of a single unit is increased, and the number of LEDs used is greatly reduced, resulting in a reduction in product cost and greatly increasing the competitiveness of customers.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of automobile lighting, and in particular to an automobile signal light optical system. Background Art

[0002] With the development of the automotive lighting industry, consumers and vehicle manufacturers have increasingly higher requirements for the lighting method, lighting uniformity, and cost of automotive lights. The dynamic flashing effect of the turn signal light is an important indicator light that is turned on when the motor vehicle turns to remind the front, rear, left, and right vehicles and pedestrians to pay attention. The effect of lighting up in sequence can provide a beautiful lighting effect while also meeting the regulatory requirements for turn signals. The existing signal lights that light up in sequence have very short optical structure units, low light efficiency utilization and the light efficiency of the entire system, so a large number of LEDs are needed to achieve lighting uniformity and regulations, which increases product design costs. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an automotive signal light optical system that can significantly increase the size of a single unit of the optical structure, increase the light efficiency utilization rate, and significantly improve the optical efficiency, so as to use a small amount of LED light sources to meet the lighting uniformity and regulations, thereby reducing design costs.

[0004] The present invention provides an automotive signal light optical system, comprising an LED light source and a thick-walled light guide structure, wherein the thick-walled light guide structure is composed of at least one repeated thick-walled single collimation unit stacked in sequence, wherein the LED light source corresponds to each thick-walled single collimation unit in the thick-walled light guide structure one to one, wherein each thick-walled single collimation unit comprises a single-dimensional collimator one, a 45-degree conical optical surface, and a light distribution scattering pattern, and each thick-walled single collimation unit further comprises a parabolic pull-up surface two and a 45-degree surface two matched therewith, wherein the parabolic pull-up surface one and the 45-degree surface one matched therewith enable the light rays on the right and left sides that form a large angle with the LED normal to be collimated in another dimension upward by the parabolic pull-up surface two and the parabolic pull-up surface one, and the light rays at a large angle become complete collimated light rays, and the light rays propagate to the 45-degree plane one and the 45-degree plane one, and are totally reflected in the 90-degree direction, thereby realizing the lighting of the 45-degree plane one and the 45-degree plane one area. These four newly added optical surfaces can increase the lighting width of a single collimating unit in each thick-walled part while ensuring uniformity, reducing the number of LEDs and costs.

[0005] A further improvement is that the parabola pulling surface 1 and the parabola pulling surface 2 are optical surfaces formed by pulling a parabola with the center of the LED light source as the focus along the rotating reference axis, and are used to further collimate the large-angle fan-shaped single-dimensional light into parallel light.

[0006] A further improvement is that the 45-degree plane one and the 45-degree plane two are planes that form an angle of 45 degrees with the rotation reference axis, and are used to respectively deflect the collimated light reflected by the parabola pulling surface one and the parabola pulling surface two by 90 degrees.

[0007] The parabolic pulled-up surface 2 and the 45-degree surface 2 matched therewith, the parabolic pulled-up surface 1 and the 45-degree surface 1 matched therewith can collect light at a large angle, increase light efficiency utilization and greatly improve optical efficiency.

[0008] A further improvement is that the 45-degree conical optical surface includes 45-degree conical optical surface part one, 45-degree conical optical surface part two, and 45-degree conical optical surface part three, and each part of the 45-degree conical optical surface is formed by a straight line that is 45 degrees to the rotation reference axis, rotated and offset with reference to the rotation reference axis.

[0009] A further improvement is that skin texture is added on the 45-degree conical optical surface portion.

[0010] A further improvement is that the one-dimensional collimator in each single collimation unit of the thick-walled member compresses the light emitted by a pair of LED light sources in the direction of the corresponding rotation axis of the one-dimensional collimator to generate fan-shaped one-dimensional collimated light.

[0011] A further improvement is that the number of the LED light sources is one or two. When one LED light source is used, the LED light source is located at the focal position of the corresponding thick-walled light guide structure. When two LED light sources are used, one of the LED light sources is located at the focal position and the other LED light source is located at a defocused position, or both LED light sources are located at a defocused position.

[0012] The corresponding functions can be dynamically lit up by lighting up the LED light sources of each thick-walled light guide structure in sequence, such as turning, or realizing the dynamic lighting function of the welcome light.

[0013] A further improvement is that the material used for the thick-walled light guide structure is polymethyl methacrylate or polycarbonate.

[0014] The LED light source includes n LEDs, and the light emitted is a spherical wave. The thick-walled light guide structure is composed of n repeated units stacked in sequence, each responsible for uniform lighting of the light guide in its own area width. Finally, the n units are combined into a whole to achieve uniform lighting of the entire area. The n=L Projected / l element , where L Projected is the length of the center line of the thick-walled light guide projected onto a plane perpendicular to the direction of travel, l element The width of a single unit.

[0015] The one-dimensional collimator 1 will compress the light emitted by the LED light source in the direction of the rotation reference axis corresponding to the collimator 1, generating a fan-shaped one-dimensional collimated light. Then the light continues to propagate, and in the direction perpendicular to the rotation reference axis, the light that is at a small angle to the normal of the LED will be totally reflected by the 45-degree conical optical surface, and the rotation angle achieved by the total reflection is 90 degrees, so that the light is collimated, and then the domain of the 45-degree conical optical surface is illuminated. The formation principle of the 45-degree conical optical surface is to first design a straight line that is 45 degrees to the rotation reference axis, and then rotate and offset the straight line with the rotation reference axis as the center. Since the light emitted by the LED is stronger within a small angle, in order to reduce the light intensity on one side of the 45-degree conical optical surface part, it is necessary to add skin grain on one side of the 45-degree conical optical surface part, so that the brightness of the 45-degree conical optical surface part one, the 45-degree conical optical surface part two, and the 45-degree conical optical surface part three are uniform, with reference to the first and second sides of the 45-degree conical optical surface. Figure 5 , now only the area with L1 width can be lit up.

[0016] By adding a parabola lifting surface 2 and a 45-degree surface 2 that matches it, and by adding a parabola lifting surface 1 and a 45-degree surface 1 that matches it, the light on the right and left sides that is at a large angle to the normal of the LED will be collimated in another dimension by the parabola lifting surface 2 and the parabola lifting surface 1. At this time, the light at a large angle becomes a complete collimated light. Then, the light propagates to the 45-degree plane 1 and the 45-degree plane 1, and is totally reflected in a 90-degree direction, thereby realizing the lighting of the area 45-degree plane 1 and the 45-degree plane 1. The parabola lifting surface 1 and the parabola lifting surface 2 are optical surfaces that are pulled up along the rotation axis by a parabola with the center of the LED light source as the focus, and are used to further collimate the large-angle fan-shaped single-dimensional light into parallel light. The 45-degree plane 1 and the 45-degree plane 2 are planes that are at a 45-degree angle to the rotation reference axis, and are used to fold the collimated light reflected by the parabola lifting surface 1 and the parabola lifting surface 2 by 90 degrees respectively. At this time, the complete 45-degree conical optical surface part 1, 45-degree conical optical surface part 2, 45-degree conical optical surface part 3, 45-degree plane 1, and 45-degree plane 2 are all lit up. Figure 5 , now the lit area is the area of ​​L2 width, and the lit width is increased.

[0017] Compared with traditional technologies, the large-angle light in the present invention is collected by parabolic pulling surface two and the 45-degree surface two that cooperates with it, and is collected by adding parabolic pulling surface one and the 45-degree surface one that cooperates with it. The light utilization rate and optical efficiency are greatly improved. Combined with the increase in the width of a single unit, under the premise of the same product performance, the number of LEDs used in the present invention is greatly reduced, which can achieve product cost reduction and greatly increase customer competitiveness.

[0018] The actual optical system is composed of a number of thick-walled light-guiding structures, each of which has a separate and unique focal position.

[0019] The number of the LED light source is at least one, that is, there may be only one LED light source, and it is located at the focal position of the corresponding thick-walled light guide structure. It may also be two LED light sources, and one of the LED light sources is located at the focal position, and the other LED light source is located at a defocused position, or both LED light sources are located at defocused positions.

[0020] The LED light source can be an LED light source of different colors, so that its optical system can realize multiple different signal light functions at the same time. For example, the LED light source 1 is a yellow LED light source, and the LED light source is lit alone to realize the turning function, and the LED light source is a white LED light source, and the LED light source is lit alone to realize the daytime running light function. Through PWM control, the white LED light source can realize the position light function, thereby realizing multi-functional lighting in the same area.

[0021] The light scattering pattern of the thick-walled light guide structure can be in the shape of a square, a column, or other variable pattern shapes according to different design requirements. The size of the pattern can also be variable according to different design requirements so as to diffuse the light and make the lighting effect more uniform.

[0022] The dynamic lighting of the turn signal lamp can be realized by sequentially lighting up the yellow LED light sources of each thick-walled light guide structure, or the dynamic lighting function of the welcome lamp can be realized by sequentially lighting up other color light source LEDs.

[0023] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: by adding the first parabola pull-up surface and the second parabola pull-up surface, and adding the first 45-degree surface and the second 45-degree surface respectively matched therewith, the optical efficiency and light efficiency utilization rate are improved, and the lighting width of each unit is increased, so as to use a small amount of LED light sources to meet the lighting uniformity and regulations, thereby reducing the design cost. In addition, the present invention can make the lighting effect more uniform by adding skin grains on the small-angle light irradiation surface. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the back-viewing axis side of the structure of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 This is an optical principle diagram of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 3 It is a bottom view detail diagram of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 4 It is a detailed back view of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 5 The width of the invention is increased by a rendering.

[0029] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the lighting width of each unit in the prior art.

[0030] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the beneficial effect of increasing the lighting width of each unit of the present invention.

[0031] Among them: 1-LED light source, 2-thick-walled light guide structure, 3-single collimation unit of thick-walled parts, 4-single-dimensional collimator one, 5a-parabolic pulled surface one, 6a-45 degree plane one, 5b-parabolic pulled surface two, 6b-45 degree plane two, 7-45 degree conical optical surface, 7a-45 degree conical optical surface part one, 7b-45 degree conical optical surface part two, 7c-45 degree conical optical surface part three, 8-light distribution scattering pattern, 9-rotation reference axis. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to deepen the understanding of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with examples. The examples are only used to explain the present invention and do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present invention.

[0033] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides an automotive signal light optical system, including an LED light source 1 and a thick-walled light guide structure 2, wherein the thick-walled light guide structure 2 is composed of thick-walled single collimation units 3 stacked in sequence, wherein the LED light source 1 and each thick-walled single collimation unit 3 in the thick-walled light guide structure 2 correspond to each other one by one, and each thick-walled single collimation unit 3 includes a single-dimensional collimator 1 4, a 45-degree conical optical surface 7, and a light distribution scattering pattern 8, and each thick-walled single collimation unit 3 also includes a parabolic pulling surface 2 5b and a The 45-degree plane 26b, the parabola-lifted plane 15a and the 45-degree plane 16a that match it make the light at a large angle to the normal line of the LED on the right and left sides be collimated in another dimension by the parabola-lifted plane 25b and the parabola-lifted plane 15a, and the large-angle light becomes a complete collimated light. The light propagates to the 45-degree plane 16b and the 45-degree plane 16a, and is fully reflected in the 90-degree direction, thereby realizing the lighting of the area 45-degree plane 16b and the 45-degree plane 16a. These four newly added optical surfaces can increase the lighting width of a single collimating unit 3 of each thick-walled part, while ensuring uniformity and reducing the number of LEDs and costs.

[0034] The parabola pulling surface 1 5a and the parabola pulling surface 2 5b are optical surfaces formed by pulling a parabola with the center of the LED light source 1 as the focus along the rotating reference axis 9, and are used to further collimate the large-angle fan-shaped single-dimensional light into parallel light.

[0035] The 45-degree plane 1 6a and the 45-degree plane 2 6b are planes that form an angle of 45 degrees with the rotation reference axis 9, and are used to fold the collimated light reflected by the parabolic pulling surface 1 5a and the parabolic pulling surface 2 5b by 90 degrees respectively.

[0036] The parabolic pulled surface 2 5b and the matched 45-degree surface 2 6b, the parabolic pulled surface 1 5a and the matched 45-degree surface 1 6a can collect light at a large angle, increase light efficiency utilization and greatly improve optical efficiency.

[0037] The 45-degree conical optical surface 7 includes a 45-degree conical optical surface part 1 7a, a 45-degree conical optical surface part 2 7b, and a 45-degree conical optical surface part 3 7c. Each part of the 45-degree conical optical surface 7 is formed by a straight line that is 45 degrees to the rotation reference axis 9, and is rotated and offset with reference to the rotation reference axis 9.

[0038] The 45-degree conical optical surface portion 7a is added with skin texture.

[0039] The one-dimensional collimator 4 in each single collimation unit 3 of the thick-walled member compresses the light emitted by the LED light source 1 in the direction of the rotation axis 9 corresponding to the one-dimensional collimator 4 to generate fan-shaped one-dimensional collimated light.

[0040] This embodiment provides an automotive signal light optical system, which includes: an LED light source 1, a thick-walled light guide structure 2, wherein the LED light source 1 includes n LEDs, and the light emitted is a spherical wave, and the thick-walled light guide structure 2 is composed of n repeating units 3 stacked in sequence, each of which is responsible for uniform lighting of the light guide of its own area width, and finally, the n units are combined into a whole to achieve uniform lighting of the entire area. The n=L Projected / l element , where L Projected is the length of the center line of the thick-walled light guide projected onto a plane perpendicular to the direction of travel, l element The width of a single unit.

[0041] Figure 2-4This is the principle diagram of the optical path of a single collimating unit 3 of the thick-walled part of this embodiment, which converts the angular spectrum distribution of the LED light into a spatial distribution. The single-dimensional collimator 4 will compress the light emitted by the LED light source 1 in the direction of the rotation reference axis 9 corresponding to the collimator 4, generating a fan-shaped single-dimensional collimated light. Then the light continues to propagate, and in the direction perpendicular to the rotation reference axis 9, the light that is at a small angle to the normal of the LED will be totally reflected by the 45-degree conical optical surface 7, and the rotation angle achieved by the total reflection is 90 degrees, so that the light is collimated, and then the domain of the 45-degree conical optical surface 7 is lit. The formation principle of the 45-degree conical optical surface 7 is to first design a straight line that is 45 degrees to the rotation reference axis 9, and then rotate and offset the above straight line with the rotation reference axis 9 as the center. Since the light emitted by the LED is stronger within a small angle, in order to reduce the light intensity on the 45-degree conical optical surface part 1 7a, it is necessary to add leather grain on the 45-degree conical optical surface part 1 7a, so that the brightness of the 45-degree conical optical surface part 1 7a, the 45-degree conical optical surface part 2 7b, and the 45-degree conical optical surface part 3 7c is uniform. Figure 5 , now only the area with L1 width can be lit up.

[0042] refer to Figure 2 In this embodiment, by adding a parabola lifting surface 2 5b and a 45-degree surface 2 6b matched therewith, and by adding a parabola lifting surface 1 5a and a 45-degree surface 1 6a matched therewith, the light rays on the right and left sides that are at a large angle to the normal line of the LED will be collimated in another dimension upward by the parabola lifting surface 2 5b and the parabola lifting surface 1 5a, and the light rays at a large angle will become complete collimated light rays, and then the light rays will propagate to the 45-degree plane 1 6b and the 45-degree plane 1 6a, and will be totally reflected in the 90-degree direction, so as to realize the lighting of the area of ​​the 45-degree plane 1 6b and the 45-degree plane 1 6a. The parabola lifting surface 1 5a and the parabola lifting surface 2 5b are optical surfaces formed by pulling a parabola with the center of the LED light source 1 as the focus along the rotation axis 9, and are used to further collimate the large-angle fan-shaped single-dimensional light into parallel light. The 45-degree plane 1 6a and the 45-degree plane 2 6b are planes that form a 45-degree angle with the rotation reference axis 9, and are used to fold the collimated light reflected by the parabola pull-up surface 1 5a and the parabola pull-up surface 2 5b by 90 degrees. At this time, the complete 45-degree conical optical surface part 1 7a, the 45-degree conical optical surface part 2 7b, the 45-degree conical optical surface part 3 7c, the 45-degree plane 1 6a, and the 45-degree plane 2 6b are all lit up, and the reference Figure 5 , now the lit area is the area of ​​L2 width, and the lit width is increased.

[0043] Compared with the traditional technology, in this embodiment, the large-angle light is collected by the parabolic pulling surface 5b and the matching 45-degree surface 6b, and by adding the parabolic pulling surface 5a and the matching 45-degree surface 6a, the optical efficiency is greatly improved. Combined with the increase in the width of a single unit, under the premise of the same product performance, the number of LEDs used in this embodiment is greatly reduced, which can reduce product costs and greatly increase customer competitiveness.

[0044] Figure 6-7 This is a beneficial effect of this embodiment. Compared with the prior art, it can be clearly seen that the width of the technical solution of this embodiment is greatly increased.

Claims

1. An automotive signal light optical system, comprising an LED light source (1) and a thick-walled light guide structure (2), characterized in that: The thick-walled light guide structure (2) is composed of at least one repeated thick-walled single collimating unit (3) stacked in sequence, the LED light source (1) and each thick-walled single collimating unit (3) in the thick-walled light guide structure (2) correspond one to one, each thick-walled single collimating unit (3) comprises a single-dimensional collimator (4), a 45-degree conical optical surface (7), and a light distribution scattering pattern (8), and the single-dimensional collimator (4) in each thick-walled single collimating unit (3) compresses the light emitted by the LED light source (1) in the direction of the rotation reference axis (9) corresponding to the single-dimensional collimator (4), thereby generating fan-shaped single-dimensional collimated light; The small-angle light will be totally reflected by the 45-degree conical optical surface (7), and the rotation angle achieved by the total reflection is 90 degrees, so that the light is collimated, thereby illuminating the domain of the 45-degree conical optical surface (7); Each of the thick-walled individual collimating units (3) further comprises a parabola-lifted surface 2 (5b) and a 45-degree surface 2 (6b) matched therewith, a parabola-lifted surface 1 (5a) and a 45-degree surface 1 (6a) matched therewith, so that the light rays on the right and left sides that form a large angle with the normal of the LED will be collimated in another dimension upward by the parabola-lifted surface 2 (5b) and the parabola-lifted surface 1 (5a), and the light rays at large angles become complete collimated light rays, and the light rays propagate to the 45-degree plane 2 (6b) and the 45-degree plane 1 (6a), and are totally reflected in a 90-degree direction, thereby realizing the lighting of the 45-degree plane 2 (6b) and the 45-degree plane 1 (6a) areas; The parabola lifting surface 1 (5a) and the parabola lifting surface 2 (5b) are optical surfaces formed by lifting a parabola with the center of the LED light source (1) as the focus along the rotating reference axis (9), and are used to further collimate the large-angle fan-shaped single-dimensional light into parallel light; The 45-degree plane 1 (6a) and the 45-degree plane 2 (6b) are planes that form an angle of 45 degrees with the rotation reference axis (9), and are used to respectively deflect the collimated light reflected by the parabola pulling surface 1 (5a) and the parabola pulling surface 2 (5b) by 90 degrees.

2. The automotive signal light optical system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The 45-degree conical optical surface (7) comprises a 45-degree conical optical surface portion 1 (7a), a 45-degree conical optical surface portion 2 (7b), and a 45-degree conical optical surface portion 3 (7c), and each portion of the 45-degree conical optical surface (7) is formed by a straight line that is 45 degrees to the rotation reference axis (9) and is rotated and offset with reference to the rotation reference axis (9).

3. The automotive signal light optical system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The 45-degree conical optical surface portion (7a) is added with skin texture.

4. The automotive signal light optical system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the LED light sources (1) is one or two. When one LED light source (1) is used, the LED light source (1) is located at a focal position of the corresponding thick-walled light guide structure. When two LED light sources (1) are used, one of the LED light sources is located at a focal position and the other LED light source is located at a defocused position, or both LED light sources are located at defocused positions.

5. The automotive signal light optical system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material used for the thick-walled light guide structure (2) is polymethyl methacrylate or polycarbonate.

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