Light guide parts, lamps and motor vehicles

Abstract

The present invention provides a light guide component, a vehicle lamp and a motor vehicle. The light guide component comprises: a light incident surface, the light incident surface is located at a longitudinal end of the light guide component; a light exit surface, the light exit surface is located on a first side of the light guide component adjacent to the light incident surface; and a light reflection surface, the light reflection surface is located on a second side of the light guide component opposite to the first side, a plurality of light reflection structures are arranged on the light reflection surface, the light reflection structures are arranged to reflect a light beam incident from the light incident surface toward the light exit surface so that the light beam reflected by the light reflection structure can be emitted from the light exit surface, wherein the light reflection structure has a cross-sectional shape of a light converging surface in a cross section of the light guide component perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, so that the light beam reflected by the light reflection structure is converged before reaching the light exit surface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a light guide component, a vehicle lamp and a motor vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Headlights are important components of motor vehicles. Headlights can provide lighting functions for motor vehicles, such as low beam, high beam, fog lights, etc., and can also provide signal indication functions for motor vehicles, such as clearance lights, brake lights, etc. Among them, fog lights are used in foggy weather and require a long illumination distance, strong penetration, and high brightness. In current motor vehicles, headlights such as fog lights that require relatively strong lighting brightness usually use a structure of light source and independent reflector. However, this structure is usually bulky, complex, and occupies a large space. Summary of the invention

[0003] The object of the present invention is to provide a light guide component which can be used to achieve the light distribution requirements of vehicle lights such as fog lights.

[0004] Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp and a motor vehicle comprising the light guide component.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention provides a light guide component, comprising: a light incident surface, which is located at a longitudinal end of the light guide component; a light exit surface, which is located on a first side of the light guide component adjacent to the light incident surface; and a light reflecting surface, which is located on a second side of the light guide component opposite to the first side, wherein a plurality of light reflecting structures are arranged on the light reflecting surface, and the light reflecting structures are arranged to reflect a light beam incident from the light incident surface toward the light exit surface so that the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structure can be emitted from the light exit surface, wherein the light reflecting structure has a cross-sectional shape of a light converging surface in a cross section of the light guide component perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, so that the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structure is converged before reaching the light exit surface.

[0006] In one embodiment, the light reflecting structure comprises a deformed prism array.

[0007] In one embodiment, each deformed prism in the deformed prism array has a height between 1.5 mm and 3 mm in the cross section of the light guide component, and a width along the longitudinal axis of the light guide component between 2 mm and 4 mm.

[0008] In one embodiment, the cross-section of the light converging surface is in a parabolic shape.

[0009] In one embodiment, the focal length of the parabola is between 70 mm and 90 mm.

[0010] In an embodiment, the light exit surface is arranged to collimate the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structure.

[0011] In one embodiment, in the cross section, a focus of the light reflecting structure is at least substantially consistent with a focus position of the light exit surface.

[0012] In one embodiment, in the cross section, a focus of the light reflecting structure is located inside the light guiding component.

[0013] In one embodiment, the light guide component also includes a first reflection guide surface and a second reflection guide surface, which are configured to reflect the light beam incident from the light incident surface toward the inside of the light guide component, and the first reflection guide surface and the second reflection guide surface are respectively located on the third side and the fourth side of the light guide component opposite to each other.

[0014] In one embodiment, the first reflective guide surface and the second reflective guide surface have an arc shape in the cross section of the light guide member.

[0015] In one embodiment, the radius of the arc shape is between 3 mm and 5 mm.

[0016] In one embodiment, an exit angle of the light beam emitted from the light exit surface in the cross section of the light guide component is within a range between plus or minus 5 degrees.

[0017] In one embodiment, an exit angle of the light beam emitted from the light exit surface in a horizontal plane perpendicular to the cross section of the light guide component is within a range between plus or minus 45 degrees.

[0018] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a lamp for a motor vehicle, comprising: a light source; and a light guide component as described in any of the above embodiments, wherein the light incident surface is used to receive an incident light beam emitted from the light source.

[0019] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a motor vehicle, comprising a light guide component as described in any one of the above embodiments or a vehicle lamp as described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0020] The light guide component according to the embodiment of the present invention adopts a light reflection structure with a light beam convergence function, which can converge the light beam before it is emitted from the light guide component, thereby improving the straightness and penetration of the emitted light beam. The light guide component can be used to simplify the structure of the vehicle lamp. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 Schematically shows a top view of a light guide component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of a light guide member along the line AA according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0023] Figure 3 An enlarged view schematically shows a light reflecting structure of a light guide member according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The technical solution of the present invention is further specifically described below by examples and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the specification, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar components. The following description of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to explain the overall inventive concept of the present invention and should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

[0025] In addition, in the following detailed description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a comprehensive understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it is apparent that one or more embodiments may also be implemented without these specific details.

[0026] Figure 1 A top view of a light guide component 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown. Figure 2 AA is a cross-sectional view of the light guide component 100. The light guide component 100 may include a light incident surface 10, a light emitting surface 20 and a light reflecting surface 30. The light incident surface 10 is located at a longitudinal end of the light guide component 100. Figure 1 , the longitudinal direction of the light guide component 100 is represented by x. It should be noted that the light incident surface 10 can be located at only one end of the light guide component 100, or at both ends of the light guide component 100, and the number of light incident surfaces 10 is not limited to one, but can be multiple. The light exit surface 20 is located on a first side of the light guide component 100 adjacent to the light incident surface 10. The light reflecting surface 30 is located on a second side of the light guide component 100 opposite to the first side.

[0027] The so-called light guide component or light guide device refers to a light guide device that mainly transmits light inside it by total reflection. It can have various shapes, such as cylindrical (can be called light guide rod), long strip (can be called light guide bar, light bar), plate (can be called light guide plate), ring (can be called light guide ring), etc. Since it mainly uses total reflection for transmission, the optical efficiency of the light guide component is high and the light loss is small.

[0028] The function of the light reflecting surface 30 is to reflect the light beam onto the light exit surface 20 when the light beam reaches the light reflecting surface 30, so that the light beam can be emitted from the light exit surface 20. The reflection effect of the light reflecting surface 30 can be achieved by a plurality of light reflecting structures 31 provided on the light reflecting surface 30. The light reflecting structures 31 are arranged to reflect the light beam incident from the light incident surface 10 toward the light exit surface 20, so that the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structures 31 can be emitted from the light exit surface 20. For example, the light reflecting structure 31 may have a prism shape. However, in an embodiment of the present invention, the light reflecting structure 31 has a structure different from that of an ordinary prism. Figure 2 As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the light reflecting structure 31 has a cross-section shape of a light converging surface (e.g., a parabola shape) in a cross section of the light guide component 100 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction x of the light guide component. This allows the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structure 31 to be converged before reaching the light exit surface 20.

[0029] That is to say, in an embodiment according to the present invention, the light reflecting structure 31 can not only achieve the light reflection effect, but also achieve the convergence of the light beam. Converging the light beam before it is emitted from the light exit surface 20 can make the light beam more concentrated and improve the brightness of the emitted light. In particular, the light exit surface 20 can, for example, be configured to basically have a shape of a collimating device, such as the shape of an outer lens or a collimating lens surface. Therefore, the light exit surface 20 is arranged to collimate the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structure 31. In this case, the light beam emitted from the light exit surface 20 will be relatively straight, which is beneficial to improve the penetration and brightness of the light beam. As an example, in Figure 2 In the cross section shown, the focus of the light reflecting structure 31 coincides with the focus position of the light emitting surface 20. Figure 2 In the figure, the focus of the light reflecting structure 31 is depicted as completely overlapping with the focus of the light emitting surface 20. However, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that, for reasons of manufacturing process, "the focus of the light reflecting structure 31 is consistent with the focus position of the light emitting surface 20", does not mean that the focus of the light reflecting structure 31 must completely overlap with the focus of the light emitting surface 20. For example, there may be a smaller distance between their foci, such as the distance between their foci is less than 1 mm, less than 0.5 mm or less than 0.3 mm, etc. In an embodiment of the present invention, in the cross section, the focus of the light reflecting structure 31 is located inside the light guiding component. It should be pointed out that the light reflecting structure in the prior art is often used to disperse the light beam, rather than to converge the light beam as described in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] As an example, the cross-section of the light converging surface is in a parabolic shape. For example, the focal length of the light converging surface may be between 70 mm and 90 mm.

[0031] As an example, the light reflecting structure 31 may include a deformed prism array, such as Figure 3 The deformed prism array can be arranged on the light reflecting surface 30 in sequence along the longitudinal direction of the light guide component 100, for example. Figure 3 It can be seen that the edges between the top and the bottom of each deformed prism 32 have a curved shape (for example, a parabola). This curved shape can help the light reflecting structure 31 to achieve the above-mentioned function of converging light beams. In the present application, the so-called deformed prism is obtained by bending and deforming an ordinary prism, and its cross section has the shape of the cross section of the light converging surface, so that it has the ability to converge light beams. As an example, the height h of each deformed prism 32 in the deformed prism array in the cross section of the light guide component 100 can be, for example, between 1.5 mm and 3 mm, and the width w along the longitudinal axis of the light guide component 100 can be, for example, between 2 mm and 4 mm.

[0032] from Figure 2 It can be seen that the cross-sectional shape of the light reflection structure 31 makes the light beam converge toward the focus F, so that the light beam is finally emitted from the light exit surface 20 in a relatively straight form. However, conventional light reflection structures in the prior art often break up the light beam and cannot achieve the technical effects described in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0033] In one example, if Figure 2 As shown, on the third side of the light guide member 100 opposite to each other (at Figure 2 in the upper part) and the fourth side (in Figure 2 The first and second reflection guide surfaces 40 and 50 may also be provided respectively. Since the light beam incident from the light incident surface will not only be directed to the first side where the light reflection structure is located in the light guide component 100, but also to other sides, such as the third side and the fourth side mentioned above. The first reflection guide surface 40 and the second reflection guide surface 50 may be configured to reflect the light beam reflected thereon toward the inside of the light guide component 100, for example, for total reflection, which can prevent the light beam from being emitted from the side of the light guide component 100 where it is not expected to be emitted, and can also improve the optical efficiency. As an example, the first reflection guide surface 40 and the second reflection guide surface 50 have an arc shape in the cross section of the light guide component 100. For example, the radius of the arc shape is between 3 mm and 5 mm. Similarly, the shape of the light exit surface 20 may also be configured to reflect the light beam that has not passed through the light reflection structure 31 and is emitted from the inside of the light guide component 100 to the light exit surface 20 back to the inside of the light guide component 100, so that it can be ensured that the light beam emitted from the light exit surface 20 meets the expected beam shape.

[0034] As an example, the light beam emitted from the light emitting surface 20 is Figure 2The exit angle in the cross section shown is within the range of plus or minus 5 degrees. The exit angle α may be, for example, an exit angle in the vertical direction. As an example, the light beam emitted from the light exit surface 20 is in the range of plus or minus 5 degrees from the light guide component 100. Figure 2 The exit angle β in the horizontal plane perpendicular to the cross section shown (as Figure 1 The emission angle may be, for example, a horizontal emission angle. This is advantageous for the application of the light guide component 100 in vehicle lights, especially fog lights (such as front fog lights). Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the figure, the incident light beam of the light guide component 100 is represented by 61, the outgoing light beam is represented by 62, and the light rays are represented by solid arrows.

[0035] In the embodiment of the present invention, a light guide component is used to implement a vehicle lamp (such as a fog lamp), which can avoid the use of independent reflectors, external lenses and other structures, improve the integration of the optical system, and simplify the structure of the vehicle lamp. In addition, since the light guide component can have a more flexible design, the design space can be better utilized.

[0036] Although in the above-mentioned embodiments, a deformed prism (provided with a curved cross-section with a light beam converging function) is used as an example to describe the light reflecting structure in the light guide component in the embodiments of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto, and other forms of light reflecting structures with cross-sections having light converging surfaces and capable of realizing the above-mentioned light beam converging function may be used.

[0037] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a headlight for a motor vehicle. The headlight may include one or more light sources 60 and a light guide component 100 as described in any of the above embodiments. As an example, the light incident surface 10 of the light guide component 100 may be arranged to receive an incident light beam 61 emitted from the light source 60. In one example, the light source 60 may include a light emitting diode light source or other light sources known in the art. As an example, the one or more light sources 60 may be arranged facing the light incident surface 10. In the case of using multiple light sources, the multiple light sources may also be arranged in an array.

[0038] In an embodiment of the present invention, the light guide component 100 may include one light incident surface 10 , two light incident surfaces 10 , or more light incident surfaces 10 . For example, a plurality of separate light incident surfaces 10 may be provided at the longitudinal ends of the light guide component 100 .

[0039] In an embodiment of the present invention, the light guide component 100 may be a solid structure, for example, may be made of resin, plastic or other materials, for example, polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0040] Although the light guide component 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is introduced above by taking a car lamp as an example, it should be understood that the light guide component 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to application in car lamps, but can also be applied to other lamps that require a straight lighting beam.

[0041] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a motor vehicle, comprising the light guide component 100 as described in any of the above embodiments or the vehicle lamp as described above.

[0042] Although the present invention is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the embodiments disclosed in the drawings are intended to exemplify the preferred embodiments of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. The size ratios in the drawings are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0043] Although some embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A light guide component (100), comprising: A light incident surface (10), the light incident surface (10) being located at a longitudinal end of the light guide component (100); a light exit surface (20), the light exit surface (20) being located on a first side of the light guide component (100) adjacent to the light incident surface (10); and a light reflecting surface (30), the light reflecting surface (30) being located on a second side of the light guide component (100) opposite to the first side, the light reflecting surface (30) being provided with a plurality of light reflecting structures (31), the light reflecting structures (31) reflecting light beams incident from the light incident surface (10) toward the light exit surface (20), so that the light beams reflected by the light reflecting structures (31) can be emitted from the light exit surface (20), The light reflecting structure (31) has a cross-sectional shape of a light converging surface in a cross section of the light guide component (10) perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, so that the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structure (31) is converged before reaching the light exit surface (20); The light reflecting structure (31) comprises a deformed prism array, and the edges between the top and the bottom of the deformed prism have a curved shape.

2. The light guide component (100) according to claim 1, wherein: The height of each deformed prism (32) in the deformed prism array in the cross section of the light guide component (100) is between 1.5 mm and 3 mm, and the width along the longitudinal axis of the light guide component (100) is between 2 mm and 4 mm.

3. The light guide component (100) according to claim 1, wherein: The curved shape is configured to enable the light reflecting structure to achieve a function of converging light beams; The cross-sectional shape of the light converging surface is a parabola shape.

4. The light guide component (100) according to claim 3, wherein: The focal length of the light converging surface is between 70 mm and 90 mm.

5. The light guide component (100) according to claim 1, wherein: The light exit surface (20) is arranged to collimate the light beam reflected by the light reflecting structure (31).

6. The light guide component (100) according to claim 5, wherein: In the cross section, the positions of the focal point of the light reflecting structure (31) and the focal point of the light exit surface (20) are at least substantially consistent.

7. The light guide component (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: In the cross section, the focus of the light reflecting structure (31) is located inside the light guiding component (100).

8. The optical waveguide component (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a first reflective guide surface (40) and a second reflective guide surface (50), which reflect the light beam incident from the light incident surface (10) toward the inside of the optical waveguide component (100), and the first reflective guide surface (40) and the second reflective guide surface (50) are respectively located on a third side and a fourth side of the optical waveguide component (100) opposite to each other.

9. The light guide component (100) according to claim 8, wherein: The first reflective guide surface (40) and the second reflective guide surface (50) have an arc shape in a cross section of the light guide component (100).

10. The light guide component (100) according to claim 9, wherein: The radius of the arc shape is between 3 mm and 5 mm.

11. The light guide component (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The exit angle of the light beam emitted from the light exit surface (20) in the cross section of the light guide component (100) is within the range of plus or minus 5 degrees.

12. The light guide component (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The exit angle of the light beam emitted from the light exit surface (20) in a horizontal plane perpendicular to the cross section of the light guide component (100) is within a range between plus and minus 45 degrees.

13. A lamp for a motor vehicle, comprising: Light source (60); as well as The light guide component (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 12, The light incident surface (10) is used to receive an incident light beam (61) emitted from a light source (60).

14. A motor vehicle comprising a light guide component (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 12 or a vehicle lamp according to claim 13.

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