Vehicle lighting device

Abstract

The present invention provides a vehicle lighting device, which includes a light-emitting module, an image capturing module, and a control module connecting the light-emitting module and the image capturing module. The light-emitting module includes a plurality of light-emitting units, and each light-emitting unit is provided with a lens portion, an adjusting portion, and a light source portion. The adjusting portion is connected to the lens portion or the light source portion to adjust a distance between the lens portion and the light source portion, thereby adjusting the light pattern output by the light source portion. The image capturing module is used to capture an image in front of the vehicle to output an image frame. The image frame is divided into a plurality of blocks corresponding to the plurality of light-emitting units. The control module is connected to the image capturing module, the adjusting portion, and the light source portion. The control module identifies at least one external object located in the plurality of blocks according to the image frame, so as to control the adjusting portions of the plurality of light-emitting units corresponding to the plurality of blocks to act, and further automatically adjust the light patterns output by the light source portions of the plurality of light-emitting units.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle lighting device, particularly a vehicle headlight that can automatically adjust the front lighting according to the road conditions ahead. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, due to the increasing requirements for vehicle safety, various car manufacturers have actively developed driving assistance systems, such as automatic braking, automatic following, lane keeping, and blind spot warning... etc. However, little attention has been paid to the control of vehicle headlights. Traditional headlight designs have only a single directionality, and the light can only be projected straight ahead of the vehicle, and the brightness of the high beams cannot be controlled automatically. Imagine driving on a winding mountain road. What the driver needs is to see the road information after the turn, but the headlight light often projects onto the mountain wall or the oncoming road. On the driving road without light illumination, the driver can only move forward based on experience and feeling, which is very dangerous.

[0003] Therefore, currently, manufacturers have developed an active headlight steering system that adjusts the irradiation direction of the headlight according to the steering wheel rotation direction to make up for some irradiation dead angles during turning. It can even automatically control the switching of the high beam to the low beam when the high beam is turned on, or the switching of the low beam to the high beam when the low beam is turned on. Although the active headlight steering system solves some irradiation dead angles during turning, it still cannot adjust the light distribution (light pattern) of the vehicle headlight according to the actual road conditions (such as oncoming vehicles) and road conditions, thus improving driving safety. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lighting device that can automatically adjust the light pattern of the headlight illumination to achieve the ability of adaptive front lighting and thus achieve driving safety.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle lighting device, including a light emitting module, an image capturing module, and a control module. The light emitting module includes a plurality of light emitting units, and each light emitting unit is provided with a lens part, an adjusting part, and a light source part. The adjusting part is connected to the lens part or the light source part for adjusting a distance between the lens part and the light source part, thereby adjusting the light pattern output by the light source part. The image capturing module is used to capture an image in front of the vehicle to output an image frame, and the image frame is divided into a plurality of blocks corresponding to the plurality of light emitting units. The control module is connected to the image capturing module, the adjusting part, and the light source part. The control module identifies at least one external object located in the plurality of blocks according to the image frame, and controls the adjusting parts of the plurality of light emitting units corresponding to the plurality of blocks to act, thereby automatically adjusting the light pattern output by the light source parts of the plurality of light emitting units. Through the design of the vehicle lighting device of the present invention, the light pattern of the headlight illumination can be automatically adjusted to achieve the ability of adaptive front lighting and thus achieve driving safety. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006] Figure 1 A block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0007] Figure 2 A perspective view of a vehicle lighting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] Figure 3A A schematic diagram of an image screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0009] Figure 3B A schematic diagram of a plurality of blocks in an external object corresponding to light sources output by the plurality of light emitting units according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] Figure 4A A perspective exploded view of a light emitting unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 4B A schematic diagram of an implementation state in which an adjustment unit of a light emitting unit drives a moving block to move forward to adjust the light pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 4C A schematic diagram of an implementation state in which an adjustment unit of a light emitting unit drives a moving block to move backward to adjust the light pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of an implementation state in which a vehicle lighting device according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed on a vehicle to output a light pattern.

[0014] Figure 6 A perspective view of a vehicle lighting device according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Description of reference numerals: 1 - vehicle lighting device; 11 - light emitting module; 111 - light emitting unit; 112 - lens unit; 113 - adjustment unit; 1131 - coil; 1132 - magnetic member; 1133 - frame; 1134 - moving guide rod; 1135 - moving block; 114 - light source unit; 115 - spacing; 116 - reflecting portion; 13 - image capturing module; 131 - image screen; 132 - external object; 133 - block; 14 - control module; 15 - radar module; 161 - floodlight pattern; 162 - spotlight pattern; 17 - lamp housing. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0016] The above objects, structures and functional characteristics of the present invention will be described with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0017] The present invention provides a vehicle lighting device, which is installed on a vehicle (such as an automobile or a motorcycle). Refer to Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3A, Figure 3B , Figure 4A As shown in and

[0018] , the vehicle lighting device 1 is used as the headlight lighting of a vehicle (such as an automobile) in this embodiment, but is not limited thereto. The vehicle lighting device 1 includes a light emitting module 11, an image capturing module 13, a control module 14, and a lamp housing 17. The light emitting module 11, the image capturing module 13, and the control module 14 are disposed on the lamp housing 17, and the image capturing module 13 is located above the inner side of the lamp housing 17, while the light emitting module 11 is located below the image capturing module 13. The light emitting module 11 includes a plurality of light emitting units 111. In this embodiment, the plurality of light emitting units 111 are arranged in a rectangular array to form the light emitting module 11. In some other embodiments, the plurality of light emitting units 111 can be arranged in a honeycomb array, a triangular array, a polygonal array, a circular array, or an irregular shape array to form the light emitting module 11.

[0018] Each light emitting unit 111 is provided with a lens portion 112, an adjusting portion 113, a light source portion 114, and a reflecting portion 116 covering the periphery of the light source portion 114. The lens portion 112 is a lens made of a heat-resistant and UV-resistant material. The light source portion 114 is a light emitting diode (LED). In specific implementation, it can also be selected as a halogen lamp, a high-intensity gas discharge lamp, or an incandescent lamp. The reflecting portion 116 is a semi-transparent or opaque reflecting member that can concentrate the light emitted by the light source portion 114 and reflect it towards the corresponding lens portion 112, reducing unnecessary divergence of light, thereby increasing the lighting brightness. The adjusting portion 113 is located between the lens portion 112 and the light source portion 114 and is selectively connected to the lens portion 112 or the light source portion 114. The adjusting portion 113 is used to adjust a distance 115 between the lens portion 112 and the light source portion 114, and further adjust the light pattern output by the light source portion 114, where the light pattern is a floodlight pattern 161 or a spotlight pattern 162.

[0019] In this embodiment, the adjusting portion 113 includes a coil 1131, a magnetic member 1132 (such as a magnet), and a frame 1133. The frame 1133 has a moving guide rod 1134 and a moving block 1135. One end of the moving guide rod 1134 (as shown in two moving guide rods 1134 in this figure) is fixedly provided on the bottom side of the frame 1133, and the light source portion 114 and the reflecting portion 116 are respectively provided on the bottom side of the frame 1133 and are located between the two moving guide rods 1134. The lens portion 112 is connected and disposed on the moving block 1135 and corresponds to the light source portion 114 and the reflecting portion 116 provided on the bottom side of the frame 1133. The moving block 1135 is pivotally provided with the moving guide rod 1134 and can move back and forth on the moving guide rod 1134. A return spring (such as a spring piece; not shown in the figure) is further provided between one side (such as the rear side) of the moving block 1135 and the bottom side of the frame 1133.

[0020] The coil 1131 is disposed outside the frame 1133 and is excited with a magnetic member 1132 correspondingly disposed at the rear side of the moving block 1135. Therefore, when the electric field when the coil 1131 is energized interacts with the magnetic field corresponding to the magnetic member 1132, a forward pushing force is generated, causing the moving block 1135 together with the magnetic member 1132 and the lens unit 112 to move forward along the moving guide rod 1134 (as shown in Figure 4B ), thereby changing and increasing the distance 115 between the lens unit 112 and the light source unit 114, so that the light pattern output (projected) by the light source unit 114 is in the form of a converging light pattern 162 (as shown in Figure 5 ). When the coil 1131 is not energized, the moving block 1135 together with the magnetic member 1132 and the lens unit 112 is pulled backward along the moving guide rod 1134 by the return spring to return to the original position (as shown in Figure 4C ), thereby changing and shortening the distance 115 between the lens unit 112 and the light source unit 114, so that the light pattern output (projected) by the light source unit 114 is in the form of a floodlight pattern 161 (as shown in Figure 5 ).

[0021] In a specific implementation, the adjusting unit 113 is not limited to the above components. Any moving adjustment mechanism that can drive the lens unit 112 or the light source unit 114 to move to change and increase or shorten the distance 115 between the lens unit 112 and the light source unit 114 is the adjusting unit 113 referred to in the present invention. For example, the adjusting unit 113 is composed of a motor and a moving rod engaged with the motor. By driving the motor to rotate forward or backward through the control module 14, the moving rod is driven to move the connected lens unit 112 (or light source unit 114) forward or backward to adjust and change the distance 115 between the lens unit 112 and the light source unit 114. In a feasible embodiment, the moving guide rod 1134 can be omitted. Two opposite inner sides of the frame 1133 are provided with a groove (not shown in the figure). Two side edges of the moving block 1135 are fitted in the two grooves corresponding to the frame 1133, so that the moving block 1135 can slide in the groove of the frame 1133 and be driven to move forward or backward. In another other implementation, the adjusting unit 113 is a voice coil motor (VCM).

[0022] The image capturing module 13 is a camera lens (such as a CCD camera lens or a CMOS camera lens) for capturing an image in front of the vehicle, and outputs an image frame 131 to be transmitted to the control module 14. The image frame 131 includes at least one external object 132. In this embodiment, the external object 132 is a pedestrian or a vehicle (such as a car or a motorcycle), but is not limited thereto. In specific implementation, the external object 132 may also be an obstacle. The image frame 131 is divided into a plurality of blocks 133. For example, it is cut into 20 rows (vertical ones are rows) in the vertical direction and 5 columns (horizontal ones are columns) in the horizontal direction, and is totally cut into 20×5 blocks 133 (as shown in Figure 3). And each block 133 corresponds to each light emitting unit 111. In this embodiment, the plurality of light emitting units 111 are arranged in the same 20-row×5-column arrangement as the corresponding plurality of blocks 133, but are not limited thereto. In specific implementation, the user can adjust the number of the light emitting units 111 according to the requirements of illumination breadth and illumination brightness, and make it match the number of the blocks 133 divided on the image frame 131.

[0023] The control module 14 is a central processing unit (CPU) or a microcontroller (MCU). The control module 14 is electrically connected to the image capturing module 13, the adjusting part 113 and the light source part 114 of the plurality of light emitting units 111. And the control module 14 can independently control the adjusting part 113 of each light emitting unit 111 to actuate and adjust the brightness of the light source part 114. The control module 14 identifies at least one external object 132 located in the plurality of blocks 133 according to the image frame 131, so as to control the adjusting part 113 of the plurality of light emitting units 111 corresponding to the plurality of blocks 133 to actuate (such as Figure 3A , Figure 3B ), and then automatically adjusts the light pattern output by the light source part 114 of the plurality of light emitting units 111. For example, the control module 14 identifies that the external object 132 in the center is a vehicle in front (oncoming vehicle) according to the image frame 131, and also identifies the brightness distribution of the plurality of blocks 133 where the external object 132 is located. If it is identified that the brightness of the plurality of blocks 133 on the external object 132 is relatively bright (such as the white blocks 133 in Figure 3A ), then the control module 14 independently controls the adjusting part 113 of the plurality of light emitting units 111 corresponding to the plurality of blocks 133 (such as Figure 3B , the central black light emitting unit 111) to move the lens part 112 on the moving block 1135 towards the light source part 114 to the original position (such as Figure 4C ), so that the plurality of light source parts 114 corresponding to the plurality of blocks 133 output a floodlight pattern 161 (such as Figure 5 ).

[0024] At the same time, the control module 14 identifies that the external object 132 on the left is an obstacle and there is no external object 132 on the right according to the image frame 131, and identifies that the brightness of the remaining blocks 133 on the left and right sides of the image frame 131 is darker (such as Figure 3A the black and gray blocks 133 in the figure, and the black block 133 is darker than the gray block 133 in brightness), then the control module 14 independently controls the light source parts 114 of the remaining light-emitting units 111 corresponding to the remaining blocks 133 (i.e., the left and right blocks), such as the light-emitting units 111 on the left and right, to output a light pattern such as a spotlight pattern 162 (such as Figure 5 ). Therefore, when all the light-emitting units 111 continue to output light during driving, it will actively adjust the light pattern (such as a floodlight pattern 161 or a spotlight pattern 162) output by only the light-emitting units 111 corresponding to the external object 132 according to the position of the external object 132 on the road condition ahead, so that the vehicle ahead will not be dazzled, effectively improving driving safety.

[0025] In another embodiment, the control module 14 may omit identifying the brightness distribution of the plurality of blocks 133 where the external object 132 is located, but directly identify the external object 132 as a vehicle ahead according to the image frame 131, and directly independently control the adjustment parts 113 of the light-emitting units 111 corresponding to the plurality of blocks 133 to act, so that the plurality of light source parts 114 output a light pattern such as a floodlight pattern 161 (such as Figure 5 ).

[0026] In an alternative embodiment, referring to Figure 6 , the vehicle lighting device 1 further includes a radar module 15. The radar module 15 is provided on the lamp housing 17 and is adjacent to the image capturing module 13 above the light-emitting module, and the radar module 15 is connected to the control module 14. The radar module 15 is a millimeter-wave radar or an optical radar or a combination of both. The radar module 15 is used to detect the vehicle condition ahead and transmit a detection signal (such as a millimeter-wave signal) to the control module 14, so that the control module 14 can know the distance and speed of an external object 132 (such as a vehicle or an obstacle) farther ahead according to the detection signal, to assist the image capturing module 13 in identifying the road condition ahead (such as the external object 132 ahead), so as to improve the effectiveness of the identification breadth and accuracy of the image capturing module 13.

[0027] Although in this embodiment, the lens unit 112 is connected to the moving block 135 provided on the adjusting unit 113, and the lens unit 112 thereon is driven by the moving block 135 to move forward or backward to adjust the output light pattern. However, it is not limited thereto. In another alternative embodiment, the light source unit 114 is connected to the moving block 135 of the adjusting unit 113, and the lens unit 112 is fixedly provided at a position in front of the corresponding light source unit 114 and the reflecting unit 116. The light source unit 114 thereon is driven by the moving block 135 to move forward or backward to adjust the output light pattern.

[0028] Therefore, through the design of the vehicle lighting device 1 of the present invention, it is possible to automatically adjust the light pattern of the vehicle lamp, so that the vehicle lamp projects a better effect of adapting to the front lighting, so as to achieve driving safety. In addition, the vehicle lighting device 1 of the present invention can be used and installed independently, without the need to cooperate with the driving assistance system on the vehicle to operate. Therefore, the present invention can be adapted to various different vehicles (such as cars or motorcycles), so as to achieve higher flexibility in use.

Claims

1. A vehicle lighting device, characterized in that, it includes: A light-emitting module, including a plurality of light-emitting units. Each light-emitting unit is provided with a lens part, an adjusting part and a light source part. The adjusting part is located between the lens part and the light source part and is connected to the lens part or the light source part. The adjusting part is used to adjust a distance between the lens part and the light source part, thereby adjusting the light pattern output by the light source part; An image capturing module, used to capture an image in front of the vehicle to output an image screen. The image screen is divided into a plurality of blocks corresponding to the plurality of light-emitting units; and A control module, connected to the image capturing module, the adjusting part and the light source part. The control module identifies at least one external object located in the plurality of blocks according to the image screen, so as to control the adjusting parts of the plurality of light-emitting units corresponding to the plurality of blocks to act, thereby automatically adjusting the light pattern output by the light source parts of the plurality of light-emitting units.

2. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of light-emitting units are arranged in an array to form the light-emitting module, and the adjusting part is connected to the lens part.

3. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The light source part is a light-emitting diode, a halogen lamp, a high-intensity gas discharge lamp or an incandescent lamp, and the lens part is a lens.

4. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It further includes a radar module, and the radar module is connected to the control module.

5. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The radar module is a millimeter wave radar or an optical radar or a combination of a millimeter wave radar and an optical radar.

6. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The light pattern is a floodlight pattern or a spotlight pattern.

7. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It further includes a lamp housing, and the light-emitting module, the image capturing module and the control module are arranged on the lamp housing.

8. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The image capturing module is a camera lens, and the control module is a central processing unit or a microcontroller.

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