Light-emitting assembly, lighting device and vehicle
By using a combination of light source, light guide unit and film, the problem of light uniformity in pixelated lighting is solved, high-contrast pixelated control is achieved, and the aesthetics and recognizability of the car lights are improved.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-14
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-14
AI Technical Summary
In pixelated lighting, it is difficult to achieve pixelated control while ensuring uniform illumination.
It employs a light-emitting component including a light source, a light guide unit, and a film. The light guide unit is used to uniformly emit light, and the film controls the light to be transparent or dark through a liquid crystal layer and a polarizer, thereby achieving pixelated control.
It achieves highly uniform and high-contrast pixelated lighting effects, reducing material costs and improving visual effects.
Smart Images
Figure CN121854783A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of automotive lighting technology, specifically to a light-emitting component, a lighting device, and a vehicle. Background Technology
[0002] Vehicles are equipped with lighting devices to ensure safe driving. Headlights are a crucial component of vehicles, primarily including headlights, taillights, turn signals, fog lights, and daytime running lights. They not only provide conventional nighttime illumination but also serve as an important communication tool for drivers to signal their intentions to other drivers. Furthermore, headlights are a major part of a vehicle's appearance, significantly enhancing its aesthetics and visibility. With the development of the automotive industry, headlight designs have become increasingly diverse, and in recent years, the pursuit of aesthetic appeal has intensified, leading to the growing use of pixelated lighting. However, when implementing pixelated lighting, it is challenging to simultaneously achieve pixelated control and ensure uniform illumination. Summary of the Invention
[0003] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a light-emitting component, lighting device, and vehicle that can at least partially solve the problems mentioned above.
[0004] The present invention discloses a light-emitting component, comprising: a light source configured to emit light; a light guide unit configured to receive and guide the light emitted by the light source and uniformly emit the light from the light-emitting surface of the light guide unit; and a film configured to be at least partially switchable between a light-transmitting state and a light-opaque state.
[0005] According to a non-limiting example of the invention, the light guide unit is a surface-emitting light guide plate, wherein the light guide plate extends in length along the X direction, in width along the Y direction, and in thickness along the Z direction.
[0006] According to a non-limiting example of the invention, the film includes two electrode layers and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two electrode layers, wherein the state of the film is controlled by whether or not an electric field is applied to the electrodes on both sides of the liquid crystal layer.
[0007] According to a non-limiting example of the present invention, the liquid crystal particles in the liquid crystal layer are cholesteric liquid crystals.
[0008] According to a non-limiting example of the invention, the film further includes a first polarizer and a second polarizer respectively disposed on both sides of the liquid crystal layer, wherein the first polarizer allows light to pass through in the X direction and the second polarizer allows light to pass through in the Y direction.
[0009] According to a non-limiting example of the invention, the membrane comprises different regions, each of which can be independently controlled in terms of its light transmittance and opacity.
[0010] According to a non-limiting example of the invention, adjacent regions are separated by gaps.
[0011] According to a non-limiting example of the invention, the gap is formed by removing the electrode layer.
[0012] According to another aspect of the invention, the invention also provides a lighting device comprising a light-emitting component according to the above description.
[0013] According to another aspect of the invention, the invention also provides a vehicle having a light-emitting component or lighting device as described in any of the above claims.
[0014] According to the light-emitting component of the present invention, pixelated illumination with high uniformity and high contrast between pixels can be obtained by separately controlling the liquid crystal layer in each region. Attached Figure Description
[0015] Other objects and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of the disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings, and will help to provide a comprehensive understanding of the disclosure.
[0016] These and / or other aspects, features, and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent and readily understood from the following description of illustrative embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0017] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a light-emitting component according to the present invention is shown as an example.
[0018] Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of a light-emitting component according to the present invention is shown as an example.
[0019] Figure 3A and Figure 3B A schematic diagram of the film of the light-emitting component according to the present invention in different states is shown as an example.
[0020] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of liquid crystal particles in the liquid crystal layer of the film of the light-emitting component according to the present invention is shown as an example.
[0021] Figure 5 An example of a pixel of a light-emitting component according to the present invention is shown. Detailed Implementation
[0022] Other objects and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of the disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings, and will help to provide a comprehensive understanding of the disclosure.
[0023] The embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description of embodiments of this disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to explain the overall concept of this disclosure. As those skilled in the art should recognize, the described embodiments can be modified in various ways without departing from the concept of the invention, and should not be construed as a limitation of this disclosure. Therefore, the drawings and description are exemplary in nature and not restrictive. In the following, the same reference numerals generally denote elements with the same or similar functions.
[0024] Furthermore, in the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of this disclosure for ease of explanation. However, it will be apparent that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and apparatuses are illustrated to simplify the figures.
[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the light-emitting component according to the present invention. Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of a light-emitting component according to the present invention is shown as an example. Figure 1 and 2 As shown, the light-emitting component 100 mainly includes: a light source 101; a light guide unit 102, configured to receive and guide the light emitted by the light source 101, and uniformly emit the light from the light-emitting surface of the light guide unit 102; and a film 103, configured to be able to switch at least partially between a transparent state and an opaque state. The light-emitting effect of the light-emitting component 100 can be controlled by switching the state of the film 103. When the film 103 is in a transparent state, the light-emitting component 100 can emit light from the light source 101; when the film 103 is in an opaque state (i.e., dark state), light from the light source 101 cannot be emitted. The film 103 can have a partial or complete state-switching function.
[0026] In a specific example, light source 101 is a semiconductor light source, and in particular, a light-emitting diode or a laser diode. Light source 101 emits light in the half-space defined by its principal plane. Of course, light source 101 can also use any suitable light-emitting device, and the present invention does not specifically limit it.
[0027] In one example, the light guide unit 102 is a surface-emitting light guide plate, wherein the light guide plate extends in length along the X direction, width along the Y direction, and thickness along the Z direction. Of course, the length and width of the light guide plate can be equal. The light guide unit 102 is generally plate-shaped. Light from the light source 101 enters the interior of the light guide unit 102 from the end face and propagates between the front and rear surfaces of the light guide unit 102, towards the opposite ends of the end face. During this time, the light is emitted from the front surface of the light guide unit 102 along the main light emission direction. That is, the front surface serves as the light emission surface of the light guide unit 102, thereby achieving a surface-emitting effect.
[0028] In some examples, light from light source 101 enters the light guide unit 102 and propagates through total internal reflection. To allow the light to exit from the front surface of the light guide unit 102, the light guide unit 102 may include scattering particles. The light from light source 101 can be scattered in different directions by the scattering particles, thereby breaking the total internal reflection condition and allowing the light to exit from the front surface of the light guide unit 102. This type of light guide unit with scattering particles has excellent light diffusion characteristics and can achieve a very uniform light illumination effect. As a non-limiting example, this type of light guide unit can, for example, be made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), such as LED 8N LD12, LD24, LD48, LD96, or it can be made of polycarbonate (PC), such as EL2245. The color can be selected as needed, for example, but not limited to, colorless, light red, red, etc.
[0029] In an alternative example, optical decoupling elements may be provided on the rear surface of the light guide unit 102 to disrupt the total internal reflection condition of light. Examples of optical decoupling elements include, but are not limited to, protrusions, depressions, serrations, textures, stripes, squares, etc.
[0030] like Figure 3A and 3B As shown, the film 103 includes two electrode layers E and a liquid crystal layer L disposed between the two electrode layers E. The state of the film 103 is controlled by whether or not an electric field is applied to the electrodes on both sides of the liquid crystal layer L. The film 103 has two states: a transparent state and a dark state. In the transparent state, light from the light source 101 can be emitted, while in the dark state, light from the light source 101 cannot be emitted.
[0031] The liquid crystal layer L refers to the layer containing liquid crystal particles. Specifically, the liquid crystal particles are flattened, with their long axis parallel to the layer plane, and arranged in a spiral structure along the normal direction of the layer. The switching between the transparent and dark states of film 103 is achieved by applying an electric field to the electrodes E on both sides of the liquid crystal layer L. That is, when an electric field is applied, the liquid crystal particles are arranged perpendicular to the layer plane, and the light is blocked by the second polarizer 105 after passing through the first polarizer 104 and the liquid crystal layer L, and film 103 is in the dark state; when no electric field is applied, the liquid crystal particles are spirally arranged, and the light is redirected after passing through the first polarizer and the liquid crystal layer L and then passes through the second polarizer 105, and film 103 is in the transparent state.
[0032] In a non-limiting embodiment, the electrode layer E is an ITO layer (i.e., an "indium tin oxide" layer), a silver nanowire layer, a graphene layer, a carbon nanotube layer, or a layer made of other suitable materials. It should be noted that the ITO layer exhibits significant physical durability over time.
[0033] In one example, the liquid crystal layer L is a cholesteric liquid crystal layer, such as... Figure 4 As shown, cholesteric liquid crystals have molecules arranged in layers, stacked one after another. The long axes of the molecules in each layer are parallel to each other and parallel to the layer itself. The orientation of the long axes of the molecules differs between layers, rotating sequentially to the right or left by an angle. Overall, the molecular orientation forms a helical shape. Optical rotation and selectivity can be obtained using cholesteric liquid crystal layers.
[0034] The film 103 also includes a first polarizer 104 and a second polarizer 105 respectively disposed on both sides of the liquid crystal layer L, wherein the first polarizer 104 allows light to pass through along the X direction, and the second polarizer 105 allows light to pass through along the Y direction. For example, the first polarizer 104 is a vertical polarizer, and the second polarizer 105 is a horizontal polarizer. Of course, in other examples, the first polarizer 104 is a horizontal polarizer and the second polarizer 105 is a vertical polarizer; this application does not impose specific limitations. For the sake of simplicity, the following description uses the example of the first polarizer 104 being a vertical polarizer and the second polarizer 105 being a horizontal polarizer to illustrate this application.
[0035] Without applying an electric field, such as Figure 3B As shown, the liquid crystal particles exhibit a natural spiral state. The vertically polarized light entering through the first polarizer 104 gradually becomes horizontally polarized light when passing through the liquid crystal layer L, thus allowing it to pass through the second polarizer 105 and thus exhibiting a bright state.
[0036] When an electric field is applied, such as Figure 3A As shown, the liquid crystal particles are arranged perpendicular to the layer plane, that is, they change to be parallel to the direction of light propagation, as... Figure 4As shown, vertically polarized light entering through the first polarizer 104 is no longer deflected when passing through the liquid crystal layer. Since the first polarizer 104 and the second polarizer 105 have perpendicular polarization orientations, the polarization direction of the light is perpendicular to the direction of the second polarizer 105. Therefore, the light cannot pass smoothly through the second polarizer 105, resulting in a dark state where light cannot pass through. Because a cholesteric liquid crystal layer is used in conjunction with the polarizers, the light transmittance in the dark state is very low, reaching below 5%, or even below 1%. Therefore, a clear contrast between the dark and bright states can be formed.
[0037] In one example, such as Figure 5 As shown, the film 103 includes different regions A, and the light-transmitting and opaque states of each region can be independently controlled, thereby achieving pixelation control. By switching whether an electric field is applied to each region A, each region A can be switched between a dark state and a bright state, resulting in dynamic pixels with obvious light and dark contrast effects. According to this application, a compact structure can be obtained, and material costs can be reduced.
[0038] exist Figure 5 In the example shown, region A has a rectangular outer edge and is arranged in a matrix. In other examples, region A can also have any other suitable shape, such as triangles, squares, trapezoids, circles, ellipses, etc. Of course, different shapes can also be combined, and their arrangement does not have to be matrix-like, but can be arbitrarily adjusted as needed. Taking region A with a rectangular outer edge as an example, its side length is preferably between 0.01cm and 2cm, for example, 0.1-1cm. Small pixel size allows more pixels to be arranged within the area of the light guide plate 102, resulting in more combined pixel effects.
[0039] Specifically, at least one electrode layer L includes different regions A that can be activated independently, and are controlled separately by applying an electric field to each region A. It should be noted that if both layers of electrode layer E have regions A, then regions A on the two layers should be opposite each other.
[0040] In one example, such as Figure 5 As shown, adjacent regions A are separated by a gap B. Gap B is used for circuit wiring to allow for individual control of each region A. The size of gap B can be made at the micrometer level, making it invisible to the naked eye for better visual effect.
[0041] Specifically, gap B is formed by partially removing the electrode layer E. Removing the electrode layer at gap B can be achieved through processes such as laser etching to ensure both effectiveness and precision. In another example, the electrode layer E can also be formed through deposition, and gap B can be formed directly during the deposition process to simplify the procedure; this invention does not impose any specific limitations.
[0042] According to the light-emitting component of the present invention, pixelated illumination with high uniformity and high contrast between pixels can be obtained by separately controlling the liquid crystal layer in each region.
[0043] This application also provides a lighting device comprising at least one light-emitting component 100, wherein the at least one light-emitting component 100 is combined together to form an illumination beam or a signal beam.
[0044] The optical component 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used for one or more functions such as turn signals, brake lights, side marker lights, parking lights, reversing lights, daytime running lights, position lights, and grille lights, without particularly limiting the light function herein. These light-emitting components can also be designed for interior lighting, such as pattern lighting on a dashboard, or can be applied to doors, center console, or any other location. The present invention does not impose specific limitations in this regard.
[0045] This application also provides a vehicle having the aforementioned lighting device. The vehicle has the advantages of the aforementioned lighting device. The term "vehicle" as used herein can refer to any type of vehicle, such as a car, motorcycle, or any other mobile machine capable of carrying at least one passenger or used for transporting people or goods.
[0046] It should be understood that the light-emitting component according to the present invention can also be applied to any application requiring a light-emitting surface, other than vehicle applications, such as applications in the aviation and railway fields, for example, for lighting patterns in aircraft cockpits or train carriages. It can also be applied to advertising on billboards, storefronts, or within buildings, as well as in the fields of toys, decoration, or multimedia.
[0047] It will be understood that in this text, the terms “mono” and “integrated” are relative to “independent” or “separate”, meaning that a monolithic or integrated component exists as a single unit and does not include parts that are spatially independent or separate from each other. For example, the individual parts of a monolithic or integrated component may be formed simultaneously (e.g., molded) or they may be formed separately and then assembled together to form a single unit.
[0048] Although this disclosure has been described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the embodiments disclosed in the drawings are intended to illustrate preferred embodiments of this disclosure and should not be construed as limiting the disclosure. The dimensions in the drawings are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the disclosure.
[0049] While some embodiments of the general concept of this disclosure have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will understand that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general concept of this disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A light-emitting component (100), characterized in that, include: A light source (101) is configured to emit light; A light guide unit (102) is configured to receive and guide the light emitted by the light source (101) and uniformly emit the light from the light-emitting surface of the light guide unit (102); The membrane (103) is configured to be able to switch at least partially between a light-transmitting state and an opaque state.
2. The light-emitting component (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, The light guide unit (102) is a surface-emitting light guide plate, wherein the light guide plate extends in length along the X direction, in width along the Y direction, and in thickness along the Z direction.
3. The light-emitting component (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, The film (103) includes two electrodes (E) and a liquid crystal layer (L) disposed between the two electrodes (E), wherein the state of the film (103) is controlled by whether or not an electric field is applied to the electrodes on both sides of the liquid crystal layer (L).
4. The light-emitting component (100) according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The liquid crystal particles in the liquid crystal layer (L) are cholesteric liquid crystals.
5. The light-emitting component (100) according to claim 4, characterized in that, The film (103) further includes a first polarizer (104) and a second polarizer (105) respectively disposed on both sides of the liquid crystal layer (L), wherein the first polarizer (104) allows light to pass through along the X direction, and the second polarizer (105) allows light to pass through along the Y direction.
6. The light-emitting component (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that, The membrane (103) includes different regions (A), and the light transmittance and opacity of each region can be controlled independently of each other.
7. The light-emitting component (100) according to claim 6, characterized in that, Adjacent areas (A) are separated by a gap (B).
8. The light-emitting component (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The gap (B) is formed by removing the electrode layer (E).
9. A lighting device, characterized in that, Includes the light-emitting component according to any one of claims 1 to 8.
10. A vehicle, characterized in that, The vehicle includes a light-emitting component (100) according to any one of claims 1-8 or a lighting device according to claim 9.