Optical module and vehicle lamp

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of automobile lighting, and discloses an optical module and an automobile lamp. The optical module comprises a plurality of light sources, a plurality of primary optical elements and a light emitting element; each primary optical element is matched with at least one light source to form a light-emitting assembly, and the light-in surface of the light-out element comprises a sub-light-in surface arranged corresponding to the light-emitting assembly; the light-emitting elements are arranged in the light-emitting direction of the light-emitting assemblies, the light-emitting assemblies are sequentially arranged from the overall optical axis of the optical module to the two sides, and the included angle between the overall optical axis and the sub-optical axis of the light-emitting assemblies is larger when the distance between the sub-optical axis of the light-emitting assemblies is larger when the distance between the sub-optical axis of the light-emitting assemblies is larger when the distance between the sub-optical axis and the overall optical axis is larger. According to the utility model, the thickness of the lens can be reduced to shorten the production period under the condition of ensuring the lighting effect, and the possibility of stray light can be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of automotive lighting technology, specifically to an optical module. It also relates to a vehicle lamp. Background Technology

[0002] An optical module refers to a device or unit that can achieve one or more vehicle lighting functions, either alone or in combination.

[0003] In existing technologies, optical modules for both low beam and high beam typically include primary optical elements (such as mirrors or transparent light guides), lenses, or structures with functions similar to lenses as the final optical elements for light emission.

[0004] To meet the needs of narrow and elongated headlights, LED high and low beam modules typically use cylindrical or near-cylindrical lenses (light-emitting elements) with incident and emitting surfaces perpendicular to the collimating direction of light to achieve high and low beam illumination. Compared to high beams, low beams have a greater need for beam pattern broadening. In traditional designs, this part of the lens in the optical cavity responsible for beam pattern broadening is often thicker, resulting in longer curing times during injection molding, higher time costs, and lower production efficiency. Furthermore, the thickness of this part of the lens creates a significant drop at the junction of the incident and adjacent incident surfaces, forming a step that causes stray light to escape from the side of this part of the lens.

[0005] Therefore, how to make the lenses in the optical module thinner and lighter to shorten the production cycle and reduce stray light is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved by those skilled in the art. Utility Model Content

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the problem of thick lenses responsible for beam pattern broadening in the existing technology, and to provide an optical module with an optical cavity structure in which the light-incident surface of the lens is stepless. Compared with the traditional solution where the light-incident surface of the lens is stepped, its beam pattern can achieve better performance in terms of shape, intensity, position and broadening. At the same time, it can make the lens thinner and lighter, and improve production efficiency.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides an optical module, including multiple light sources, multiple primary optical elements, and light-emitting elements; each primary optical element is matched with at least one of the light sources to form a light-emitting component, and the light-incident surface of the light-emitting element includes a sub-light-incident surface corresponding to the light-emitting component; the light-emitting element is disposed in the light-emitting direction of the light-emitting component, and the light-emitting components are arranged sequentially on both sides of the overall optical axis of the optical module, and the angle between the sub-optical axis of the light-emitting component and the overall optical axis is larger the further away from the overall optical axis.

[0008] Preferably, the diffusion coefficient of the sub-incident surface is greater the further away from the overall optical axis.

[0009] Preferably, a plurality of the light-emitting components are arranged sequentially along a first direction, the sub-incident surface is adapted to converge and collimate the light emitted by the light-emitting components in the first direction, and the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element is adapted to converge and collimate the light emitted by the light-emitting components in a second direction, wherein the first direction is perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the second direction.

[0010] Preferably, the arrangement direction of the light source is consistent with or substantially consistent with the extension direction of the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element.

[0011] Preferably, the light source is disposed on a circuit board, and the circuit board is inclined upward relative to the horizontal plane containing the overall optical axis of the optical module.

[0012] Preferably, the primary optical element includes a mirror or a condenser.

[0013] Preferably, the plurality of primary optical elements are formed into a single structure.

[0014] Preferably, the light-emitting element includes an inner lens and an outer lens, with a spacer cavity formed between the inner lens and the outer lens.

[0015] Preferably, the thickness of the inner lens is 3mm to 8mm.

[0016] Through the above technical solution, a primary optical element and at least one light source are matched to form a light-emitting component. The light-emitting components are arranged sequentially on both sides of the overall optical axis of the light-emitting element. The further away the light-emitting component is from the overall optical axis, the larger the angle between the sub-optical axis and the overall optical axis. This allows the direction of the emitted sub-beams to be adjusted by the light-emitting components, which can partially replace the adjustment of the sub-beam direction by the incident light surface. This ensures that the overall beam formed by several sub-beams diffuses from both sides of the overall optical axis, thereby reducing the requirement for the refractive power of the incident light surface, resulting in a lower curvature of the incident light surface. This leads to the thinning of the light-emitting element and ultimately shortens the production cycle.

[0017] The second aspect of this utility model provides a vehicle lamp, including the optical module described in any one of the above technical solutions.

[0018] Through the above technical solutions, since the vehicle lamp provided by the second aspect of this utility model has the optical module described in any one of the above technical solutions, it also has the technical effects brought about by the above optical module solution. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the optical module of this utility model;

[0020] Figure 2 It is the optical path diagram of stray light generated by optical modules in conventional technology;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the light-emitting element in an optical module of conventional technology;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the inner lens in the light-emitting element of this utility model;

[0023] Figure 5 This is the optical path diagram of the optical module of this utility model;

[0024] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the optical module of this utility model;

[0025] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the light source, circuit board, and light-emitting element in the optical module of this utility model;

[0026] Figure 8 This is a structural schematic diagram of a specific embodiment of the light source and circuit board of this utility model.

[0027] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0028] 1. Light source; 2. Primary optical element; 3. Light emitting element; 31. Inner lens; 311. Sub-incident light surface; 32. Outer lens; 33. Spacer cavity; 4. Circuit board; a. Secondary optical element; b. Light entrance section. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The specific embodiments of this utility model will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only for illustration and explanation of this utility model. The protection scope of this utility model is not limited to the specific embodiments described below, and the orientations "front", "rear", "left", "right", "up" and "down" described below are all established with the vehicle itself as a reference after the optical module is installed on the vehicle.

[0030] This utility model provides an optical module, such as Figures 1 to 8As shown, it includes a light source 1, a primary optical element 2, and a light-emitting element 3. Multiple light sources 1 are disposed on the circuit board 4. Multiple primary optical elements 2 are also disposed, each with at least one matched light source 1 to form a light-emitting component. That is, each primary optical element 2 and one or more matched light sources 1 form a light-emitting component. The light-emitting element 3 has multiple sub-light-incident surfaces 311 on its light-incident surface. Each sub-light-incident surface 311 is matched with at least one light-emitting component. The light-emitting element 3 is disposed in the light-emitting direction of the light-emitting component, meaning that the light beam emitted by the light-emitting component enters the light-emitting element 3 through the sub-light-incident surface 311.

[0031] Several light beams emitted by the light-emitting components pass through the light-emitting element 3 and then exit. The collection of sub-beams emitted by the light-emitting components is considered as the overall beam. Each of the light-emitting components has a sub-optical axis, which is arranged sequentially. This allows the sub-beams emitted by the light-emitting components to pass through the light-emitting element 3 and then exit to form the overall beam. At the same time, the optical module has an overall optical axis. The farther the light-emitting component is from the overall optical axis, the larger the angle between its sub-optical axis and the overall optical axis. Compared to the fact that the sub-optical axes of the light-emitting components are parallel to the overall optical axis or that the sub-optical axes have the same angle with the overall optical axis, the aforementioned angle setting between the sub-optical axes and the overall optical axis can partially replace the adjustment of the sub-beam direction of the light-emitting element 3 by adjusting the direction of the emitted sub-beams through the light-emitting components. This allows the overall beam formed by the several sub-beams to diffuse from both sides of the overall optical axis, thereby reducing the requirements for the refractive power of the light-emitting surface, reducing the curvature of the light-emitting surface, and thus achieving the thinning of the light-emitting element 3, ultimately reducing costs and shortening the production cycle.

[0032] It should be noted that the direction of the overall optical axis mentioned above is related to the direction of the sub-optical axis, such as... Figure 5 As shown, taking the light-emitting element 3 with 5 sub-light-incident surfaces 311 on its light-incident surface as an example, if the refraction angles of the sub-beams of the 5 sub-light-incident surfaces 311 from left to right are 20° to the right, 10° to the right, no left or right deflection, 10° to the left, and 20° to the left, respectively, then the overall optical axis position can be approximated as the sub-optical axis located in the middle; if the refraction angles of the sub-beams of the 5 sub-light-incident surfaces 311 from left to right are 20° to the right, 10° to the right, no left or right deflection, 5° to the left, and 10° to the left, respectively, then the overall optical axis position is to the right compared to the sub-optical axis located in the middle; if the refraction angles of the sub-beams of the 5 sub-light-incident surfaces 311 from left to right are 10° to the right, 5° to the right, no left or right deflection, 10° to the left, and 20° to the left, respectively, then the overall optical axis position is to the left compared to the sub-optical axis located in the middle.

[0033] In addition, such as Figure 5As shown, taking an example where the light-emitting element 3 has 5 sub-light-incident surfaces 311 on its light-incident surface, the larger the angle between the sub-optical axis of the light-emitting component and the overall optical axis is, the further away from the overall optical axis, the larger the angle between the sub-optical axis and the overall optical axis. This means that, with the overall optical axis as the reference, the angle between the sub-optical axis to the right and the overall optical axis is larger; with the overall optical axis as the reference, the angle between the sub-optical axis to the left and the overall optical axis is larger. For example, the angles between the 5 sub-optical axes from left to right and the overall optical axis are 20°, 10°, 0°, 10°, and 20°, respectively; the angles between the 5 sub-optical axes from left to right and the overall optical axis are 20°, 10°, 0°, 5°, and 10°, respectively; and the angles between the 5 sub-optical axes from left to right and the overall optical axis are 10°, 5°, 0°, 10°, and 20°, respectively.

[0034] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 The images shown depict optical modules in related technologies that use traditional lenses as the light-incident portion b of the secondary optical element a. Since the light beam directly strikes the secondary optical element a, to achieve sufficient beam broadening, the sub-beam needs to be deflected at a larger angle after passing through the light-incident portion b. This requires the light-incident portion b of the secondary optical element a to have a larger curvature to improve its refractive power, resulting in a thicker light-incident portion b. Consequently, the curing time required during injection molding is longer, leading to higher time costs and lower production efficiency. Furthermore, when the light-incident portion b is thicker, the connections between the various sub-light-incident surfaces on the light-incident portion will exhibit issues such as… Figure 3 The stepped structure shown causes light rays from the incident surface of the incident light to exit from the stepped structure, producing... Figure 2 The stray light shown.

[0035] Specifically, such as Figure 3 As shown, in the related technology, a traditional lens is used as the secondary optical element a. The maximum thickness of the light-incident part b of the secondary optical element a is L1, and the minimum thickness of the light-incident part b is L3. According to the test, the thickness range of the light-incident part b is 5mm to 16.5mm. Taking the thickness L2 of the sub-light-incident part b1 of the light-incident part b as 11mm and the thickness L3 of the connection between the sub-light-incident part b2 adjacent to the sub-light-incident part b1 as 5mm, the drop value between the sub-light-incident surface of the sub-light-incident part b1 and the connection point will reach 6mm, thereby creating a large step between the sub-light-incident part b1 and the sub-light-incident part b2, which will easily generate stray light.

[0036] like Figure 4As shown, in a specific embodiment of this utility model, each light-emitting component is matched with a corresponding sub-incident surface 311. Several light-emitting components are arranged sequentially on both sides of the overall optical axis of the optical module. The further away the light-emitting component is from the overall optical axis, the larger the angle between the sub-optical axis and the overall optical axis. Therefore, when the sub-beam is incident on the sub-incident surface 311, there is already a certain angle between it and the overall optical axis. Thus, the sub-incident surface 311 only needs to refract the light at a small angle to meet the light pattern requirements. This means that the sub-incident surface 311 does not need a large curvature to increase the refractive index, and the performance of the light pattern in terms of shape, intensity, position and broadening can be guaranteed. Therefore, under the premise that the material of the light-emitting element 3 remains unchanged, the degree of buckling of the sub-incident surface 311 can be made lower, and the height of the sub-incident surface 311 can be made smaller, thereby reducing the thickness of the light-emitting part that makes up the light-emitting element 3, and finally achieving the thinning of the light-emitting element 3. Let the two adjacent sub-incident surfaces 311 be sub-incident surface A and sub-incident surface B respectively. The structure of a specific embodiment of this utility model can make the drop difference between sub-incident surface A and sub-incident surface B smaller, so that the light-incident surface of the light-emitting element 3 is more continuous and smooth, thereby reducing the situation where large steps are generated between adjacent sub-incident surfaces, and reducing the possibility of stray light generated by the optical module.

[0037] like Figure 4 As shown, the light-emitting element 3 can be a single integrated structure. Specifically, the light-emitting element 3 can be a single-piece lens. The incident surface of the single-piece lens can perform unidirectional collimation of the light beam. Using a single-piece lens as the light-emitting element 3 makes assembly simple and convenient. The light-emitting element 3 can also be composed of an inner lens 31 and an outer lens 32, with a spacer cavity 33 formed between the inner lens 31 and the outer lens 32. The inner lens 31 is located on the side closer to the primary optical element 2, and the side of the inner lens 31 closer to the primary optical element 2 is the incident surface, which can perform unidirectional collimation of the light beam. The outer lens 32 is located on the side of the inner lens 31 away from the primary optical element 2, and the side of the outer lens 32 away from the primary optical element 2 is the light-emitting surface. The light-emitting element 3 is composed of an inner lens 31 and an outer lens 32. Both the inner lens 31 and the outer lens 32 are relatively thin and light. They can be produced simultaneously, and the overall injection molding and curing time is shorter than that of a thicker one-piece lens, which can save production time. It is also convenient to adjust the shape, intensity, position and widening of the light pattern by using the inner lens 31 and the outer lens 32 with different curvatures to achieve the desired lighting effect.

[0038] At the same time, such as Figure 4 As shown, the thickness of the light-emitting element 3 of the optical module in this utility model is set to 3mm to 8mm. That is to say, the drop value at the connection between the sub-incident surface A and the sub-incident surface B can be maintained within 5mm, so that it is not easy to form a step on the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element 3, and thus it is not easy to generate stray light.

[0039] like Figures 5 to 7 As shown, the primary optical element 2 can be a reflector or a condenser. Both the reflector and the condenser can transmit the light emitted by the light source 1 to the light-incident surface of the light-emitting element 3. Preferably, an ellipsoidal or parabolic reflector is used so that the corresponding sub-light-incident surface 311 is also covered by the light-incident surface 311 through the light-out port of the reflector, making it less likely for stray light to be generated between two adjacent sub-light-incident surfaces 311 due to light crosstalk. In a specific embodiment of this utility model, several primary optical elements 2 are formed into an integral structure, which can shorten the assembly time of the optical module and also facilitate the simultaneous matching of the positions of multiple sets of primary optical elements 2, light source 1, and light-emitting element 3 during assembly.

[0040] like Figure 5 As shown, to ensure that the emitted beam pattern meets the requirements, the diffusion coefficient of the sub-incident surface 311 of the light-emitting element 3 can increase with the increase of the distance from the overall optical axis. It should be noted that the diffusion coefficient in this invention is used to characterize the deflection capability of the sub-incident surface 311. Specifically, the larger the diffusion coefficient of the sub-incident surface 311, the larger the deflection angle of the light rays incident on it. See [reference needed]. Figure 5 In the optical path diagram, the angle between the sub-optical axis and the overall optical axis is larger the further away from the overall optical axis. Specifically, taking the example of making the light pattern have sufficient lateral widening, the sub-incident surface 311 located to the left of the overall optical axis has a stronger ability to deflect the sub-beam to the right, and the sub-incident surface 311 located to the right of the overall optical axis has a stronger ability to deflect the sub-beam to the left, so that the light pattern can achieve better widening.

[0041] like Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 5 As shown, the structure of the optical module in this utility model is equivalent to rotating the optical cavity composed of the light source 1, primary optical element 2 and light-emitting element 3 incident surfaces in the related technology laterally around the center position of the light-emitting element 3 incident surface. At the same time, by adjusting the diffusion coefficient of the sub-incident surface 311 of the light-emitting element 3, its light pattern can achieve the same performance in terms of shape, intensity, position and broadening. This makes the light-emitting element 3 in the optical module thinner and lighter, shortening the production cycle while reducing the possibility of stray light caused by the step on the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element 3.

[0042] like Figure 5 and Figure 6As shown, several light-emitting components are arranged along the first direction from both sides of the overall optical axis of the optical module. The light-incident surface 311 is adapted to collimate and converge the light emitted by the light-emitting components in the first direction, while the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element 3 is adapted to collimate and converge the light emitted by the light-emitting components in the second direction. At the same time, the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular or approximately perpendicular, so that the formed light pattern can meet the requirements.

[0043] Specifically, the first direction can be set to horizontal, with several sub-optical axes arranged horizontally. In this case, the optical module has a rectangular shape with its long side horizontal and short side vertical, achieving a narrow opening in the vertical direction. The light-incident surface of the light-emitting element 3 can collimate and converge the light in the horizontal direction, while the light-emitting surface can collimate and converge the light in the vertical direction. Alternatively, the first direction can be set to vertical, with several sub-optical axes arranged vertically. In this case, the optical module also has a rectangular shape with its long side vertical and short side horizontal. The light-incident surface of the light-emitting element 3 collimates and converges the light in the vertical direction, while the light-emitting surface collimates and converges the light in the horizontal direction. The design of the light-incident and light-emitting surfaces is based on the desired light pattern. Using these two examples, it can be seen that the optical module can have various different layout methods. While ensuring the lighting effect, different layout methods can be adopted according to different overall appearances, making it both aesthetically pleasing and practical. Figure 8 As shown, several light sources 1 are disposed on the circuit board 4, and the light sources 1 are electrically connected to the circuit board 4. The arrangement direction of the light sources 1 is consistent with or substantially consistent with the extension direction of the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element 3. Specifically, the light sources 1 are arranged along a straight line, which is parallel or approximately parallel to the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element 3, and the positions of the light sources 1 and the corresponding sub-incident surfaces 311 are matched. On the one hand, after the light sources 1 are assembled on the circuit board 4, this structure facilitates the matching of the light-emitting element 3 and the light sources 1 during assembly, which can improve assembly efficiency; on the other hand, the straight line in which the light sources 1 are arranged is parallel or approximately parallel to the light-emitting surface, and the light sources 1 and the sub-incident surfaces 311 correspond one-to-one, which makes the optical path of the light emitted by different light sources 1 to the light-emitting surface of the light-emitting element 3 approximately the same, thereby reducing the overall brightness difference of the beam.

[0044] like Figure 7 As shown, the circuit board 4 is tilted upward relative to the horizontal plane where the overall optical axis is located, so that the light-emitting surface of the light source 1 is closer to the primary optical element 2. The light emitted from the light source 1 can be received by the primary optical element 2 more, and then transmitted to the light-emitting element 3 after passing through the primary optical element 2, thereby improving the light efficiency and increasing the brightness value of the formed light pattern.

[0045] In summary, the optical module disclosed in this utility model has the following advantages: each primary optical element 2 has at least one matching light source 1 to form a light-emitting component. The primary optical element 2 transmits the light emitted by the light source 1 to the sub-incident surface 311 of the light-emitting element 3. The light-emitting components are arranged sequentially on both sides of the overall optical axis of the optical module, and the angle between the sub-optical axis of the light-emitting component and the overall optical axis is larger the further away from the overall optical axis. The diffusion coefficient of the sub-incident surface 311 of the light-emitting element 3 is larger the further away from the overall optical axis. The sub-incident surface 311 of the light-emitting element 3 refracts the light beam, and each sub-beam is emitted towards the area to be illuminated.

[0046] By setting the angle between the sub-optical axis and the overall optical axis as described above, the light-emitting component can adjust the direction of the emitted sub-beams to partially replace the adjustment of the sub-beam direction on the incident light surface. This allows the overall beam formed by several sub-beams to diffuse from both sides of the overall optical axis, thereby reducing the refractive power requirement of the incident light surface of the light-emitting element 3. This results in a lower curvature of the incident light surface, enabling the light-emitting element 3 to be thinner and lighter, and ultimately shortening the production cycle. Furthermore, because the curvature of the incident light surface is lower, the height of the incident light surface is smaller, which reduces the drop between the sub-incident light surface and the junction with adjacent sub-incident light surfaces, making it less likely to form steps and effectively preventing stray light from being emitted from the steps.

[0047] The second aspect of this utility model provides a vehicle lamp that includes the optical module in the above-mentioned technical solution, and therefore also has all the technical effects of the optical module in the above-mentioned technical solution.

[0048] The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments. Within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention, various simple modifications can be made to the technical solution of the present invention, and these simple modifications all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0049] It should also be noted that the various specific technical features described in the above embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. To avoid unnecessary repetition, this utility model will not describe the various possible combinations separately.

[0050] Furthermore, various different embodiments of this utility model can be combined in any way, as long as they do not violate the spirit of this utility model, they should also be regarded as the content disclosed by this utility model.

Claims

1. An optical module, characterized by comprising: The optical module comprises a plurality of light sources (1), a plurality of primary optical elements (2) and a light-out element (3); Each of the primary optical elements (2) is matched with at least one of the light sources (1) to form a light-emitting assembly, and the light-in surface of the light-out element (3) comprises a sub light-in surface (311) arranged correspondingly to the light-emitting assembly; The light-out element (3) is arranged in the light-out direction of the light-emitting assembly, the light-emitting assemblies are arranged in sequence from both sides of the overall optical axis of the optical module, and the angle between the sub optical axis of the light-emitting assembly farther away from the overall optical axis and the overall optical axis is larger.

2. The optical module according to claim 1, wherein The farther the sub light-in surface (311) is from the overall optical axis, the larger the diffusion coefficient is.

3. The optical module according to claim 2, wherein A plurality of the light-emitting assemblies are arranged in sequence along a first direction, the sub light-in surface (311) is adapted to converge and collimate the light emitted by the light-emitting assembly in the first direction, and the light-out surface of the light-out element (3) is adapted to converge and collimate the light emitted by the light-emitting assembly in a second direction, the first direction being perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the second direction.

4. The optical module according to claim 3, wherein The arrangement direction of the light sources (1) is consistent or substantially consistent with the extension direction of the light-out surface of the light-out element (3).

5. The optical module according to claim 4, wherein The light sources (1) are arranged on a circuit board (4), and the circuit board (4) is arranged to be inclined upward relative to the horizontal plane in which the overall optical axis of the optical module is located.

6. The optical module according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The primary optical elements (2) comprise reflectors or light concentrators.

7. The optical module according to claim 6, wherein A plurality of the primary optical elements (2) are formed as an integral structure.

8. The optical module according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The light-out element (3) comprises an inner lens (31) and an outer lens (32), and a spacing cavity is formed between the inner lens (31) and the outer lens (32).

9. The optical module according to claim 8, wherein The thickness of the inner lens (31) is 3-8 mm.

10. A vehicle lamp characterized by The optical module comprises the optical module according to any one of claims 1-9.

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