Elliptical Light Guide for Compact Vehicle Lighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle lighting and signaling devices with light guides suffer from inefficiencies and bulkiness, leading to reduced light beam effectiveness and high manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A compact lighting and signaling device featuring a light guide made from transparent materials like polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate, with an elliptical reflection face and a focal point located on the exit face, optimizing light propagation through internal reflection and refraction to enhance light output and reduce production costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If multiple lighting functions are combined within a single lighting device using several light guides, then the electrical wiring is simplified, but the device becomes bulky and expensive to design
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple lighting functions into a single integrated lighting device that uses one light source and one light guide structure. The reflector element with its specific geometric configuration enables multiple lighting patterns (main beam, cornering light, fog light) to be generated from this unified structure, eliminating the need for separate light guides for each function and thereby reducing device volume while maintaining wiring simplification benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The lighting device achieves multi-functionality through a universal light guide structure with a reflector element that can generate multiple lighting patterns. By adjusting the activation of different light-emitting regions of the light source and utilizing the reflector's geometric properties, the same physical structure performs multiple lighting functions, reducing the need for separate dedicated components
2Device complexity
If multiple light guides are used to achieve multiple lighting functions, then wiring is simplified, but light beam effectiveness and efficiency are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple lighting functions into a single light guide structure with a reflector, eliminating the light loss that occurs at multiple interfaces between separate light guides. The unified structure allows light to propagate through a single continuous medium, maintaining higher intensity and efficiency while still achieving wiring simplification through the integrated design
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates the intermediate coupling interfaces between multiple light guides that cause light loss. By using a single continuous light guide structure with an integrated reflector element, the design removes the problematic interfaces while maintaining the ability to produce multiple lighting patterns through selective activation of different light-emitting regions
3Device complexity
If several light guides with multiple functions are combined, then wiring is simplified, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple lighting functions into a single integrated lighting device with one light source and one light guide structure containing a reflector element. This consolidation reduces the number of separate components that need to be manufactured, assembled, and wired, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing costs while maintaining the wiring simplification benefits of multi-function integration
Solution Approach 2:
The lighting device achieves multi-functionality through a universal integrated structure that can perform multiple lighting functions. This universal design reduces manufacturing complexity by eliminating the need to produce and assemble multiple separate light guides, each optimized for a specific function, thereby reducing overall manufacturing costs while maintaining simplified wiring
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution improves light beam efficiency and compactness while lowering manufacturing costs, achieving a more effective and cost-efficient lighting solution for vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
a light guide (N) formed by a sheet (1) of guide material... in which light rays from the light source (9) propagate by reflections
Implementation Method 2
with an elliptical reflection face and a focal point located on the exit face, optimizing light propagation through internal reflection and refraction
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4A~4B
AI summary
The invention relates to a lighting and/or signaling device (11) and a light ray guide (N) formed by a guide sheet (1) comprising a light inlet face (4), a light outlet face (3) and a reflection face (2) with a rear elliptical profile suitable for ensuring reflection of light rays entering the sheet (1) through the light inlet face (4) towards a focal point (F) located at the level of the light outlet face (3) of said sheet (1).