Exterior-Facing LED Light Set for Vehicle Windshields
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current glass-mounted safety and protection lighting in vehicles suffers from reduced luminous intensity due to reflection and absorption characteristics of the glazing, leading to distracting and potentially dangerous reflective light patterns, and shrouding limits the viewing area.
Innovation Solution
An encapsulation-embedded exterior-facing light set system where high-powered LEDs are mounted externally on the glass glazing within molded pockets, with embedded wire guides and power cables, allowing for interchangeable light sources and eliminating the need for internal shrouding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If lighting is mounted on the innermost surface of the glass glazing, then the lighting can be integrated into the vehicle structure, but the luminous intensity is reduced due to reflection and absorption characteristics of the glazing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional mounting approach by placing the lighting assembly on the outermost surface of the glass glazing rather than the innermost surface. This inversion eliminates the harmful reflection and absorption effects of the glass on the light output, achieving higher luminous intensity while maintaining structural integration through the encapsulation molding that adheres to the exterior glass surface.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If shrouding is used to compensate for reflective light, then the reflective light is reduced, but the viewing area of the glazing is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the lighting function from the interior space and relocates it to the exterior surface of the glass glazing. By taking out the light sources and placing them outside the glass, the need for shrouding to block reflective light is eliminated, thereby preserving the full viewing area of the glazing while still achieving the desired reduction in harmful reflections through the external mounting configuration.
3Illumination intensity
If high-power light sources are used to shine through the glass, then the luminous intensity is improved, but the amount of area covered by the lighting arrangement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating high-power light sources in specific localized pockets on the exterior surface of the glass glazing, rather than distributing lighting across a large area. Each pocket contains focused LED modules that deliver high candela output in targeted directions, achieving superior illumination intensity without requiring extensive coverage area, thus maintaining a sleek and modern appearance.
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
This solution enhances candela output, reduces internal reflections, and provides a sleeker design by maintaining visibility while eliminating the need for shrouding, thus improving the effectiveness and safety of emergency vehicle lighting.
Implementation Method 1
a groove is sized, shaped, and arranged to receive a windshield of a vehicle such that the pockets are external to the vehicle
Implementation Method 2
light emitting diode (LED) and/or other lighting elements encapsulated/molded to the exterior of glass glazings
Data Source
AI summary
Certain example embodiments relate to encapsulation-embedded exterior-facing light sets for vehicles, and/or methods of making the same. This system includes a main body portion. Wire guides are embedded in, and located along a channel of, the main body portion. Pockets are formed in the main body portion. Removable light sources are located in the pockets. A power and/or data cable is fed through the wire guides and through the channel of the main body portion, and is operably connected to the light sources. A groove is shaped and arranged to receive a windshield of the safety and/or protection vehicle such that, when the groove receives the windshield and the windshield is installed in the vehicle, the pockets and the light sources are external to the vehicle. The light sources may be LED light sources, with each pocket receiving plural LEDs provided on a respective LED module and associated optical element(s).