Vehicle Illuminator Outer Lens Slats for Snow Melting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle illuminators using LEDs struggle to melt snow or frost on the outer lens due to low thermal diffusivity, leading to reduced illuminance during snowy conditions.
Innovation Solution
The illuminator design incorporates a reflective member, shade, projection lens, and an outer-lens member with slats having a reflective layer and heat-absorbing layer, where the light is reflected and absorbed to generate heat, which is then conducted to the outer lens to melt snow or frost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If LED is used as light source to achieve lower power consumption, then power consumption is reduced, but heat generation is insufficient to melt snow on the outer lens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful reflection of light from the outer lens surface back onto the lens itself. By positioning a reflective member inside the illuminator to redirect light that would otherwise be lost, the system generates heat on the outer lens surface to melt snow and frost, transforming wasted light into a beneficial heating effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies a heat-absorbing coating layer to the outer surface of the lens before operation. This preliminary preparation enables the lens surface to efficiently absorb incident light and convert it to heat, ensuring that snow and frost can be melted effectively even though LEDs generate less heat than traditional bulbs.
2Temperature
If light is reflected and absorbed by slats to generate heat, then snow melting capability is improved, but device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The outer lens serves multiple functions: it transmits light to provide illumination and simultaneously acts as a heat absorption surface to melt snow. The reflective member also serves dual purposes by directing light for both illumination and heat generation. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby limiting the increase in structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures, specifically combining the lens material with a heat-absorbing coating layer. This composite approach enables the lens to perform both optical transmission and thermal absorption functions, achieving snow melting capability without adding separate heating components that would increase structural complexity.
3Illumination intensity
If shade blocks certain beams of light, then light distribution is optimized, but less light reaches the outer lens for heat generation
Solution Approach 1:
The shade is designed to block specific beams of light locally rather than uniformly reducing all light. By selectively blocking certain angular ranges while allowing other beams to pass through, the shade optimizes light distribution for illumination while still permitting sufficient light to reach the outer lens for heat generation and snow melting.
Solution Approach 2:
The reflective member redirects light that would otherwise be blocked by the shade or miss the lens entirely. By introducing this additional optical path in a different spatial dimension, the system recovers light that would have been wasted, converting it into heat on the lens surface without compromising the shade's light distribution optimization.
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 configuration efficiently melts snow or frost on the outer lens, maintaining illuminance and ensuring clear visibility during snowy conditions.
Implementation Method 1
The reflective member is configured to generate reflected light by reflecting the illuminating light
Implementation Method 2
The heat-absorbing layer is disposed at the vehicle-lower-side surface of the slat
Implementation Method 3
The projection lens is configured to cast the illuminating light and the reflected light toward a vehicle front side of the vehicle
Implementation Method 4
The light-transmissive part is configured to transmit the illuminating light and the reflected light toward the vehicle front side
Implementation Method 5
The shade is configured to block a first beam of the illuminating light and a second beam of the reflected light
Data Source
AI summary
An illuminator for a vehicle includes a light-source unit, a reflective member, a shade, a projection lens, and an outer-lens member. The outer-lens member includes a light-transmissive part and a slat. The slat has a flat plate shape whose thicknesswise direction coincides with a vehicle top-bottom direction of the vehicle and extending in a vehicle widthwise direction of the vehicle. The slat includes a slope inclining toward a vehicle lower side while extending toward the vehicle front side, a reflective layer disposed at a vehicle-upper-side surface of the slat, and a heat-absorbing layer disposed at the vehicle-lower-side surface of the slat.