LED Indicating Device Light Guide Matrix for Vehicle Instrument Clusters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current LED indicating devices in vehicle instrument clusters face challenges in providing a continuous, homogeneous backlit graphic area with varying light intensity and color, as well as accurately representing non-straight bar-graphs without light leakage, which affects visual perception of measurements.
Innovation Solution
An LED indicating device featuring a light guide with a matrix of light-blocking material and embedded light-permeable elements that extend from the LED sources to the rear surface, allowing for controlled power supply and independent switching of LEDs to create continuous lighting effects and distinct bright points, enabling flexible design and accurate measurement representation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If screens are reduced in height and thickness to eliminate segmentation, then continuous light bar is achieved, but light leakage from lit segments to dark areas occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces light-blocking screens positioned between adjacent LED cavities to prevent light leakage. These screens act as intermediaries that block harmful light while allowing the light bar to appear continuous from the front view, as the screens are positioned to not interrupt the overall visual continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The light-blocking screens are strategically positioned only in specific locations where light leakage would occur between adjacent cavities, rather than blocking the entire light path. This localized approach maintains continuous illumination in the visible area while preventing light leakage in the gaps between LEDs.
2Measurement precision
If screens are maintained to prevent light leakage, then accurate measurement perception is achieved, but segmented light appearance results
Solution Approach 1:
Light-blocking screens are introduced as intermediary elements positioned between adjacent LED cavities. These screens prevent light leakage from lit segments to dark areas, ensuring accurate measurement indication, while their strategic placement maintains the visual continuity of the light bar from the front.
Solution Approach 2:
The screens are applied locally only where needed to prevent light leakage between cavities, rather than uniformly across the entire structure. This localized screening approach preserves the continuous appearance of the light bar while providing precise measurement indication.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple LED colors are used to create distinct bright points, then visual differentiation is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a control unit that can dynamically control the intensity and activation of LEDs with different color characteristics. By using LEDs with varying forward voltage drops and color temperatures, the system can create distinct bright points and visual effects through dynamic control rather than requiring physically separate LED types for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes LEDs with different electrical parameters (forward voltage, color temperature) to achieve color variation and visual differentiation. The control unit adjusts operating parameters such as current and pulse width modulation to exploit these parameter differences, creating distinct visual effects without increasing the physical number of LED types.
4Adaptability or versatility
If curved bar-graph shapes are implemented, then design flexibility is improved, but manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the bar-graph into multiple discrete LED cavities arranged along the desired curved path. Each cavity is a separate, manufacturable unit that can be independently produced and then assembled to form the curved configuration. This segmentation allows standard manufacturing processes to be used for each segment while achieving complex overall shapes.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from planar, flat bar-graph designs to three-dimensional curved arrangements by positioning LED cavities in spatial configurations that follow curved paths. This dimensional approach allows curved shapes to be achieved through spatial arrangement of standard components rather than requiring complex curved manufacturing processes.
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 provides a cost-effective means to achieve continuous, homogeneous lighting with varying intensity and color, enhancing the visual representation of measurements and allowing for flexible design in vehicle instrument clusters, including non-straight bar-graphs and graphic areas with clear contours.
Implementation Method 1
a light guide (20) interposed between said LED sources (11) and said rear surface (13)
Implementation Method 2
The body (20) has a matrix (23) made of a light impermeable material
Data Source
AI summary
An LED indicating device, in particular for a vehicle instrument cluster, has a plate provided with at least one light permeable portion adapted to be illuminated by a plurality of LED sources arranged in a position spaced apart from such a rear surface of such a light permeable portion; the device has a body which is arranged between the LED sources and the rear surface of the light permeable portion and has a first surface facing the LED sources and a second surface facing the rear surface; the body consists of a matrix made of a light impermeable material and of a plurality of light permeable elements, which are embedded in the matrix in positions spaced apart from one another and continuously extend from the first surface to the second surface.