Lighting Device with Grating Diaphragm for Adaptive Beam Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lighting devices for vehicle headlights lack the ability to adaptively control light distribution for different functions, such as low-beam and high-beam lighting, and struggle to create a sharp bright-dark boundary between illuminated and non-illuminated regions, due to limitations in light source and waveguide alignment and separation.
Innovation Solution
A lighting device comprising multiple semiconductor light sources and optical waveguides with grating-like optical diaphragms, where the light coupling-in surfaces are smaller than the light-emitting surfaces and arranged in a matrix, allowing for selective switching and varying brightness, and a transparent cover for mechanical stability and alignment, enabling precise light distribution control and separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the light coupling-in surface of the waveguide is made smaller than the light-emitting surface of the light source, then light distribution control and separation are improved, but alignment precision and manufacturing difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
A positioning element is introduced as an intermediary component between the light source and the waveguide. This positioning element includes a positioning protrusion that fits into a positioning recess, providing mechanical alignment guidance. The intermediary structure enables precise alignment of the waveguide's light coupling-in surface with the light source's light-emitting surface, resolving the contradiction between small coupling surface size and alignment precision requirements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple waveguides are arranged in a matrix-like manner with small coupling surfaces, then light separation and bright-dark boundary are improved, but device complexity and assembly difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple waveguides with their positioning elements are integrated into a single positioning structure that forms part of the housing assembly. The positioning elements are combined with the housing or mounting bracket, allowing simultaneous alignment of multiple waveguides in a matrix arrangement during a single assembly operation. This merging approach maintains the light separation benefits of multiple waveguides while reducing assembly complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning elements are pre-configured in the housing or mounting structure before assembly. The positioning protrusions and recesses are predetermined in the correct spatial relationships, so that when components are assembled, automatic alignment occurs without requiring complex adjustment procedures. This preliminary configuration of positioning features simplifies the assembly of multiple waveguides in matrix arrangement.
3Manufacturing precision
If a grating-like optical diaphragm is introduced to separate light coupling-in surfaces, then light distribution precision is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The grating-like optical diaphragm is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a light blocking element to prevent stray light, provides a mounting surface for the waveguides, and creates the necessary optical separation between adjacent waveguides. By combining these functions into a single component, the solution improves light distribution precision while minimizing the increase in device complexity that would result from using separate components for each function.
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
Enables adaptive light distribution for various functions like ADB, low-beam, and fog light with a sharp bright-dark boundary, reducing tolerance sensitivity and improving mechanical stability, while avoiding stray light and reflections.
Implementation Method 1
a grating-like optical diaphragm having grating cells is provided, which is arranged in the region of the light coupling-in surfaces of the waveguides, such that light coupling-in surfaces belonging to different waveguides are arranged in different grating cells of the grating-like optical diaphragm
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of optical waveguides (201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 210, 215), wherein the optical waveguides each have a light coupling-in surface and a light coupling-out surface
Data Source
AI summary
A lighting device may include: a plurality of light sources; and a plurality of waveguides; wherein the waveguides each have a light coupling-in surface and a light coupling-out surface; wherein the light coupling-in surfaces are respectively assigned a light-emitting surface of a light source, such that light emitted by the light-emitting surface of the light source impinges on the light coupling-in surface of the waveguide assigned thereto; wherein the light coupling-out surfaces of the waveguides are arranged in a matrix-like manner; wherein the light coupling-in surface of the respective waveguide is smaller than the light-emitting surface of the light source assigned to said waveguide, and a grating-like optical diaphragm having grating cells is provided, which is arranged in the region of the light coupling-in surfaces of the waveguides, such that light coupling-in surfaces belonging to different waveguides are arranged in different grating cells of the grating-like optical diaphragm.