Patent Grant
9688188
This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0067889 filed on Jul. 8, 2011 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. 119, the contents of which in its entirety are herein incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive lamp and a method and system for controlling the same, and more particularly, to an automotive lamp capable of informing an ambient vehicle approaching from one side behind the vehicle of a vehicle state by irradiating light of a road pattern indicating the vehicle state to an area behind the vehicle, and a method for controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, vehicles includes various lamps having lighting functions for enabling a driver to easily see objects around the vehicle when driving at night and a signaling function for informing drivers of other vehicles or pedestrians about the driver's intentions. For example, a head lamp and a fog lamp are used to provide lighting functions, and blinkers, reversing lamps, stop lamps and side markers are used to provide signaling functions.
A reversing lamp is turned on which a vehicle is shifted into reverse to inform other drivers that the vehicle will be backing up so that other drivers or pedestrians can make preparations. In this case, since the reversing (backup) lamp is installed on the rear side of the vehicle, it is difficult for a vehicle approaching from a left or right side behind the vehicle to see the reversing lamp. Accordingly, accidents due to failing to recognize the reverse movement of the vehicle may occur.
Further, when a driver opens a door of the vehicle and gets out of the vehicle, another vehicle approaching from one side in front of the vehicle can see the driver getting out of the vehicle, whereas it is difficult for another vehicle approaching from one side behind the vehicle to see that the driver is getting out of the vehicle.
Accordingly, there is a demand for a system and method enabling other vehicles to easily see a situation where a vehicle is reversing or a door is opened.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
In view of the above, the present invention provides an automotive lamp capable of informing an ambient vehicle approaching from one side behind the vehicle of a vehicle particular state by irradiating light of a road pattern indicating the vehicle state to an area behind the vehicle, and a method for controlling the same.
The present invention also provides an automotive lamp capable of preventing occurrence of a vehicle accident by informing other vehicles of a vehicle state (e.g., backing up of the vehicle and opening of a door) through a road pattern formed by light irradiated to an area behind the vehicle, and a method for controlling the same.
The present invention also provides an automotive lamp configured to irradiate light forming a road pattern indicating a vehicle state and irradiate light forming a road pattern indicating a dangerous factor (situation) to an area behind the vehicle, and a method for controlling the same.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automotive lamp, comprising: a detection unit configured to detect a vehicle state; and lamp units which irradiate light in the form of a road pattern indicating the vehicle state to an area in front of or behind a vehicle.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling an automotive lamp, comprising: detecting a vehicle state; and irradiating light forming a road pattern indicating the vehicle state to an area in front of or behind a vehicle.
The above and other aspects and features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention will only be defined by the appended claims. Throughout the specification, like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.
In some exemplary embodiments, well-known steps, structures and techniques will not be described in detail to avoid obscuring the invention.
It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, combustion, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived from resources other than petroleum).
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to plan and cross-section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments of the invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, exemplary embodiments of the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. In the drawings, respective components may be enlarged or reduced in size for convenience of explanation.
Hereinafter, an automotive lamp and a method for controlling the automotive lamp in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The detection unit 100 may detect a vehicle state of the vehicle 10. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle state may include a reverse idle state (i.e., a state where the vehicle 10 is stopped, but a reverse shift stage is selected), a reverse state, a door open state and the like. However, it is merely one example to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and it is not limited thereto. The detection unit 100 may detect various states where a vehicle accident between the vehicle 10 and an ambient vehicle approaching from one side behind the vehicle 10 is likely to occur.
Further, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the reverse state may include a reverse (backup) movement due to selection of a reverse shift stage, a reverse movement due to an external factor and the like. The reverse movement due to an external factor may include a case where the vehicle 10 is pulled downward on an inclined road, and the like.
Each of the lamp units 200 may be installed on one rear side of the vehicle 10 and irradiate light in the form of a road pattern indicating the vehicle state according to the detection results of the detection unit 100. For example, as shown in
When the vehicle 10 is backing up/reversing, the reversing lamp 320 is turned on to inform an ambient vehicle approaching from behind the vehicle 10 of the reverse movement, thereby allowing a driver of the ambient vehicle to make preparations for the reverse movement of the vehicle 10. In this case, the ambient vehicle approaching behind the vehicle 10 can see the reversing lamp 320 of the vehicle 10 and make preparations accordingly. However, since an ambient vehicle approaching from a left or right side behind the vehicle 10 cannot easily see the reversing lamp 320, a vehicle accident may still occur if the vehicle implemented with the conventional lamp designs.
Accordingly, the lamp units 200 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is configured to irradiate light in the form of a road pattern indicating a reverse state of the vehicle 10 together with the reversing lamp 320 when the vehicle 10 is backing up, thereby allowing not only an ambient vehicle approaching from behind the vehicle 10, but also an ambient vehicle approaching from a left or right side from behind the vehicle 10 to easily see the reverse state of the vehicle 10 due to the road pattern and make preparations accordingly.
Each of the lamp units 200 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a first lamp unit 210 and a second lamp unit 220. The first lamp unit 210 may include a plurality of light source parts 211 to 215. By adjusting the size, installation angle and focal length of each of the light source parts 211 to 215, it is possible to irradiate light of a desired road pattern to an area behind the vehicle 10. It should be noted that although the first lamp unit 210 includes five light source parts 211 to 215 in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the number of light sources included in the first lamp unit 210 may be changed according to purpose and need.
Referring to
The light source parts 211 to 215 included in the first lamp unit 210 in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention are installed, as illustrated in
In this case, the size, interval or the like of the shapes 410 to 450 included in the road patterns 400 may be variously changed according to purpose and need. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the shapes 410 to 450 included in the road patterns 400 are circular shapes and have sizes gradually increasing as they go away from the vehicle 10. However, it is merely one example to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and it is not limited thereto. The shapes 410 to 450 may have various shapes and sizes gradually decreasing.
In this case, it can be seen from
Further, the road patterns 400 are formed on both rear sides of the vehicle 10 in the example of
Meanwhile, the light source parts 211 to 215 included in the first lamp unit 210 of
Further, the light source parts 211 to 215 of
Referring again to
The control unit 300 may control the road pattern by controlling the lamp units 200 according to the detection results of the detection unit 100. For example, when the vehicle 10 is stopped, once the driver selects a shift position for reverse movement of the vehicle 10, the control unit 300 may control that the first lamp unit 210 to form the road patterns by turning on and off the first lamp 210. When the vehicle 10 begins to move backward, the control unit 300 control the first lamp unit 210 the road patterns 400 maintain an ON state.
That is, the control unit 300 may send and block current to at least one of the first lamps to illuminate the road patterns 400 on the road when the vehicle 10 is stopped once the driver selects a shift stage for reverse movement of the vehicle 10 as illustrated in
In this case, turning on and off the road patterns 400 as illustrated in
Accordingly, ambient vehicles 11 and 12 approaching from behind the vehicle 10 may be informed of the reverse movement and make preparations when the road patterns 400 are turned on and off, and may take an appropriate action when the vehicle 10 begins to move backward.
Further, in order to prevent accidents from occurring when a driver opens a door and an the driver gets out as well, i.e., for the safety of the driver who gets out of the vehicle 10 when the door of the vehicle 10 is open in a parked or stopped state of the vehicle 10, the control unit 300 may control the first lamp unit 210 to form certain road patterns 400 pertaining to that event. Also in this case, the road patterns 400 may maintain an ON or OFF state. Further, the control unit 300 may additionally turn on the second lamp unit 220 when the driver gets out the vehicle 10, thereby preventing death and injury to the driver.
That is, when a door 10a is opened when the vehicle 10 is parked or stopped on one side of the road as illustrated in
Further, when the vehicle is parked on a road such as a narrow alley, as illustrated in
For this, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first lamp unit 210 may be installed on one front side of the vehicle 10 in addition to one rear side of the vehicle 10. Also when the first lamp unit 210 is installed on the front side of the vehicle 10, the road pattern 600 may be formed such that the specific shapes are arranged at a predetermined angle from the central line C of the vehicle 10 similarly to the case where the first lamp unit 210 is installed on the rear side of the vehicle 10. According to the situation, not only the first lamp unit 210 but also the second lamp unit 220 may be installed on one front side of the vehicle 10.
Meanwhile, also in a case where the vehicle 10 is parked in the parking lot instead of one side of the road, as illustrated in
If the reverse shift stage is selected and the vehicle 10 is stopped, the control unit 300 controls the first lamp unit 210 so that each of the road patterns 400 are formed in one direction behind the vehicle 10 (step S120). In this case, the road patterns 400 formed at step S120 may be turned on and off at predetermined intervals. When the reverse movement of the vehicle 10 is detected (step S130), the control unit 300 controls such that the road patterns 400 formed by the first lamp unit 210 maintain an ON state (step S140).
In the above case, the road patterns 500 are not formed by the second lamp unit 220 in
Meanwhile, the case where the vehicle is reversing by selecting the reverse shift stage has been illustrated in
When it is detected that the door 10a of the vehicle 10 is opened, the control unit 300 controls the first lamp unit 210 and the second lamp unit 220 to form the road patterns 400 and 500 (step S220). In this case, when all of the road patterns 400 and 500 are formed by the first lamp unit 210 and the second lamp unit 220 when the door 10a is opened has been described in
As described above, in the automotive lamp and the method for controlling the automotive lamp in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in a situation where the vehicle 10 is reversing or the door is open when an ambient vehicle is approaching from one side behind the vehicle 10, light forming a road pattern indicating the reverse movement of the vehicle or opening of the door is irradiated to an area behind the vehicle to prevent accidents from occurring. Accordingly, although the driver of the ambient vehicle does not see a reversing lamp or opened door itself, the driver of the ambient vehicle can see the road patterns illuminated by the present invention and thus make preparations.
In the automotive lamp and the method for controlling the automotive lamp in accordance with the present invention, at least one of the following effects can be obtained. By irradiating light of a road pattern indicating the reverse movement of the vehicle to an area behind the vehicle, even when an ambient vehicle approaching from one side behind the vehicle does not see a reversing lamp, it allows the ambient vehicle to see the reverse movement of the vehicle and make preparations accordingly. Further, by irradiating light of a road pattern indicating the reverse movement of the vehicle and light of a road pattern indicating that there is a dangerous situation or event or factor, it is possible to further prevent occurrence of a vehicle accident. Furthermore, by irradiating light of a road pattern indicating that the door of the vehicle is open, it allows an ambient vehicle to easily be informed that a driver is exiting the vehicle.
The effects of the present invention are not limited thereto, and other effects of the present invention can be apparently understood from the description of claims.
Although the above exemplary embodiment is described as using a plurality of units to perform the above process, it is understood that the above processes may also be performed by a single controller or unit. Furthermore, the control logic of the present invention may be embodied as computer readable media on a computer readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, controller or the like. Examples of the computer readable mediums include, but are not limited to, ROM, RAM, compact disc (CD)-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, flash drives, smart cards and optical data storage devices. The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed in network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable media is stored and executed in a distributed fashion, e.g., by a telematics server
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. The exemplary embodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation
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