This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0191200 filed on Dec. 29, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a lamp for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a lamp for a vehicle using micromirrors.
In general, a vehicle is equipped with one or more lamps that provide illumination function for easily identifying objects around the vehicle during low-light conditions (e.g., nighttime driving) and signaling function for informing other vehicles or road users of its driving condition.
For instance, the vehicle may be equipped with a vehicle lamp that operates by direct luminescence using lamps, such as, a headlamp that irradiates the light toward the front to secure a driver’s field of view, a brake light that is turned on when the brake is applied, and a direction indicator that is used when the vehicle turns right or left. In addition, the front and rear of the vehicle may be provided with reflectors that reflect light so that the vehicle can be easily recognized from outside.
Among them, the headlamp has an essential function to secure the driver’s view by irradiating light in substantially the same direction as the driving direction of the vehicle when the vehicle is operated in low ambient brightness (e.g., at night or in a tunnel).
On the other hand, as the driver is looking ahead, it is not easy to provide specific information to the driver through the dashboard.
Therefore, there is a need for a means that provides information at night to a driver who is looking ahead.
Aspects of the present disclosure provide a lamp for a vehicle using micromirrors. The technical aspects of the present disclosure are not restricted to those set forth herein, and other technical aspects will be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains by referencing the detailed description of the present disclosure provided below.
In order to achieve the above object, a lamp for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a variable beam forming part configured to irradiate light and form a variable beam pattern. In particular, the variable beam forming part may include a first optical part configured to generate the light; a beam pattern forming part configured to reflect the light of the first optical part to form the variable beam pattern; and a second optical part configured to transmit the light reflected from the beam pattern forming part. Further, the beam pattern forming part may include a reflection part including a plurality of micromirrors; and a housing configured to accommodate the reflection part, and the housing may include an anti-reflection member configured to prevent secondary reflection of the light reflected by the reflection part.
The housing may include an auxiliary housing configured to support the second optical part and prevent light that is not incident on the second optical part from being emitted to outside, among the light reflected by the reflection part.
The anti-reflection member may absorb or diffuse incident light. In particular, the anti-reflection member may include a first light diffusion part formed on an inner bottom surface of the auxiliary housing and configured to diffuse incident light. The first light diffusion part may include a hemispherical convex surface and a hemispherical concave surface.
The housing may include a light transmitting plate sealed by the auxiliary housing and disposed between the reflecting part and the second optical part, and the light transmitting plate may include a light transmitting aperture configured to transmit the light reflected by the reflecting part. Further, the anti-reflection member may include a second light diffusion part formed on a surface of the light transmitting plate that faces the second optical part to diffuse incident light. Further, the second light diffusion part may include semicircular pillar-shaped convex and concave surfaces elongated in a vertical direction. However, no second light diffusion part may be formed in at least a portion of an edge of the light transmitting aperture on a surface of the light transmitting plate.
The auxiliary housing may include a light transmitting aperture, to which the second optical part is coupled, to transmit light to be incident on the second optical part, and the anti-reflection member may include a third light diffusion part formed on an inner surface of the auxiliary housing adjacent to the light transmitting aperture and configured to diffuse incident light. The third light diffusion part may include semicircular pillar-shaped convex and concave surfaces elongated in a vertical direction.
According to a lamp for a vehicle according to embodiments of the present disclosure, there is an advantage of enabling safer driving as information is projected forward using micromirrors.
The above and other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Advantages and features of the present disclosure, and a method of achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments to be described below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and these embodiments are only provided to make the disclosures complete, and to fully inform the scope of the disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs. The invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. The same reference numerals refer to the same components throughout the specification.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present specification may be used as meanings that can be commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. In addition, terms defined in a commonly used dictionary are not to be interpreted too ideally or excessively unless explicitly defined.
The lamp 10 for a vehicle may form a low beam pattern to secure a short-range view in front of the vehicle 1, and a high beam pattern HP (see
The lamp 10 for a vehicle may include a first vehicle lamp 10 provided on the front left side of the vehicle 1 and a second vehicle lamp 10 provided on the front right side of the vehicle 1. In other words, the first vehicle lamp 10 may be understood as a left head lamp, and the second vehicle lamp 10 may be understood as a right head lamp.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which a plurality of vehicle lamps 10 are provided is described as an example since the vehicle lamp 10 of the present disclosure is used as the head lamp. However, the number of the vehicle lamps 10 of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other words, the number, installation position, and installation direction of light irradiation parts may be variously changed based on the purpose of the vehicle lamp 10 of the present disclosure.
The low beam forming part 11 may irradiate light to form the low beam pattern LP (see
The variable beam forming part 13 may irradiate light to form variable beam patterns VP1 and VP2 (see
Referring to
Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
Referring to
The arrangement of the shadow area within the high beam pattern HP may be performed by a separate control device. The control device may be configured to control the high beam forming part 12 to irradiate light based on the surrounding environment, and the high beam forming part 12 may form the high beam pattern HP in accordance with control instructions of the control device.
The high beam pattern HP may be formed in a relatively long-distance in front of the vehicle 1 to secure a long-distance front view. For instance, the high beam pattern HP may be formed farther from the vehicle 1 than the low beam pattern LP.
Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
Referring to
Similarly to the first variable beam pattern VP1, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may correspond to a region having a predetermined size formed in a particular position on the beam pattern formation surface.
Areas occupied by each of the first variable beam pattern VP1 and the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be provided, for instance, in a rectangular shape. However, the shape of the first variable beam pattern VP1 and the second variable beam pattern VP2 of the present disclosure is not limited to the rectangular shape, and may be provided in shapes other than the rectangular shape (e.g., a polygonal shape, an elliptical shape, or any other geometric shape). Hereinafter, the first variable beam pattern VP1 and the second variable beam pattern VP2 that form a substantially rectangular shape will be mainly described.
The area of the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be greater than the area of the first variable beam pattern VP1. Specifically, a horizontal length H2 of the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be greater than a horizontal length H1 of the first variable beam pattern VP1. Since the first variable beam pattern VP1 is irradiated to a longer distance from the vehicle 1 than the second variable beam pattern VP2, both the short-distance and the long-distance front view may be improved over a wide area as the first variable beam pattern may diffuse even though it is irradiated with a relatively narrower area. Meanwhile, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be irradiated to a shorter distance from the vehicle 1 than the first variable beam pattern VP1.
A predetermined interval may be formed between the first variable beam pattern VP1 and the second variable beam pattern VP2. In other words, the first variable beam pattern VP1 and the second variable beam pattern VP2 may not overlap each other. In the present disclosure, the first variable beam pattern VP1 and the second variable beam pattern VP2 may not be formed concurrently. For instance, when the first variable beam pattern VP1 is formed, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may not be formed, and when the second variable beam pattern VP2 is formed, the first variable beam pattern VP1 may not be formed.
Referring to
In addition, the first variable beam pattern VP1 may include a road surface pattern to provide driving information to the driver. For instance, in the first variable beam pattern VP1, driving information such as a driving direction, driving speed, or traffic information may be formed on the road surface in the form of an image such as a letter, a number, a symbol, or any combination thereof.
Similarly to the first variable beam pattern VP1, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may include a road surface pattern to provide driving information to the driver. For instance, in the second variable beam pattern VP2, driving information such as a driving direction, driving speed, or traffic information may be formed on the road surface in the form of an image such as a letter, a number, a symbol, or any combination thereof.
In addition, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may include a road surface pattern to provide information associated with welcoming (e.g., “welcome”) or farewell (e.g., “goodbye”). For example, when the driver approaches or moves away from the vehicle 1, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be formed on the road surface, which includes a light pattern, an image, or a text that means a welcoming or farewell sign to the driver.
The second variable beam pattern VP2 may be formed closer to the vehicle 1 than the low beam pattern LP. For example, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be formed within 3 to 10 meters in front of the vehicle 1.
According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may include a road surface pattern to provide information different from the road surface pattern of the first variable beam pattern VP1. For instance, when the first variable beam pattern VP1 includes the driving information of the vehicle, the second variable beam pattern VP2 may include information that is different and unrelated to the driving information of the vehicle or may include information that is different and related to the driving information of the vehicle.
The first optical part 100 may irradiate light. The first optical part 100 may include a first optical group 181 (see
The beam pattern forming part 300 may reflect the light of the first optical part 100 to form the variable beam patterns VP1 and VP2. The light irradiated by the first optical part 100 may be reflected by the beam pattern forming part 300 to form the variable beam patterns VP1 and VP2. The beam pattern forming part 300 may form a beam pattern of a particular shape by reflecting some of the incident lights towards the second optical part 200 and reflecting other incident light so that it does not reach the second optical part 200. A detailed description of the beam pattern forming part 300 will be described below with reference to
The second optical part 200 may transmit the light from the beam pattern forming part 300. The second optical part 200 may condense and irradiate the incident light. Accordingly, the first variable beam pattern VP1 and the second variable beam pattern VP2 of the aforementioned shape may be formed. For the condensation of light, the second optical part 200 may include a plurality of lenses. The light incident on the second optical part 200 may be condensed and emitted by being transmitted through the plurality of lenses.
Referring to
The housings 310 and 320 may include a first housing 310 and a second housing 320. The first housing 310 and the second housing 320 may be coupled to each other to provide an accommodation space for the reflection part 330 and the substrate 340. The first housing 310 may be coupled to the first optical part 100 and the second optical part 200. The reflection part 330, the substrate 340, the first optical part 100, and the second optical part 200 may be accommodated in the housings 310 and 320 and/or coupled thereto, thus allowing the lamp 10 for a vehicle to operate integrally.
Referring to
Referring to
In the present disclosure, the micromirrors M1 and M2 may include two positions.
The plurality of micromirrors M1 and M2 included in the reflection part 330 may each have the posture for collectively forming a specific image. For instance, the plurality of micromirrors M1 and M2 may have the postures for forming an image of an arrow. When the micromirrors M2 corresponding to the image of the arrow have the second posture and the remaining micromirrors M1 have the first posture, the variable beam patterns VP1 and VP2 may be formed to include a driving information image of the arrow.
The micromirror M according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented with known technologies such as disclosed in, for example, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2019-0063984 published on Jun. 10, 2019, relevant portions of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to
The first reflection region R1 may have a similar shape to the first variable beam pattern VP1, and the second reflection region R2 may have a similar shape to the second variable beam pattern VP2. Specifically, the area of the second reflection region R2 may be formed to be greater than the area of the first reflection region R1, and the horizontal length of the second reflection region R2 may be formed to be greater than the horizontal length of the first reflection region R1.
The second reflection region R2 may be disposed above the first reflection region R1. In the present disclosure, the light reflected in the first reflection region R1 and the light reflected in the second reflection region R2 may intersect each other and be irradiated to the second optical part 200. Specifically, the light reflected on the first reflection region R1 may be irradiated upwards as compared to the light reflected on the second reflection region R2, and the light reflected in the second reflection region R2 may be irradiated downwards as compared to the light reflected in the first reflection region R1. Accordingly, the light reflected on the first reflection region R1 may be incident on an upper side of the second optical part 200 as compared to the light reflected on the second reflection region R2, and the light reflected on the second reflection region R2 may be incident on a lower side of the second optical part 200 as compared to the light reflected on the first reflection region R1.
The light reflected on the first reflection region R1 may be irradiated farther than the light reflected on the second reflection region R2 to form the first variable beam pattern VP1, and the light reflected on the second reflection region R2 may be irradiated closer than the light reflected on the first reflection region R1 to form the second variable beam pattern VP2.
Referring back to
The second optical group 182 may emit light Lb for forming the second variable beam pattern VP2. The second optical group 182 may include a second light source 130b and second lens sets 121b and 122b. The second light source 130b may generate the second light. The second lens sets 121b and 122b may include a plurality of lenses spaced apart from one another and transmit the second light therethrough.
The light irradiated from the first optical group 181 may be reflected by the reflection part 330 and then transmitted through the second optical part 200, thus forming the first variable beam pattern VP1. The light irradiated from the second optical group 182 may be reflected by the reflection part 330 and then transmitted through the second optical part 200, thus forming the second variable beam pattern VP2.
The first housing 310 may include an auxiliary housing 350. The auxiliary housing 350 may include a space (e.g., a cavity) SP for passage of the light that is irradiated by the first optical part 100 and the light that is reflected by the reflection part 330. Some of the lights irradiated by the first optical part 100 or the light reflected by the reflection part 330 may be irradiated to an inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350. For instance, among the micromirrors M included in the reflection part 330, the micromirrors M having the first posture may reflect the light to a bottom surface of the auxiliary housing 350.
The light irradiated to the inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350 may be secondarily reflected from the corresponding inner surface. When the light reflected from the inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350 enters the second optical part 200, glare may occur.
In the present disclosure, therefore, the housings 310 and 320 may include an anti-reflection member for preventing the secondary reflection of the light that has been reflected by the reflection part 330. The anti-reflection member may be formed on the inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350 to absorb or diffuse incident light. Thus, the occurrence of the glare may be reduced or prevented by absorbing or diffusing the light by the anti-reflection member. Hereinafter, the anti-reflection member that diffuses light will be described with reference to
The second light transmitting aperture 312 may transmit the light irradiated from the first optical part 100 and the light reflected by the reflection part 330. The light irradiated from the first optical part 100 may pass through the second light transmitting aperture 312 and be transmitted to the reflection part 330. Subsequently, the light reflected by the reflection part 330 may pass through the second light transmitting aperture 312 again and be transmitted to the second optical part 200.
The third light transmitting aperture 313 may transmit the light to be incident on the second optical part 200. The second optical part 200 may be disposed in the third light transmitting aperture 313 to transmit the light reflected by the reflection part 330.
The first housing 310 may include the auxiliary housing 350. The auxiliary housing 350 that supports the second optical part 200 may prevent light that is not incident on the second optical part 200 from being emitted to the exterior, among the light reflected by the reflection part 330.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring back to
The light diffused from the second light diffusion part 362 may enter the reflection part 330 through the second light transmitting aperture 312. When the light entering the reflection part 330 is reflected again, the glare may be formed or an unintended beam pattern may be formed. Specifically, the first reflection region R1 of the reflection part 330 may be formed in an upper part of the reflection part 330. The first reflection region R1 may be formed over a left edge and a right edge of the reflection part 330. When the light diffused from the second light diffusion part 362 enters the reflection part 330, the shape of the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be distorted. However, since the second light diffusion part 362 is not formed along the edge of the second light transmitting aperture 312, the distortion of the second variable beam pattern VP2 may be prevented.
The anti-reflection member may include a third light diffusion part 363 formed on the inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350 adjacent to the third light transmitting aperture 313 and configured to diffuse the incident light. The light reflected from the inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350 may be transmitted to the inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350 adjacent to the third light transmitting aperture 313. The third light diffusion part 363 may diffuse the incident light reflected from the inner surface of the auxiliary housing 350. Similarly to the second light diffusion part 362, the third light diffusion part 363 may include semicircular pillar-shaped convex and concave surfaces elongated in the vertical direction. With the formation of the third light diffusion part 363 including the semicircular pillar-shaped convex and concave surfaces elongated in the vertical direction, the light incident on the third light diffusion part 363 may be generally diffused in the horizontal direction.
The auxiliary housing 350 may include the first light transmitting aperture 311 configured to receive the light from the first optical part 100. If the first optical part 100 and the auxiliary housing 350 do not come in sufficiently close contact with each other, a gap may occur between the first optical part 100 and the auxiliary housing 350. If a gap is formed between the first optical part 100 and the auxiliary housing 350, foreign substances may enter the auxiliary housing 350 through the gap.
Accordingly, a first sealing part 410 may be provided to prevent foreign substances. The first sealing part 410 may be disposed between the first optical part 100 and the beam pattern forming part 300 to seal the inside of the beam pattern forming part 300. For instance, the first sealing part 410 may include a material of a relatively high resilience, such as rubber, urethane, or silicone. As the first sealing part 410 seals any gap between the first optical part 100 and the auxiliary housing 350, foreign materials may be prevented from entering the beam pattern forming part 300.
Referring to
If the second optical part 200 is spaced apart from an outer surface 351 of the auxiliary housing 350 by some distance, a gap may occur between the second optical part 200 and the auxiliary housing 350. If a gap is formed between the second optical part 200 and the auxiliary housing 350, foreign substances may enter the auxiliary housing 350 through the gap. In order to prevent the foreign substances, the second optical part 200 and the auxiliary housing 350 may be coupled using an adhesive. More specifically, the second optical part 200 may be coupled to the auxiliary housing 350 by using the adhesive applied to the outer surface 351 of the auxiliary housing 350.
Hereinafter, the process of coupling the second optical part 200 to the auxiliary housing 350 will be described with reference to
Accordingly, the second optical part 200 may be inserted into the third light transmitting aperture 313 to a predetermined depth and coupled to the auxiliary housing 350. The second optical part 200 may be coupled to the auxiliary housing 350 to maintain a predetermined distance between the ends of the reflection part 330 and the second optical part 200 such that a space may be generated by a predetermined distance G between the second optical part 200 and the outer surface 351 of the auxiliary housing 350.
The position of the second optical part 200 with respect to the auxiliary housing 350 may be determined before the second optical part 200 is coupled to the auxiliary housing 350. For instance, a distance between the second optical part 200 and the outer surface 351 of the auxiliary housing 350 may be measured. Hereinafter, a position where the second optical part 200 is desired to be maintained with respect to the reflection part 330 is referred to as a target position.
After determining the position of the second optical part 200 with respect to the auxiliary housing 350, an adhesive GL may be applied to the outer surface 351 of the auxiliary housing 350, as illustrated in
After the adhesive GL is applied to the outer surface 351 of the auxiliary housing 350, the second optical part 200 may be inserted into the third light transmitting aperture 313 and coupled to the auxiliary housing 350, as illustrated in
In some embodiments, the adhesive GL used to couple the second optical part 200 to the auxiliary housing 350 may be an ultraviolet adhesive, which hardens in response to being exposed to ultraviolet rays. Accordingly, the adhesive GL may be applied to the outer surface 351 of the auxiliary housing 350, and ultraviolet rays may be irradiated to the adhesive GL after the second optical part 200 is placed at the target position, thus coupling the second optical part 200 to the auxiliary housing 350. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any types of adhesives may be used to adhere the second optical part 200 and the auxiliary housing 350.
Referring to
With the formation of the adhesive groove 210 in the second optical part 200, the area where the adhesive GL is applied may be increased such that the coupling between the second optical part 200 and the auxiliary housing 350 may be achieved with a stronger adhesive force.
As the second optical part 200 may be coupled to the auxiliary housing 350 via the above-described process, the second optical part 200 may be disposed at the target position. In addition, the adhesive GL applied between the second optical part 200 and the auxiliary housing 350 may seal the gap between the second optical part 200 and the auxiliary housing 350, thereby preventing the foreign substances from entering through the third light transmitting aperture 313.
The second sealing part 420 may be arranged along a surface edge of the reflection part 330, and may seal a surface of the reflection part 330 by closely contacting inner surfaces of the first housing 310. The reflection part 330 may include a control module 331 and a mirror module 332. The control module 331 may be coupled to the substrate 340 to receive a control signal and power, and may control the mirror module 332 using the control signal and the power. The mirror module 332 may include the micromirrors M described above. The control module 331 may be configured to adjust the postures of the micromirrors M included in the mirror module 332 to reflect the incident light.
When the foreign substances are attached to a surface of the mirror module 332, the variable beam patterns VP1 and VP2 may be distorted. Furthermore, when excessive amount of foreign substances are attached to the surface of the mirror module 332, the mirror module 332 may be damaged. The mirror module 332 may be surrounded by the control module 331 and only the surface thereof may be exposed to the outside. The second sealing part 420 may be disposed on a surface of the control module 331 that is an edge of the mirror module 332. To this end, the second sealing part 420 may be provided in the shape of a ring or a closed loop.
In addition, as illustrated in
Further, the second sealing part 420 may thermally insulate the reflecting part 330 from the housings 310 and 320. Specifically, the second sealing part 420 may obstruct heat from being transmitted from the first housing 310 to the mirror module 332 of the reflection part 330. The second housing 320 may provide heat dissipation function. Accordingly, the first housing 310 coupled to the second housing 320 may receive heat from the second housing 320. As such, if the reflection part 330 directly abuts the inner surface of the first housing 310, the heat of the first housing 310 may be transmitted to the reflection part 330, thereby increasing the temperature of the reflection part 330, which is undesirable. To prevent such a heat conduction, the second sealing part 420 may be disposed between the first housing 310 and the reflection part 330 to prevent the heat of the housing 310 from being transmitted to the reflection part 330. To this end, the second sealing part 420 may include a material exhibiting a relatively low thermal conductivity and may include a heat-resistant material.
If the first housing 310 and the second housing 320 do not come in a sufficiently close contact with each other, a gap may occur between the first housing 310 and the second housing 320. If a gap is formed between the first housing 310 and the second housing 320, foreign substances may enter the housing through the gap.
In order to prevent foreign materials, a third sealing part 430 that seals the inside of the housings 310 and 320 may be provided between the first housing 310 and the second housing 320. The third sealing part 430 may be disposed between the first housing 310 and the second housing 320 to seal the inside of the housing. For instance, the third sealing part 430 may include a material exhibiting a relatively high resilience, such as rubber, urethane, or silicone. As the third sealing part 430 seals the gap between the first housing 310 and the second housing 320, foreign substances may be prevented from entering the housings 310 and 320.
Further, at least one of the first housing 310, the second housing 320, or the third sealing portion 430 may obstruct transmission of electromagnetic waves. If the electromagnetic waves are introduced into the housings 310 and 320 from outside, the reflection part 330 may malfunction, and may fail to form the variable beam patterns VP1 and VP2 or may cause a distorted variable beam pattern to be formed. Since at least one of the first housing 310, the second housing 320, or the third sealing part 430 prevents the transmission of the electromagnetic waves, the variable beam patterns VP1 and VP2 may be properly formed.
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described with reference to the above and the accompanying drawings, those of ordinary skill in the art, to which the present disclosure pertains, can understand that the present disclosure may be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative only in all aspects and should not be interpreted as limiting in any aspect.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2021-0191200 | Dec 2021 | KR | national |