This application claims priority to Taiwanese Application Serial Number 104121879, filed Jul. 6, 2015, which is herein incorporated by reference.
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a light-guiding pillar and a vehicle using the same.
Description of Related Art
The vehicular luminary has already been one of the key development projects in the field of lighting. In recent years, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have gradually replaced the conventional light sources applied in the vehicular luminaries because LEDs have advantages such as high luminous efficacy, high brightness, low power consumption and instant response.
However, due to the shape and size of LEDs emitting surface, there are various problems in focusing design to be solved if the optical system in vehicular luminaries is projection type or PES type. As a result, there is still room to improve optical efficiency of different vehicle lighting systems under the condition of complying with the relative regulations of vehicle lighting.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle lamp. In the vehicle lamp, with a light-guiding structure of a light-guiding pillar, light beam emitted from a light source can pass through a light outgoing surface and a bottom surface of the light-guiding pillar, in which the light beams emitted from the light outgoing surface and the bottom surface of the light-guiding pillar can be respectively projected to form a bright zone and a dark zone of an illuminating area. Therefore, there is faint light in the dark zone of the illuminating area to make the dark zone not complete dark. Furthermore, via a concave structure, the testing points near cut-off line on the light pattern projected by the vehicle lamp are modified to comply with the relative regulation.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a light-guiding pillar including a major structure and a light-guiding structure. The major structure has a light incident surface, a light outgoing surface, an upper surface, and a bottom surface. The upper surface and the bottom surface are disposed between the light incident surface and the light outgoing surface, in which the upper surface and the bottom surface are opposite to each other. The major structure is configured to guide light beams from the light incident surface to the light outgoing surface. The light-guiding structure is disposed on the upper surface and configured to guide a portion of light beams which are reflected from the major structure to pass through the bottom surface.
In some embodiments, the light-guiding pillar further includes a concave structure disposed on the bottom surface, in which the concave structure is adjacent be the light outgoing surface and is configured to define a boundary of the light beam emitted from the light outgoing surface.
In some embodiments, at least one of the upper surface and the bottom surface is a curved surface protruding outward from the major structure.
In some embodiments, the light outgoing surface is a surface that is curved and inward concave into the major structure.
In some embodiments, a vertical distance between the light incident surface and the light outgoing surface is increasing or decreasing from a boundary between the light outgoing surface and the upper surface to a boundary between the light outgoing surface and the bottom surface.
In some embodiments, the light-guiding structure is adjacent to the light outgoing surface.
In some embodiments, the major structure is a hollow structure and has a hole, and the light beam guided by the light-guiding structure passes through the bottom surface via the hole.
In some embodiments, the major structure is a solid structure, and the light-guiding structure is a concave configuration configured to define a total internal reflection interface.
In some embodiments, the light-guiding pillar further includes a positioning portion disposed on the major structure and including at least one positioning hole.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a vehicle lamp including a heat-dissipation base, a light source, a light-guiding pillar, and a condenser lens. The light source is disposed on the heat-dissipation base and configured to provide a light beam. The light-guiding pillar is disposed on the heat-dissipation base and includes a major structure and a light-guiding structure. The major structure has a light incident surface, a light outgoing surface, an upper surface and a bottom surface. The upper surface and the bottom surface are disposed between the light incident surface and the light outgoing surface, in which the upper surface and the bottom surface are opposite to each other. The light incident surface is configured to receive the light beam provided by the light source. The major structure is configured to guide a portion of the light beam entering the major structure through the light incident surface to the light outgoing surface. The light-guiding structure is disposed on the upper surface and configured to guide another portion of the light beam entering the major structure through the light incident surface from the upper surface to the bottom surface with passing through the bottom surface. The condenser lens is configured to receive the light beam provided by the light outgoing surface and the bottom surface.
In some embodiments, the condenser lens has a focal plane, and a portion of the focal plane and the light outgoing surface are coincident with each other.
In some embodiments, the condenser lens has a focal plane, and the focal plane and the light outgoing surface are at least intersected at a straight line.
In some embodiments, the light-guiding pillar further includes a positioning portion disposed on the major structure, and the positioning portion includes at least one positioning hole. The vehicle lamp vehicle further includes at least one positioning element, and the positioning element is fastened on the heat-dissipation base via the positioning hole to fix the major structure on the heat-dissipation base.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
According to a problem that shape or range of illumination provided by a vehicle lamp may not comply with the regulations of vehicle lighting as the light emitting diodes (LEDs) are applied to the vehicle lamp to improve a lighting performance. In the vehicle lamp of the present disclosure, with a light-guiding structure of a light-guiding pillar, light beam provided by a light source can be emitted from a light outgoing surface and a bottom surface of the light-guiding pillar, in which the light beams emitted from the light outgoing surface and the bottom surface of the light-guiding pillar can be respectively projected to a bright zone and a dark zone of an illuminating area. Therefore, there is faint light in the dark one of the illuminating area to make the dark zone not complete dark.
As shown in
The light-guiding pillar 110 includes a major structure 112 and a light-guiding structure 120. In the present embodiments, the major structure 112 is a solid structure. The major structure 112 has the light incident surface 114, the light outgoing surface 116, an upper surface 118, and the bottom surface 119. The upper surface 116 and the bottom surface 119 are disposed between the light incident surface 114 and the light outgoing surface 116, in which the upper surface 118 and the bottom surface 119 are opposite to each other. The major structure 112 is configured to guide a portion of the light beam entering the major structure 112 through the light incident surface 114 to the light outgoing surface 116, in which the light beams guided from the light incident surface 114 to the light outgoing surface 116 are illustrated as light beams L1 and L2 in
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, each of the upper surface 118 and the bottom surface 119 is a curved surface protruding outward from the major structure 112. By the curved surfaces of the upper surface 118 and the bottom surface 119, a portion of the light beam entering through the light incident surface 114 can be focused on the light outgoing surface 116 so as to improve the optical performance of the major structure 112, but are not limited thereto. For example, in some embodiments, one of the upper surface 118 and the bottom surface 119 is a curved surface protruding outward from the major structure 112.
The light-guiding structure 120 is disposed on the upper surface 118 and is adjacent to the light outgoing surface 116. The light-guiding structure 120 is configured to guide another portion of the light beam entering the major structure 112 through the light incident surface 114 from the upper surface 118 to the bottom surface 119 with passing through the bottom surface 119, in which the light beam guided from the upper surface 118 to the bottom surface 119 with passing through the bottom surface 119 is illustrated as the light beam L3 in
In
In
When the light beams L1 and 12 provided by the light-guiding pillar 110 are emitted toward the condenser lens 106 from the light outgoing surface 116, according to the refract mechanism provided by the condenser lens 106, the light beams L1 and 12 emitted from the light outgoing surface 116 are projected to the bright zone A1 (the bottom side in the testing screen) since the incident positions of the light beams L1 and 12 entering the condenser lens 106 are at the upper side of the optical axis 108. When the light beam L3 provided by the light-guiding pillar 110 is emitted toward the condenser lens 106 from the bottom surface 119, according to the refract mechanism provided by the condenser lens 106, the light beam L3 emitted from the bottom surface 119 is projected to the dark zone A2 (the upper side in the testing screen) since the incident position of the light beam L3 entering the condenser lens 106 is at the bottom side of the optical axis 108.
Thus, in the illuminating area A that the vehicle lamp 100 projects the light beam thereon, there is faint light in the dark zone A2 above the cutoff line C to make the dark zone not complete dark. In other words, a portion of the light beam provided by the light source 104 can be guided to the dark zone A2 by the light-guiding structure 120 (see
Referring back to
Referring back to
In addition, in the present embodiment, a vertical distance between the light incident surface 114 and the light outgoing surface 115 is increasing from a boundary between the light outgoing surface 116 and the upper surface 118 to a boundary between the light outgoing surface 116 and the bottom surface 119. For example, the vertical distance between the light incident surface 114 and the boundary between the light outgoing surface 116 and the upper surface 118 is distance D1, the vertical distance between the light incident surface 114 end the boundary between the light outgoing surface 116 and the bottom surface 119 is distance D2, and the distance D1 is smaller than the distance D2. Thus, the light outgoing surface 116 is not a vertical surface. In the arrangement between the light-guiding pillar 110 and the condenser lens 106 illustrated in
Under this configuration, the illumination provided by the vehicle lamp 100 can be provided with an effect of misting. For example, in the bright zone A1 illustrated in
In addition, the light-guiding pillar 110 further includes a positioning portion 130. The positioning portion 130 is disposed on the major structure 112. The positioning portion 130 includes positioning holes 132. The vehicle lamp 100 further includes at least one positioning element 136. The positioning element 138 is fastened on the heat-dissipation base 102 via the positioning hole 132 to fix the major structure 112 on the heat-dissipation base 102, as show in
As described above, the vehicle lamp 100 of the present disclosure can improve the brightness in the dark zone of the illuminating area A through the light-guiding structure 120, such that the dark zone A2 of the illuminating area A can have the certain brightness. Furthermore, the shape of the light or the illumination provided by the vehicle lamp 100 can be modified by the various structures of the light-guiding pillar 110, thereby improving the optical performance of the vehicle lamp 100 and making the shape of the light or the illumination provided by the vehicle lamp 100 meet the regulations of vehicle lighting.
In the present embodiment, the major structure 112 with the hollow structure can be taken as a shell structure. The major structure has a hole 128. The hole 128 is disposed at the bottom surface 119. Similarly, the light-guiding structure 120 is configured to guide the light beam L3 entering the major structure 112 through the light incident surface 114 from the upper surface 116 to the bottom surface 119 with penetrating the bottom surface 119.
Under this configuration, the light beam L3 guided by the light-guiding structure 120 can pass through the bottom surface 119 via the hole 128. Similarly, after the light beam L3 passing through the bottom surface 119 via the hole 128 is collected by the condenser lens 106 (see
As shown in
In
In the present embodiment, at least one of the light inlet portion 124 and the light outlet portion 126 is composed by a partial graph of a three-dimensional curve. For example, the light inlet portion 124 can be designed according to the partial graph of a three-dimensional ellipse. Since the graph composed by the three-dimensional ellipse has a focal point (or a focal plane), the light inlet portion 124 can effectively guide the light beam entering the light incident surface 114 to the light outlet portion 126 by this focal point (or a focal plane). In other words, the three-dimensional curve composing the light inlet portion 124 is configured to focus the light beam entering the major structure 112 from the light incident surface 124 onto the light outgoing surface 116 by the light inlet portion 124, as the light beams L1 and L2 illustrated in
In addition, the light-guiding structure 120 is disposed on the light outlet portion 126. Similarly, each of the light inlet portion 124 and the light outlet portion 126 is a solid structure, and the light-guiding structure 120 is the concave configuration configured to define the total internal reflection interface. The light-guiding structure 120 is configured to guide another portion of the light beam entering the major structure 112 through the light incident surface 114 from the upper surface 118 to the bottom surface 119 with passing through the bottom surface 119, as the light beam L3 illustrated in
In the present embodiment, the light-guiding pillar 110 further includes the concave structure 122. The concave structure 122 is disposed on the bottom surface 119 and is adjacent to the light outgoing surface 116. The concave structure 122 is configured to define the boundary of the light beam emitted from the light outgoing surface 116. As previously described, with the refract mechanism provided by the condenser lens 106 (see
In addition, in the present embodiment, the vertical distance between the light incident surface 114 and the light outgoing surface 116 is decreasing from the boundary between the light outgoing surface 116 and the upper surface 118 to the boundary between the light outgoing surface 116 and the bottom surface 119, as shown in
Similarly, the light outgoing surface 116 is not a vertical surface. In the arrangement of the light-guiding pillar 110 and the condenser lens 106 illustrated
Under this configuration, since the light outgoing surface 116 of the light-guiding pillar 110 is present within the focal plane 107, the effect of the light/dark cutoff in the illumination provided by the vehicle lamp 100 can be improved. In other words, in the bright zone of the illuminating area provided by the vehicle lamp 100, the contrast between the bright zone and zones around there is enhanced.
However, a person having ordinary skill in the art may choose a proper arrangement of the light outgoing surface 116 to design or modify the illumination provided by the vehicle lamp 100. For example, in the arrangement of the light-guiding pillar 110 and the condenser lens 106 of the first embodiment, the light outgoing surface 116 can be designed as the frontward surface. Alternatively, in the arrangement of the light-guiding pillar 110 and the condenser tens 106 of the third embodiment, the light outgoing surface 116 can be designed as the backward surface.
Furthermore, the light-guiding pillar 110 further includes a frame 134 and a positioning portion 130. The frame 134 has an opening 136, in which the major structure 112 is disposed in the opening 136 to connect with the frame 134. The major structure 112 and the frame 134 can be formed by one-piece, but are not limited thereto. The positioning portion 130 is disposed on the frame 134, in which the positioning portion 130 includes the positioning holes 132. The positioning element 138 is fastened on the heat-dissipation base 102 via the positioning hole 132 to fix the major structure 112 on the heat-dissipation base 102.
As described above, in the vehicle lamp of the present disclosure, by the light-guiding structure, the light beam provided by the light source can be emitted from the light outgoing surface and the bottom surface of the light-guiding pillar, in which the light beams emitted from the light outgoing surface and the bottom surface of the light-guiding pillar can be respectively projected to the bright zone and the dark zone of the illuminating area. Therefore, in the illuminating area that the vehicle lamp projects the light beam thereon, the dark zone is not complete dark but a little bright. In other words, the light-guiding structure can be taken as the brightness-improving structure for the dark zone, such that the brightness distribution in the illuminating area provided by the vehicle lamp can meet the regulations of vehicle lighting. Furthermore, with the refract mechanism provided by the condenser lens, the concave structure disposed on the major structure can define the boundary at the upper edge of the bright zone. By the concave structure, in the shape of the light beam provided by the vehicle lamp, the testing points near the cutoff line can be modified to meet the regulations of vehicle lighting.
Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to pertain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of present disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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104121879 | Jul 2015 | TW | national |