Patent Application
20220285831
The invention relates to a roof module for forming a vehicle roof on a motor vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1.
Generic roof modules are widely used in vehicle manufacturing since these roof modules can be prefabricated as separate functional modules and can be delivered to the assembly line when assembling the vehicle. The roof module can be either a part of a rigid vehicle roof or a part of an openable roof sub-assembly.
Autonomously or semi-autonomously driving motor vehicles are increasingly common in vehicle manufacturing. A plurality of environment sensors detecting the surroundings of the motor vehicle and determining the current traffic situation are required in order to enable the vehicle controller to control the motor vehicle autonomously or semi-autonomously. To this end, the known environment sensors send and/or receive corresponding electromagnetic signals, such as laser beams or radar beams, a corresponding signal evaluation allowing a data model of the vehicle surroundings to be generated. The known environment sensors are installed in an appropriate sensor housing in order to protect the environment sensors from harmful environmental conditions, such as humidity and airflows. This sensor housing is mounted on top of the vehicle roof in order to afford the environment sensor a highest possible monitoring position. Mounting an environment sensor at the highest position of the vehicle roof is disadvantageous in that it may compromise the functionality of sending and/or receiving antennas also mounted on the vehicle roof After all, the environment sensor with its sensor housing constitutes an area of obstruction for the sending and/or receiving antennas also mounted on the vehicle roof. For example, if the vehicle antenna for receiving mobile radio data or receiving radar signals is mounted on the side of the vehicle roof facing the vehicle rear, the emission angle of the vehicle antenna is limited by an environment sensor mounted on the side of the vehicle roof facing the front of the vehicle. So far, the only option of avoiding this obstruction by the environment sensor has been to make the vehicle antenna longer at the top, which is undesirable for design reasons, however.
Hence, the object of the present invention is to propose a new roof module which avoids the disadvantages of the state of the art described above.
This object is attained by a roof module according to the teaching of claim 1.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
In the roof module according to the invention, it is provided for the roof module to comprise an antenna module in addition to the at least one environment sensor, said antenna module being configured to receive and/or send radio signals. Consequently, the roof module has the antenna module as well as the environment sensor with the result that the beam path of the antenna module is no longer disturbed by the environment sensor if antenna modules are suitably disposed relative to the environment sensor. Of course, the roof module can also have other functional elements, such as light elements or the like, in addition to the environment sensor and the antenna module. The antenna module needs to be protected from harmful environmental conditions, such as humidity and airflows, in order to ensure a sufficient weather protection of the antenna module. This can be ensured in a particularly simple manner by disposing the antenna module below the roof skin of the vehicle roof formed by the panel component. In particular, this allows the antenna module to be installed in a dry area which is reliably protected from humidity, pollution and airflows.
The panel component should be made of a material permeable to the radio signals of the antenna module, such as plastic or glass, in order to not undesirably disturb the beam path of the antenna module.
Antennas able to receive and/or send radio signals in different frequency ranges may be required depending on the range of functions of the vehicle in question. The different antenna modules required for this purpose can be jointly integrated in the roof module in a simple manner.
It is advantageous for an antenna module to be disposed between two environment sensors in each case with a view to an ideal exploitation of the installation space available in the roof module.
The antenna modules can be of basically any constructive design. According to a preferred embodiment, an antenna module comprises an electronics board, which has a radio antenna integrated thereon, and a grounding plate, which is mounted at a predefined distance from the radio antenna.
In many vehicles, radio reception toward the vehicle is also intended to be possible for the vehicle passengers, such as the sending of Wi-Fi signals or Bluetooth signals to the mobile devices of vehicle passengers and the receiving thereof. What is referred to as radio modules are commonly used for this purpose, by means of which radio signals from the vehicle interior can be received and sent. If this functionality is wanted for a vehicle, the corresponding data module can also comprise a radio modem.
In the simplest architecture in connection with the use of radio modems, the radio modem and the antenna module each form separate components. It is advantageous for the radio modem to be integrated in the antenna module with a view to high cost-efficiency with the result that one sub-assembly implements the functionality of both the antenna module and the radio modem.
Metallic vehicle body elements, such as support plates or plate frames, which have an appropriate mechanical stability, often serve to attach the roof module to the vehicle. It is advantageous for the antenna module to be disposed on the side of the vehicle body element facing outward in order to not compromise the functionality of the antenna module in sending and receiving radio signals from outside the vehicle. At the same time, it is advantageous for the radio modem to be disposed on the side of the vehicle body element facing inward so that the vehicle body element does not obstruct the emission area of the radio modem into the vehicle interior.
Mounting the environment sensors and the antenna modules on top of the vehicle roof requires high precision regarding both the positioning of the individual environment sensors and the individual antenna modules on the vehicle roof and the position of the environment sensors and the antenna modules relative to each other. It is particularly advantageous if at least one environment sensor and at least one antenna module are mounted on a common support element in order to facilitate said exact positioning of the antenna modules and the environment sensors. As a result, all environment sensors and all antenna modules of the roof module can be pre-installed on the common support element and can subsequently be mounted on the vehicle roof together with the support element, for example. In this case, the support element can have mounts, which are prefabricated with appropriate precision, for fixing the environment sensors and the antenna modules, resulting at least in the necessary positioning.
Basically any number of environment sensors and antenna modules can be mounted on the support element. In a preferred variation, the support element makes it possible for an antenna module to be mounted between two environment sensors.
Certain environment sensors require stray light to be avoided. Hence, it is known for stray light shades to be disposed between the individual environment sensors. If such a stray light shade is to be provided, it can be advantageously integrated in the support element. The antenna module can be attached to the stray light shade itself with the result that it obtains the desired positioning in the two environment sensors.
If the antenna module is a separate component, it can be attached to the support element in a removable manner. Alternatively, the antenna module can also be integrated in the support element. To this end, the antenna module can be affixed to the surface of the support element in a non-removable manner. The antenna module can be produced in a particularly cost-efficient manner if it is printed onto a surface of the support element.
As an alternative to printing the antenna module, it can also be injected into a plastic part of the roof module. To this end, the antenna module is overmolded with the plastic of the injection-molded plastic component. In particular, the antenna module can be injected into the support element. It is also conceivable for the antenna module to be injected into a plastic panel component forming the roof skin of the vehicle.
Sending and/or receiving the radio signals from only one position of the vehicle is often insufficient in order to achieve a radio coverage as complete as possible. In particular, obstructions can lead to large areas of disturbance which inadmissibly compromise the functionality of the antenna module. To avoid this, it is particularly advantageous if the roof module comprises at least one front antenna module and at least one rear antenna module. In this case, the front antenna module can receive and/or send radio signals from the area of the vehicle. The rear antenna module can receive radio signals from the area behind the vehicle and/or send radio signals to the rear.
The antenna module can basically use any type of wireless standard. It is advantageous for the antenna module to be able to receive and/or send radio signals and/or mobile radio signals and/or Wi-Fi signals and/or Bluetooth signals and/or GPS signals and/or car-to-car communication signals (DSRC) and/or car-to-X communication signals (DSRC).
The roof module according to the invention offers particularly large advantages with regard to the car-to-car communication signals and/or with regard to the car-to-X communication signals. The antenna module should preferably be configured in the manner of a DSRC patch antenna in order to be able to utilize them.
Basically any type of environment sensor can also be installed in the roof module according to the invention. The roof module offers particularly large advantages in connection with environment sensors which are configured in the manner of a lidar sensor and/or in the manner of a radar sensor and/or in the manner of a camera sensor and/or in the manner of a multi-camera sensor.
The roof module according to the invention can basically be employed both in passenger cars and in utility vehicles, such as delivery vans or tractor units for heavy goods vehicles. It can be configured as a purely solid roof or can be provided with a roof opening system and thus form a closable roof opening.
Furthermore, the roof module according to the invention preferably forms a structural unit which comprises integrated features enabling autonomous driving or semi-autonomous driving supported by driver assistance systems and which can be placed on top of a vehicle body shell by a vehicle manufacturer.
The invention also relates to a motor vehicle comprising a roof module of the kind described above.
Examples of configurations of the subject matter of the invention are schematically illustrated in the drawing and will be explained in more detail in the following description.
An environment sensor 06, such as a lidar sensor or a radar sensor, and an antenna module 07 are disposed in dry area 05. Both environment sensor 06 and antenna module 07 are mounted on a vehicle body element 08, which limits dry area 05 at the bottom. The beam path of electronic signals 09 emitted by environment sensor 06, which can be laser beams, for example, is indicated by dashes and dots in
Additionally, roof module 01 has a radio modem 11, which is mounted on the underside of vehicle body element 08. The beam path of radio signals 12, which are emitted and/or received by radio modem 11, is also indicated by dashes and dots in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2019 122 184.6 | Aug 2019 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2020/072876 | 8/14/2020 | WO |
