Lighting device for a motor vehicle

Abstract

A Lighting device for a motor vehicle is provided comprising at least one light source from which light is emitted during operation of the lighting device. An optical component into which the light emanating from the at least one light source enters is also provided, along with a light influencing means having an active surface for selectively influencing individual pixels or groups of pixels of the light. The light influencing means reflects or deflects light incident thereon in such a way that it emerges at least partially from the lighting device. Illumination optics are formed on or in the optical component. The light is reflected or deflected by the illumination optics during operation of the lighting device onto the active surface of the light influencing means. The light influencing means is arranged outside the optical component in such a way that light emanating from the illumination optics emerges from the optical component, impinges on the active surface of the light influencing means, is reflected or deflected by the latter, and then re-enters into the optical component.

Claims

1. A Lighting device for a motor vehicle comprising: at least one light source from which light is emitted during operation of the lighting device, an optical component into which the light emanating from the at least one light source enters, a light influencing mechanism arranged outside the optical component and having an active surface for selectively influencing individual pixels or groups of pixels of the light, the light influencing mechanism reflecting or deflecting light incident thereon in such a way that the light incident thereon is reflected or deflected back into the optical component and then emerges at least partially from the lighting device, a connecting layer arranged between an outside of the optical component and the light influencing mechanism that couples the light influencing mechanism to the outside of the optical component, and illumination optics formed on or in the optical component, wherein the illumination optics reflect or deflect the light emanating from the at least one light source out of the optical component and onto the active surface of the light influencing mechanism.

2. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the light influencing mechanism is in direct or indirect contact with a section of the outside of the optical component through which light can exit from and enter the optical component.

3. The lighting device according to claim, wherein the connecting layer is liquid silicon rubber.

4. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the light influencing mechanism is a digital micromirror device or an LCoS or as LC display, or that the light influencing mechanism comprises a digital micro-mirror device or an LCoS or an LC display.

5. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination optics comprise a reflector having a single uninterrupted mirror surface or a plurality of mirror elements.

6. The lighting device according to claim 5, wherein the reflector has a concave curved base surface.

7. The lighting device according to claim 5, wherein the reflector is formed by a reflecting surface of the optical component.

8. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the lighting device comprises decoupling optics through which the light emitted by the light influencing mechanism emerges from the lighting device during operation of the lighting device.

9. The lighting device according to claim 8, wherein the decoupling optics are integrated into the optical component as an exit surface thereof.

10. The lighting device according to claim 9, wherein the exit surface being aspherically curved and/or being designed as a free-form surface.

11. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the optical component is a monolithic component.

12. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the optical component consists of glass or polycarbonates (PC).

13. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one light source is a laser light source or a light-emitting diode.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings, which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and wherein similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the views.

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example of a lighting device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(3) The illustrated example of a lighting device comprises a light source 1, which is designed in particular as a semiconductor laser or light-emitting diode. It is possible to provide more than one semiconductor laser and/or more than one light-emitting diode.

(4) The lighting device also includes a monolithic component 2 made of glass or polycarbonate, for example. The optical component 2 has a refractive entry surface 3 through which the light 4 emitted by light source 1 can enter the optical component 2.

(5) On the side of optical component 2 opposite the entry surface 3, a reflector 5 is arranged, which is formed in particular as a facetted reflecting region with a plurality of mirror elements 6. However, it is possible to provide the reflector 5 with a single, uninterrupted mirror surface.

(6) The reflector 5 is formed by a reflecting surface of optical component 2, which may in particular have at least one reflecting layer applied to the outside of optical component 2. The reflecting surface forming the reflector 5 can be curved, in particular concave curved, or plane.

(7) The refractive entry surface 3 and the reflector 5 form illumination optics from which the light 4 emitted by the light source 1 is directed onto the light influencing means 9 described below in detail.

(8) The reflector 5 is inclined in such a way that the light 4 is reflected by the reflector 5 onto a refractive surface 7 of optical component 2 different from the entry surface 3. On the outside of this refractive surface 7, the light influencing means 9 are coupled. The coupling of the light influencing means 9 is realized via a connecting layer 8, which is arranged between the refractive surface 7 and the light influencing means 9. The connecting layer can, for example, consist of liquid silicone rubber (LSR).

(9) The light influencing means 9 serve as an imaging element and can be designed, for example, as a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) or as an LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) or as an LC display. An active surface of the light influencing means 9 is designed in such a way that it reflects parts of the light 4 emitted from the refractive surface 7 back to the refractive surface 7.

(10) Through the refractive surface 7, the parts of the light 4 reflected by the active surface of the light influencing means 9 are coupled back into optical component 2. A refractive exit surface 10 of the optical component 2 is arranged on the side of the optical component 2 opposite to the surface 7, which serves as decoupling optics. The exit surface 10, for example, can be aspherically shaped and/or designed as a free-form surface. The exit surface 10 images the active surface of the light influencing means 9 into a projection plane 11 in the traffic space.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(11) 1 light source 2 optical component 3 entry surface 4 light emitted by the light source 5 reflector 6 mirror element 7 refractive surface 8 connecting layer 9 light influencing means 10 exit surface 11 projection plane