LUMINOUS LIGHTING AND/OR SIGNALING MODULE OF AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention relates to a luminous lighting and/or signaling module for an automotive vehicle, said module comprising first means arranged to produce a first cut-off beam and second means arranged to produce at least two selectively activatable luminous segments, the luminous segments forming a second beam that is complementary to the cut-off beam, when they are activated simultaneously.

Claims

1. A luminous lighting and/or signaling module of an automotive vehicle, said module comprising first means arranged to produce a first cut-off beam and second means arranged to produce at least two selectively activatable luminous segments, the luminous segments forming a second beam that is complementary to the cut-off beam, when they are activated simultaneously.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0033] FIG. 1 is a side view of a luminous lighting and/or signaling module, according to the invention, of an automotive vehicle, in which a first submodule is placed above a second submodule, the module furthermore comprising a projecting device not shown in the figure;

[0034] FIG. 2 is a similar view to that in FIG. 1 in which only the first submodule, a shield and an optical guide have been shown;

[0035] FIG. 3 is a similar view to that in FIG. 2 and in which the shield has been removed;

[0036] FIG. 4 is a front view, from slightly above, of the module illustrated in FIG. 2;

[0037] FIG. 5 is a top view of the guide and its fastening holder, and of the shield overlapping the guide;

[0038] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the guide and its fastening holder;

[0039] FIG. 7 is a side view similar to that in FIG. 1, in which the projecting device is shown, and the path of the light rays emitted by the light sources; and

[0040] FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of the complementarity of the beams emitted by the submodules of the luminous module according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] A luminous lighting and/or signaling module of an automotive vehicle comprises according to the invention first means 2 (FIG. 1) arranged to produce a cut-off beam, an optical projecting device 4 (FIG. 7) placed on the path of this beam, at the exit of the module, and second means 6 (FIG. 1) arranged to produce a beam that is complementary to the cut-off beam, when the first means 2 and the second means 6 are simultaneously activated.

[0042] An exemplary optical projecting device 4 is illustrated in FIG. 7. It is here a question of a lens 8 placed axially upstream of the first and second means 2, 6. It will be understood that the optical projecting device 4 will possibly moreover take other known forms, and for example consist of one or more lenses and/or one or more reflectors.

[0043] The optical projecting device 4 has a focal zone, especially a focal plane P represented by dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 7, and the positions of the various elements of the optical projecting device 4 are set with precision in order to reliably position this focal plane P.

[0044] The first means 2 and second means 6 are, in the orientation of the module illustrated in the figures, placed one above the other, thereby respectively forming a first submodule 10 and a second submodule 12 placed in the same housing of the module, and each comprising at least one light source 36 (FIGS. 2, 3, 5 and 6).

[0045] The module also comprises a common holder 14 that holds the light sources 36 corresponding to the first and second means 2, 6, the common holder 14 extending between the two submodules 10 and 12. The common holder 14 advantageously forms a means for thermally cooling the light sources 36 placed on either side of this common holder 14.

[0046] It will be understood that the module according to the invention may be oriented with an orientation other than that described and illustrated and in which the two submodules 10 and 12 are arranged vertically one above the other. The submodules 10 and 12 could for example be arranged horizontally one beside the other provided that the common holder 14 separates the two submodules 10 and 12.

[0047] The first submodule 10 comprises a light source 16 (FIG. 7), a reflector 18 that is able to deviate toward the optical projecting device 4 projecting rays emitted by the light source 16, and an especially reflective shield 20 forming a means for cutting off the beam of rays emitted by the light source 16.

[0048] The light source 16 (FIGS. 2 and 7) consists of a semiconductor source, and for example a light-emitting diode fastened to a printed circuit board. In this case, the printed circuit board is fastened to the common holder 14 separating the two submodules 10 and 12.

[0049] The reflector 18 is of the elliptical type. It comprises two focal points, an optical axis and a reflective internal surface 22 that is substantially elliptical. The light source 16 emits most of its light energy toward the reflective internal surface 22 and it is placed in the vicinity of the first focal point of the reflector 18. The whole first submodule 10 is arranged so that the second focal point is comprised in the focal plane P (FIG. 7) of the optical projecting device 4, it being understood that it could be, without departing from the scope of the invention, substantially in the vicinity of this focal plane P.

[0050] The shield 20 (FIGS. 2 and 7) is located between the reflector 18 and the optical projecting device 4. It consists of a plate that extends parallel to the plane where the two submodules 10 and 12 join, here substantially horizontally. The shield 20 comprises a central reflecting zone 24 (FIG. 5), and means for fastening to the module that are placed laterally to each of the ends 26 of the plate. The central reflecting zone 24 has a reflective upper face 28, a lower face and two longitudinal end edges among which the front edge, which is turned toward the optical projecting device 4, forms a cut-off edge 30 arranged in the vicinity of the second focal point of the reflector 18. The shield 20 thus creates a horizontal cut-off in the beam and in the concentration of rays under this cut-off in order to produce the beam corresponding to the “low beam” mode.

[0051] In accordance with what was described above, the cut-off edge 30 is placed in the focal plane P of the optical projecting device 4 (shown in FIG. 7). The cut-off edge 30 has a curved profile, especially having a step shape substantially at the center of the cut-off edge 30. The central reflecting zone 24 is thus composed of two separate portions that are vertically offset one relative to the other, an inclined plane 32, for example inclined by 15° or 45°, connecting them to form the step.

[0052] The operating principle of the first lighting submodule 10 is as follows: as the light source 16 is arranged at the first focal point of the reflector 18, most of the rays emitted by the light source 16, represented by solid lines in FIG. 7, after having reflected from the internal face of the reflector 18, are redirected toward the second focal point or the vicinity of the latter. They then pass through the lens 8 (or are reflected from a complementary reflector 18) and exit from the lighting module in a direction substantially parallel to the optical axis.

[0053] However, although using a diode allows the light emission to be focused, rays may be emitted on the periphery of the light source 16. Thus, rays may, after having been reflected from the internal face of the reflector 18, pass beyond the cut-off. The role of the shield 20 is to limit the number of these rays by enabling them to be reflected from the reflective upper surface of the shield 20 before they pass through the optical element. It will be understood that without reflection from the shield 20, peripheral rays would not be exploited.

[0054] The second submodule 12 is arranged to produce a second beam 13 that is complementary to the first beam 11 produced by the first submodule 10, such as is illustrated in FIG. 8. This complementary second beam 13 here consists of a selective beam allowing a non-dazzling high beam function to be produced. The expression “complementary beam” is understood to mean a beam that forms with the beam produced by the first submodule 10, a unitary beam, when the two submodules 10 and 12 are controlled so as to simultaneously produce the emission of the light beam that is specific thereto.

[0055] According to the invention, the second beam 13 emitted by the second submodule 12 is selective, i.e. the second beam 13 is split into a plurality of beam portions 34, which may be turned on or turned off selectively depending on control instructions of the light sources 36 of the second submodule 12. These beam portions 34 may take, immaterially as regards the invention, the shape of right rectilinear bands or indeed, for example, the shape of spots the outline of which is less defined than that of the segments.

[0056] The lighting function provided by each beam portion 34 may, in all these cases, be turned off or attenuated to form a zone of non-dazzle of a driver of a vehicle detected in the road scene upstream of the vehicle, while still allowing good lighting conditions to be preserved for the rest of the road scene.

[0057] In the following description, the beam portions 34 of the complementary second beam 13 take the form of segments, and more particularly of three beam segments.

[0058] The second submodule 12 comprises on the one hand three light sources 36 that are selectively activatable in order to emit, simultaneously or alternatively, light rays, and on the other hand optical guides 38 arranged to interact with the light sources 36 so as to form images of these light sources 36 level with the focal plane P of the optical projecting device 4, so that these images can be projected by the optical projecting device 4 at the exit of the module. Each beam portion or segment 34 is obtained by the interaction of a light source 36 and an associated optical guide 38.

[0059] The light sources 36 each consist of a semiconductor source, and for example a light-emitting diode fastened to a printed circuit board. In this case, and as may be the case for the printed circuit board associated with the light-emitting diode of the first submodule 10, the printed circuit board is fastened to the common holder 14 separating the two submodules 10 and 12.

[0060] In the illustrated example, and such as will be described below, there are three light sources 36, but it will be understood that provided that at least two selectively activatable light sources 36 are provided it will be possible to form the complementary second beam 13 able to produce a non-dazzling high beam function in which one of the segments 34 of the complementary second beam 13 may be turned off or attenuated in the case of detection of a vehicle in the zone illuminated by this segment 34.

[0061] Each optical guide 38 has an entrance face 40 and an exit face 42 so as to guide the light from the entrance face 40 to the exit face 42. The optical guides 38 furthermore comprise a lower face, referred to as the reflective face 44, and an upper face, referred to as the front face 46, that extend between the ends of the entrance face 40 and the exit face 42, the reflective face 44 being turned away from the shield 20 whereas the front face 46 is turned toward the shield 20.

[0062] The optical guides 38 are placed so as to make contact with the shield 20. They are oriented so as to make contact with the shield 20 only in the vicinity of the focal plane P of the optical projecting device 4. Such as illustrated, it is the front face 46 of each optical guide 38 that makes contact with the shield 20, the line of contact 48 between each front face 46 and the shield 20 being in the focal plane P.

[0063] The reflective face 44 has a substantially elliptical shape, a first focal point of which coincides with the location of the light source 36 and a second focal point of which, referred to as the focus, is located level with the ridge where the front face 46 and the exit face 42 meet, at the point of contact with the shield 20, so that, such as may be seen in FIG. 7, the light rays reflected in the optical guides 38 (which rays are represented by dotted lines) exit from the optical guide 38 mainly at the top of the exit face 42. Some of these rays reach the top portion of the lens 8 directly whereas some others are reflected by a lower face of the shield 20 in order to reach the lower portion of the lens 8 (see the thicker line).

[0064] The optical guides 38 are placed in a transverse series and are identical in number to the light sources 36, each optical guide 38 being placed facing one of these light sources 36. Such as may especially be seen in FIG. 4, the series of three optical guides 38 is placed so as to be offset transversely relative to the center of the module. It will be understood that this transverse offset is here due to the fact that the vehicle has two headlamps, a left headlamp and a right headlamp. The superposition of the two left and right beams must yield a complete complementary high beam. In order to achieve the width of this beam, the optical guides 38 are therefore offset transversely relative to the center of the lens 8 so as to obtain an offset left or right beam, and then the two beams are superposed.

[0065] One of the optical guides 38, placed at one of the transverse ends of the series, has an exit face the upper edge of which, i.e. the edge suitable for making contact with the shield, is cropped in order to have a shape interacting with the inclined plane 32 forming the step of the shield 20.

[0066] The optical guides 38 are placed in transverse series perpendicular to the emission axis of the rays exiting from the module, and they are placed in a fanned arrangement. The expression “fanned arrangement” is understood to mean an arrangement in which the respective downstream portions of the optical guides 38, which bear the exit faces 42, are adhesively bonded to one another, and the respective upstream portions, which bear the entrance faces 40, are spaced apart transversely from one another.

[0067] It will be understood that, in order to allow the light rays to be guided inside the optical guides 38, the latter are made of a material allowing the light rays to be transmitted by internal reflection from the entrance face 40 to the exit face 42. Such a material will for example possibly consist of polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), silicone or glass.

[0068] Each of the optical guides 38 is produced individually and the optical guides 38 are mounted, one relative to the other, on a fastening holder 50. The optical guides 38 are here fastened to one another, especially by adhesive bonding level with their downstream end portion, corresponding to the exit face 42 of the light rays, and the spacing of the optical guides 38 one relative to the other or to its neighbor or neighbors level with their upstream portion, corresponding to the entrance face 40 of the light rays, is ensured by the fastening of each optical guide 38 to the fastening holder 50.

[0069] The fastening holder 50 here takes the form of a transverse strip 52 the transverse ends 54 of which are here fastened to the transverse ends 26 of the shield 20, the transverse strip 52 bearing the optical guides 38 level with their downstream end, and a frame 56 on which tabs 58 that form an integral part of the frame 56 allow the optical guides 38 to be fastened level with their upstream portion.

[0070] The downstream portions of the optical guides 38 abut one against the other over a set distance in order to form a zone of overlap. The exit faces 42 of each optical guide 38 being placed substantially in line with the cut-off edge 30 of the shield 20, i.e. substantially in the vicinity of the focal plane P of the optical projecting device 4, it will be understood that the zones of overlap of the images formed by each optical guide 38 are placed upstream of the focal plane P, thereby allowing a complementary beam to be projected, the various portions of which are smoothed in order to avoid a vertical division, in the case of segmentation of the beam, that is too clear.

[0071] In one variant (not illustrated) the set of optical guides 38 may be produced from one and only one part, which preserves the fan shape with three entrance faces 40 respectively at a distance from one another and three conduits each leading to a common exit face 42, it being understood that this part will be, as was possibly described above, formed from a material that is transparent to light and that allows light rays emitted by the diodes placed facing the input faces to be transmitted.

[0072] The optical guides 38 play the role of means that are complementary to the light sources 36 of the second submodule 12. It should be noted that, according to the invention, the complementary means are arranged in the second submodule 12 so that the images that they form of the light sources 36 have edges placed so as to be adjacent to the profile of the cut-off edge 30. In the case of the optical guides 38 described in the illustrated example, the complementary means make contact with the shield 20. They are oriented so as to make contact with the shield 20 only in the vicinity of the focal plane P.

[0073] In one variant embodiment (not shown), the complementary means consist of a phosphor-bearing plate, and the light sources 36 consist of laser diodes oriented so as to illuminate the phosphor borne by the plate. The plate is a glass plate into which are integrated phosphor blocks, the laser diodes being targeted on these phosphor blocks. The plate bearing the phosphor is placed in the focal plane P. The plate has an edge the profile of which is complementary to the profile of the cut-off edge 30 of the shield 20, the phosphor borne by the plate being adjacent to the curved profile of the cut-off edge 30.

[0074] According to other variants, the complementary means may be placed a distance away from the shield 20, especially when these complementary means consist of a lens, and/or a reflector, that are arranged so that the rays coming from the light source 36 that they redirect pass in the vicinity of the second focal point of the first submodule 10 in order to form an overall unitary beam on exiting the module.

[0075] Whatever the variant embodiment chosen, it is particularly advantageous to provide a lighting system comprising at least two lighting modules such as described above. These modules are distributed so that at least one of the modules is placed in a left headlamp of the vehicle, and at least one of the modules is placed in the corresponding right headlamp. In each headlamp, provision will possibly be made for a plurality of lighting modules. The modules are arranged relative to each other, whether within a given headlamp, or between the two headlamps, so that at least one beam portion, for example one beam segment, produced by one of the modules overlaps at least one beam portion, in the example one beam segment, produced by another of the modules.

[0076] The lighting system also comprises control means for turning on, turning off or modifying the luminous power emitted by each light source 36 of each module. These control means will possibly be specific to each module or consist of one control means, provided that each light source 36 of the system may be simultaneously controlled.

[0077] The lighting system furthermore comprises a module for detecting on the road a body not to be dazzled. This detecting module for example consists of a video camera turned toward the road scene extending in front of the vehicle, and of associated image processing means, which allow detection information to be produced that the detecting module is able to transmit to the control means in order to allow the luminous power emitted by each light source 36 to be turned on, turned off or modified depending on this detection information.

[0078] The above description clearly explains how the invention allows the objectives that were set to be achieved and especially how it makes it possible to produce a luminous module that allows in a given module, and without a movable mechanical part, the non-dazzling high beam lighting function to be combined with a low beam function.

[0079] While the system, apparatus, process and method herein described constitute preferred embodiments of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise system, apparatus, process and method, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.