Illumination Apparatus for a Motor Vehicle

Abstract

An illumination apparatus for a motor vehicle includes a lighting device having one or more light sources, a reflector arrangement having one or more scatter reflectors, and one or more transparent bodies each having a surface made of a plurality of flat facets. The illumination apparatus is designed such that light generated by the light source(s) of the lighting device is scattered at the scatter reflector(s) of the reflector arrangement, as a result of which scattered light is created, which is refracted at least partially on facets of the transparent body or bodies and then exits the illumination apparatus in order to generate a light distribution.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. An illumination apparatus for a motor vehicle, the illumination apparatus comprising: a lighting device which has one or more light sources, a reflector arrangement which has one or more scattering reflectors, and one or more transparent bodies, each of which has a surface made up of a plurality of planar facets, wherein the illumination apparatus is configured such that light which is generated by the one or more light sources of the lighting device is scattered on the one or more scattering reflectors of the reflector arrangement, resulting in scattered light which is at least partially refracted on facets of the one or more transparent bodies and subsequently exits from the illumination apparatus to generate a light distribution.

17. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein at least one light source of the one or more light sources is a polychromatic light source, the light of which is spectrally decomposed by way of light refraction on the facets of at least one transparent body of the one or more transparent bodies, and subsequently exits from the illumination apparatus.

18. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein at least one transparent body of the one or more transparent bodies is formed from glass and/or at least another transparent body of the one or more transparent bodies is formed from plastic.

19. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the glass is crystal glass.

20. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein each light source of the one or more light sources is assigned to a separate scattering reflector of the one or more scattering reflectors on which exclusively light of the assigned light source is scattered.

21. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a respective scattering reflector of the one or more scattering reflectors has a scattering surface which is curved at least in sections.

22. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein: a main beam direction of the one or more light sources of the lighting device extends essentially in a vertical direction upon installation of the illumination apparatus in the motor vehicle, and the light of the one or more light sources is deflected via the reflector arrangement toward the one or more transparent bodies, which are positioned in a horizontal direction adjacent to the one or more light sources.

23. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a respective light source of the one or more light sources is an essentially punctiform light source.

24. The illumination apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the respective light source is an LED unit made up of one or more LEDs or a laser light source made up of one or more laser diodes.

25. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein: the lighting device is operable in one or more operating modes, and in a respective operating mode, light is provided for a light function which is assigned to the respective operating mode.

26. The illumination apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the one or more operating modes comprise at least one of the following: a first operating mode for providing a flashing light as the light function; a second operating mode for providing a daytime running light as the light function; a third operating mode for providing a position light as the light function; or a fourth operating mode for providing a light production before startup or after shutdown of the motor vehicle.

27. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein: the lighting device comprises one or more light groups each made up of at least one of the one or more light sources, and the at least one of the one or more light sources of one light group each emit light having a same color and other light sources from different groups emit light having different colors.

28. The illumination apparatus according to claim 27, wherein: the lighting device is operable in one or more operating modes, in a respective operating mode, light is provided for a light function which is assigned to the respective operating mode, and one light group is assigned to each operating mode and exclusively one or more light sources of the assigned light group are switched on in the respective operating mode.

29. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the lighting device, the reflector arrangement, and the one or more transparent bodies are housed in a common housing, which has a transparent pane for light exit.

30. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising an additional lighting device.

31. The illumination apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the illumination apparatus is configured to be installed in a vertical direction above a vehicle headlight.

32. A motor vehicle comprising the illumination apparatus according to claim 16.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a schematic section through a variant of an illumination apparatus according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0031] FIG. 1 shows in section an illumination apparatus in the form of a vehicle signal light 1. The vehicle signal light is installed here above a front headlight (not shown) of a motor vehicle. According to the coordinate system shown in FIG. 1, the x direction represents the travel direction in which the motor vehicle moves forward as it drives straight ahead. This direction extends along the longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle. In relation thereto, the y direction is the transverse direction of the motor vehicle and the z direction is the vertical direction or height direction.

[0032] The vehicle signal light 1 is enclosed by a schematically shown housing 2, which is delimited on the front side by a transparent cover pane 3. A printed circuit board 4, on which a plurality of LEDs 5 is arranged, is located inside the housing. Only a single LED is apparent from the sectional illustration of FIG. 1. The LEDs 5 are arranged adjacent to one another in the y direction, wherein a white light LED alternates with a yellow LED. The white light LEDs are used to generate daytime running light, while the yellow LEDs implement a flashing light, as described in more detail hereinafter. For example, 10 or more white light LEDs and a corresponding number of yellow LEDs can be provided.

[0033] The respective LEDs 5 emit in the vertical direction downward, as indicated by the arrow P. The light of the LEDs is incident on a scattering reflector 6. In the embodiment described here, a single continuous scattering reflector is provided, which extends in the y direction below the LEDs and has a curved cross section. It is optionally also possible that a separate scattering reflector is provided below each LED. The scattering reflector 6 has a reflection surface 7 formed as a scattering surface. This scattering surface causes the scattering of light incident thereon. The scattering surface can be implemented differently depending on the design. For example, the scattering surface can be formed by an irregular arrangement of facets. The light scattering generated by the scattering surface is indicated by way of example by multiple arrows P′ pointing in different directions. Furthermore, a beam course of a light beam after its scattering is shown by way of example by arrows P″.

[0034] The light scattered on the curved scattering surface 7 enters a transparent crystal glass body 8, the entire surface of which is formed from a plurality of ground facets 9, wherein only a part of the facets is provided with this reference sign for reasons of clarity. The crystal glass body 8 extends in the y direction along the entire arrangement of LEDs 5. The light entering the crystal glass body 8 is reflected and refracted therein, as indicated by the arrows P″. A part of the light conducted through the crystal glass body radiates outward via the cover pane 3. Multiple crystal glass bodies can optionally also be arranged adjacent to one another in the y direction, wherein the light of a subset of the LEDs 5 is incident in each crystal glass body. For example, four separate crystal glass bodies can be positioned adjacent to one another in the y direction, wherein the light of multiple yellow LEDs and multiple white LEDs is radiated into each crystal glass body.

[0035] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a light guide 10 shown in section is furthermore installed as an additional lighting device adjacent to the LEDs 5 in the vehicle signal light 1. This light guide extends in the y direction. The light radiated into the light guide in the y direction is decoupled from the light guide in the x direction and radiates outward via the cover pane 3. A part of the daytime running light function of the vehicle signal light 1 is implemented by the light guide 10.

[0036] The LEDs 5 of the vehicle signal light 1 can be used both to provide a flashing light and also to provide a part of the daytime running light. Only the yellow LEDs are switched on and off at a predetermined frequency for the flashing light. The yellow light of the LEDs reaches, via the scattering reflector 6, the crystal glass body 8, which then begins to sparkle in the yellow color due to the ground facets 9. A visually appealing flashing signal is generated in this way.

[0037] In contrast, if a part of the daytime running light function is implemented by the LEDs, exclusively the white light LEDs are switched on. The white light reflected on the scattering reflector 6 again enters the crystal glass body 8, wherein the ground facets 9 cause a spectral decomposition of the white light, so that an appealing light distribution having rainbow effect is generated by the crystal glass body. Upon activation of the daytime running light function, light is furthermore fed into the light guide 10, so that the daytime running light also comprises the lighted light guide 10.

[0038] The daytime running light function can be used simultaneously with the flashing light. In this case, exclusively the light guide 10 is used to generate the daytime running light, whereas the flashing light is implemented by the yellow LEDs. After the flashing light is switched off, the white light LEDs can then be used to supplement the daytime running light.

[0039] The embodiment described above has an array of advantages. In particular, a vehicle signal light is provided, which is constructed compactly and enables the generation of various light functions using one or more punctiform light sources. The corresponding light function is implemented in a visually appealing manner due to the use of one or more scattering reflectors and one or more transparent bodies having ground facets.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0040] 1 illumination apparatus [0041] 2 housing [0042] 3 transparent pane [0043] 4 printed circuit board [0044] 5 LED [0045] 6 scattering reflector [0046] 7 scattering surface [0047] 8 transparent crystal glass body [0048] 9 facets [0049] 10 light guide [0050] P, P′, P″ arrows [0051] x, y, z coordinates