LUMINOUS LOGO AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREFORE

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of automobile logos, and provides a luminous logo and a manufacturing method therefor. The luminous logo comprises: a logo body, which is provided with a plurality of protruding portions; a plurality of optical fibre bundles arranged to form an optical fibre structure matching the logo body in shape, the optical fibre structure being evenly overmoulded inside the logo body, and an end of each optical fibre bundle extending from one of the protruding portions; and a light-emitting light source detachable relative to the logo body, the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles being gathered and connected to the light-emitting light source. According to the present invention, optical fibres are embedded into a logo body, an end of each optical fibre extends from a respective protruding portion of the logo body and is connected to a detachable light source, thereby realizing luminescence of the logo and facilitating assembly of the logo.

Claims

1. A luminous logo, comprising: a logo body, which is provided with a plurality of protruding portions; a plurality of optical fibre bundles arranged to form an optical fibre structure matching the logo body in shape, the optical fibre structure being evenly overmoulded inside the logo body, and an end of each optical fibre bundle extending from one of the protruding portions; and a light-emitting light source detachable relative to the logo body, the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles being gathered and connected to the light-emitting light source.

2. The luminous logo according to claim 1, wherein the luminous logo is applied to an airbag cover; and the airbag cover is provided with through holes allowing the protruding portions to be assembled, the logo body is assembled to an outer surface of the airbag cover, and the protruding portions are inserted into the through holes.

3. The luminous logo according to claim 2, wherein a mounting plate is provided on an inner side of the airbag cover; and the mounting plate is provided with fixing holes corresponding to the through holes, and the protruding portions are inserted into the through holes and then fixed to the fixing holes.

4. The luminous logo according to claim 3, wherein the light-emitting light source is assembled on the mounting plate, and the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles are gathered together and connected to the light-emitting light source; or the light-emitting light source is assembled to an inner surface of the airbag cover, and the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles are gathered together and connected to the light-emitting light source; or the light-emitting light source is assembled outside the airbag cover, and the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles are gathered together and connected to the light-emitting light source by means of a main light-conducting optical fibre.

5. The luminous logo according to claim 1, wherein the optical fibre bundles are side-emitting optical fibre bundles.

6. The luminous logo according to claim 1 wherein the protruding portions are fixing pins provided at the bottom of the logo body.

7. The luminous logo according to claim 1, wherein the logo body is formed by means of injection moulding of an injection moulding plastic material doped with scattering particles; and the scattering particles include aluminium oxide particles.

8. The luminous logo according to claim 7, wherein an outer surface of the logo body is coated with a light-transmissible surface coating by means of physical vapor deposition and/or screen printing; and/or the bottom of the logo body is polished and coated with a reflective coating.

9. A manufacturing method for a luminous logo, characterized by comprising: bundling optical fibres to form a plurality of optical fibre bundles according to the shape of the logo, and arranging the plurality of optical fibre bundles to form an optical fibre structure matching the logo in shape; fixing the optical fibre structure into an injection mould; and forming a logo body in the injection mould by means of injection moulding, wherein the optical fibre structure is evenly overmoulded inside the logo body, the logo body forms a plurality of protruding portions, and an end of each optical fibre bundle extends from one of the protruding portions.

10. The manufacturing method according to claim 9, characterized by further comprising, after the logo body is formed: forming an airbag cover provided with through holes allowing the protruding portions to be assembled; and assembling the logo body from an outer surface of the airbag cover such that the logo body is fixed to the outer surface of the airbag cover, and the protruding portions are inserted into the through holes.

11. The manufacturing method according to claim 10, characterized by further comprising, when the logo body is assembled: providing a mounting plate on an inner side of the airbag cover, wherein the mounting plate is provided with fixing holes corresponding to the through holes; and inserting the protruding portions into the through holes and the fixing holes, then fixing the protruding portions to the mounting plate.

12. The manufacturing method according to claim 11, characterized by further comprising, when the logo body is assembled: assembling a light-emitting light source on the mounting plate, and gathering the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles together and connecting same to the light-emitting light source; or assembling a light-emitting light source to an inner surface of the airbag cover, and gathering the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles together and connecting same to the light-emitting light source; or assembling a light-emitting light source outside the airbag cover, and gathering the extended ends of the optical fibre bundles together and connecting same to the light-emitting light source by means of a main light-conducting optical fibre.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The drawings herein, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of the description, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present invention and, together with the description, are used to explain principles of the present invention. Obviously, the drawings described below show merely some of the embodiments of the present invention, and those of ordinary skill in the art would also have obtained other drawings according to these drawings without involving any inventive effort.

[0027] FIG. 1 is a side-view structural schematic diagram of a luminous logo in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a logo body in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] FIG. 3 is a structural schematic diagram of an optical fibre structure in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of the luminous logo in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] FIG. 5 is a structural schematic diagram of an airbag cover mounted with the luminous logo in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional structural schematic diagram of the airbag cover mounted with the luminous logo in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] FIG. 7 is an assembly structural schematic diagram of the luminous logo and a mounting plate in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the principle of conducting light by optical fibres when a light-emitting light source is provided outside the airbag cover in the embodiment of the present invention; and

[0035] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of steps of a manufacturing method for a luminous logo in an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0036] Now exemplary embodiments will be described more fully with reference to the drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the present invention thorough and complete, and to fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art.

[0037] In addition, the drawings are only schematic illustrations of the present invention and are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or similar parts, and thus the repeated description thereof will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities, which do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities.

[0038] The sequence numbers of steps in the method embodiment are only used to represent different execution contents, and do not strictly limit the execution order of the steps. It has to be noted that the embodiments in the present invention and features of the various embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a side-view structure of a luminous logo in an embodiment, FIG. 2 shows a structure of a logo body, FIG. 3 shows a structure of an optical fibre structure, and FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional structure of the luminous logo. As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the luminous logo in this embodiment comprises: a logo body 1, the logo body 1 being provided with a plurality of protruding portions 11; a plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 arranged to form an optical fibre structure 20 matching the logo body 1 in shape, the optical fibre structure 20 being evenly overmoulded inside the logo body 1, and an end of each optical fibre bundle 2 extending from one of the protruding portions 11; and a light-emitting light source 3 detachable relative to the logo body 1, the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 being gathered and connected to the light-emitting light source 3.

[0040] In the luminous logo of the above embodiment, the plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 are arranged to form the optical fibre structure 20 matching the logo body 1 in shape, such that the optical fibre structure 20 is evenly overmoulded inside the logo body 1, and optical fibres are embedded into the logo body. The ends of the optical fibre bundles 2 extend from the protruding portions 11 of the logo body 1 and are gathered and connected to the detachable light-emitting light source 3 to realize uniform luminescence of the logo body 1. Further, the detachable design of the light-emitting light source 3 relative to the logo body 1 can facilitate the assembly of the luminous logo; when the luminous logo is applied to an automobile component including but not limited to an airbag cover, the logo body 1 and the light-emitting light source 3 may be assembled separately, so that the automobile component does not need to be provided with a large hole matching an outer contour of the luminous logo, thereby ensuring the strength of the automobile component and the assembly stability of the luminous logo; and therefore, by means of the structural design of the luminous logo of the above embodiment, the assembly stability of the luminous logo can be ensured while the luminescence of the logo is realized.

[0041] The logo body 1 in the above embodiment may be designed into different shapes according to the requirement of an automobile model. For example, the logo body 1 may be designed in an annular shape, an oval shape, a square shape, etc. Especially for the logo body 1 composed of thin lines, by means of the design of embedding the optical fibre bundles 2 and detachably connecting same to the light-emitting light source 3, both the luminous function and the assembly stability could be guaranteed.

[0042] In one specific example, a specific structure of the logo body 1 is as shown in FIG. 2, which has an annular outer contour. Different pattern shapes may be designed in the annular outer contour according to needs, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, letters ZF are provided in the annular outer contour. In other examples, other shapes, letters, numbers, Chinese characters, etc. may be provided. The plurality of protruding portions 11 are arranged at the bottom of the annular outer contour for allowing the optical fibre bundles 2 to be led out and to assemble the luminous logo to the automobile component. In this example, the protruding portions 11 are specifically fixing pins provided at the bottom of the logo body 1. In other examples, the protruding portions 11 may be designed in other structures as long as they can lead out the optical fibre bundles 2 and assemble the luminous logo.

[0043] The logo body 1 is formed by means of injection moulding of an injection moulding plastic material doped with scattering particles, so as to realize a uniform luminescence effect. The scattering particles include but are not limited to aluminium oxide particles. An outer surface of the logo body 1 may be further subjected to surface treatment by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD), etc., so as to form metal texture. If it is necessary to provide a matching colour, pigment or lacquer may be applied to the outer surface of the logo body 1 by means of screen printing, etc., as long as the thickness of a coating/plating layer can ensure the light transmission ability. Further, the bottom of the logo body 1 may be polished and coated with a reflective layer, so that light originally emitted to the bottom of the logo is reflected upwards, and the utilization rate of the light is increased.

[0044] Regarding the structure of the logo body 1, the optical fibre structure 20, as shown in FIG. 3, is formed by arranging the plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 according to the structure of the logo. Each optical fibre bundle 2 may be formed by bundling ultra-fine side-emitting optical fibres. According to the structure of the logo body 1, different numbers of ultra-fine side-emitting optical fibres may be bundled into optical fibre bundles 2 with different dimensions to form the optical fibre structure 20 completely matching the logo body 1 in shape.

[0045] As shown in FIGS. 1-4, regarding the logo body 1 with the letters ZF arranged in the annular outer contour, a plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 each may be enclosed in an annular shape with the same dimensions, and embedded in the annular outer contour of the logo body 1, and two ends of each optical fibre bundle 2 extend from the root of one of the protruding portions 11. Further, regarding the letter Z, three optical fibre bundles 2 may be provided, wherein the first optical fibre bundle 2 enters from the bottom of one end of an upper line of the letter Z and extends out from the bottom of the other end thereof; the second optical fibre bundle 2 enters from the bottom of an upper end of an inclined line of the letter Z and extends out from the bottom of a lower end of the inclined line; and the third optical fibre bundle 2 enters from the bottom of one end of a lower line of the letter Z and extends out from the bottom of the other end thereof. The two extended ends of all the optical fibre bundles 2 may be connected to the same light-emitting light source 3, so that the whole logo with the optical fibres embedded therein can be illuminated by one light-emitting light source 3. The light-emitting light source 3 includes but is not limited to a light-emitting apparatus such as an LED bead.

[0046] A specific way of embedding the optical fibres into the logo body is to fix the optical fibre structure 20 into an injection mould after the optical fibre structure 20 is formed, and then perform in-mould injection moulding in the injection mould, for example, use the injection moulding plastic material mixed with the scattering particles to perform injection moulding, so as to evenly overmould the optical fibre inside the logo body.

[0047] The luminous logo of the present invention may be applied to any automobile component, and the following description will take the luminous logo applied to the airbag cover as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0048] FIG. 5 shows a structure of the airbag cover mounted with the luminous logo in the embodiment, and FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional structure of the airbag cover mounted with the luminous logo. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the luminous logo 10 is applied to the airbag cover 4, the airbag cover 4 is provided with through holes (not specifically marked in the figures) allowing the protruding portions 11 to be assembled, the logo body 1 is assembled to the outer surface of the airbag cover 4, and the protruding portions 11 are inserted into the through holes. By assembling the logo body 1 to the airbag cover 4 from the above of the airbag cover 4, it is possible that the airbag cover 4 only needs to be provided with the through holes allowing the protruding portions 11 to be assembled, without the need for providing a large hole matching the outer contour of the logo body 1, thereby having little influence on the surface strength of the airbag cover 4.

[0049] Further, the logo body 1 is assembled to the airbag cover 4 by cooperating with the mounting plate. FIG. 7 shows an assembly structure of the luminous logo and the mounting plate in the embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the mounting plate 5 is provided on an inner side of the airbag cover 4, the mounting plate 5 preferably matches the logo body 1 in shape, the mounting plate 5 is provided with fixing holes (not specifically marked in the figures) corresponding to the through holes, and the protruding portions 11 are inserted into the through holes and then fixed to the fixing holes, thereby realizing stable assembly to the airbag cover 4.

[0050] After the logo body 1 is mounted on the airbag cover 4, optical fibre tips are gathered together and connected to the light-emitting light source 3. In this embodiment, the light-emitting light source 3 may be assembled on the mounting plate 5, and the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 are gathered to an optical fibre bundle tip 200 and connected to the light-emitting light source 3.

[0051] When the luminous logo 10 needs to be lit, the light-emitting light source 3 emits light, the optical fibre bundle tip 200 fixed in front of the light-emitting light source 3 may receive light. Due to the characteristics of the optical fibres, the light will fill the optical fibres. Moreover, since the optical fibres are of a side-emitting type, the light leaks out from a side wall of each optical fibre bundle 2, and after the light is homogenized by means of the logo body 1, uniform luminescence of the logo may be seen from the outside of the luminous logo 10.

[0052] The light-emitting light source 3 is not limited to be arranged at the mounting plate 5. As an example, in one embodiment, the light-emitting light source 3 may be assembled to an inner surface of the airbag cover 4, and the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 are gathered together and connected to the light-emitting light source 3. As another example, in one embodiment, the light-emitting light source 3 is assembled outside the airbag cover 4, and the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles 2 are gathered together and connected to the light-emitting light source 3 by means of a main light-conducting optical fibre.

[0053] FIG. 8 shows the principle of conducting the light by the optical fibres when the light-emitting light source is arranged outside the airbag cover in the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, when the light-emitting light source is mounted outside the airbag cover, the light may be conducted to the tip of each optical fibre bundle 2 by means of the main light-conducting optical fibre 6, and then the luminescence of the logo can be realized by means of each optical fibre bundle 2. The main light-conducting optical fibre 6 and the tips of the optical fibre bundles 2 may be connected by means of a connector 60.

[0054] Through the description of the above embodiments, when the luminous logo of the present invention is applied to the airbag cover, it is possible to assemble the logo body, which is a part that is lighter in weight but larger in area, from the front of the airbag cover, which has no influence on the inflation characteristics of an airbag; and the light-emitting light source is mounted on the back of the airbag cover or may be moved out of the airbag.

[0055] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a manufacturing method for a luminous logo, which is suitable for the luminous logo described in the above embodiments. FIG. 9 shows main steps of the manufacturing method for a luminous logo in the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the manufacturing method for a luminous logo in this embodiment comprises: in 5910, bundling optical fibres to form a plurality of optical fibre bundles according to the shape of the logo, and arranging the plurality of optical fibre bundles to form an optical fibre structure matching the logo in shape; in 5920, fixing the optical fibre structure into an injection mould; and in 5930, forming a logo body in the injection mould by means of injection moulding, wherein the optical fibre structure is evenly overmoulded inside the logo body, the logo body forms a plurality of protruding portions, and an end of each optical fibre bundle extends from one of the protruding portions. Therefore, the logo body with optical fibres embedded therein is formed.

[0056] Further, after the logo body is formed, the manufacturing method further comprises: forming an airbag cover provided with through holes allowing the protruding portions to be assembled; and assembling the logo body from an outer surface of the airbag cover such that the luminous logo is fixed to the outer surface of the airbag cover, and the protruding portions are inserted into the through holes. In this way, the logo body is assembled to the airbag cover. By means of assembling the logo body from the outer surface of the airbag cover, the airbag cover only needs to be provided with the through holes allowing the protruding portions to be assembled, without the need for providing a large hole matching an outer contour of the logo body, thereby ensuring the surface strength of the airbag cover.

[0057] Certainly, the luminous logo may also be used for another automobile component, and the logo body may be assembled to the corresponding automobile component in a similar mode that has no influence on the surface strength of the automobile component.

[0058] The logo body may be specifically assembled to the airbag cover by means of a mounting plate. The mounting plate is arranged on an inner side of the airbag cover, wherein the mounting plate preferably matches the logo body in shape, and the mounting plate is provided with fixing holes corresponding to the through holes; and the logo body is assembled from the outer surface of the airbag cover, such that the protruding portions are inserted into the through hole and then fixed to the fixing holes, thereby realizing a stable assembly between the logo body and the airbag cover.

[0059] Further, when the logo body is assembled, the manufacturing method further comprises: assembling a light-emitting light source on the mounting plate, and gathering the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles together and connecting same to the light-emitting light source; or assembling a light-emitting light source to an inner surface of the airbag cover, and gathering the extended ends of the plurality of optical fibre bundles together and connecting same to the light-emitting light source; or assembling a light-emitting light source outside the airbag cover, and gathering the extended ends of the optical fibre bundles together and connecting same to the light-emitting light source by means of a main light-conducting optical fibre. That is to say, the light-emitting light source may be arranged at any suitable position as required, and when the logo body is assembled, optical fibre tips are gathered and connected to the light-emitting light source, so as to form the luminous logo.

[0060] According to the manufacturing method for a luminous logo in the above embodiment, the logo body is assembled from the front of the airbag cover, thereby ensuring the surface strength of the airbag cover and having no influence on the inflation characteristics of an airbag. The light-emitting light source may be mounted on the back of the airbag cover or may be moved out of the airbag by only gathering the optical fibre tips and connecting same to the light-emitting light source, without the need for binding the light-emitting light source with the logo body.

[0061] To sum up, in the luminous logo and the manufacturing method therefore provided by the present invention, the plurality of optical fibre bundles are arranged to form the optical fibre structure matching the logo body in shape, such that the optical fibre structure is evenly overmoulded inside the logo body, and optical fibres are embedded into the logo body. The ends of the optical fibre bundles extend from the protruding portions of the logo body and are gathered and connected to the detachable light-emitting light source to realize uniform luminescence of the logo body. Further, the detachable design of the light-emitting light source relative to the logo body can facilitate the assembly of the luminous logo; when the luminous logo is applied to an automobile component including but not limited to an airbag cover, the logo body and the light-emitting light source may be assembled separately, so that the automobile component does not need to be provided with a large hole matching an outer contour of the luminous logo, thereby ensuring the strength of the automobile component and the assembly stability of the luminous logo; and therefore, the structural design of the luminous logo of the present invention can well realize the luminescence of the logo while ensuring the assembly stability of the luminous logo.

[0062] The above is a further detailed description of the present invention with reference to the specific preferred embodiments, and it cannot be considered that the specific implementation of the present invention is limited to these descriptions. For those of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention, several simple deductions or substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, which should be regarded as falling within the scope of protection of the present invention.