Motor Vehicle

Abstract

A motor vehicle includes a radiator grille and a lighting apparatus with a number of light sources. During operation, the lighting apparatus emits light, which originates from the number of light sources, from the radiator grille into the surrounds of the motor vehicle. The lighting apparatus includes a number of flexible fiber bundles. Each fiber contains one or more fibers and has a homogeneous outer surface for generating homogeneous light radiation in a circumferential direction of the fiber bundle. Further, each fiber bundle is arranged at least in sections on the radiator grille and coupled to at least one light source at at least one light one fiber bundle end, the light source feeding into the at least one fiber bundle end during operation.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A motor vehicle comprising: a radiator grill; and a lighting device comprising: a plurality of light sources, wherein the lighting device is configured such that, during operation, the lighting device emits light which comes from the plurality of light sources from the radiator grill into an exterior of the motor vehicle, and a plurality of flexible fiber bundles, wherein each fiber bundle contains one or more fibers, has a homogeneous outer face for generating homogeneous light radiation in a circumferential direction of the fiber bundle, is arranged at least in sections on the radiator grill, and is coupled at least one fiber bundle end to at least one light source, which feeds light into the at least one fiber bundle end during operation.

17. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a first respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles runs for at least a part of its longitudinal extent along an outer contour of the radiator grill.

18. The motor vehicle according to claim 17, wherein a portion of the plurality of fiber bundles respectively run along a different section of the outer contour of the radiator grill for at least a part of their longitudinal extent.

19. The motor vehicle according to claim 17, wherein a second respective fiber bundle of the plurality of the bundles runs around the entirety of the contour of the radiator grill for at least a part of its longitudinal extent.

20. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles is covered at least in sections by a frame structure which is arranged on the radiator grill and at least in sections is translucent for the light radiation of the respective fiber bundle.

21. The motor vehicle according to claim 20, wherein the frame structure runs along an outer contour of the radiator grill.

22. The motor vehicle according to claim 20, wherein the frame structure consists of a single frame element or of a plurality of frame elements.

23. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles is at least one of clamped, adhesively bonded, or clipped in the radiator grill.

24. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles has a strip which extends in a longitudinal direction of the respective fiber bundle along its outer face and by way of which the respective fiber bundle is fastened in the radiator grill.

25. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of light sources comprises one or more LEDs and/or one or more laser diodes.

26. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein at least one light source of the plurality of light sources is arranged in at least one headlamp which is positioned adjacent to the radiator grill.

27. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein, for a respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles, an optical jack for releasable connection of two sections of the respective fiber bundle is provided.

28. The motor vehicle according to claim 27, wherein the optical jack is arranged outside the radiator grill in a plan view of the radiator grill and/or the optical jack is arranged adjacent to a light source which is coupled to the respective fiber bundle in order to supply light.

29. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles comprises one or more glass fibers and/or one or more plastic fibers.

30. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles has a round cross section with a diameter between 0.5 mm and 2 mm.

31. The motor vehicle according to claim 30, wherein the diameter is less than 1.3 mm.

32. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein a respective fiber bundle of at least some of the plurality of fiber bundles contains between 50 and 700 fibers.

33. The motor vehicle according to claim 16, wherein the outer face of a respective fiber bundle of the plurality of fiber bundles is formed from a coating.

34. The motor vehicle according to claim 33, wherein the coating is a fluorinated polymer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1 shows an exploded representation of a part of a bumper having a radiator grill and a lighting device in one variant of the motor vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0025] FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 show plan views of the frame structure of FIG. 1, which show various configurations of lighting devices according to different embodiments of the motor vehicle according to the invention.

[0026] FIG. 5 shows a cross section along a vertical plane, running in the driving direction, through the lighting device of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a perspective exploded representation of a section of a front bumper 1, which is installed in a variant of a motor vehicle according to the invention. In FIG. 1, a central front region of the bumper with a radiator grill 2 integrated therein is in this case shown. The driving direction of the motor vehicle is indicated for illustration by the arrow F.

[0028] The radiator grill 2 comprises a left subregion 2a and a right subregion 2b, which are often also referred to as kidneys and are joined together in the middle of the radiator grill through a narrowed section. In a manner known per se, the radiator grill comprises a plurality of ribs 201 extending in the vertical direction, only some of which are denoted by this reference sign. A plate 202, which covers sensors installed in the radiator grill, is furthermore provided in the front region of the radiator grill.

[0029] In order to achieve elegant illumination of the outer contour of the radiator grill 2, a fiber bundle is used, a continuous fiber bundle 500 which runs around the entire outer contour of the radiator grill 2 being used in the embodiment of FIG. 1. As may be seen from FIG. 2, which is described below, light of a laser light source 3, which is installed in the headlamp 9 adjacent to the subsection 2b of the radiator grill 2, is fed into corresponding fiber bundle ends 5, 5′ of the fiber bundle 500. For reasons of clarity, neither the fiber bundle ends nor the headlamp with the laser light source installed therein are shown in FIG. 1.

[0030] In the embodiment described here, a glass fiber bundle having a plurality of glass fibers twisted with one another is used as the fiber bundle 500. In one particular variant, the fiber bundle has 96 fibers with a respective fiber diameter of about 50 μm. Compared with a conventional light guide, a fiber bundle is distinguished in that it does not have an output coupling structure but instead a homogeneous outer face, so that it emits homogeneous light with a uniform luminance in the circumferential direction. Preferably, the light emission is also substantially homogeneous along the longitudinal extent of the fiber bundle, which may be ensured by supplying light with high intensity by way of a laser light source.

[0031] In the variant described here, the fiber bundle 500 is held in the radiator grill 2 by clamping, as will be described below with the aid of FIG. 5. Furthermore, the fiber bundle 500 is covered by a frame structure in the form of a frame element 4. The frame element comprises a plurality of lugs 401, only some of which are denoted with this reference sign in FIG. 1 and with which the frame element 4 is fastened on a body component, as will likewise be explained below with the aid of FIG. 5. The frame element 4 consists of diffuse translucent material which is partially coated. In the region of the frame element which lies in front of the fiber bundle 500, there is however no coating so that light of the fiber bundle 500 can emerge outward there and the effect of a luminous outer contour of the radiator grill 2 can thereby be generated.

[0032] The shape of the radiator grill as described above is merely exemplary. In particular, the radiator grill may optionally also consist of two mutually separated subregions in the form of separated kidneys. In this case, a separate frame element, which in turn covers a fiber bundle that runs around the contour of the respective kidney, is provided for each kidney.

[0033] FIG. 2 shows a plan view from the front of the frame element 4 of FIG. 1 with the fiber bundle 500 lying behind it. The headlamps 9 and 9′ arranged adjacent to the radiator grill are also schematically indicated by dashed semicircles in FIG. 2, as well as in the further FIGS. 3 and 4. The actual shape of the headlamps differs from semicircles. The laser light source 3, which uses a laser diode for the light emission, can furthermore be seen in FIG. 2. This laser light source is indicated merely schematically by a square. The laser light source 3 is installed in the headlamp 9, i.e. it is integrated in the headlamp housing of this headlamp. This has the advantage that the laser light source is arranged outside the tight installation space of the radiator grill. The laser diode of the laser light source is enclosed by a box, so that laser light cannot emerge other than by way of the corresponding fiber bundle ends 5 and 5′.

[0034] The laser light source 3 generates white light. Preferably, a blue laser diode, the light of which is converted into white light by a conversion layer in the form of a phosphor, is used for this purpose. This white light is coupled into the fiber bundle 500 by way of the two fiber bundle ends 5 and 5′. The light coupled in propagates along the entire fiber bundle 500 and is therefore emitted substantially homogeneously from the fiber bundle along the entire outer contour of the radiator grill 2. In this way, a highly elegant light effect in the form of a luminous outer contour of the radiator grill is achieved.

[0035] In FIG. 2, an optional optical jack 10, which is arranged adjacent to the fiber bundle ends 5 and 5′, is furthermore indicated by a dashed rectangle. By way of this optical jack, the portion of the fiber bundle 500 which runs in the radiator grill 2 can be separated from the laser light source 3. In this way, simple replacement of the fiber bundle or of the laser light source may be achieved.

[0036] FIG. 3 shows a modified embodiment of the radiator grill lighting of FIG. 2. In this case, the same frame element 4 is used as in FIG. 1, although instead of a continuous fiber bundle 500, four separate fiber bundles 501, 502, 503 and 504 are used, which respectively run along a section of the frame element 4 and therefore of the outer contour of the radiator grill 2. Furthermore, two laser light sources 3 and 3′ are provided, the laser light source 3 being installed in the headlamp 9 and the light source 3′ being installed in the headlamp 9′.

[0037] According to FIG. 3, the fiber bundle 501 runs in the upper section of the frame element 4 adjacent to the headlamp 9 and is supplied by the laser light source 3 by way of the fiber bundle end 5. Correspondingly, the fiber bundle 502 is arranged in the lower section of the frame element 4 adjacent to the headlamp 9 and is supplied by the laser light source 3 at its fiber bundle end 5′. Conversely, the fiber bundle 503 is arranged in an upper section of the frame element 4 adjacent to the headlamp 9′ and is supplied by the laser light source 3′ at its fiber bundle end 5. Similarly, the fiber bundle 504 is arranged in the lower section of the frame element 4 adjacent to the headlamp 9′ and is supplied by the laser light source 3′ at its fiber bundle end 5′.

[0038] With the embodiment just described, particularly bright illumination of the outer contour of the radiator grill 2 can be achieved by using two laser light sources. In analogy with FIG. 2, corresponding optical jacks for separating the fiber bundles from the laser light source may be provided at the laser light source 3 or 3′, respectively, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 as well as of FIG. 4, which is described below.

[0039] FIG. 4 shows another modified embodiment of radiator grill lighting. This variant corresponds substantially to the embodiment of FIG. 2, with the difference that the laser light source 3 is now installed not in the headlamp 9 but below the radiator grill 2. From there, in a similar way as in the variant of FIG. 2, the light of the laser light source 3 is fed by way of fiber bundle ends 5 and 5′ to a single fiber bundle 500 which runs around the entire frame element 4 and therefore the entire outer contour of the radiator grill.

[0040] FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a section of the representation of FIG. 1. The section in this case runs in the vertical direction and parallel to the driving direction F along an upper lug 401 of the frame element 4, the frame element being placed on the radiator grill and the fiber bundle 500 being located behind the frame element. In FIG. 5, an upper section of the radiator grill 2 and a body component 8 lying behind it are indicated by hatching. As may be seen, the lug 401 of the frame element 4 extends into the body component 8 and is held there by a suitable fastener. This is not shown in further detail.

[0041] Furthermore, it may be seen from FIG. 5 that a groove 11 is provided in the upper region of the radiator grill 2. This groove extends along the entire outer contour of the radiator grill and is used to clamp the fiber bundle 500, which is pressed into the groove 11. Optionally, the fiber bundle 500 may be fastened on the radiator grill 2 with additional or other fastening methods. For example, the fiber bundle may be adhesively bonded on the radiator grill. Likewise, the fiber bundle may be clipped at particular positions along the outer contour of the radiator grill, in which case this clipping may be achieved with a latch known per se. In another variant, a so-called keder strip extends along the outer face of the fiber bundle 500, and this is then latched or clipped in the radiator grill using a suitable latch.

[0042] It may furthermore be seen in FIG. 5 that the inner side of the frame element 4 has a coating 6, which is opaque, in a subregion. This may, for example, be a black vapor deposit. In order to allow exit of light of the light emitted by the fiber bundle 500, an uncoated section 7 which lies adjacent to the fiber bundle 500 and which extends along the longitudinal direction of the fiber bundle around the outer contour of the radiator grill 2, is provided on the inner side of the frame element 4. At this uncoated section, the light of the fiber bundle 500 can emerge through the diffuse, translucent material of the frame element 4. By arranging the frame element 4 in front of the fiber bundle 500, suitable protection of the fiber bundle from damage during driving of the motor vehicle is achieved. In one preferred variant, a further transparent protective coating for protecting the frame element 4 is provided on the outer side of the latter.

[0043] The embodiments described above have a number of advantages. In particular, homogeneous light emission in the region of the radiator grill, and in particular on its outer contour, is achieved in a straightforward manner by way of a fiber bundle. In this case, the corresponding light source for feeding light into the fiber bundle may optionally be arranged outside the radiator grill. Preferably, a respective light source is installed in a corresponding headlamp adjacent to the radiator grill. This takes into account the fact that the installation space in the radiator grill is often limited, since a plurality of sensors are in general already integrated there. In one preferred variant, furthermore, an optical jack may also be provided, by way of which the fiber bundle can be separated, whereby changing of the corresponding light source or of the corresponding fiber bundle is facilitated.

LIST OF REFERENCES SIGNS

[0044] 1 bumper [0045] 2 radiator grill [0046] 2a, 2b subsections of the radiator grill [0047] 201 ribs of the radiator grill [0048] 202 plate of the radiator grill [0049] 3, 3′ light sources [0050] 4 frame structure [0051] 401 lugs of the frame structure [0052] 500, 501, 502, 503, 504 fiber bundles [0053] 5, 5′ fiber bundle ends [0054] 6 coating [0055] 7 uncoated section [0056] 8 body component [0057] 9, 9′ headlamps [0058] 10 optical jack [0059] 11 groove [0060] F driving direction