LAMP MODULE AND VEHICLE LAMP INCLUDING THE SAME
20230066763 · 2023-03-02
Inventors
Cpc classification
F21W2103/20
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/40
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S41/148
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S41/255
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S41/43
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/243
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21Y2115/10
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21W2103/40
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21W2103/55
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/247
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/241
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/26
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/14
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21W2102/155
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S41/143
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/315
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21W2103/10
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/15
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21W2103/35
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S43/239
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S41/285
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S41/24
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
International classification
F21S41/143
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F21S41/255
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Abstract
A lamp module includes a light source unit that generates light; a light guide unit that guides the light incident on an incidence portion from the light source unit to be emitted to an emission portion; and an optical unit that transmits the light emitted from the light guide unit to allow a predetermined beam pattern to be formed. In particular, the optical unit includes a plurality of lenses disposed in a vehicle width direction, and the emission portion includes a plurality of emission surfaces disposed in the vehicle width direction to correspond to the plurality of lenses.
Claims
1. A lamp module comprising: a light source unit that generates light; a light guide unit that guides the light incident on an incidence portion from the light source unit to be emitted to an emission portion; and an optical unit that transmits the light emitted from the light guide unit to allow a predetermined beam pattern to be formed, wherein the optical unit includes a plurality of lenses disposed in a vehicle width direction, and wherein the emission portion of the light guide unit includes a plurality of emission surfaces disposed in the vehicle width direction to correspond to the plurality of lenses of the optical unit.
2. The lamp module of claim 1, wherein the light guide unit further includes a transmission portion configured to transmit the light incident on the incidence portion to the emission portion that is disposed in front of the incidence portion, and wherein the transmission portion is formed to extend in a front-rear direction.
3. The lamp module of claim 2, wherein the light guide unit further includes a reflection portion including at least one reflection surface configured to reflect the light incident on the incidence portion to the transmission portion.
4. The lamp module of claim 2, wherein a lower surface of the transmission portion is disposed at or near an optical axis of the optical unit, and wherein a front end of the transmission portion is disposed at or near a rear focal point of the optical unit.
5. The lamp module of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of emission surfaces exhibits a planar shape or a curved surface.
6. The lamp module of claim 1, wherein the plurality of lenses have a stepped portion such that the plurality of lenses are disposed progressively forward or rearward going from one side toward the other side in the vehicle width direction, and wherein the plurality of emission surfaces have a stepped portion corresponding to an arrangement of the plurality of lenses.
7. The lamp module of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of lenses and the plurality of emission surfaces are respectively formed in an odd number.
8. A vehicle lamp configured to allow a predetermined beam pattern to be formed by at least one lamp module, wherein the at least one lamp module includes a plurality of lamp modules disposed in a vehicle width direction, wherein each of the plurality of lamp modules includes: a light source unit that generates light; a light guide unit that guides the light incident from the light source unit to be emitted to an emission portion; and an optical unit that transmits the light emitted from the light guide unit to allow the predetermined beam pattern to be formed, wherein the optical unit includes a plurality of lenses disposed in the vehicle width direction, and wherein the emission portion of the light guide unit includes a plurality of emission surfaces disposed in the vehicle width direction to correspond to the plurality of lenses of the optical unit.
9. The vehicle lamp of claim 8, wherein the plurality of lamp modules are disposed to be inclined forward or rearward going from one side toward the other side in the vehicle width direction.
10. The vehicle lamp of claim 8, wherein the plurality of lamp modules include a first group configured to form a first region of the beam pattern and a second group configured to form a second region of the beam pattern, and wherein the plurality of emission surfaces of a lamp module belonging to the first group of the plurality of lamp modules have curvatures different from curvatures of the plurality of emission surfaces of a lamp module belonging to the second group of the plurality of lamp modules.
11. The vehicle lamp of claim 10, wherein the lamp module belonging to any one of the first group or the second group has the plurality of emission surfaces with a curved shape, and the lamp module belonging to the other of the first group or the second group has the plurality of emission surfaces with a planar shape.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] The above and other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
[0022]
[0023]
[0024]
[0025]
[0026]
[0027]
[0028]
[0029]
[0030]
[0031]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention will only be defined by the appended claims. Throughout the specification, like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.
[0033] In some embodiments, well-known steps, structures and techniques will not be described in detail to avoid obscuring the invention.
[0034] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
[0035] Embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to plan and cross-section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments of the invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. In the drawings, respective components may be enlarged or reduced in size for convenience of explanation.
[0036] Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings for describing a vehicle lamp according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0037]
[0038] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle lamp 1 may be used as a head lamp to allow a front view to be secured by radiating light in a traveling direction of a vehicle. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure may be used as various lamps installed in a vehicle, such as a tail lamp, a daytime running lamp (DRL), a brake lamp, a turn signal lamp, a backup lamp, or the like, as well as a head lamp.
[0039] When the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure is used as a head lamp, the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure may form a low beam pattern to allow a wide viewing range in a shorter distance in front of a vehicle to be secured, or a high beam pattern to allow a longer viewing distance for a remote distance in front of a vehicle to be secured. Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which the vehicle lamp 1 forms a low beam pattern that radiates light to a lower side with respect to a predetermined cutoff line will be described as an example.
[0040] As shown in
[0041] In other words, in the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure, the plurality of lamp modules 1000 may be disposed in an internal space formed by a lamp housing (not shown) and a cover lens (not shown) coupled to the lamp housing, and in such case, the plurality of lamp modules 1000 may be arranged according to the shape of an outer surface of the cover lens that forms the body line of the vehicle.
[0042] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which the plurality of lamp modules 1000 are disposed more rearward going from the inner side toward the outer side of a vehicle in the vehicle width direction x will be described as an example, but this is only an example for better understanding of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The plurality of lamp modules 1000 may be disposed to be inclined and may be arranged more forward or rearward going from one side toward the other side in the vehicle width direction x along the body line of the vehicle.
[0043]
[0044] Referring to
[0045] The light source unit 1010 may include at least one light source configured to generate light having a light amount and/or a color suitable for a beam pattern to be formed by the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure, and in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a semiconductor light emitting device such as a light emitting diode (LED) will be described as an example for the at least one light source. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various types of light sources such as a laser diode (LD), a bulb, or the like, as well as an LED may be used as the light source unit 1010.
[0046] The light guide unit 1020 may guide the light incident from the light source unit 1010 to allow the light generated from the light source unit 1010 to be transmitted to the optical unit 1030 disposed in front of the light guide unit 1020 such that a beam pattern may be formed.
[0047] The light guide unit 1020 may include an incidence portion 1021, a transmission portion 1022, and an emission portion 1023. The incidence portion 1021 may include at least one incident surface 1021a and 1021b and a reflective surface 1021c that reflects some of the light incident on the at least one incident surface 1021a and 1021b in a direction of an optical axis Ax of the light source unit 1010. Herein, the optical axis Ax of the light source unit 1010 may be understood as a line that vertically passes through a center of a light emitting surface formed by the at least one light source.
[0048] The at least one incident surface 1021a and 1021b may include a center surface 1021a having the optical axis Ax of the light source unit 1010 at a center thereof and a protruding surface 1021b that protrudes from an outer circumferential end of the center surface 1021a toward the light source unit 1010, and the reflective surface 1021c may reflect the light incident on the protruding surface 1021b in the direction of the optical axis Ax of the light source unit 1010. The protruding surface 1021b may allow the light from the light source unit 1010 to be incident on the incidence portion 1021 with a minimal loss, while allowing a size of the incidence portion 1021 to be reduced.
[0049] In other words, without the protruding surface 1021b, the center surface 1021a would be required to have a size that correspond to a radiation range of the light generated from the light source unit 1010 in order to allow the light from the light source unit 1010 to be incident on the incidence portion 1021 without light loss. In such a configuration, it is necessary to relatively increase the size of the incidence portion 1021. Conversely, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the size of the center surface 1021a may be reduced due to the protruding surface 1021b, and the light from the light source unit 1010 may still be incident on the incidence portion 1021 with a minimal loss.
[0050] The transmission portion 1022 may transmit the light incident on the incidence portion 1021 to the emission portion 1023, and in the embodiment of the present disclosure, since the optical axis Ax of the light source unit 1010 is vertically oriented, and the transmission portion 1022 is formed to extend in the front-rear direction, the light incident through the incidence portion 1021 may be reflected to proceed to the transmission portion 1022 by the reflection portion 1024 that includes at least one reflective surface 1024a, 1024b, and 1024c to allow the light incident on the incidence portion 1021 to proceed to the transmission portion 1022.
[0051] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which the reflection portion 1024 includes the plurality of reflection surfaces 1024a, 1024b, and 1024c will be described as an example, but this is only an example for better understanding of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the number, locations, and sizes of the reflection surfaces included in the reflection portion 1024 may be variously changed depending on the size and/or shape of the optical unit 1030.
[0052] The transmission portion 1022 may include a lower surface that is disposed at or near an optical axis C of the optical unit 1030, and a front end of the transmission portion 1022 may be disposed at or near a rear focal point F of the optical unit 1030 to prevent the light from being incident on the optical unit 1030 through the lower half with respect to the rear focal point F of the optical unit 1030, so that a low beam pattern in which light is radiated to a lower side with respect to a predetermined cutoff line may be formed by the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure.
[0053] The emission portion 1023 may emit the light transmitted by the transmission portion 1022 to proceed to the optical unit 1030, and a shape and/or curvature of the emission portion 1023 may be variously changed depending on a region where the light is to be radiated by the lamp module 1000.
[0054] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which the emission portion 1023 includes a plurality of emission surfaces 1023a, 1023b, and 1023c that are disposed along the vehicle width direction x will be described as an example, and hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of emission surfaces 1023a, 1023b, 1023c may include a first emission surface 1023a disposed in the middle, and a second emission surface 1023b and a third emission surface 1023c disposed at both sides of the first emission surface 1023a, respectively.
[0055] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the emission portion 1023 may include the plurality of emission surfaces 1023a, 1023b, and 1023c because the optical unit 1030, to be described below, includes a plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033 may also include a first lens 1031 disposed in the middle, and a second lens 1032 and a third lens 1033 disposed at both sides of the first lens 1031, similar to the plurality of emission surfaces 1023a, 1023b, and 1023c. A detailed description of such a configuration will be provided below. Herein, the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033 may not be physically separated, but may be connected with one another. However, each of the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033 may be understood as functioning as an independent optical lens even though they are connected.
[0056] Further, since the emission portion 1023 includes the plurality of emission surfaces 1023a, 1023b, and 1023c, the reflection portion 1024 may also include a plurality of reflection surfaces 1024a, 1024b, and 1024c to reflect the light incident through the incidence portion 1021 to each of the plurality of emission surfaces 1023a, 1023b, and 1023c. The plurality of reflection surfaces 1024a, 1024b, and 1024c may include a first reflection surface 1024a for reflecting the light incident on the incidence portion 1021 to the first emission surface 1023a, a second reflection surface 1024b for reflecting the light incident on the incidence portion 1021 to the second emission surface 1023b, and a third reflection surface 1024c for reflecting the light incident on the incidence portion 1021 to the third emission surface 1023c. The second reflection surface 1024b and the third reflection surface 1024c may be disposed and formed at both sides of the first emission surface 1023a, so that the light incident on the incidence portion 1021 may be emitted through each of the second emission surface 1023b and the third emission surface 1023c.
[0057] The first reflection surface 1024a may be formed to be inclined so that a lower end is disposed more forward than an upper end thereof. The second reflection surface 1024b may be formed at each side of the first reflection surface 1024a so that a lower end is disposed farther from the optical axis Ax of the light source unit 1010 than an upper end thereof in the vehicle width direction x. The third reflection surface 1024c may be formed at each side so that a front end is disposed farther from the line that passes through the optical axis Ax of the light source unit 1010 with respect to both the front-rear direction and the vehicle width direction x so that the light reflected by the second reflection surface 1024b in the vehicle width direction x may proceed in a forward direction.
[0058] Meanwhile, in
[0059]
[0060] Specifically, a light Ll reflected by the first reflection surface 1024a among the lights incident on the incidence portion 1021 may be emitted through the first emission surface 1023a. Lights L2 and L3 reflected to the sides by the second reflection surface 1024b among the lights incident on the incidence portion 1021 may be reflected eventually in a forward direction by the third reflection surface 1024c and be emitted through the second emission surface 1023b and the third emission surface 1023c, respectively.
[0061] The reflection portion 1024 including the first to third reflection surfaces 1024a, 1024b, and 1024c is merely an example for better understanding of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The number and/or locations of reflection surfaces included in the reflection portion 1024 may be variously changed depending on the locations of the first to third emission surfaces 1023a, 1023b, and 1023c.
[0062] The optical unit 1030 may transmit the light guided and emitted by the light guide unit 1020 to form the beam pattern suitable for the purpose of the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure. As described above, the optical unit 1030 may include the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033 so that the light source unit 1010 and the light guide unit 1020 may be commonly used for the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033, thereby reducing the number of parts.
[0063] In other words, whereas if the light source unit 1010 and the light guide unit 1020 are individually provided for each of the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033, the number of parts would increase, the cost can increase, and the configuration can become more complicated, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, since the light source unit 1010 and the light guide unit 1020 may be commonly used for the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033, the cost may be reduced and the configuration may be simplified.
[0064] The above-described optical unit 1030 may allow the first lens 1031 to transmit the light emitted from the first emission surface 1023a, and the second lens 1032 and the third lens 1033 to transmit the light emitted from the second emission surface 1023b and then the third emission surface 1023c to form the beam pattern suitable for the purpose of the vehicle lamp 1.
[0065] The optical unit 1030 may include an odd number of lenses, such that the number of lenses disposed at left and right with respect to the central lens are the same. With such a configuration, the pattern region formed by the light radiated from the lamp module 1000 may be formed to be symmetrical in a left-right direction with respect to the center, thereby preventing a sense of heterogeneity in the beam pattern.
[0066] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which the optical unit 1030 includes three lenses is described as an example, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The optical unit 1030 may include any odd number of lenses such as 5, 7, and so on.
[0067] In addition, the optical unit 1030 according to the present disclosure may include the odd number of lenses so that the beam pattern suitable for the purpose of the vehicle lamp 1 may be formed. However, the optical unit 1030 may also include an even number of lenses depending on the purpose of the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure.
[0068] Further, a plurality of lamp modules 1000 may be provided to allow different pattern regions of the beam pattern to be formed by the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure. For example, as shown in
[0069] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, some of the plurality of lamp modules 1000 may be formed to have a shape of the emission portion of the light guide unit different from others so that some of the plurality of lamp modules 1000 may have light distribution characteristics different from others.
[0070] In other words, the beam pattern suitable for the purpose of the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure may be formed by the light radiated from the plurality of lamp modules 1000, and some of the plurality of lamp modules 1000 may form a first region of the beam pattern, and some others of the plurality of lamp modules 1000 may form a second region of the beam pattern. Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which the low beam pattern is formed by the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure, the spread region of the low beam pattern is formed by some (e.g., a first group) of the plurality of lamp modules 1000, and the high illuminance region of the low beam pattern is formed by some other (e.g., a second group) of the plurality of lamp modules 1000 will be described as an example.
[0071] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in
[0072]
[0073] The first light guide unit 1120 may include a first incidence portion 1121, a first transmission portion 1122, and a first emission portion 1123, and the first emission portion 1123 may include a plurality of emission surfaces 1123a, 1123b, and 1123c that correspond to a plurality of lenses 1131, 1132, and 1133 included in the first optical unit 1130.
[0074] In order to improve the light spreading characteristics, the first emission portion 1123 may include the plurality of emission surfaces 1123a, 1123b, and 1123c having a curved shape, so that the light emitted through each of the plurality of emission surfaces 1123a, 1123b, and 1123c may spread more when transmitted through the plurality of lenses 1131, 1132, and 1133 of the first optical unit 1130.
[0075] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a case in which the plurality of emission surfaces 1123a, 1123b, and 1123c of the first emission portion 1130 have a concavely curved shape is described as an example, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The plurality of emission surfaces 1123a, 1123b, and 1123c may have a convex shape, a concave shape, or a combination thereof based on the required beam spread characteristics.
[0076]
[0077] The second light guide unit 1220 may include a second incidence portion 1221, a second transmission portion 1222, and a second emission portion 1223, and the second emission portion 1223 may include a plurality of emission surfaces 1223a, 1223b, and 1223c that correspond to a plurality of lenses 1231, 1232, and 1233 included in the second optical unit 1230.
[0078] In order to satisfy light distribution characteristics by improving the light concentration for the high illuminance region, in which a relatively high brightness is required, the second emission portion 1223 may include the plurality of emission surfaces 1223a, 1223b, and 1223c having a planar shape, so that the light emitted through each of the plurality of emission surfaces 1223a, 1223b, and 1223c may have a higher light concentration compared to the first lamp module 1100 when transmitted through the plurality of lenses 1231, 1232, and 1233 of the second optical unit 1230, thereby forming the high illuminance region A2.
[0079] Referring back to
[0080] As described above, the vehicle lamp 1 according to the present disclosure can provide a slimmer form factor in the left-right direction compared to the up-down direction due to the plurality of lamp modules 1000 disposed in the vehicle's width direction x and can allow the light source unit 1010 and the light guide unit 1020 to be commonly used for the plurality of lenses 1031, 1032, and 1033 included in the optical unit 1030 of each of the plurality of lamp module 1000, thereby reducing the number of parts, simplifying the configuration, and reducing the cost.
[0081] In concluding the detailed description, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.