CN221881213U - Optical component, lighting and/or signaling device and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to an optical component comprising: a light source (101) configured to emit light; a light guiding unit (102) configured to receive and guide light emitted by the light source (101) and to emit the light out of a light emitting surface of the light guiding unit (102); -a back plate (103) configured to provide support for the light guiding unit (102); and a functional layer (106), the functional layer (106) being arranged at the light exit side of the light guiding unit (102) to deflect and scatter light from the light guiding unit (102). The utility model also provides a lighting and/or signaling device and a vehicle.

Description

Optical component, lighting and/or signaling device and vehicle

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of vehicle lamps, and in particular to an optical component, a lighting and/or signal indicating device and a vehicle.

Background Art

Lighting devices are used to provide light for lighting and/or signal indication functions and are widely used in various fields. For example, lighting devices such as headlights are used in vehicles to ensure safe driving. Various types of headlights are often required on vehicles to achieve different functions, including headlights, fog lights, taillights, turn signals, brake lights, side marker lights, parking lights, daytime running lights, etc.

In order to match the styling requirements of the vehicle, the lighting device usually needs to have a certain curvature, resulting in the extension direction of the light-emitting surface not always being perpendicular to the main light-emitting direction, which will to a certain extent reduce the lighting efficiency of the lighting device or affect the visibility of the lighting device at different angles.

Utility Model Content

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical component, a lighting and/or signal indication device and a vehicle, which can at least partially solve the above-mentioned problems.

The utility model discloses an optical component, comprising: a light source, which is configured to emit light; a light guide unit, which is configured to receive and guide the light emitted by the light source, and emit the light from the light emitting surface of the light guide unit; a back plate, which is configured to provide support for the light guide unit; and a functional layer, which is arranged on the light emitting side of the light guide unit to redirect the light from the light guide unit and emit it evenly.

In some embodiments, the light guide unit is a plate-shaped light guide, and the light source is disposed at one end of the light guide unit.

In some embodiments, the functional layer has a deflection layer on which a deflection structure is disposed to deflect light entering the functional layer.

In some embodiments, the light-transmitting pattern is formed by applying a light-shielding layer on the functional layer and then removing the light-shielding layer at the pattern position.

In some embodiments, the deflection structure is configured to deflect the light from the light guiding unit by 0-50 degrees.

In some embodiments, the deflection structure is a prism.

In some embodiments, the prism is a triangular prism.

In some embodiments, the functional layer further has a scattering layer on which a scattering structure is disposed to scatter the light passing through the functional layer.

In some embodiments, the scattering layer is arranged on the light exit side of the deflection layer.

In some embodiments, the deflecting layer is formed integrally with the scattering layer.

In some embodiments, the optical assembly further includes a transparent front plate, which is disposed on a light-emitting side of the functional layer and is configured to transmit light from the functional layer.

According to another aspect of the utility model, a lighting and/or signal indication device is also provided, comprising any one of the optical components described above.

In some embodiments, the lighting and/or signaling device is used for daytime running light or tail light functions.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a vehicle is provided, comprising any one of the optical components or lighting and/or signal indication devices as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above characteristics, technical features, advantages and implementation methods of the present invention will be further described below in a clear and understandable manner through the description of preferred embodiments and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG1 shows a front view of an optical assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the optical assembly 100 in FIG. 1 ;

FIG3 shows a cross-sectional view of the optical assembly 100 according to the present invention in FIG1 ;

FIG. 4 shows a structural diagram of the functional layers of the optical component 100 according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present invention are exemplarily described below. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the described embodiments may be modified in various ways without departing from the concept of the present invention. Therefore, the drawings and description are illustrative and non-restrictive in nature. In the following, the same reference numerals generally represent elements with the same or similar functions.

Figure 1 shows a front view of an optical component 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a side view of the optical component 100 in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the optical component 100 in Figure 1 according to the present invention; Figure 4 shows a structural diagram of the functional layer of the optical component 100 according to the present invention.

According to the embodiment of the utility model, the optical component 100 can be used for one or more functions of turn signal, brake light, side marker light, parking light, reversing light, daytime running light, position light, grille light, etc., and the light function is not particularly limited here.

The lighting device may include at least one optical component 100 according to the present invention, each optical component 100 is used to achieve a specific light function, and they can be staggered to achieve a specific shape. Of course, it can be understood that the lighting device can include any number of optical components 100, and these optical components 100 can be arranged arbitrarily according to the shape requirements.

As shown in Fig. 1, the optical component 100 includes a light source 101, a light guide unit 102, and a back plate 103. The light source 101 is mounted on a printed circuit board 200 to emit light toward the light guide unit 102. The light source 101 is, for example, but not limited to, an LED light source. As shown in Figs. 1-3, the light guide unit 102 is generally plate-shaped, including an end face and a front surface and a rear surface connected by the end face. The light from the light source 101 is incident from the end face into the interior of the light guide unit 102, and propagates between the front surface and the rear surface of the light guide unit 102 and toward the opposite end of the end face. During this period, the light is emitted from the front surface of the light guide unit 102 along the main light emitting direction. That is, the front surface serves as the light emitting surface of the light guide unit 102, thereby achieving a surface luminous effect.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the light source 101 and the light guide unit 102 cooperate to achieve a surface luminous effect, which can greatly reduce the cost compared to the OLED solution.

In addition, for the light guide unit 102, part of the light will leak out from the rear surface of the light guide unit 102, thereby reducing the optical efficiency. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , the optical assembly 100 further includes a back plate 103, which is disposed on a side close to the rear surface of the light guide unit 102, i.e., on the side opposite to the front surface, and is configured to reflect the light leaking from the rear surface toward the front surface. In an embodiment of the utility model, by arranging the back plate 103 on the back side of the light guide unit 102 to reflect the light leaking from the light guide unit 102, it is beneficial to improve the optical efficiency and the uniformity of the luminous effect. In some alternative examples, the back plate 103 is disposed on the same side of the light guide unit 102 as the rear surface, and is configured to support the light guide unit 102 without providing a reflection function (for example, but not limited to, when the light of the light guide unit 102 does not leak out from the rear surface).

In some examples, for example but not limitation, the back panel may be selected to have a color and/or material that is reflective, such as a white back panel, or other suitable color.

In an alternative example, the back plate 103 may include a reflective layer, in which case the back plate 103 may be selected to adopt a non-reflective color and/or material. The reflective layer is disposed between the back plate 103 and the light guide unit 102, and is configured to reflect the light from the light guide unit 102 toward the light exit surface. The back plate 103 and the reflective layer may be formed integrally, for example but not limited to, by an injection molding process (secondary injection molding, in-mold injection molding, etc.) or a spraying process, or the two may be formed separately.

In some examples, after the light from the light source 101 enters the light guide unit 102, it will propagate through total reflection. In order to make the light emerge from the front surface of the light guide unit 102, the light guide unit 102 may include scattering particles. The light from the light source 101 may be scattered in different directions by the scattering particles, thereby destroying the total reflection condition of the light, so that the light emerges from the front surface of the light guide unit 102. This light guide unit with scattering particles has good light diffusion characteristics and can achieve a very uniform light lighting effect. As a non-limiting example, this type of light guide unit can be made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), such as light guides with grades LED 8N LD12, LD24, LD48, and LD96, or can be made of polycarbonate (PC), such as light guides with grade EL2245, and its color can be selected as needed, for example, but not limited to, colorless, light red, red, etc.

In an alternative example, an optical decoupling element may be provided on the rear surface of the light guide unit 102 to destroy the total reflection condition of the light, and examples of the optical decoupling element include, but are not limited to, protrusions, depressions, serrations, leather grains, stripes, squares, and the like.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 3 , the light incident end of the light guide unit 102 is arc-shaped and convex toward the light source, so that the light from the light source 101 is guided to be incident on the rear surface of the light guide unit 102 .

In some examples, at least a portion of the rear surface of the light guide unit 102 is inclined toward the front surface of the light guide unit 102, and the light incident from the end surface of the light guide unit 102 reaches the rear surface and is reflected toward the front surface 220, thereby emitting through the front surface. Further, the rear surface of the light guide unit may include a plurality of total reflection facets, and the total reflection facets are configured to totally reflect the light incident through the arc-shaped end surface toward the front surface of the light guide unit 102. In this way, the uniformity of the lighting effect can be improved while improving the optical efficiency. In a preferred example, the size of the total reflection facet is less than 0.5 mm to obtain better uniformity.

In some examples, as shown in FIG3 , the light guide unit 102 has a gradually decreasing thickness in the light incident direction (the thickness is the size of the light guide unit 102 in the main light emitting direction). Since the light from the light source 101 is gradually lost when propagating along the light incident direction E (for example, due to light absorption, light leakage, etc. of the light guide unit 102), the light guide unit 102 has a gradually decreasing thickness in the light incident direction E, which can reduce the loss of light at a smaller thickness, so that the overall loss tends to be consistent, so that the light guide unit 102 has a more uniform surface luminous effect.

It should be noted that, although Figures 1-3 show that the light source 101 only enters from one end face of the light guide unit 102, it can be understood that it can also enter from two opposite end faces of the light guide unit 102 at the same time, and can even enter from three, four or more end faces of the light guide unit 102 at the same time. Moreover, the printed circuit board 200 may include multiple light sources 101 arranged along the end faces of the light guide unit 102.

In order to match the styling requirements of the vehicle, the lighting device usually needs to have a certain curvature, and the corresponding light-emitting component 100 will also have a certain curvature, as shown in Figure 2. This will cause the extension direction of the light-emitting surface to not always be perpendicular to the main light-emitting direction, which will to a certain extent reduce the lighting efficiency of the lighting device, or affect the visibility of the lighting device at different angles.

In some examples, as shown in FIG3 , the optical component 100 further includes a functional layer 106, which is arranged outside the light guide unit 102, that is, close to the light emitting surface of the light guide unit 102. Light from the light guide unit 102 is incident on the functional layer, redirected by the functional layer 106, and emitted uniformly. Through the redirection and diffusion of the functional layer 106, visibility at different angles can be guaranteed even when the light emitting surface of the light emitting component 100 is non-planar, while improving the light efficiency of the lighting device.

In a specific example, as shown in Fig. 4, the functional layer 106 has a deflection layer 1061, on which a deflection structure 1063 is disposed to deflect the light entering the functional layer 106. Through the redirection of the functional layer 106, the light is deflected toward the main light emitting direction, that is, the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, to improve visibility at different angles and positions.

In one example, the deflection structure 1063 is configured to deflect the light from the light guide unit 102 by 0-50 degrees. The light from the light guide unit 102 is incident on the deflection structure 1063, and refracted at the deflection structure 1063, and the direction of the light is oriented closer to the main light emitting direction, which can adjust the light emitting direction for a light emitting component with a certain inclination angle transverse to the vehicle direction. The deflection structure 1063 adjusts the light angle in the range of 0-50 degrees to adapt to different styling requirements, preferably 0-30 degrees to ensure the effect and light effect.

In one example, as shown in FIG4 , the deflection structure 1063 is a prism. Such a configuration can ensure the collection effect of the light from the light guide unit 102 .

In one example, the prism is a triangular prism, and the cross section of the triangular prism is preferably an acute triangle, so as to facilitate the processing of the deflection layer 1061 while ensuring the light collection effect.

In one example, the functional layer 106 further includes a scattering layer 1062, on which a scattering structure is provided to scatter the light passing through the functional layer 106. The scattering layer 1062 is arranged on the light emitting side of the deflection layer 1061 to scatter the light after being deflected by the deflection layer 1061, thereby improving the uniformity of the light emitting effect.

Arranging the scattering layer 1062 on the light-emitting side of the deflection layer 1061 can ensure that the light from the light-guiding unit 102 is first deflected and then scattered, thereby ensuring that the emitted light is properly deflected.

In one example, the scattering layer 1062 can be made of any suitable light-transmitting scattering material, such as, but not limited to, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), etc. Preferably, the scattering angle of the scattering layer 1062 is greater than 50 degrees, and the transmittance is greater than 85% to ensure the uniformity of the lighting effect.

In one example, the scattering layer 1062 and the deflecting layer 1061 preferably have a small thickness. In some examples, the scattering layer 1062 and the deflecting layer 1061 are configured as films. Since the scattering layer 1062 and the deflecting layer 1061 have a thin thickness, the shapes of the scattering layer 1062 and the deflecting layer 1061 can be adjusted according to the shape of the light guide unit 102 to better fit the light guide unit 102, thereby ensuring the deflection and diffusion effects of the light.

In one example, the scattering layer 1062 may be formed separately from the deflection layer 1061. In another example, the scattering layer 1062 may also be formed integrally with the deflection layer 1061 to simplify the processing and facilitate assembly.

In another embodiment, the optical assembly 100 further includes a transparent front plate 105, which is disposed on the front side of the light guide unit 102 and the functional layer 106 and is configured to transmit the light after being deflected and scattered by the functional layer 106. The transparent front plate 105 can protect the light guide unit 102 and the functional layer 106, and can prevent the light guide unit 102 and the functional layer 106 from being damaged or scratched.

In another example, an optical microstructure is provided on a side of the transparent front plate 105 close to the light guide unit 102 to achieve the scattering effect achieved by the scattering layer 1062 , thereby scattering the light from the light guide unit 102 without providing the scattering layer 1062 .

In an example, the light sources 101 are multiple and arranged in sequence, and the turning on and off of each light source 101 can be controlled individually, so that the lighting order can be adjusted as needed to obtain a dynamic pattern effect.

According to the light-emitting component 100 of the utility model, light can be deflected and diffused. When the light-emitting component or the lighting device needs to have a certain bend or curvature so that the extension direction of the light-emitting surface cannot be perpendicular to the main light-emitting direction, the light efficiency of the lighting device is improved, and the visibility of the lighting device at different angles is improved.

The light emitting assembly according to the utility model can be used for signal functions of the vehicle, such as daytime running lights, turn signals, parking lights or brake lights, etc. The light emitting assembly according to the utility model can also be used for lighting functions of the vehicle, such as headlights, etc.

According to an embodiment of the utility model, there is also included a lighting device, comprising any one of the optical components described above.

According to an embodiment of the utility model, a vehicle is also provided, comprising the lighting device as described above.

The vehicle according to the utility model has at least the beneficial effects brought by the lighting device of the aforementioned vehicle.

The utility model is not limited to the above structure, and other various variations may also be adopted. Although the utility model has been described through a limited number of embodiments, with the benefit of this disclosure, those skilled in the art may design other embodiments that do not depart from the scope of protection of the utility model disclosed herein. Therefore, the scope of protection of the utility model shall be limited only by the attached claims.

Claims (12)

1. An optical assembly (100), comprising:

A light source (101) configured to emit light;

A light guiding unit (102) configured to receive and guide light emitted by the light source (101) and to emit the light out of a light emitting surface of the light guiding unit (102);

-a back plate (103) configured to provide support for the light guiding unit (102); and

-A functional layer (106), the functional layer (106) being arranged at the light exit side of the light guiding unit (102) to redirect and uniformly exit light from the light guiding unit (102); the functional layer (106) has a deflection layer (1061) on which deflection structures (1063) are arranged to deflect light rays entering the functional layer (106).

2. The optical assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the light guiding unit (102) is a plate-shaped light guide, and the light source (101) is arranged at one end of the light guiding unit (102).

3. The optical assembly (100) of claim 1, wherein the deflecting structure (1063) is configured to deflect light from the light guide unit (102) by 0-50 degrees.

4. An optical assembly (100) according to claim 3, wherein the deflecting structure (1063) is a prism.

5. The optical assembly (100) of claim 4, wherein the prism is a triangular prism.

6. The optical assembly (100) of claim 1, wherein the functional layer (106) further has a scattering layer (1062) on which scattering structures are disposed to scatter light passing through the functional layer (106).

7. The optical assembly (100) according to claim 6, wherein the scattering layer (1062) is arranged at the light exit side of the deflection layer (1061).

8. The optical assembly (100) of claim 7, wherein the deflecting layer (1061) is integrally formed with the scattering layer (1062).

9. The optical assembly (100) according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the optical assembly (100) further comprises a transparent front plate (105), the transparent front plate (105) being arranged at the light exit side of the functional layer (106) and configured to transmit light rays from the functional layer (106).

10. Lighting and/or signalling device, characterized in that it comprises an optical assembly (100) according to any one of claims 1-9.

11. A lighting and/or signaling device according to claim 10, characterized in that said lighting and/or signaling device is used for daytime running light or tail light function.

12. A vehicle characterized by comprising an optical assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-9 or an illumination and/or signal indication device according to any of claims 10-11.