Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
  • B60Q1/0011—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor with light guides for distributing the light between several lighting or signalling devices
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F21—LIGHTING
  • F21S—NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS
  • F21S41/00—Illuminating devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. headlamps
  • F21S41/20—Illuminating devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. headlamps characterised by refractors, transparent cover plates, light guides or filters
  • F21S41/24—Light guides
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F21—LIGHTING
  • F21S—NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS
  • F21S41/00—Illuminating devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. headlamps
  • F21S41/30—Illuminating devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. headlamps characterised by reflectors
  • F21S41/32—Optical layout thereof
  • F21S41/321—Optical layout thereof the reflector being a surface of revolution or a planar surface, e.g. truncated
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
  • G02B6/0001—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems
  • G02B6/0005—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems the light guides being of the fibre type
  • G02B6/0006—Coupling light into the fibre

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to automotive lighting and more particularly to a projector of a new type.
• French patent application No. 9506313 of May 29, 1995 proposes an automotive headlamp consisting of at least one line of elementary light sources arranged along a cylindrical optical conductor with square section.
• Each elementary source is constituted by the combination of a plane mirror and a cylindrical lens inserted respectively on the lower face and the upper face of the optical conductor.
• a transverse entry face of the optical conductor receives a beam of parallel light rays which are inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the optical conductor so as to strike all of the plane mirrors placed at the focal point of the associated lens.
• This type of headlamp makes it possible to follow the line of the hood so that the elementary sources are arranged in lines parallel to the plane of symmetry of the vehicle thus equipped.
• the line of the hood must not be too curved, and it is not possible to obtain a headlamp along a line located near the windshield, parallel to its lower end.
• the present invention therefore aims to provide a headlamp of a new type which can be used on this type of vehicle and which can be placed near the windshield while offering at least the same lighting qualities as traditional headlamps.
• the headlight for a motor vehicle is characterized in that it consists of a plurality of optical conductors conducting a beam of parallel light rays, emitted by an input light source, from the faces of the optical conductors inscribed in a circle up to their aligned exit faces, each optical conductor consisting of a combination of cubes and half-cubes made of a transparent material, the half-cubes having a diagonal face reflecting the beam of parallel light rays at 90 °.
• each optical conductor consisting of this combination of cubes and half-cubes with a diagonal face guides a beam of light rays which passes through it from its entry face to its exit face and this, with a loss of light flux. negligible, the 45 ° diagonal plane of each half-cube totally reflecting the beam of parallel light rays at 90 °.
• a single beam of light rays enters the optical conductors and is divided into as many beams as optical conductors, said optical conductors guiding each beam towards their exit face and said exit faces aligned one next to the other form a single line outlet face reconstituting a single line beam. Therefore, the combination of cubes and half cubes and, in particular, the positioning of the half cubes are defined as a function of the path of the beam of light rays between the entry face and the exit face of the optical conductor.
• the headlight according to the invention can be housed under the hood of a motor vehicle, only the exit faces of the optical conductors being visible on the surface of the hood in the form of a line.
• the line consisting of the aligned outlet faces of the optical conductors may be perpendicular to the line of symmetry of the vehicle and this near the windshield.
• the input light source consists of a parabolic reflector located at the input face of said optical conductors, said input faces being inscribed in a circle, with a light source located at the focus of said reflector, said reflector parabolic reflecting the light rays emitted by said source in the form of a beam of parallel rays penetrating through said input faces of said optical conductors.
• the parabolic reflector preferably consists of a section of parabola of revolution, the opening of which is arranged with respect to the optical conductors so that the beams of parallel rays enter perpendicularly into the entry faces of said optical conductors inscribed in a circle.
• FIG. 1 schematically represents a vehicle equipped with headlights according to the invention
• Figures 2a and 2b show schematically respectively the input face and the output face of a projector according to the invention
• FIG. 3 schematically represents a cube for an optical conductor
• FIG. 4 represents the assembly of the optical conductors of the projector in top view
• Figure 5 is a horizontal section along the median plane of all the optical conductors of the projector.
• light sources are arranged in lines 2 parallel to the bottom of the windshield 3 and arranged near said windshield 3.
• These in-line light sources 2 correspond to the aligned output faces of a plurality of optical conductors. Each exit face emits a beam of parallel light rays which form, with the beams of the other aligned exit faces, a single beam in line.
• the input light source consisting of a parabolic reflector placed under all of the optical conductors, emits substantially parallel rays, in the form of a circular beam here vertical, which penetrate into the optical conductors by their entry face.
• These input faces are arranged with respect to each other so as to be inscribed in a circle as can be seen in FIG. 2a while the output faces of these same optical conductors are in line, see FIG. 2b .
• FIG. 2a is a representation from above while the input faces are lower horizontal faces (9, 10, 11, 12) of the optical conductors.
• FIG. 2b corresponds to a front view which therefore represents the vertical front faces of the optical conductors.
• the optical conductors are, for this purpose, made up of the combination of cubes such as that shown in FIG. 3 and half-cubes with a diagonal face.
• the vertical front face of the cube is delimited by the edges 3, 4, 7, and 11.
• the upper face of the cube corresponds to the edges 5, 6, 7, and 8.
• each edge of a cube carries a number and a diagonal face half-cube is then defined by the number of the edge opposite to the diagonal face and contained in this half-cube.
• a half-cube n ° 12 corresponds to a plane of section opposite to the edge n ° 12.
• a projector according to the invention has input faces A, B, C, D, F, G, H, K, L and M of ten optical conductors inscribed in a circle facing the light source (not shown).
• Each optical conductor is then formed according to a combination of cubes and half-cubes with a diagonal face so as to conduct the light towards their respective exit face so that the ten exit faces A ', B', C, D ' , F ', G', H ', K', L 'and M' are aligned as shown in Figure 2b.
• the optical conductor AA' comprises a half-cube no. 12, two cubes, a half-cube no. 3 and two cubes.
• the optical conductors GG ', HH'',KK' are made up of a semi-cube no.
• the optical conductor LL ' is defined by a half-cube n c ll and a cube and the conductor DD' is constituted by a half-cube no.12, a half-cube no.5, a half-cube no.3 and a cube.
• the optical conductor BB ' is defined according to a half-cube no. 9, a half-cube no. 4, a series of four cubes, a half-cube no. 3 and three cubes.
• optical conductors CC ', FF', MM ' are respectively symmetrical to AA', DD ', LL'.
• the projector thus produced fits into a flat volume of 275 x 100 x 25 mm.
• Such an assembly is obtained relatively simply by injection molding of a suitable transparent material.
• Such an assembly may have a value different from 25mm, the dimensions 275 and 100 then being modified correspondingly.
• the choice of this value is done in order to optimize the surface picked up by the entry face in relation to the surface of the paraboloid circle.
• each optical conductor is necessarily formed of as many parts.
• each optical conductor is even made in one piece to ensure good conduction of the light within it.
• a headlamp according to the invention makes it possible to obtain an online main beam headlamp as effective as a traditional headlamp and which can be positioned close to the base of the windshield.
• the beam is cut by partially masking it with a cover.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Non-Portable Lighting Devices Or Systems Thereof (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=9497320

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (1)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 1996
  • 1996-11-05 FR FR9613444A patent/FR2755499B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1997
  • 1997-11-05 EP EP97913249A patent/EP0871837A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 1997-11-05 WO PCT/FR1997/001977 patent/WO1998020278A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 1997-11-05 JP JP10521103A patent/JP2000503466A/ja active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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