Automobile lamp lighting system, automobile lamp assembly and automobile

The present disclosure provides an automobile lamp lighting system, including a light source, a reflecting mirror, a light-shielding plate, and a lens. The lens includes a reflecting surface and a refracting surface opposite to the reflecting surface. When an external parallel light is incident into the lens, the external parallel light sequentially passes through the refracting surface for a first refraction, is reflected by the reflecting surface, passes through the refracting surface for a second refraction, exits the lens, and is converged to form a focal point. The reflecting mirror includes a near focal point and a far focal point, the light source is arranged at the near focal point, and the far focal point is located near the focal point of the lens. The light-shielding plate includes a light-shielding plate cut-off line located at the focal point of the lens.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a Sect. 371 National Stage of PCT International Application No. PCT/CN2018/082541, filed on 10 Apr. 2018, which claims priority of a Chinese Patent Application No. 201711162012.4 filed on 21 Nov. 2017, and a Chinese Patent Application No. 201721558509.3 filed on 21 Nov. 2017, the contents of the applications hereby being incorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Field of Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of automobile lamps, in particular, to an automobile lamp lighting system, an automobile lamp assembly including the automobile lamp lighting system and an automobile including the automobile lamp assembly.

Description of Related Arts

Projection-type lighting systems commonly used in automobile lamps generally include a light source, a reflecting mirror, a light-shielding plate, and a lens. The reflecting mirror has an ellipsoidal shape. The lighting center of the light source is arranged at the vicinity of the focal point of the ellipsoidal reflecting mirror. The light emitted by the light source is reflected by the ellipsoidal reflecting mirror and is converged to the vicinity of the far focal point of the ellipsoidal reflecting mirror. The light-shielding plate is arranged at the far focal point of the ellipsoidal reflecting mirror, the shape of the light-shielding plate is consistent with the shape of the cut-off line of light and darkness required for the low beam. Finally a parallel-like low beam light pattern with a cut-off line of light and darkness is formed by passing through the lens, as shown inFIG. 1.

As shown inFIG. 2, the conventional lens is made of a plano-convex lens, the inner surface of the lens is a flat surface and arranged toward the light source, and the outer surface is an aspherical rotating curved surface. The light emitted by the light source is reflected by the reflecting mirror and is converged to the vicinity of the focal point of the plano-convex lens, then the light is emitted from the inner side of the plano-convex lens toward the outer side of the plano-convex lens, and the emitted light is close to the horizontal direction.

The patent CN101298906A discloses an automobile headlamp based on a double convex lens, the inner side surface of the double convex lens is a spherical surface and the outer side surface of double convex lens is a free-form curved surface. The light emitted by the light source is reflected by the reflecting mirror and is converged to the vicinity of the focal point of the double convex lens, then the light is emitted from the inner side of the double convex lens toward the outer side of the double convex lens, and the emitted light is close to the horizontal direction.

The above-mentioned plano-convex lens and the double convex lens change the light path by refracting the light twice, and the incident light is projected to the road surface after the light path is changed twice, which has the defects of large focal length and weak changing capability of light path.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides an automobile lamp lighting system, an automobile lamp assembly including the automobile lamp lighting system, and an automobile including the automobile lamp assembly. The automobile lamp lighting system has a small focal length and strong changing capability of light path, which can overcome the above-mentioned defects.

The present disclosure provides an automobile lamp lighting system, including a light source, a reflecting mirror, a light-shielding plate, and a lens. The lens includes a reflecting surface and a refracting surface opposite to the reflecting surface. When an external parallel light is incident into the lens, the external parallel light sequentially passes through the refracting surface for a first refraction, is reflected by the reflecting surface, and passes through the refracting surface for a second refraction. Then the external parallel light exits the lens and is converged to form a focal point. The reflecting mirror includes a near focal point and a far focal point, the light source is arranged at the near focal point of the reflecting mirror, and the far focal point of the reflecting mirror is located near the focal point of the lens. The light-shielding plate includes a light-shielding plate cut-off line with a same shape as a cut-off line of light and darkness of a low beam light pattern of the automobile lamp, and the light-shielding plate cut-off line is located at the focal point of the lens.

Preferably, the reflecting surface is a flat surface or a rotating curved surface.

Preferably, the refracting surface is a rotating curved surface.

Preferably, the rotating curved surface includes a rotation axis, the lens includes a plurality of the focal points, all the focal points form a focus line having the rotation axis as a center of rotation. The light-shielding plate has an arc shape matching with the focus line, and the light-shielding plate cut-off line is located at the focus line.

Preferably, a plurality of the reflecting mirror is provided, all the reflecting mirrors are arranged sequentially on a circumference having the rotation axis as a rotation center, and the far focal point of each reflecting mirror is located near the focus line of the lens, each reflecting mirror is provided with a light source correspondingly.

The present disclosure further provides an automobile lamp assembly including the above automobile lamp lighting system.

The present disclosure further provides an automobile including the above automobile lamp assembly.

The present disclosure has significant advantages: in the present disclosure, the lens has a reflecting surface, a refracting surface and a focal point. The light-shielding plate cut-off line is placed at the focal point of the lens, the far focal point of the reflecting mirror is placed near the focal point of the lens, and the light source is placed at the near focal point of the reflecting mirror. The light emitted by the light source is reflected by the reflecting mirror and is converged to the vicinity of the focal point of the lens, and is blocked by the light-shielding plate to form a suitable low beam light pattern with a cut-off line of light and darkness. Then the light is amplified and imaged to the road surface through the first refraction, the reflection and the second refraction by the lens to achieve the lighting function. The lens changes the light path through two refractions by refracting surface and one reflection by the reflecting surface, which significantly improves the changing ability of light path of the lens, and can effectively reduce the focal length of the lens, and improve the dispersion phenomenon.

DESCRIPTION OF COMPONENT REFERENCE SIGNS

a Cut-off line of light and darkness of low beam light patternb Light path of blue light1Light source2,2a,2bReflecting mirror3Light-shielding plate4Lens4aReflecting surface4bRefracting surface4cFocal point4dFocus line

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The specific embodiments of the present disclosure are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are only for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as a limitation.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be noted that the orientations or positional relationships indicated by terms “center”, “longitudinal”, “lateral”, “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inside”, “outside”, etc. are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of description of the present disclosure and simplification, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operate in a particular orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure. Moreover, the terms “first” and “second” are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be noted that the terms “installation”, “connected”, and “coupled” are to be understood broadly. For example, it can be fixed or detachable connected, or integrally connected; it can be mechanical or electrical connected; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal communication of two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood on a case-by-case basis.

Further, in the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of “a plurality” is two or more unless otherwise specified.

FIGS. 3-14show an embodiment of the automobile lamp lighting system of the present disclosure.

As shown inFIGS. 3-4, the automobile lamp lighting system of the present disclosure includes a light source1, a reflecting mirror2, a light-shielding plate3, and a lens4.

As shown inFIG. 5, the lens4of the present embodiment includes a reflecting surface4aand a refracting surface4bopposite to the reflecting surface4a. When an external parallel light is incident into the lens4, the external parallel light sequentially passes through the refracting surface4bfor a first refraction, is reflected by the reflecting surface4a, and passes through the refracting surface4bfor a second refraction, then the external parallel light exits the lens4and is converged to form a focal point4c. According to the principle that the light path is reversible, the light emitted from the focal point4cis incident into the lens4, and also sequentially passes through the refracting surface4bfor a first refraction, is reflected by the reflecting surface4a, and passes through the refracting surface4bfor a second refraction, then the light exits the lens4, and forms a parallel-like light. In this embodiment, the incident light can be totally reflected on the reflecting surface4aof the lens4.

As shown inFIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the reflecting surface of the reflecting mirror2is an ellipsoid-like surface, so the mirror2has a near focal point and a far focal point. The light source1is arranged at the near focal point of the reflecting mirror2, the far focal point of the reflecting mirror2is arranged near the focal point4cof the lens4. The light-shielding plate3includes a light-shielding plate cut-off line with a same shape as a cut-off line of light and darkness of a low beam light pattern of the automobile lamp, and the light-shielding plate cut-off line is located at the focal point4cof the lens4, for blocking the light and forming the clear cut-off line of light and darkness a of the low beam light pattern. Thereby, the light emitted by the light source1is reflected by the reflecting surface of the mirror2and then is converged to the far focal point of the mirror2. That is, the light is converged to vicinity of the focal point4cof the lens4, and is blocked by the light-shielding plate3to form a desired low beam light pattern with a cut-off line of light and darkness a, and then is incident into the lens4. After the first refraction made by the refracting surface4bof the lens4, the reflection made by the reflecting surface4a, and the second refraction made by the refracting surface4b, the light is amplified and imaged onto the road surface to achieve the lighting function. In the present embodiment, the lens4changes the light path through two refractions made by the refracting surface4band one reflection made by the reflecting surface4a, which significantly improves the light path changing ability of the lens4, effectively reduces the focal length of the lens4, and improves the dispersion phenomenon.

The conventional light source of the lighting system of the automobile lamp usually uses white LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) as light emitting chip, and the highest energy of the light emitted by the light source is blue light, and the refractive index of the blue light is higher in the same medium, thereby the cut-off line of light and darkness of the low beam light pattern is prone to be blue due to dispersion, and the bottom of the low beam light pattern is prone to have obvious colorful dispersion phenomenon. The automobile lamp lighting system of the present embodiment changes the light path through two refractions made by the refracting surface4bof the lens4and one reflection made by the reflecting surface4a.FIG. 7shows a blue light path b at the cut-off line of light and darkness a of the automobile lamp lighting system in the present embodiment. It can be seen that after the light passes through the refracting surface4bfor the first refraction, the blue light path b is located above the cut-off line of light and darkness a because the blue light has a high refractive index. But after being reflected by the reflecting surface4a, the blue light path b is located below the cut-off line of light and darkness a, and emits to the illuminating area. Therefore, the problem of being blue at the cut-off line of light and darkness a can be greatly improved, the formed cut-off light of light and darkness a of the low beam light pattern is not noticeably blue, and there is no obvious dispersion phenomenon at the bottom of the low beam light pattern. Therefore, it can be concluded that, after two refractions made by the refracting surface4bof the lens4and one reflection made by the reflecting surface4a, the light path of the automobile lamp lighting system of the present embodiment can greatly reduce the dispersion and effectively improve the dispersion phenomenon of the low beam light pattern. It solves the problem that the cut-off line of light and darkness a of the low beam light pattern is blue and the dispersion problem at the bottom of the low beam light pattern, which is unavoidable for the projected low beam modules in the industry and has not been solved.

In this embodiment, the reflecting surface4aof the lens4may be a flat surface or a rotating curved surface, and the rotating curved surface may be a spherical surface or an aspherical surface.

As shown inFIG. 8, in the present embodiment, the refracting surface4bof the lens4is a rotating curved surface, and the rotating curved surface may be a spherical surface or an aspherical surface having a rotating axis. The lens4has a plurality of focal points4c, and all the focal points4cform a focus line4d, whose center of rotation is the rotation axis of the refracting surface4b. The light-shielding plate3has an arc shape matching with the focus line4dof the lens4, and the light-shielding plate cut-off line of the light-shielding plate3is located at the focus line4dof the lens4. Thus, the reflecting mirror2can be arranged in plurality, all the reflecting mirrors2are sequentially arranged on a circumference whose center of rotation is the rotation axis of the refracting surface4b, the far focal point of each reflecting mirror2is located near the focus line4dof the lens4, and each reflecting mirror2includes a light source1correspondingly. The light emitted by each light source1can be reflected by the corresponding reflecting mirror2and converged to the vicinity of the focus line4dof the lens4, is blocked by the light-shielding plate3to form a light pattern with the cut-off line of light and darkness a, and then is incident into the lens4. After the first refraction made by the refracting surface4bof the lens4, the reflection made by the reflecting surface4a, and the second refraction made by the refracting surface4b, the light is amplified and imaged onto the road surface to achieve the lighting function.

For example, as shown inFIG. 8in this embodiment, two reflecting mirrors2may be arranged, and each of the two reflecting mirrors2is correspondingly provided with a light source1.FIG. 9is a schematic diagram showing a light path of the corresponding light source of the reflecting mirror2a.FIG. 10is a schematic diagram showing the illumination light pattern formed by the light source corresponding to the reflecting mirror2a, and the illumination light pattern can be used as a low beam illumination light pattern.FIG. 11is a schematic view showing a light path of a light source corresponding to the reflecting mirror2b.FIG. 12is a schematic diagram showing an illumination light pattern formed by the light source corresponding to the reflecting mirror2b, and the illumination light pattern can be used as a bend illumination light pattern.FIG. 13is a schematic diagram showing a light path of a light source corresponding to the reflecting mirror2aand the reflecting mirror2b.FIG. 14is a schematic diagram showing an illumination light pattern formed by the light source corresponding to the reflecting mirror2aand the reflecting mirror2bemitting light simultaneously, and the illumination light pattern can be used as both the low beam illumination light pattern and the bend illumination light pattern.

The range of low beam lighting of the conventional automobile lighting system is generally ±40° in the front direction of the automobile. To achieve the high-angle bend lighting, a bend lighting system has to be additionally added to the automobile for high-angle lighting compensation when the automobile turns. In the automobile lamp lighting system of the present embodiment, by arranging a plurality of reflecting mirrors2and light sources1on the circumference whose center of rotation is the rotation axis of the refracting surface4bof the lens4, the lighting range of the low beam light pattern can be expanded, even the bend lighting function is achieved, so that no additional bend lighting system is needed, and the overall structure of the automobile lamp can be simplified. Moreover, since the cut-off lines of light and darkness are formed by the same light-shielding plate3for the low beam and bend lighting functions, the inherent defect that the cut-off lines of light and darkness are hard to be arranged at the same level in the upper and lower directions due to the manufacture or assembly errors of components of the conventional split-type bend lighting system is avoided. Furthermore, each reflecting mirror2of the present embodiment may only be provided with one single light source1correspondingly, and the low beam lighting function is achieved by emitting light simultaneously through multiple or all the light sources1, thereby dispersing multiple light sources that must be concentrated in one place in a conventional arrangement, which increases the low beam lighting angle, avoids the problem of difficult heat dissipation caused by concentrated heat generation when multiple light sources are in operation, and avoids the problem of poor focus of the reflecting mirror and difficult control of the light pattern caused by the larger light emitting area.

The present embodiment further provides an automobile lamp assembly according to the above-described automobile lamp lighting system. The automobile lamp assembly includes the above automobile lamp lighting system.

According to the above automobile lamp assembly, the present embodiment further provides an automobile, the automobile includes the above automobile lamp assembly.

In summary, in the automobile lamp lighting system, the automobile lamp assembly including the automobile lamp lighting system, and the automobile including the automobile lamp assembly in the present embodiment, the lens4includes a reflecting surface4a, a refracting surface4b, and a focal point. The cut-off line of the light-shielding plate3is placed at the focal point of the lens4, the far focal point of the reflecting mirror2is placed near the focal point of the lens4, and the light source1is placed at the near focal point of the reflecting mirror2. The light emitted by the light source1is reflected by the reflecting mirror2, is converged to the vicinity of the focal point of the lens4, and is blocked by the light-shielding plate3to form a desired low beam light pattern with a cut-off line of light and darkness. Then the light is amplified and imaged onto the road surface to achieve the lighting function through the first refraction, the reflection and the second refraction by the lens4. The lens4changes the light path through two refractions of the light by the refracting surface4band a reflection of the light by the reflecting surface4a, thereby significantly improving the light path changing ability of the lens4, effectively reducing the focal length of the lens4, and improving the dispersion phenomenon.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, and it should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several improvements and substitutions without departing from the technical principles of the present disclosure. It should also be considered as the scope of protection of the present disclosure.