Patent ID: 7322723

Claim:
A multifunctional illumination device, in particular for use in a motor vehicle, wherein the luminous means of the illumination device are formed by an arrangement of a multiplicity of semiconductor light sources ( 2 ) grouped to form an array, sensor elements ( 3 ) are arranged instead of the semiconductor light sources ( 2 ) at individual positions of this array, at least one semiconductor light source ( 2 ) and at least one sensor ( 3 ) are selected from the multiplicity of semiconductor light sources ( 2 ) and sensor elements ( 3 ) and are assigned to a common optical system ( 1 ), the assignment with reference to the optical system ( 1 ) is performed in such a way that the optical system ( 1 ) acts on the semiconductor light source ( 2 ) and sensor ( 3 ) such that these have different emission and/or reception characteristics, and perpendicular to the light entry surface the individual optical systems ( 1 ) have a central region whose projection into a two-dimensional plane corresponds to a cylindrical 2-dimensional Cartesian oval.