CN101592302B - Real loading LED module for motor vehicle rear assembled lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a rear-mounted LED module used for a motor vehicle rear combination lamp. One or more LEDs are mounted on a printed circuit board that mechanically holds the LEDs at the focal point of the multi-sided parabolic mirror. Light from the LEDs diverges laterally, horizontally, and is collimated by the reflector, and the reflected collimated light is directed in a generally longitudinal direction by the rear combination lamp toward the viewer. The LED module itself is generally longitudinally oriented and can be inserted longitudinally into the interior of the reflector from a hole at the apex of the reflector. The printed circuit board, the optional thermal pad adjacent to the printed circuit board, and the thermally conductive layer adjacent to the optional thermal pad are all substantially planar layers, all substantially parallel to each other, and may optionally all have the same profile shape. The printed circuit board, thermal pad and thermally conductive layer may together form a generally planar board frame.

Description

Rear-mounted light-emitting diode modules for motor vehicle rear combination lamps

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims priority under Title 35, United States Code, Section 119e, of Provisional Application 61/056,738, filed May 28, 2008, entitled "SIDE ENTRY LED LIGHT MODULE FORAUTOMOTIVE REAR COMBINATION LAMP," and filed at The contents thereof are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. Thus, the full Paris Convention priority is expressly reserved.

technical field

The invention relates to rear combination lamps for motor vehicle lighting systems.

Background technique

For many years, motor vehicles have employed electric lighting for many functions. For example, lights provide forward lighting (headlights, auxiliary lights), alerting (front parking lights, rear tail lights), signaling (turn signals, hazard, brake lights, reverse lights) and convenience, just to name a few applications (Dome lighting, Instrument lighting). Historically, incandescent bulbs have been used for most or all of the lighting equipment in motor vehicles and are available in a variety of sizes, shapes, wattages, and socket packages.

In recent years, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have begun to appear in some lighting applications in motor vehicles. LEDs use less power, have a longer life, and produce less heat than incandescent bulbs, making them well suited for automotive applications.

In the relatively short period since the introduction of LEDs as light sources, automotive manufacturers have taken a cautious approach. Although automotive manufacturers are eager to adopt LEDs due to all the advantages described above, they have been hesitant to completely abandon the familiar socketed bulb/lamp and its accompanying traditional type of optics. As a result, several lighting subsystems have had the mechanical feel of old-fashioned incandescent bulbs and fixtures in recent years, but actually employ LEDs as their light sources.

Figure 1 shows a typical motor vehicle 1 with typical exterior lights, including front turn indicator lights 2, headlights 3, fog lights 4, side turn lights 6, brake lights 7 mounted in the center high position, license plate lamp 8, and the so-called "rear combination lamp" 9 (RCL). Any or all of these lights may include accessories such as the headlight cleaning system 5 . For the present invention we mainly focus on the rear combination lamp 9 .

Note that each rear combination lamp 9 may include a tail lamp (also referred to as a marker lamp), a brake lamp (also referred to as a brake lamp), a turn signal lamp and a reverse lamp. Each lamp in a rear combination lamp may have its own light source, its own reflective and/or focusing and/or collimating and/or diffusing optics, its own mechanical housing, its own electrical circuitry, etc. . In this regard, a specific light aspect or characteristic may be used for all or any lamps in the rear combination lamp 9 . Optionally, the lamps may share one or more functions, such as circuitry to control more than one light source, or a mechanical housing to hold more than one light source, etc. For example, each lighting subsystem typically has its own separate lamp, although the taillight and brake light functions may be combined in a single lamp (bulb) with two filaments.

In recent years, as LEDs have begun to appear in automotive exterior lighting systems, there has been a trend to tightly integrate LEDs into lamps. For example, most of the brake lights 7 or CHSML installed at the central high position are implemented in this way at present, because it is relatively easy to modify the LED module for application. This is an advantageous approach over time due to the long life of LEDs.

In other words, in the long run, the luminaire (including housing, reflector, lens cover and any intermediate optics) will most likely fit into a configuration that is optimally designed around LEDs. Electrical connections, heat sinks, collimating and/or reflective and/or diffusing optics are most likely designed primarily to accommodate LEDs rather than traditional incandescent light bulbs or incandescent lamp designs that were later modified to include LED light sources.

In the short term, however, many automotive manufacturers have preferred to employ familiar, known technologies, including known reflector and bulb geometries that were developed for incandescent lamps and have been in use for many years. As a result, several lighting manufacturers have developed rear combination light systems that use LEDs as light sources, but use traditional light kit sockets and traditional types of optics. As is conventional with older incandescent systems, the lamp is accessible from the rear, ie from the side opposite the observer. The short-term appeal of these lamp systems to motor vehicle manufacturers is that the mechanical aspects of the lamp systems are consistent with older, established systems using incandescent bulbs. An example of such a lamp system is the JOULE product, commercially available from Osram Sylvania, headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts, USA.

Various designs have been made for these lamp systems that use LED light sources but have the mechanical feel of older incandescent systems. Each design has disadvantages, such as difficult assembly, or low optical efficiency due to losses.

An example of one of these known designs is disclosed in US Patent 6,991,355 issued January 31, 2006 to Coushaine et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania Corporation, Danvers, MA, USA. In this design, each LED 22 is attached to one side of the printed circuit board 20 and a heat sink 25 is attached to the other side of the printed circuit board 20 . LED 22, circuit board 20 and heat sink 25 are all positioned outside of concave reflector 50, adjacent to the bottom (apex) of the reflector. Light from each LED 22 is directed to the interior of the mirror 50 through a respective light pipe 30 that extends from the LED 22 through a hole at the apex of the mirror 50. The exit surface of each light pipe 30 is positioned at the focal point of the mirror 50 so that light emitted by the LED 22 enters the light pipe 30, exits the light pipe 30 at the focal point of the mirror 50, and is reflected by the mirror 50 to be collimated. A beam of light emanates from the lamp. One such design uses a curved light pipe 30a so that the exit face of the light pipe is properly oriented so that the light exiting the light pipe travels in the proper direction and strikes the reflector 50 at the proper orientation. Another of these designs uses a straight light pipe 30 with an intermediate mirror 26 to properly direct the light pipe output onto a mirror 50 .

In the design of US Patent 6,991,355, the light pipe 30 may be a source of loss. A typical light pipe is a mostly cylindrical rod of plastic or glass with all surfaces smooth, or as smooth as possible for a molded assembly. An additional polishing process may be partly performed, but this polishing process adds unnecessary expense to the light guide and thus to the overall lamp unit.

The longitudinal faces of the light pipe are the entrance face and the exit face, both of which may introduce losses. For example, if the faces are uncoated, there may be a reflection loss of about 4% per surface due to the difference in refractive index between the rod and air. This reflective loss can be reduced by applying an anti-reflective coating to the longitudinal faces, but may add unnecessary expense to the light guide and thus the overall lamp unit. Furthermore, there are additional losses due to scattering in the longitudinal plane. This scattering loss can be reduced to some extent by ensuring that the longitudinal surfaces are relatively smooth, but in practice, these scattering losses are difficult to eliminate.

The lateral faces of the light pipe are typically uncoated so that light propagating along the interior of the light pipe undergoes total internal reflection each time it reflects from the outer surface. There may be scattering losses due to surface roughness, contamination or other imperfections along the lateral faces. Like the scattering loss of the longitudinal surface, the scattering loss of the horizontal surface is also difficult to eliminate.

Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a rear combination lamp that uses LEDs as the light source, is inserted from the rear of the lamp, and can eliminate optical loss and light guide expenses.

Since this application is directed to automotive lighting systems, it is instructive first to review some terminology.

The components that make up the lighting system at the corners of the vehicle are called "light sets". In buildings, the equivalent of a "light kit" is a light fixture. A light kit typically includes a plastic structure or housing, one or more reflectors, and in some cases lens optics, usually a lens cap that fits the exterior styling of the vehicle and usually has colored parts such as amber and red. The housing of the light kit includes socket openings that typically receive and hold sockets at the rear that hold lights (commonly referred to as "bulbs" in the United States), ventilation, and in some cases, adjustments for front lighting.

Typically, there are four key components to an LED-based lighting module: (1) the actual LED chip or die, (2) a heat sink or thermal manager that dissipates the heat generated by the LED chip, ( 3) a driver circuit that powers the LED chip, and (4) optics that receive the light emitted by the LED chip and direct it toward the viewer. These four elements need not be redesigned from scratch for each particular module; instead, a particular lighting module can use one or more known elements. The following paragraphs describe some known elements that may be used with the LED-based lighting modules disclosed herein.

U.S. Patent 7,042,165 to Madhani et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania Corporation of Danvers, MA, USA, entitled "DRIVER CIRCUIT FOR LED VEHICLELAMP," discloses a known driver circuit for LED-based lighting modules, the entirety of which is Incorporated herein by reference. In this patent, a first vehicle light driving circuit is disclosed for an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) having a first row of four LEDs in series and a second row of four LEDs in series. In the STOP mode of operation, the current to the two LED rows is controlled by LED drivers in series with the respective LED rows. In the TAIL mode of operation, current is supplied to only one row of LEDs through a series connection of diodes and resistors. Operation of each LED row is provided by a switching circuit shorting one LED in each LED row when there is a reduced input voltage. The second lamp driver circuit includes a first row of LEDs and a second row of LEDs in series with a control switch having a feedback circuit for maintaining constant current regulation to control current in each row of LEDs and to reduce switching noise. The driver circuit disclosed in this patent can be used directly, or can be easily modified to drive the LED chips used in the lighting modules disclosed herein.

U.S. Patent 7,110,656 to Coushaine et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania Corporation of Danvers, MA, USA, entitled "LED BULB," discloses a mechanical structure for a complementary receptacle and electrical connector for an LED-based lighting module that The entire contents are hereby incorporated by reference. In this patent, the LED light source has a housing with a base. A hollow core protrudes from the base and is arranged about the longitudinal axis. A printed circuit board is located on the base at one end of the hollow core having a plurality of LEDs operatively secured to the printed circuit board about its center. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the hollow core is tubular and the printed circuit board is circular. In a preferred embodiment, the light pipe with body is cup-shaped in Figures 2 and 4a, with a specific wall thickness "T". A light pipe is positioned within the hollow core and has a first end in operative relationship with the plurality of LEDs and a second end protruding out of the hollow core. Thickness "T" is at least large enough to enclose the emitting area of the LED for which thickness "T" is used. The mechanical structure of the complementary receptacle and electrical connector disclosed in US Patent 7,110,656 can be used directly, or can be easily modified for use in the lighting modules disclosed herein.

U.S. Patent 7,075,224 to Coushaine et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania Corporation of Danvers, MA, USA, entitled "LIGHT EMITTING DIODE BULB CONNECTOR INCLUDING TENSION RECEIVER" discloses another complementary socket and electrical connector for LED-based lighting modules The mechanical structure of , the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. In this patent, an LED light source (10) comprises a housing (12) with a base (14) from which a hollow core (16) protrudes. The hollow core (16) is substantially conical. A central heat conductor (17) is positioned in the center of the hollow core (16) and is formed of solid copper. A first printed circuit board (18) is connected to one end of the central heat conductor and a second printed circuit board (20) is fitted to a second opposite end of the central heat conductor (17). A second printed circuit board (20) has at least one LED (24) operatively secured thereto. A plurality of electrical conductors (26) have proximal ends (28) that contact electrical traces formed on the second printed circuit board (20) and distal ends (30) that contact electrical traces on the first printed circuit board (18) . Each of the electrical conductors (26) has a strain relief (27) formed therein for axial compression during assembly. A cover (32) fits over the second printed circuit board (20); a heat sink (34) is attached to the base, in thermal contact with the first printed circuit board. As with US Patent 7,110,656, the mechanical structure of the complementary receptacle and electrical connector disclosed by US Patent 7,075,224 can be used directly, or can be easily modified for the lighting modules disclosed herein.

U.S. Patent 6,637,921 to Coushaine et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania, Inc. of Danvers, MA, USA, entitled "REPLACEABLE LED BULB WITHINTERCHANGEABLE LENS OPTIC," discloses a reflective optic that receives light emitted from an LED perpendicular to a circuit board. light and reflects it in multiple directions that are all roughly parallel to the board. The optic disclosed in US Patent 6,637,921 may have an inverted conical shape with the point of the cone facing the LED chip. The cone may be continuous, or may alternatively have discontinuous, approximately conical shaped faces. Reflective optics can be used with a single LED chip, or with multiple LED chips arranged around a conical point. The reflective optics disclosed in US Patent 6,637,921 can be used with the LED-based lighting modules disclosed herein and can be placed in the optical path between the LED chip and the reflector to direct the LED light towards the viewer.

Contents of the invention

One embodiment is a motor vehicle rear combination lamp (10) comprising: a housing (21) having a longitudinal axis; a generally planar plate frame (31, 131) longitudinally adjacent to the housing (21) and generally Parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing (21), the plate frame (31, 131) comprises a plurality of layers including: a heat conducting layer (43, 143) in thermal contact with the housing (21) and a heat conducting layer substantially parallel to the heat conducting layer A printed circuit board (41) of (43, 143); a plurality of light emitting diodes (44, 144), which are arranged on the printed circuit board (41), the diodes (44, 144) being capable of being powered by the printed circuit board (41) , the diodes (44, 144) can generate heat, and the generated heat can be dissipated by the heat conduction layer (43, 143) by the heat conduction plate (41), the diodes (44, 144) can emit light, and the emitted light is far away from the printed circuit board (41) propagation; and a concave reflector (13) having a focal point, the concave reflector (13) having holes at its apex to receive the housing (21), plate holders (31, 131) and light emitting diodes (44, 144). When the housing (21), board frame (31, 131) and light-emitting diode (44, 144) are fully inserted into the hole of the concave reflector (13), the light-emitting diode (44, 144) is positioned on the concave reflector (13) ) at the focal point. When the housing (21), board frame (31, 131) and LEDs (44, 144) are fully inserted into the holes of the concave reflector (13), the light emitted by the plurality of LEDs (44, 144) is emitted from the printed The circuit board (41) diverges, is reflected by the concave reflector (13) to form a collimated beam (14), and exits the lamp (10) mostly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing (21).

Another embodiment is an automotive rear combination lamp (10) comprising: a concave reflector (13) for receiving divergent light (12) from a plurality of light emitting diodes (44, 144) A collimated light beam (14) is reflected in the outgoing direction; a mostly flat structure (31, 131), which is used to mechanically support the LEDs (44, 144), power the LEDs (44, 144), and remove heat from light emitting diodes (44, 144), the mostly planar structural member (31, 131) comprising: a printed circuit board (41) and a thermally conductive layer (43, 143) parallel to and adjacent to the printed circuit board (41); and a housing (21) for mechanically supporting the mostly planar structural member (31, 131), the housing (21) being in thermal contact with the thermally conductive layer (43, 143). The mostly flat structural part (31, 131) can be inserted as an exchangeable module through the hole of the concave reflector (13) in the beam exit direction. A plurality of light emitting diodes (44, 144) are positioned at the focal point of the concave reflector (13) when the mostly planar structure (31, 131) is fully inserted into the hole in the concave reflector (13). When the mostly planar structural member (31, 131) is fully inserted into the bore of the concave reflector (13), the housing (21) remains mostly outside the concave reflector (13).

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of exemplary exterior lighting for a motor vehicle.

Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a simplified optical path in a rear combination lamp having a single LED and an un-faceted reflector.

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a simplified optical path in a rear combination lamp having multiple LEDs and a non-polygonal reflector.

Figure 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a simplified optical path in a rear combination lamp having a single LED and a faceted reflector.

FIG. 5 is an assembly diagram of an exemplary mechanical layout of a rear combination lamp.

FIG. 6 is an exploded schematic view of the exemplary rear combination lamp of FIG. 5 .

7 is an assembly schematic diagram of an exemplary mechanical layout of an LED module for a rear combination lamp.

FIG. 8 is an exploded schematic view of the LED module of FIG. 7 .

9 is an assembly schematic of an exemplary mechanical layout of an LED module for a rear combination lamp.

Fig. 10 is an assembly schematic diagram of an exemplary mechanical layout of an LED module for a rear combination lamp.

11 is an assembly schematic diagram of an exemplary mechanical layout of an LED module for a rear combination lamp.

FIG. 12 is an exploded schematic view of the exemplary LED module of FIG. 10 .

Detailed ways

The light emitting diode (LED) modules disclosed herein can be used for exterior vehicle lighting. The LED modules can be installed in the light kit socket from the rear in a manner similar to that used with traditional incandescent light bulbs, and are replaceable. The LED modules can also be mounted and sealed in the reflector housing when replaceable modules are not necessarily required. The LED module may include optical elements adapted to distribute light to a reflector that receives light from the LED chip(s) and directs the reflected light towards a viewer. This is more fully disclosed in the detailed description below.

With typical, known rear combination lamps using light emitting diodes as light sources, there are a number of ways to ensure that the output light exits the device in the proper direction. For example, a first generation system commercially available under the name "JOULE" used light emitting diodes mounted at specific angles. The assembly process of the first generation system was quite complicated, and the connection between the LED and the control circuit board was difficult. For the second-generation JOULE system, this mounting scheme for the LEDs was replaced by a light pipe and a small reflector that imaged the emission point of the LEDs to the focal point of the reflector of the rear combination lamp. The light pipe is typically a clear glass or plastic tube with smooth sides to ensure that the light beam traveling along the light pipe undergoes total internal reflection on reflection from each side. The light pipe, while an improvement over the first generation, is still an extra component in the system, thus adding to system cost, and there are still losses, some of the light being lost as it enters and exits the light pipe interface. Additional LEDs are required to overcome losses caused by the light pipe and associated optics. Systems using side-emitting light-emitting diodes have been attempted, but were either difficult to assemble or optically inefficient.

In conclusion, all previous rear combination lamps exhibited some disadvantages, either difficult assembly, low optical efficiency, or incompatibility with existing rear combination lamp housings.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages, and can provide following one or more advantages:

First, the LED module is fully integrated, thus reducing the number of components and simplifying the assembly of the module. Also, because the LEDs and electronics are on the same board, there is no need for additional interconnects between them.

Second, the LED module is backward compatible, having optical and mechanical features compatible with or easily adaptable to existing rear combination lamp housings. In this case, the socket can be used as a heat sink. If additional heat sinks are required, thermal pins or fins can be added on the rear of the PCB.

Furthermore, the losses of the LED modules can be reduced, thus increasing the brightness of the modules and/or reducing the power required to operate the modules. No light pipes or any additional optics are required.

The disclosure is briefly summarized in the next ten paragraphs, followed by a detailed description of the optical pathways in the rear combination lamp, followed by a detailed description of the mechanical aspects in the rear combination lamp.

A rear-loading LED module for a rear combination lamp is disclosed. One or more LEDs are mounted on a printed circuit board which mechanically holds the LEDs at the focal point of a faceted parabolic mirror. The light emitted by the LED is collimated by the reflector, and the reflected collimated light is directed toward the viewer by the rear combination lamp in a generally longitudinal direction.

The LED module itself is generally longitudinally oriented and can be inserted longitudinally into the interior of the reflector from a hole at the apex of the reflector. The printed circuit board, the optional thermal pad adjacent to the printed circuit board, and the thermally conductive layer adjacent to the optional thermal pad are all substantially planar layers, all substantially parallel to each other, and may optionally all have the same device package. Together, the printed circuit board, thermal pad, and thermally conductive layer can form a generally flat board frame.

In some applications, the flat pallet may be oriented generally vertically in the longitudinal direction. LEDs mounted on a printed circuit board can emit light approximately perpendicular to the board frame. Diverging light from the LEDs may travel laterally toward the far left and/or right of the lamp. The reflector operates off-axis and bends the optical axis substantially 90 degrees so that reflected light travels longitudinally towards the front edge of the lamp.

In other applications, the flat pallet may be oriented generally horizontally in the longitudinal direction. LEDs mounted on a printed circuit board can emit light approximately perpendicular to the board frame. Divergent light from the LEDs may travel vertically towards the top and/or bottom edges of the lamp. In these applications, the lamp may include one or more intermediate reflectors that redirect vertically propagating light from the LEDs. Light reflected from the one or more intermediate mirrors travels generally horizontally towards the collimating mirrors. The collimating mirror operates off-axis and bends the optical axis substantially 90 degrees so that the reflected light travels longitudinally towards the front edge of the lamp.

The circuit board may include one or more connection pins that extend substantially parallel to the circuit board from an end of the circuit board and provide power and/or monitoring of signals to and/or from the circuit board. The connecting pins may include plastic connectors attached to the pins.

The light exiting the LED is divergent, with a specific angular pattern that is characteristic of the LED itself. The beam emitted by each LED exits the center of the vehicle generally parallel to the ground. The light fixture includes a curved reflector that collimates light from the LEDs and reflects collimated light from the rear of the vehicle approximately parallel to the ground.

The shape of the reflector may be a semi-parabola with the LED positioned at or near the focus of the parabola. If there are two or more LEDs, the light from each LED can be collimated and reflected by a reflector in the luminaire, but since the LEDs have lateral spacing separated by the focal length of the parabolic reflector, the light from the two LEDs Light may appear at slightly different angles. In general, the emission pattern of a luminaire should conform to specific specifications, which can specify the angular distribution of light that occurs in two dimensions.

The reflectors in the luminaire can have facets so that the light emitted from the luminaire can meet specific predefined angle requirements. This multifaceted nature of mirrors is known and will be described in more detail below.

Run a simulation, build a prototype, take power (or flux, in lumens) measurements and find agreement with the simulation.

In some embodiments, the module and/or socket assembly may act as a heat sink. One or both may be made of aluminum, or other suitable thermally conductive material to remove heat from the light fixture.

Having now briefly summarized the disclosure, the optical pathways in a rear combination lamp are discussed below, followed by a more detailed discussion of the mechanical implementation of the optical assembly.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a simplified optical path in the rear combination lamp 10 . The LED module 11A emits a divergent light beam 12 laterally towards the side of the rear combination lamp 10 . The diverging light beam has a peak brightness along a particular direction, denoted here as optical axis 17 .

The diverging beam 12 is characterized by a specific angular distribution or angular width, which describes how quickly the brightness of the beam decreases with angle. For example, a diverging beam may have a characteristic full width at half maximum (FWHM) intensity or brightness, or 1/eA2 intensity half width, or any other suitable angular width. The characteristic angular width of the diverging beam may be the same or may be different along the x-direction and the y-direction, where the optical axis may be considered as the z-direction. The size of the diverging beam increases as it travels along the optical axis 17, roughly proportional to the distance from the LED module 11A.

In the simplified optical path of FIG. 2, there is only a single LED in LED module 11A. In practice, there may be more than one LED in the module; this case will be explicitly treated after discussing the simplified system in Figure 2 .

The diverging beam 12 strikes a concave reflector 13A which collimates the beam and reflects a collimated beam 14 longitudinally towards the front of the rear combination lamp 10 .

Reflecting mirror 13A may have a paraboloid shape which is paraboloid in cross section including its apex. Parabolic reflectors are known to form a nearly aberration-free collimated beam from a light source placed at the focus of the paraboloid. Moving the light source longitudinally away from the focal point can produce defocus, or a deviation from collimation, or equivalently a deviation of the luminous flux from a parallel direction. Moving the light source laterally away from the focal point can produce pointing errors in the reflected collimated beam. In other words, for a laterally moving light source, the reflected beam is still collimated, but the reflected beam can be angularly deviated from the non-moving case. Typically, the angular displacement in radians is equal to the lateral position of the light source removed by the focal length of the parabolic reflector. For sufficiently large lateral shifts away from the focal point, the reflected beam can also exhibit monochromatic wavefront aberrations, such as coma.

For older reflectors using incandescent bulbs, the bulb is typically placed at the focus of the parabolic reflector symmetrically with the reflector rear. A reflector typically surrounds the bulb with an opening towards the front of the fixture. Because an incandescent bulb radiates light in all directions (except towards the socket), it is useful to surround the bulb at an azimuthal angle so that as much of the radiated light as possible is directed to emit a collimated beam from the parabolic reflector.

In contrast, for a parabolic reflector using an LED as its light source, it is not necessary to use a complete parabola in full 360-degree azimuth to capture all the light radiating from the light source. Because LEDs radiate into a relatively small cone of solid angle compared to incandescent bulbs, only a fraction of the paraboloid need be used to capture the full spatial extent of the beam at the reflector. As a result, mirror 13A may be a portion of a paraboloid, such as a half paraboloid, or other suitable paraboloid portion. Note that half a paraboloid can be conceived by bisecting the entire paraboloid with a plane extending through its apex and its focus. Optically, such a partial paraboloid is sufficient to capture divergent light from a light source and uses less volume and material than a full paraboloid.

In FIG. 2 , it can be considered that the optical axis is bent at the reflector, so that for a collimated beam, the optical axis 18 can be positioned mostly longitudinally towards the front of the rear combination lamp 10 . In some applications the optical axes 17, 18 may be bent by 90 degrees at the mirrors. In other applications, the optical axes 17, 18 may be bent slightly more than 90 degrees, or slightly less than 90 degrees. For all these cases, we refer to the diverging beam 12 as having a "larger" lateral orientation and the collimated beam 14 as having a "larger" longitudinal orientation.

The collimated light beam 14 may generally be referred to in the literature as a "parallel luminous flux". These terms are interchangeable and considered equivalent when used in this application.

After passing through a "clear cover" or transparent "lens cover" 15, the collimated light beam 14 remains collimated 16 and exits the rear combination lamp 10 at the rear of the vehicle, towards the viewer. The transparent cover 15 may have optional spectral effects, such as filtering one or more wavelengths or bands from transmitted light, but typically does not scatter the beam like a diffuser.

The LED module 11A, the reflector 13A and the transparent cover 15 can all be mechanically held by the housing 20 . The reason for having such a housing 20 is that it is cheap to manufacture and can be molded or embossed to include the surface profile of the mirror 13 .

The mechanical aspects of the rear combination lamp 10 are discussed in more detail below, following the description of the optical pathway.

The simplified rear combination lamp 10 of Figure 2 may require some modification to meet the rear combination lamp regulatory requirements; recalling that these requirements were defined for incandescent lamps, new LED-based lamps can be designed to output "like" incandescent lamps type luminaire output to meet previous requirements.

For example, rear combination lights may require more light output power than a single LED can achieve or be convenient for. Such multiple LEDs are schematically shown in Figure 3 in simplified form.

Compared to the rear combination lamp 10 of FIG. 2 , the only element that differs is the multi-LED module 11B, which includes three LEDs. In this simplified schematic, the LEDs all emit light in approximately the same direction within typical manufacturing, assembly and/or alignment tolerances. In other applications, one or more LEDs can point in different directions.

Light from each of the three LED light sources on the multi-LED module 1 IB is traced in the rear combination lamp 10 so that there are three sets of dashed lines to represent the light beams. The effect of having multiple spatially separated light sources in such a system is that some of the rays in the beam 16 offset from the optical axis 18 have a small angular offset. These angular offsets are typically small, such as on the order of only a few degrees, and the output beam 16 is still considered collimated.

From an optical point of view, the LEDs need to be placed as close together as possible. However, from a heat generation point of view, it is necessary to separate the LEDs as much as possible so that the heat generated by each LED can be effectively dissipated. In practice, LEDs can be separated by a few millimeters or more on a printed circuit board. The heating aspects of the rear combination lamp 10 are discussed more fully after describing the optical path.

The simplified rear combination lamp 10 of FIG. 3 may have sufficient output optical power to meet proper regulatory requirements, but may not have proper angular distribution in the output beam 16 . In other words, the output beam 16 may be so directional that if an observer's line of sight is outside the relatively narrow output beam 16, the lamp may not appear bright enough.

This can be more clearly understood by examining lamp output angle requirements and variations in incandescent bulb output. The light emitted by a vintage reflector fixture consists of two parts that overlap: (1) the light that travels directly from the bulb through the clear cover, and (2) the light from the bulb that is reflected by the parabolic reflector. Part (1) is divergent, while part (2) is roughly collimated. The combination of these two parts in space away from the motor vehicle has an angular relationship, the intensity being greater when the viewer's line of sight is within the collimated beam from part (2). However, this angular relationship is suppressed by the relatively weak angular relationship of part (1). As a result, typical cutoffs for angular output typically vary to about +/- 10 degrees in the vertical direction and to about +/- 20 degrees in the lateral direction, such that if the viewer's line of sight is "within" the angular cutoff then The light from the lamp is visible enough, but not necessarily visible if the viewer's line of sight is outside the angular cutoff.

As a result, the output beam 16 from the simplified rear combination lamp 10 of FIG. Just +/- a few degrees. A known element for angularly enlarging a beam without significantly altering its collimation is shown in Figure 4 and is known as a "faceted" mirror.

Compared with the simplified schematic diagram of the rear combination lamp 10 in FIG. 2, the only difference in FIG. 4 is the replacement of the simple parabolic reflector 13A by a multi-faceted parabolic reflector 13B. In general, polygon mirrors are known in the industry and have been disclosed in patent documents dating back to 1972 or earlier. Three known polygon mirrors are summarized below. It should be appreciated that any suitable polygon mirror design may be used in addition to the three examples summarized below. For the example diagram in Figure 4, each facet 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D and 19E directs light over substantially the same predetermined angular range, and the overall lamp output has substantially the same angular range as each facet. In an alternative embodiment, each facet may direct light to its own separate predetermined range of angles, with the overall lamp output including the angular contribution of the facets.

One of the relatively early polygonal mirror designs is disclosed in US Patent 3,700,883, issued October 24, 1972, to Donohue et al., entitled "FACETED REFLECTOR FOR LIGHTING UNIT," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Donohue discloses a specification for making reflectors, including setting the number, size, curvature, and orientation of each facet to produce a reflected image of a light source that is not distorted, the cumulative effect of each facet produced within specified limits the desired lighting distribution. Because true parabolic cylindrical surfaces were difficult to fabricate in 1972, Donohue included mathematical approximations to allow the use of circular cylindrical surfaces instead.

Another polygonal mirror design is disclosed in Kosmatka's US Patent 4,704,661, issued November 3, 1987, entitled "FACETED REFLECTOR FOR HEADLAMPS," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In contrast to the earlier Donohue patent which used a straight cylindrical surface, Kosmatka's patent uses a straight parabolic cylindrical surface and a simple parabolic surface of revolution.

A third known polygon mirror design is disclosed in Saito's U.S. Patent 5,406,464, issued April 11, 1995, entitled "REFLECTOR FOR VEHICULAR HEADLAMP," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Saito discloses a mirror having several reflecting areas, each comprising several segments. Each segment has a substantially arcuate surface (hyperbolic paraboloid, elliptic paraboloid or paraboloid of revolution) and is arranged on a paraboloid of revolution reference surface with locally different focal lengths.

As used in rear combination lamp 10 of FIG. 4 , polygonal reflector 13B receives diverging beam 12 from LED module 11A, collimates the beam and angularly turns a portion of the beam, directing the collimated, angled diverted beam toward A transparent cover 15 through which light is emitted from the lamp 10 .

Before discussing the mechanical packaging of the lamp, we first summarize the optical pathways in lamp 10 of FIG. 4 . The LED module 11B is placed at or near the focal point of the polygonal parabolic mirror 13B. LED module 1 IB is oriented to direct its diffuse light output mostly in a lateral direction. Diverging beam 12 from LED module 11B strikes polygonal parabolic reflector 13B such that optical axis 17 has an incident angle of approximately 45 degrees and reflected optical axis 18 exits the reflector with an exit angle of approximately 45 degrees. The incident optical axis 17 is mostly horizontal and transverse, and the reflected optical axis 18 is mostly longitudinal. The parabolic mirror 13B collimates and reflects the collimated beam, and each facet produces a specific angular distribution for the reflected collimated beam 14 . The reflected collimated beam 14 passes through the transparent cover 15 as an outgoing beam 16 that propagates towards the observer.

Having concluded the optical pathways, we now discuss the mechanical packaging of the rear combination lamp 10, which holds the optical components in place, delivers power to the LEDs, and dissipates heat generated by the LEDs.

5 and 6 are assembly and exploded schematic diagrams of an exemplary mechanical layout of the rear combination lamp 10 .

The LED modules 11C are inserted longitudinally from the rear of the lamp in a manner similar to that of conventional incandescent lamps. Light from the LEDs is emitted laterally from the LED module 11C, horizontally and generally perpendicularly to the surface of the chassis of the printed circuit board. The inner surface 13 of the housing 20 is a multi-sided concave reflector that collimates and redirects the light longitudinally through a transparent cover (not shown in Figures 5 and 6) out of the lamp. Facets 19 on the reflector angularly divert the partially reflected collimated light to meet predetermined angular requirements for light emitted by the lamp.

Housing 20 may be a single component, comprising the curved faceted surface of mirror 13, on which and adjacent planar surfaces may optionally include additional reflective coatings to mount and interface additional components. Housing 20 includes a planar surface perpendicular to the cylindrical or longitudinal axis of heat sink 21 that mechanically supports adapter 53 and LED module 11 when assembled. Note that the adapter 53 feature could also be a built-in feature on the housing 20 . Housing 20 may be made of any suitable material, such as metal, plastic, or any other suitable material or combination of materials.

Lamp 10 may also include a transparent cover on its front face, not shown in the figures. This transparent cover can optionally include one or more sealing features to protect other components from the elements.

The LED module 11C includes a heat sink 21A and a substantially flat plate frame 31 protruding longitudinally from the heat sink 21A. The heat sink 21A may be made in whole or in part of a thermally conductive material, such as aluminum. Heat sink 21A may optionally include heat dissipation features such as fins 24 .

The pallet 31 may comprise one or more layers that are substantially parallel and optionally have the same profile shape (or transverse span) across the pallet 31 . The structure of the pallet 31 is shown in more detail in the text below and in the figures below. One layer of the board frame 31 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is a printed circuit board 41 . In some applications, the printed circuit board 41 may be thermally conductive, such as a metal core type printed circuit board or a printed circuit layer on top of an insulating aluminum plate.

The printed circuit board 41 serves as a mechanical mount for one or more LEDs. In the example of Figures 5 and 6, there are three LEDs 44A, 44B and 44C mounted on the surface of the printed circuit board, although it should be understood that more than three LEDs or less than three LEDs could be used. Each LED emits divergent light perpendicular to the plane of the printed circuit board 41, and therefore perpendicular to the plane of the board frame 31. In other applications, the LEDs may be mounted along one or more board frames of the printed circuit board, which may be approximately parallel to The printed circuit board 41 and the board frame emanate divergent light from the board frame of the printed circuit board, these applications are shown and described in more detail below.

The printed circuit board 41 also provides power to the LEDs 44A, 44B and 44C. Power can be delivered from the electrical system of the vehicle to the printed circuit board 41 through the hole 23 in the heat sink via a connector (not shown). Alternatively, printed circuit board 41 may provide monitoring of LED current, temperature, or any other suitable quantity.

The LED module 11C includes a heat sink 21A and a board frame 31 , and the LED module 11C can be inserted into the case 20 longitudinally. The housing 20 has a concave mirror along one of its inner surfaces 13 . The reflector has a hole at its apex through which the LED module 11C can be inserted. The reflector also has a focal point such that when LED module 11C is fully inserted into housing 20, LEDs 44A, 44B and 44C are positioned at the focal point. Moving the LED away from the focal point can cause the light emerging from the lamp to not be collimated, so it is generally desirable to position the LED as close as possible to the focal point of the reflector.

The lamp may include one or more retaining rings, gaskets or sealing rings 51 and 52 . The lamp may also include a quarter turn adapter 53 . The ring can protectively seal the circuitry and LEDs from the various components, and can optionally provide spacing and/or positioning features that can help ensure that the LEDs are protected when the LED module 11C is fully inserted. properly positioned. In some applications, LED module 11C may only be partially inserted and then secured to the housing.

Note that when the LED module 11C is fully inserted into the housing, the board frame 31 is mostly inside the housing 20 , inside the concave reflector, and the heat sink 21A is mostly outside the housing 20 . It should be understood that a small portion of the plate frame 31 may extend outside the housing 20, such as for connection, thermal or mechanical stability purposes. Also, a small portion of heat sink 21A may extend within housing 20 for similar purposes.

It should also be noted that this particular LED module 11C is attached to the housing 20 such that the printed circuit board 41 is mostly vertically positioned within typical manufacturing, assembly and alignment tolerances. Quarter-turn features on the socket and reflector ensure alignment of the LED with the reflector. In this orientation, the light from LEDs 44A, 44B and 44C is emitted horizontally and travels directly to the parabolic reflector without any intermediate optical components.

LEDs 44A, 44B and 44C are mounted on one side of printed circuit board 41 such that they emit light in approximately the same direction perpendicular to the plane of the circuit board. In general, it is typical to try and mount the LEDs so that their emissions are truly parallel, but in reality there may be some small variation in the pointing angle of the LEDs due to component, manufacturing and assembly tolerances. Typically, these small LED pointing errors do not pose a problem for lamp 10 .

Circuit board 41 includes circuitry to drive LEDs 44A, 44B, 44C. The circuit can be formed using known means commonly applied in printed circuit board technology. The LED driver circuit design may be a known design such as that in the above cited US Patent 7,042,165, "DRIVER CIRCUIT FOR LED VEHICLE LAMP" to Madhani et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania, Inc., Danvers, MA, USA US Patent 7,042,165, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, any suitable LED driver circuit may be used.

Although three LEDs are shown in FIG. 5, any suitable number of LEDs may be used, including one, two, three, four, five, eight, or any other suitable value. Typically, the layout of LEDs on a circuit board is determined as a compromise between optimizing optical performance, which tends to pack the LEDs as close together as possible, and optimizing heat dissipation, which tends to spread the LEDs as far apart as possible. probably far.

The shape or "outline shape" of the printed circuit board 41 can be arbitrarily selected. In the exemplary designs of Figures 5 and 6, the outline shape is rectangular. In some applications, circular printed circuit boards may be convenient for mounting into other assemblies having a generally cylindrical geometry. Alternatively, the printed circuit board may be square or rectangular in outline; the rectangular outline shape may help reduce any waste of circuit board material during the manufacturing process. In general, any suitable shape for printed circuit board 41 may be used.

Electrical connections to/from the printed circuit board are made by one or more electrical connectors. Connectors such as those that facilitate quick engagement or separation of circuit boards. The connector may be a known connector as discussed in the following two documents: U.S. Patent 7,110,656 to Coushaine et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania Company of Danvers, MA, USA, entitled "LEDBULB" discloses A complementary socket and electrical connector mechanism for an LED-based lighting module, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Patent 7,075,224 to Coushaine et al., assigned to Osram Sylvania Corporation of Danvers, MA, USA, entitled "LIGHT EMITTING DIODE BULBCONNECTOR INCLUDING TENSION RECEIVER" discloses another complementary socket and electrical socket for LED-based lighting modules. The mechanical structure of the connector is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Alternatively, any suitable connector may be used.

7 and 8 are schematic assembly and exploded views of another exemplary mechanical layout of the rear combination lamp. LED module 11D, as well as the LED modules discussed next below, can be used with appropriate housings and concave reflectors.

The most notable difference in LED module 11D compared to LED module 11C of FIGS. 5 and 6 is that there are two intermediate reflectors 45A and 45B mounted on printed circuit board 41 adjacent each LED 44A and 44B.

Intermediate reflectors 45A and 45B receive a portion of the light emitted by each LED 44A and 45B, bend the light approximately 90 degrees, and redirect the light to a parabolic reflector that collects a portion of the light and directs it longitudinally out of the lamp. Because the intermediate reflector introduces another reflection to the optical path, the LED module 11D can be mounted so that the board frame is maximally horizontal. The light emitted by the LED is mostly vertical and mostly horizontal, lateral towards the left and/or right after reflection from the middle reflector. In some cases, a full parabolic mirror can be used instead of a half parabolic mirror to collimate the light; after collimation the light reflected from the collimating parabolic mirror is mostly longitudinal.

All or any of intermediate mirrors 45A and 45B may be flat, or curved in one or two dimensions. For example, for the central portions of the exemplary mirrors 45A and 45B shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 , there are bends in cross-section parallel to the rear of the vehicle, but no bends in cross-section are longitudinal.

For flat intermediate mirrors, the optical path may be curved so that the optical focus of the parabolic mirror follows this curved path, rather than maintaining the same physical orientation in space. In this way, an LED positioned at the focal point of this optical bend can be considered to be positioned at the focal point of the mirror.

For curved intermediate reflectors, the curvature of the intermediate reflector can optionally be considered when designing the shape of the parabolic reflector. Also, the true shape of the parabolic mirror can deviate slightly from the paraboloid so that the outgoing beam can be truly collimated. This is a known feature of optical design and has been used for many years in areas such as multi-lens telescope design. For single-lens telescopes, parabolic objectives work adequately. For multi-lens telescopes, where the non-objective lens has some curvature, the curvature or surface profile of the objective lens can be adjusted during the design stage to accommodate the curvature of the non-objective lens. Likewise, the reflector in the rear combination lamp can be called a "paraboloid", which has a parabolic cross-section, or a paraboloid, and even its actual shape can be changed at the design stage to accommodate any curvature in the intermediate reflector.

FIG. 8 shows a layered structure of a substantially planar pallet 31 . The printed circuit board 41 includes two LEDs 44A and 44B, and intermediate reflectors 45A and 45B for the LEDs 44A and 44B. Adjacent to and parallel to the printed circuit board is an optional thermal pad 42 . The thermal pad helps ensure good thermal contact between the LEDs 44A, 44B and the thermally conductive layer 43 , which is adjacent to and parallel to the thermal pad 42 . Alternatively, the heat dissipation pad 42 can be omitted, and the heat conduction layer 43 can directly contact the printed circuit board 41 . As another alternative, heat dissipation putty or another suitable heat conductor may be placed between the printed circuit board 41 and the heat conducting layer 43 . As another alternative, the printed circuit board 41 itself may be made of thermally conductive material such as a metal core printed circuit board or printed circuit traces on an aluminum plate/heat sink with a very thin electrically insulating layer between the traces and the aluminum plate.

The printed circuit board 41 may also have a connector 46 extending longitudinally from an edge of the printed circuit board 41 . The connector 46 may include one or more pins extending from the printed circuit board to the heat sink or housing 21B, optionally through a hole in the heat sink or housing 21B to a mating connection attached to the electrical system of the motor vehicle. device (not shown). Likewise, the pins of the connector can be said to be "anti-parallel" to the longitudinal direction of the lamp, since they extend longitudinally away from the viewer, rather than towards the viewer.

The three layers making up the panel frame 31 may be attached together in any manner, including snaps, adhesives, screws, or any other suitable method.

In some applications, thermally conductive layer 43 may be fabricated separately from heat sink 21B and then attached to the heat sink. For these applications, the thermally conductive layer 43 and the heat sink may be made of the same thermally conductive material, such as aluminum, or may alternatively be made of a different thermally conductive material. A potential advantage of manufacturing these two components separately is that assembly of the pallet 31 can be simplified because the pallet layers are more easily accessible.

In other applications, thermally conductive layer 43 may be an integral part of heat sink 21B, and the two may be fabricated as a single component. A potential advantage of making these two parts together is that the combination may be more robust and durable than if the two components were made separately.

The heat sink or housing 21B can omit the fins 24 visible in the heat sink 21A design of FIGS. 5 and 6 . In some applications, the entire housing can be made of thermally conductive material. In other applications, a portion of the housing may be a relatively poor conductor of heat, such as plastic. Plastic parts are required in some applications where hot parts are undesirable, such as parts that will be gripped by the user, or that may touch components that could be damaged by heat.

The housing or heat sink 21B may have a structure suitable for electrical connectors or mechanical mounts. For example, a rectangular adapter 25B on the end of the heat sink 21B away from the board frame 31 can be used to support one or both ends of the electrical connector. Rectangular adapter 25B may also include a longitudinal hole through the heat sink to allow electrical connections to enter connector 46 through the heat sink.

There may also be a sealing gasket 54 that seals the components when the LED module 11D is installed in the housing.

For the designs shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , each LED 44 is mounted on a printed circuit board 41 typically away from the perimeter of the printed circuit board 41, the light emitted by the LEDs 44 being substantially perpendicular to the printed circuit board 41. There may be a certain distance when it is necessary to make the emitted light propagate parallel to the printed circuit board 41 . One option is to install reflectors 45 adjacent to each LED 44 to redirect the emitted light, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 . Another option is shown in Figure 9.

9 is an assembly schematic of an exemplary mechanical layout of an LED module for a rear combination lamp. In this LED module 11E, the four LEDs 144A, 144B, 144C, 144D may be side-emitting and/or edge-mounted at or near the perimeter of the printed circuit board so that their diverging light output is approximately parallel to the circuit board and board Rack 31 propagates away from plate rack 31 . For the geometry of Figure 9, the light output travels laterally, horizontally, towards the left and/or right side of the motor vehicle. The LED module 11E can be used with a full parabolic reflector instead of a half parabolic reflector.

The layered structure of the board frame 31 can be modified to accommodate edge mounted LEDs 144. The improved geometry is similar to a disc formed from a thermally conductive layer, the printed circuit board is located in the recessed interior of the disc, and the LED is located on the raised lip of the disc. For the purposes of this document, this improved "disc" structure may be considered adequately described by the layered structure disclosed herein. Moreover, the outline shape of each layer in the "disk" structure can be said to be the same.

The heat sink 21C and the rectangular adapter 25C are similar in design and serve as the above-mentioned heat sink and adapter.

For the designs shown in Figures 5-9, the printed circuit board 41 is generally a poor conductor of heat. In order to dissipate the heat generated by the LEDs 44, the board frame 31 uses a thermally conductive layer that is parallel to and in thermal contact with the printed circuit board 41. Another option for dissipating heat is shown in FIG. 10 .

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an assembly view of an exemplary mechanical layout of an LED module 11F for a rear combination lamp. This particular LED module 11F uses a metal core printed circuit board 141 . The use of metal core printed circuit board 141, which is itself thermally conductive, eliminates the need to use additional thermally conductive layers or thermal pads. Mechanically, this is a desirable design since it reduces the number of components on the board. However, metal core printed circuit boards can be expensive, may not effectively handle the significant heat generated in some applications, and may cost more than the assembly costs of non-metal core printed circuit boards, thermal pads, and thermally conductive layers.

The three LEDs 44A, 44B, 44C, connector 46, heat sink 21D and adapter 25D are functionally similar to similar components described above.

For the design shown in FIGS. 5-10, the board frame 31 is generally flat, with only the LED 44 and optional reflector 45 protruding significantly out of the general plane of the board frame 31. An alternative design of the pallet 131 is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 .

Specifically, the board frame 131 of the LED module 11G includes a thermally conductive layer 143 that has its own heat sink feature 147, such as a fin, on the side opposite the printed circuit board. For the purposes of this document, the heat sink feature 147 on the thermally conductive layer 143 may be considered flat and may be considered part of the generally flat layered structure of the chassis 131 .

Additionally, thermally conductive layer 143 may include an optional lip that extends around the perimeter of thermal pad 42 and printed circuit board 41 . The lip may form a pan-like structure so that the thermal pad 42 and the printed circuit board may be located within the “pan” of the thermally conductive layer 143 . For the purposes of this document, the lip of the thermally conductive layer 143 may be ignored when describing the thermally conductive layer 143 as being parallel to and adjacent to another layer having the same profile shape as the other layer.

Heat sink 21E, adapter 25E, printed circuit board 41, thermal pad 42, LEDs 44A, 44B, 44C and 44D, connector 46 and sealing gasket 54 are functionally similar to similar components described above.

Note that pallets 31 and 131 are sometimes described herein as being rectangular, or having a rectangular outline shape. While a rectangular geometry may be desired to reduce the amount of material that is wasted when forming the pallet assembly, it should be noted that other geometries may be suitable as well. For example, the profile shape may be round, or elliptical, or may include notches, saw-tooth shapes and features, or other irregular shapes. Also, the contour shape of one layer does not necessarily exactly match the contour shape of another layer. For example, a printed circuit board may have notches or holes in its interior while a thermal pad may not have such notches or holes.

The description of the invention and its applications as provided herein is exemplary and not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Variations and improvements may be made to the embodiments disclosed herein, and practical alternatives and equivalents for the various elements of the various embodiments will be understood by those skilled in the art, after studying this patent document. Variations and improvements of one kind or another may be made to the embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims (17)

1. a motor vehicle rear assembled lamp (10) is characterized in that comprising:

Radiator (21), it has longitudinal axis;

The grillage of general planar (31,131), it is close to the described longitudinal axis of described radiator (21) and almost parallel and described radiator (21) in a longitudinal direction, and described grillage (31,131) comprises a plurality of layers, and described a plurality of layers comprise:

With described radiator (21), the heat conduction layer (43,143) of thermo-contact is arranged; With

Be roughly parallel to the printed circuit board (PCB) (41) of described heat conduction layer (43,143);

A plurality of light emitting diodes (44,144), it is arranged on described printed circuit board (PCB) (41), described diode (44,144) can be powered by described printed circuit board (PCB) (41), described diode (44,144) can produce heat, and the heat that produces is by described heat conduction layer (43,143) dissipate, described diode (44,144) can be luminous, and the light that sends is propagated away from described printed circuit board (PCB) (41); With

The focal concave mirror of tool (13), this concave mirror (13) has the hole at its place, summit, to receive described radiator (21), described grillage (31,131) and described light emitting diode (44,144);

Wherein when described radiator (21), described grillage (31,131) and described light emitting diode (44, when 144) being inserted in the hole of described concave mirror (13), described light emitting diode (44,144) is positioned in the focus place of described concave mirror (13); With

Wherein when described radiator (21), described grillage (31,131) and described light emitting diode (44, when 144) being inserted in the hole of described concave mirror (13), by described a plurality of light emitting diodes (44,144) light that sends is dispersed from described printed circuit board (PCB) (41), forming collimated light beam (14), and the described longitudinal axis that major part is parallel to described radiator (21) penetrates from described lamp (10) by described concave mirror (13) reflection.

2. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 1 (10), it is characterized in that, described a plurality of layer further comprises and is arranged on described heat conduction layer (43,143) and the cooling pad (42) between described printed circuit board (PCB) (41), it is for the thermo-contact of guaranteeing between described heat conduction layer (43,143) and described printed circuit board (PCB) (41).

3. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 1 (10), is characterized in that, the light of propagating away from described printed circuit board (PCB) (41) is based on the plane propagation perpendicular to described printed circuit board (PCB) (41).

4. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 1 (10), is characterized in that, the light of propagating away from described printed circuit board (PCB) (41) is based on the plane propagation that is parallel to described printed circuit board (PCB) (41).

5. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 1 (10), is characterized in that, described concave mirror (13) is paraboloidal incomplete part.

6. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 1 (10) is characterized in that further being included in transparency cover (15) on the exit facet of described lamp (10) to be used for transmitting described collimated light beam (14).

7. a motor vehicle rear assembled lamp (10) is characterized in that comprising:

Concave mirror (13), it is used for receiving the diverging light (12) from a plurality of light emitting diodes (44,144), and is used for reflecting collimated light beam (14) on the light beam exit direction;

Most of smooth structural member (31,131), it is used for mechanically supporting described light emitting diode (44,144), give described light emitting diode (44,144) power supply, and remove from described light emitting diode (44,144) heat, the smooth structural member (31,131) of described major part comprising:

Printed circuit board (PCB) (41); With

Heat conduction layer (43,143), it is parallel to and adjacent to described printed circuit board (PCB) (41); With

Radiator (21), it is used for mechanically supporting the smooth structural member of described major part (31,131), and described radiator (21) has thermo-contact with described heat conduction layer (43,143);

The smooth structural member (31,131) of wherein said major part can be inserted through the hole of described concave mirror (13) on the light beam exit direction;

Wherein when the smooth structural member (31,131) of described major part was inserted in hole in described concave mirror (13) fully, described a plurality of light emitting diodes (44,144) were positioned in the focus place of described concave mirror (13); With

Wherein when the smooth structural member (31,131) of described major part was inserted in described concave mirror (13) mesopore fully, described radiator (21) major part remained on outside described concave mirror (13).

8. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10), is characterized in that, described concave mirror (13) directly receives the diverging light from described a plurality of light emitting diodes (44,144).

9. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10), it is characterized in that, described concave mirror (13) receives the diverging light (12) from the middle reflection between described a plurality of light emitting diodes (44,144) and described concave mirror (13).

10. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 9 (10), is characterized in that, described middle reflection is to be formed by at least one intermediate mirrors (45) that is attached to described printed circuit board (PCB) (41).

11. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10) is characterized in that, described heat conduction layer (43,143) is integrally formed with described radiator (21).

12. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10) is characterized in that, described heat conduction layer (43,143) is attached to described radiator (21).

13. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10), it is characterized in that, the structural member (31 that described major part is smooth, 131) further comprise and be arranged on described printed circuit board (PCB) (41) and described heat conduction layer (43,143) cooling pad between (42), it is used for promoting the thermo-contact between described printed circuit board (PCB) (41) and described heat conduction layer (43,143).

14. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10) is characterized in that, described concave mirror (13) is incomplete parabola part.

15. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10),

Wherein said concave mirror (13) comprises that a plurality of facets (19) are to make angularly described collimated light beam (14) turn to; With

Wherein the total angle of all facets (19) turns to overall formation to distribute about predetermined, the two-dimentional angle of described light beam exit direction.

16. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10) is characterized in that further comprising:

Be arranged on the electric connector (46) on described printed circuit board (PCB) (41);

Wherein said electric connector (46) comprises and substantially is anti-parallel to a plurality of pins that described light beam exit direction extends through the hole in described radiator (21).

17. motor vehicle rear assembled lamp according to claim 7 (10) is characterized in that, described heat conduction layer (43,143) and described printed circuit board (PCB) (41) have essentially identical rectangular profile shape.

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