EP0322370B1 - Rear fog lamp for motor vehicles - Google Patents

Rear fog lamp for motor vehicles Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0322370B1
EP0322370B1 EP88830484A EP88830484A EP0322370B1 EP 0322370 B1 EP0322370 B1 EP 0322370B1 EP 88830484 A EP88830484 A EP 88830484A EP 88830484 A EP88830484 A EP 88830484A EP 0322370 B1 EP0322370 B1 EP 0322370B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
zone
region
corner
zones
prisms
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP88830484A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0322370A1 (en
Inventor
Giorgio Ferrero
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Fiat Auto SpA
Original Assignee
Fiat Auto SpA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Fiat Auto SpA filed Critical Fiat Auto SpA
Publication of EP0322370A1 publication Critical patent/EP0322370A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0322370B1 publication Critical patent/EP0322370B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F21—LIGHTING
    • F21S—NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS
    • F21S43/00—Signalling devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. brake lamps, direction indicator lights or reversing lights
    • F21S43/20—Signalling devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. brake lamps, direction indicator lights or reversing lights characterised by refractors, transparent cover plates, light guides or filters
    • F21S43/26—Refractors, transparent cover plates, light guides or filters not provided in groups F21S43/235 - F21S43/255

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to rear fog lamps for motor vehicles, as stated in the pre-characterising portion of Claim 1.
  • DE-1179164 discloses a transparent element of the type set forth above, having a typical Fresnel lens structure. Such a transparent element, although it permits to increase generally the amount of light emitted from a lamp, does not enable to satisfy the technical approval regulation for rear fog lamps - requiring that a lamp lights up with a predetermined intensity a cross-shaped region on a photometric screen placed at a distance from the transparent element - unless a parabolic reflector is used to concentrate the light in the direction of the screen.
  • the object of the present invention is to produce a compact rear fog lamp which has a simple and economical structure but nevertheless has a high optical efficiency.
  • the subject of the invention is a rear fog lamp of the above type, according to the characterising portion of Claim 1.
  • the prismatic surface of the transparent element is shaped so that the outwardly-directed light beam defines on a screen placed at a distance from the transparent element - in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the lamp - a cross-shaped region of greater illumination, having a central part and four ends arranged on a vertical axis and a horizontal axis.
  • the prismatic surface comprises an upper region, a lower region, a right-hand region, a left-hand region, and four corner regions, each of these regions comprising two zones which are side by side and reflect the light rays in intersecting directions.
  • each of the upper, lower, right-hand and left-hand regions includes an inner zone adjacent the central zone of the prismatic surface, and an outer zone; the central zone and the four outer peripheral zones illuminate the central part of the cross-shaped area on the screen, whilst the four inner peripheral zones illuminate the four ends of the cross-shaped area.
  • each of the corner regions is divided by a substantially radial line of separation into an upper corner region and a lower corner region, which illuminate the two ends of the cross-shaped area defining the corresponding corner of the screen.
  • the upper and lower corner zones illuminate respectively the lower and upper ends defining the particular corner of the screen.
  • Figure 1 shows a rear fog lamp for motor vehicles, having a body 1 (illustrated only schematically in the drawing), a bulb 2 with a horizontally extending filament 3, and a transparent element 4 made, for example, of plastics material, and having an internal prismatic surface 5 which receives the light rays 6 emitted by the bulb 2 and directs them into an outwardly-directed beam of light rays 7.
  • the prismatic surface 5 is constituted by a "matrix" of prisms which has a rectangular shape in plan and is divided into a central zone and a plurality of peripheral zones.
  • the central zone, indicated 9, comprises refracting prisms 8 (see Figures 1, 4, 5) which cause a single deviation to the light rays from the lamp 2.
  • the prismatic surface then includes an upper region divided by a line of separation 10 into a inner zone 11 adjacent the central zone 9, and an outer zone 12; a lower region divided by a line 13 into an inner zone 14 adjacent the central zone 9, and an outer zone 15; a right-hand region divided by a line of separation 16 into an inner zone 17 adjacent the central zone 9, and an outer zone 18; and a left-hand region divided by a line of separation 19 into an inner zone 20 adjacent the central zone 9, and an outer zone 21.
  • the prismatic surface finally comprises four corner regions, each divided into two adjacent zones by substantially radial lines of separation 22.
  • the upper right-hand corner includes an upper zone 23 and a lower zone 24; the upper left-hand corner includes an upper zone 25 and a lower zone 26; the lower left-hand corner includes an upper zone 27 and a lower zone 28; the lower right-hand corner includes an upper zone 29 and a lower zone 30.
  • the peripheral zones comprise some prisms of the refracting type 8 and some prisms of the refracting-reflecting type 31 of Figure 1.
  • the prisms 31 have a surface 32 which faces the optical axis X-X of the lamp and causes a first refractive deviation of the light rays emitted by the lamp, and a second surface 33 which causes a second deviation of the light rays by reflection.
  • the lamp according to the invention produces thereon a cross-shaped region of greater illumination.
  • This region is indicated 34 in Figure 3.
  • the cross-shaped region 34 includes a central part A and four ends B,C,D,E arranged on a horizontal axis and a vertical axis.
  • the part A of the cross-shaped region 34 receives the light rays deflected by the central zone 9 and by the peripheral zones 12, 15, 18, 21 of the prismatic surface of the transparent element of the lamp (see Figure 2). In order to demonstrate this effect, these zones have also been marked with the letter A in Figure 2.
  • the end B of the cross-shaped region 34 receives the light rays deflected by the peripheral zones 20, 25, 28 of the prismatic surface (see Figure 2).
  • the end C is illuminated by the zones 17, 23, 30.
  • the end D is illuminated by the zones 11, 26, 22, 24.
  • the end E is illuminated by the zones 14, 27, 29.
  • the various peripheral zones of the prismatic surface are distributed in pairs of adjacent zones which deflect the light rays in intersecting directions.
  • the zone 12 which is above the zone 11, illuminates the region A, which is below the region D illuminated by the zone 11.
  • a further characteristic of the prisms forming parts of the zones 24, 26, 27, 29 lies in the fact that they rotate the image of the linear filament 3 through 90°, as indicated 3a by way of example for one of the prisms of the zone 26.
  • a lamp was produced with a matrix of 31 x 27 prisms, each 3 x 3 mm wide.
  • the distance between the filament 3 of the bulb and the transparent element 5 was approximately 32 mm. This distance was found to be optimal in that lesser distances increase the solid angle of the useful light but worsen the projection of the image of the filament on the screen, the image becoming larger, more diffuse and less bright. In this way, a good compromise is achieved between the requirement for the lamp to be compact and the requirement for a high efficiency.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Non-Portable Lighting Devices Or Systems Thereof (AREA)
  • Optical Elements Other Than Lenses (AREA)
EP88830484A 1987-12-22 1988-11-15 Rear fog lamp for motor vehicles Expired - Lifetime EP0322370B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT6811087 1987-12-22
IT8768110A IT1211618B (it) 1987-12-22 1987-12-22 Fanale retronebbia per autoveicoli

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0322370A1 EP0322370A1 (en) 1989-06-28
EP0322370B1 true EP0322370B1 (en) 1993-05-26

Family

ID=11307921

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP88830484A Expired - Lifetime EP0322370B1 (en) 1987-12-22 1988-11-15 Rear fog lamp for motor vehicles

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0322370B1 (it)
BR (1) BR8806713A (it)
DE (1) DE3881365T2 (it)
ES (1) ES2040381T3 (it)
IT (1) IT1211618B (it)

Families Citing this family (14)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2688599A1 (fr) * 1991-12-14 1993-09-17 Koito Mfg Co Ltd Lentille pour lampe a echelons de fresnel ou a echelons de prisme.
JP2700970B2 (ja) * 1991-12-14 1998-01-21 株式会社小糸製作所 車輌用灯具のレンズ及びその金型作製方法
US5416684A (en) * 1992-03-27 1995-05-16 General Electric Company Luminaire having predominantly refractive downlight capabilities
US5613769A (en) * 1992-04-16 1997-03-25 Tir Technologies, Inc. Tir lens apparatus having non-circular configuration about an optical axis
DE4242527C2 (de) * 1992-12-16 1996-02-08 Hella Kg Hueck & Co Fahrzeugleuchte
IT1264772B1 (it) * 1993-03-09 1996-10-04 Seima Italiana Spa Gruppo ottico per stop alto per autoveicoli
DE19647357A1 (de) * 1996-11-15 1998-05-20 Hella Kg Hueck & Co Fahrzeugleuchte
JP2002251904A (ja) * 2001-02-23 2002-09-06 Ichikoh Ind Ltd 車両用灯具
JP2012209111A (ja) * 2011-03-29 2012-10-25 Ichikoh Ind Ltd 車両用灯具
US9644814B2 (en) 2012-05-03 2017-05-09 Lighting Science Group Corporation Luminaire with prismatic optic
US9255685B2 (en) * 2012-05-03 2016-02-09 Lighting Science Group Corporation Luminaire with prismatic optic
CZ2017419A3 (cs) 2017-07-19 2019-01-30 Varroc Lighting Systems, s.r.o. Světelné zařízení, zejména mlhové světlo, pro motorová vozidla
CZ2017452A3 (cs) 2017-08-04 2019-02-13 Varroc Lighting Systems, s.r.o. Optický systém pro motorové vozidlo pro svícení při snížené viditelnosti, zejména za mlhy, hustého deště nebo sněžení
CN111457320A (zh) * 2020-03-23 2020-07-28 宁波市富来电子科技有限公司 一种侧反式汽车led后雾灯

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1179164B (de) * 1952-08-22 1964-10-08 Elastic Stop Nut Corp Katadioptrische Leuchtenabdeckung
FR1575749A (it) * 1968-04-26 1969-07-25

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE3881365T2 (de) 1993-09-09
EP0322370A1 (en) 1989-06-28
BR8806713A (pt) 1989-08-29
DE3881365D1 (de) 1993-07-01
IT8768110A0 (it) 1987-12-22
IT1211618B (it) 1989-11-03
ES2040381T3 (es) 1993-10-16

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