FR2738899A1 - SIGNALING LAMP WITH DEPTH APPEARANCE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE - Google Patents

Abstract

A traffic light for a motor vehicle comprises a base (10) defining at least one cavity (11) in the bottom of which is formed a bright concave mirror (12), a lamp (20) mounted in the cavity and a transparent indicator ( 30) covering the base and comprising a set of first parallel optical elements (31) of a first given general orientation. According to the invention, the light further comprises a transparent intermediate screen (40) arranged in the close vicinity of the indicator and at an essentially constant distance from the latter, said intermediate screen comprising on one of its faces second optical elements (41 ) of general orientation substantially perpendicular to that of the first optical elements; the mirror (12) is generally smooth and the intermediate screen (40) is directly exposed to the radiation from the mirror.

Description

The present invention generally relates to

  signaling lights for motor vehicles.

  A concern that nowadays takes on increasing importance in the design of traffic lights is that of the outward appearance of the fire when it is extinguished. In particular, it is sought, in certain fires, to create an illusion of depth of the cavity of the fire situated behind the light, the actual depth of this cavity, delimited by the base of the fire, being in turn of the order of

  size of about ten centimeters.

  Already known in the state of the art a traffic light intended to restore this illusion of depth. Such a fire is schematically represented on

Figures 1 and 2.

  It comprises a base 10 defining at least one cavity 11 whose bottom constitutes a generally parabolic mirror 12. A lamp 20 is mounted in the bottom 12 of the base and a light 30 closes the base at the front (relative to the direction of emission of light) from it. To achieve the effect of depth, the mirror 12 has on its surface streaks 13 in the form of vertical strips, made by normal projection on its surface of horizontal cylindrical striations, while the indicator 30 is equipped on its inner surface with cylindrical striations

horizontal.

  When the base 10 is metallized or painted with a glossy paint, the combination of the brightness obtained with the cylindrical optical elements of the indicator allows to "see" inside the fire, and gives a so-called style effect.

"depth".

  More generally, the effect of depth is achieved when the strips 13 of the mirror 12 and the striations 31 of the indicator have a generally

  perpendicular to each other.

  According to a known variant, the optical elements perpendicular to the bosses of the base are made not on the indicator itself, but on an intermediate screen placed near and inside the indicator. We then realize a

fire says "fire showcase".

  A disadvantage of the known techniques described above is that one of the sets of optical elements is on the mirror itself. As a result, the external appearance of the extinguished fire will change substantially according to the angle of observation, because the observer will see the projection of the mirror cylinders on a plane perpendicular to its direction of observation. This change of appearance is even more obvious when, for mold release requirements, the base comprises smooth parts, or when, by design or for reasons of style, certain parts of the base are close to the indicator (in particular the striations 13 ' a non-functional area

  adjacent to the fire cavity in Figure 1).

  This type of known fire also has other disadvantages. In particular, the optical design of fire is complex and imprecise, and gives rise to phenomena of shrinkage, incorrect light deviations due to poor control of the profile streaks. In addition, the design of the base molding tool is substantially complicated. The present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks of the state of the art and in particular to provide a traffic light which has a more uniform and uniform depth of appearance, and which is easier to design. Thus the present invention proposes a signaling light for a motor vehicle, of the type comprising a base defining at least one cavity in the bottom of which is formed a glossy concave mirror, a light source mounted in the cavity and a transparent sight covering the base and comprising a set of first parallel optical elements of a given first general orientation, characterized in that it further comprises a transparent intermediate screen disposed in the close vicinity of the sight and substantially constant distance thereto, said intermediate screen having on one of its faces second optical elements of general orientation substantially perpendicular to that of the first optical elements, in that the mirror is generally smooth and in that the intermediate screen is directly

  exposed to radiation from the mirror.

  The base may comprise, in the vicinity of the cavity, at least one non-functional zone located near the intermediate screen, in which case the bottom of the cavity and the said zone comprise a glossy coating and the first and second optical elements extend to the right of the cavity and the non-functional zone (s), so as to give an aspect of depth to a more

extended only the cavity itself.

  Preferably, the first and second elements

  Optics consist of cylindrical striations.

  In a particular embodiment, the indicator comprises alternating strips of catadioptric elements and first optical elements, and the indicator and the intermediate screen together form a sealed enclosure of

  protection of catadioptric elements.

  In this case, it is preferable for the first optical elements to consist of cylindrical ridges and for the second optical elements to consist of tori concentrating the light coming from the

  mirror towards the first optical elements.

  Advantageously, the intermediate screen has on its face facing the indicator a pattern of opaque areas colored, the colors of the indicator and the intermediate screen cooperate to give a light beam of a given color, and the color of the indicator and the color opaque areas cooperate to give fire when turned off

  a color different from the color of the light beam.

  Other aspects, purposes and advantages of this

  invention will appear better on reading the description

  following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of nonlimiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which, in addition to Figures 1 and 2 described above: Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view. exploded part of a depth-of-sight signaling light according to a first embodiment of the invention, FIG. 4 is a schematic horizontal sectional view of a depth-of-sight signaling light according to said first form. FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic perspective exploded view of a portion of a depth-of-view signaling light according to a second embodiment of the invention, FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective exploded view of a portion of a depth-like signaling light according to a third embodiment of the invention, and Figure 7 is a schematic horizontal sectional view of a sig. according to a fourth

  embodiment of the invention.

  Referring to Figures 3 and 4, there is shown a signal light which comprises a base 10 which defines at least one cavity 11 whose bottom is a mirror 12 for example of the parabolic kind and which receives a source

  light such as a filament lamp 20.

  In front of the pedestal (with respect to the direction of illumination), the fire comprises an ice or closing indicator 30. Between the indicator light and the pedestal is provided, in the vicinity and at a substantially constant distance from the indicator,

an intermediate screen 40.

  In order to give the signaling light an aspect of homogeneous depth and independent of the angle of observation, the intermediate screen 40 has, in this case on its inner face, vertical convex striations 41 preferably having all the same width and even curvature, while the indicator 30 has, also on its inner face, horizontal convex streaks 31 also having

  preferably all the same width and same curvature.

  The depth aspect is achieved by the mere presence of the intermediate screen and the indicator, together with the fact that behind these elements, the base has an aspect at least relatively bright, preferably being aluminized, independently the distance between the base and the intermediate screen. Thus the aspect of depth is obtained in the case of Figure 4 not only at the cavity 11, but also at a non-functional area in which the base has an extension 10 'extending near the 40, thanks to the fact that streaks 31 ', 41' identical to streaks 31, 41 are also provided in this region

on the light and on the screen.

  Preferably, the distance between the intermediate screen 40 and the indicator 30 is between 0.5 and 3 mm, while the pitch of the ridges 31, 31 'and 41, 41' is between 3 and 12 mm. Of course, the steps of horizontal streaks and vertical streaks can be

different from each other.

  Moreover, the screen and the indicator may comprise any orientation streaks provided that the streaks of one of the elements are oriented essentially

  perpendicular to those of the other element.

  In addition, according to a variant not shown, the streaks of the indicator light and the screen can be concave. According to another variant, the streaks of the screen can be provided

  on the face of it turned towards the seer.

  Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown an embodiment of the invention in which the indicator comprises not only the streaks 31, but also catadioptric trihedra indicated in 32. Preferably, these trihedrons are organized in strips of two rows of parallel and alternating reflectors with a streak 31 (as shown in FIG. 5) or a group

such streaks.

  In this embodiment, the intermediate screen 40 is preferably sealingly connected to the indicator at their edges, so as to form with it a sealed enclosure protecting catadioptric trihedra vis-à-vis dust, dirt, etc. .... as required by

regulations.

  FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of FIG. 5 in which the streaks 41 of the intermediate shield are replaced by tori 42, that is to say elements that have a curvature both in horizontal direction and in vertical direction. For example, tori may have a horizontal pitch of 3

  at 6 mm and a vertical pitch of 6 to 24 mm.

  In this case, the effect of depth continues to be ensured, while the tori 42 make it possible to concentrate the light coming from the mirror 12 towards the regions of the light 30 where the streaks 31 are located, avoiding at least partially

catadioptric elements 32.

  Thanks to this solution, the luminous efficiency of the fire is improved to the extent that the light which is normally lost (by total reflection or by large horizontal or vertical dispersion) when it arrives on

  the cadadioptric triad is partly recovered.

  Referring now to Figure 7, there is illustrated another embodiment of the invention in which the fire when turned off is given a hue different from the color of the light emitted. In this case, the intermediate screen 40 has on its outer face a colored coating (made by screen printing, hot stamping, etc ...) in the form of red horizontal strips 43 alternating with strips devoid of coating. In addition, the intermediate screen 40 is tinted yellow-green,

  while the light is tinted pink.

  In this case, the light having passed through the screen 40 and the indicator light 30 is amber, while the extinguished light has a

pink appearance.

  Of course, other types of combinations are possible. It will be observed here that the surface importance of the coating strips 43 with respect to the strips without coating is chosen so as to allow a sufficient quantity of luminous flux to pass while giving

  hue as bright as possible in the off state.

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but those skilled in the art will be able to make any variant or

  modification in keeping with his spirit.

Claims (6)

  1. Signaling light for a motor vehicle, of the type comprising a base (10) defining at least one cavity (11) in the bottom of which is formed a glossy concave mirror (12), a light source (20) mounted in the cavity and a transparent light (30) covering the base and comprising a set of first parallel optical elements (31) of a given first general orientation, characterized in that it further comprises a transparent intermediate screen (40) disposed at the close vicinity   of the indicator light and at essentially constant distance from that   ci, said intermediate screen having on one of its faces second optical elements (41: 42) of general orientation substantially perpendicular to that of the first optical elements, in that the mirror (12) is generally smooth and in that the intermediate screen (40) is   directly exposed to radiation from the mirror.   2. Signaling light according to claim 1, characterized in that the base (10) comprises in the vicinity of the cavity (11) at least one non-functional area (10 ') located near the intermediate screen (40), in that the bottom of the cavity and said zone comprise a glossy coating and in that the first and second optical elements (31, 31 '; 41, 41', 42) extend to the right of the   cavity and non-functional area (s).   3. Traffic light according to one of the   claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the first and   second optical elements (31, 41; 31, 42) are constituted by cylindrical striations.   4. Traffic light according to one of the   claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the indicator (30)   comprises alternating strips of catadioptric elements (32) and first optical elements (31), and that the indicator light and the intermediate screen (40) together form a   sealed enclosure for the protection of catadioptric elements.   5. Signaling light according to claim 4, characterized in that the first optical elements are constituted by cylindrical ridges (31) and in that the second optical elements are constituted by cores (42) concentrating the light coming from the mirror. direction of first optical elements (31).   6. Traffic light according to one of the   Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the screen   intermediate (40) has on its side facing the indicator (30) a pattern of colored opaque areas (43), in that the colors of the indicator (30) and the intermediate screen (40) cooperate to give a light beam of a given color, and in that the color of the indicator (30) and the color of the opaque zones (43) cooperate to give the fire when it is extinguished a color different from the color of the light bleam.