WO2021249902A1

WO2021249902A1 - Optical assembly attachment for a partial high-beam light module for a motor vehicle headlight

Info

Publication number: WO2021249902A1
Application number: PCT/EP2021/065103
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alex Heck; Nicolae Vladau; Dominik Wiedmaier; Armin Austerschulte; Stephan Braun; Felix Röhm
Original assignee: Marelli Automotive Lighting Reutlingen (Germany) GmbH
Priority date: 2020-06-09
Filing date: 2021-06-07
Publication date: 2021-12-16
Also published as: EP4162196A1; EP4162196B1; CN115698586A; DE102020115242A1

Abstract

An optical assembly attachment for a partial high-beam light module for a motor vehicle headlight is presented. Such an optical assembly attachment comprises an optical assembly attachment main body containing first optical waveguides, and comprises a separate insert part containing second optical waveguides. An optical waveguide that is closest adjacent to a first optical waveguide in a series is a second optical waveguide, and an optical waveguide that is closest adjacent to a second optical waveguide in the series is a first optical waveguide. The insert is sandwiched between the reflecting light shielding member and the main body. The reflecting light shielding member is resiliently snap-fitted to the main body at two mutually different locations, thereby spanning the insert.

Description

Ancillary optics assembly for a partial high beam module for one

Automotive headlights

description

The present invention relates to a

Optical attachment assembly for a partial high beam module for a motor vehicle headlight according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such an optical attachment assembly is known from US Pat. No. 10,261,228 B2 and has a plurality of light guides arranged in a row, each of which has one

Has light entry surface and a light exit surface and is set up to guide light entering the light entry surface to the light exit surface Attachment optics base body which contains the first light guide of the row of light guides, and has an insert produced separately from the attachment optics base body, which contains the second light guide of the row of light guides. A light guide next to a first light guide in the row is a second light guide, and a light guide next to a second light guide in the row is a first light guide. Modern motor vehicle headlights are increasingly being equipped with LEDs as light sources. As a result, increasing demands on energy saving with improved lighting and modern design can be met better than with conventional light sources.

In the case of the LED light modules for motor vehicle headlights with partial high beam function and matrix-like light distribution, matrix element-specific light guides are used for the matrix elements of the light distribution; avoid dazzling other road users.

Due to the above-described division of the light guides into a base body and an insert part, the distances between the light guides of the base body from one another and the Insert part are enlarged from each other in order to avoid sharp knife tips in the injection molding tool and to improve the accessibility of the light guides for polishing the light guide cavities. This allows when joining the base body and an insert

Light guide positions are realized with a desired small distance from one another down to 0.1 mm and the better surface quality of the light guide surfaces can already be achieved in the injection molding tool without having to use expensive light guide material such as silicone.

The present invention differs from the prior art mentioned at the outset by the characterizing features of claim 1. These provide that the optical attachment assembly has a mirror screen for the

Has motor vehicle headlights and that the insert part is arranged between the mirror cover and the base body and that the mirror cover spanning the insert part is latched elastically braced with the base body at two different points.

These features provide an optical attachment assembly which is characterized by a backlash-free connection between the mirror diaphragm, base body and insert, which is achieved with a minimum of components.

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the light exit surfaces that are next to one another are spaced apart from one another Have light exit areas that are smaller than 0.1 mm and that an entire light exit area of the auxiliary optics assembly consists of the separate light exit areas of the first light guide and the second light guide and that the insert is locked to the base body.

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the base body has n first light guides.

It is also preferred that the base body has a first base plate 38.

It is further preferred that a pin is arranged at each lateral end of the base body, which pin extends in the vertical direction.

A further preferred embodiment is characterized in that there is one in each case between a pin and the base plate on both sides of the base body

Extends contact surface for the insert and a latching structure which is designed to latch with a latching structure of the mirror cover set up as a counterpart.

It is also preferred that the insert part has a second base plate and that the second base plate has a central locking lug which, due to its arrangement, size and shape, can be locked to the central recess of the first base plate of the base body is set up.

It is further preferred that the insert is an element produced separately from the base body and contains m second light guides, the numbers m and n of the first light guides and the second light guides preferably differing from one another by 1.

A further preferred embodiment is characterized in that an opening is arranged at each lateral end of the insert, which, due to its arrangement and orientation as well as its size and shape, is designed to precisely fit one of the pins of the base body extending in the vertical direction enclose.

It is also preferred that the mirror screen consists of a flexurally elastic material. It is further preferred that the mirror screen

Has positioning holes, which are set up by their arrangement, size and shape to enclose the pins of the base body with an accurate fit and that the mirror screen has a plurality of resilient latching structures which are set up to latch with complementary latching structures of the base body.

Another preferred embodiment is characterized in that the m first light guides in the base body are so are arranged so that they run fan-shaped, with a channel-shaped gap running between two next adjacent first light guides, the size of which decreases from the light inlet end to the light outlet end on the first base plate.

It is also preferred that the n second light guides 66 are arranged in the insert part 34 in such a way that they run in a fan shape, with a gap between two second light guides that are next to each other, the size of which decreases from the light inlet end to the light outlet end on the second base plate.

It is further preferred that the first light guides and the second light guides are arranged and dimensioned relative to one another in such a way that when the insert and the base body are joined together, a second light guide 66 is separated from a channel-shaped gap between two first

Light guides 36 is received and that, conversely, a first light guide is received by a gap between two second light guides. It is also preferred that the light-guiding cross section of each individual light guide grows between its light entry-side end and its light exit-side end to such an extent that the gap at the light exit-side end through the one in the gap lying light guide is completely filled.

Another preferred embodiment is characterized in that the gap between the light exit surfaces of two next adjacent first light guides is just large enough that it is filled by exactly one light exit area of a second light guide (66). Further advantages result from the following

Description, the drawings and the subclaims. It goes without saying that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained below can be used not only in the respectively specified combination, but also in other combinations or on their own, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are explained in more detail in the description below.

Show, each in schematic form:

FIG. 1 shows the technical environment of the invention in the form of a motor vehicle headlight;

FIG. 2 shows an optical attachment assembly for a partial high beam module for a motor vehicle headlight; FIG. 3 shows the mirror cover from the left behind;

FIG. 4 shows the base body and the insert in the assembled state without a low-beam light source, obliquely from above and behind; and

FIG. 5 shows the base body and the insert in the assembled state without a low-beam light source, obliquely from above and from the front.

In detail, Figure 1 shows a

Motor vehicle headlight 10 with a housing 12, the light exit opening of which is covered by a transparent cover plate 14, inside the housing is a bi

Functional light module 16 arranged that, in terms of its function, has a low beam assembly 18, a partial high beam assembly 20 and projection optics 22. The low beam assembly 18 comprises a low beam light source 24 with low beam attachment optics 26 and is arranged above a mirror screen 28. Light emanating from the low-beam light source 24 is at least partially deflected by the mirror screen 28 onto the projection optics 22 and emitted by the latter as a low-beam light distribution. The projection optics 22 is, for example, a projection lens or a reflector.

The location information v, or in front, h, or in the back, r, or right, 1, or left, o, or above and u, or below relate to an orientation in space, as it would be when using the

Motor vehicle headlights 10 and are shown in FIG. 1 in relation to the motor vehicle headlight 10.

Partial high beam emanating from partial high beam assembly 20 is emitted by projection optics 22 as partial high beam distribution.

FIG. 2 shows an optical attachment assembly 30 for a partial high beam assembly 20 for the motor vehicle headlight 10. The optical attachment assembly 30 comprises a base body 32, an insert 34 and the mirror screen 28. FIG. 2 shows these components in a not yet assembled state. The viewing direction is from front to back.

The base body 32 contains n first light guides 36. The light entry surfaces of these light guides 36 are covered in FIG. 2 by the first light guides 36 themselves. The light exit areas are visible in each case.

The base body 32 has a base plate 38. The base plate 38 has a first end 40 and a second end 42 in the back-to-front direction. The first end 40 faces the projection optics 22. The first light guides 36 initially protrude transversely upward from the base plate from the second end 42 38 and change with increasing distance from the base plate 38 their direction in a direction running between the front and the rear so that their light entry-side ends 44 lie next to one another in one plane. The ends 44 of the first light guides 36 on the base plate side and the ends 44 on the light entry side enclose an angle which is preferably 60 ° to 120 °, preferably 90 °. In this plane, the first light guides 36, viewed from their ends on the base plate, diverge in the shape of a fan.

The base body 32 has fastening sections 46 on its lateral ends lying along the direction running between the left and right, with which the base body 32 can be fastened in the interior of the housing 12.

At each lateral end of the base body 32 there is arranged a pin 48 which extends in the vertical direction.

A contact surface 50 for the insert 34 and a latching structure 52, which is set up to latch with a latching structure 53 of the mirror cover 28 set up as a counterpart, extend on both sides of the base body 32 between each pin 48 and the base plate 38.

The base plate 38 has a central recess 54 which is used to receive a latching lug 56 of the insert 34 is set up.

The two lateral ends of the base body 32 are connected to one another by at least one upper cross strut 58. At a vertical distance from the top

Cross strut 58, a further cross strut 60 runs parallel to the upper cross strut 58. The ends 44 of the first light guides 36 on the light entry side lie on the further cross strut 60.

The insert 34 has a second base plate 62.

The second base plate 62 has a first end 64 and a second end 65 in the back-to-front direction. The first end 64 faces the projection optics 22. The insert 34, which is a separate from

Base body 32 is produced element, contains m second light guide 66. The numbers m and n of the first light guide 36 and the second light guide 66 preferably differ by 1 from one another.

From the second end 65, the second light guides 66 initially protrude transversely from the second base plate 62 and change their direction with increasing distance from the second base plate 62 so that their light entry-side ends 44 lie next to one another in one plane. The ends 44 of the second light guides 66 on the base plate side and the ends 44 on the light inlet side enclose an angle which is preferably 60 ° to 120 °, preferably 90 °, and which in particular is exactly as large as the corresponding angle the first light guide 36. In the plane mentioned, the second light guides 66 diverge in a fan-shaped manner when viewed from their ends on the base plate. At each lateral end of the insert 34 there is an opening 68 which, due to its arrangement and orientation as well as its size and shape, is designed to precisely enclose one of the pins 48 of the base body 32 extending in the vertical direction.

Between each one of the openings 68 and the base plate, a contact surface 70 for the mirror screen 28 extends on both sides of the base body 32.

The second base plate 62 has a central latching lug 56 which, due to its arrangement, size and shape, is designed to latch with the central recess 54 of the first base plate 38 of the base body 32.

The mirror screen 28 consists of a flexurally elastic material. It preferably consists of a thin sheet of metal, the material thickness of which is less than 1 mm. Due to its size and shape, it is designed to span the insert 34. With regard to its optical properties, it has an optical mirror surface which is delimited by a diaphragm edge 74 facing the projection optics 22. The diaphragm edge 74 is used as the light-dark boundary of a low beam distribution and a high beam / partial high beam distribution generated by the partial high beam module.

The mirror screen 28 has positioning holes 76 which, due to their arrangement, size and shape, are set up to enclose the pegs 48 of the base body 32 with an accurate fit. In addition, the mirror screen has a plurality of resilient latching structures 53 which are set up to latch with latching structures 52 of the base body 32 that are complementary to them.

The m first light guides 36 are arranged in the base body 32 in such a way that they run fan-shaped, with a channel-shaped gap running between two first light guides 32 next to one another. The size of the gap decreases from the light inlet end 44 to the light outlet end on the first base plate 38. The n second light guides 66 are arranged in the insert 34 in such a way that they run in a fan shape, with a gap between two second light guides 66 next to one another. The size of the gap decreases from the light inlet end 44 to the light outlet end on the second base plate 62.

The first light guides 36 and the second light guides 66 are so arranged and sized relative to each other dimensioned so that when insert 34 and base body 32 are joined, a second light guide 66 is received by a channel-shaped gap between two first light guides 36 and that, conversely, a first light guide 36 is received by a gap between two second light guides 66. The light-conducting cross section of each individual light guide 36, 66 preferably grows between its light entry end 44 and its light exit end to such an extent that the gap at the light exit end is completely filled by the light guide located in the gap.

The gap between the light exit surfaces of two first light guides that are next to each other is just so large that it is of exactly one

Light exit surface of a second light guide is filled.

Figure 3 shows the mirror screen 28 from the left behind. The mirror cover has in addition to the spring-elastic

Latching structures 53 have an angled stop 80 with which they rests against the upper cross strut 58 of the base body 32 in the assembled state. In addition, the spring cover has further resilient locking structures 78 for clipping with the upper cross strut 58,

FIG. 4 shows the base body 32 and the insert 34 in the assembled state without a mirror cover 28 at an angle above and behind. The ends 44 of the first light guides 36 and the second light guides 66 on the light entry side lie on the further transverse strut 60. Some of the first light guides 36 have projections 82 protruding laterally over their light-guiding cross-section, upwards and to the right and left. These projections 82 rest with their laterally outer right and left ends on the ends 44 of the second light guides 66 on the light entry side. It is thereby achieved that the ends 44 of the first light guides 36 and the second light guides 66 on the light inlet side are at the same height in the vertical direction. In one direction the height is defined by the further cross strut 60, and in the opposite direction the height is defined by the projections 82.

In the direction running from the back to the front, the ends 44 of the first light guides 36 and the second light guides 66 on the light entry side are also at the same height. This has the advantageous consequence that the semiconductor light sources assigned to them, each of which is arranged on a light entry surface 44 of a light guide 36, 66, can be arranged on a flat and rigid printed circuit board, which is inexpensive.

Figure 5 shows the base body 32 and the insert 34 in the assembled state without a mirror cover 28 obliquely from above and from the front. It can be seen how the light exit surfaces 84 of the n + m light guides 36, 66 touching each other result in a practically coherent surface in terms of lighting technology, without the light exit surface formed in this way being materially coherent. As can also be seen from FIG. 5, the side surfaces of the light guides 36, 66 only touch each other, if at all, at the light exit surfaces 84 their transverse to the direction of light propagation in the light guide 36, 66

Cross-sections increase in the opposite direction. As a result, in connection with total internal reflections occurring on the side walls of the light guides 36, 66, a bundling optical effect is achieved, which is advantageous for the generation of sharp light-dark boundaries of partial high beam distributions.

Without the division of the light guides 36, 66 on the

The base body 32 and the insert 34 would make it necessary to provide sharp knife tips in the injection molding tool of the then one-piece light guide, which is problematic in terms of production technology. This problem is also avoided in the present invention. When the main body 32, the insert 34 and the mirror cover 28 are joined together, the insert 34 is first inserted into the main body 32. The insertion takes place in such a way that the opening 68 arranged at each lateral end of the insertion part 34 extends in the vertical direction Extending pin 48 of the base body 32 encloses an exact fit and the first light guides 32 and the second light guides 66 assume their described position and the first base plate 38 of the base body 32 latches with the second base plate 62 of the insert 34. The mirror screen 28 is then guided onto the assembly of the base body 32 and the insert 34 by means of the two positioning holes 76 and is connected to the base body 32 by the latching structures 52, 53. The insert 32 is sandwiched between the

The base body 32 and the mirror screen 28 are clamped and the mirror screen 28 is latched with the base body in an elastically clamped manner spanning the insert at two different points.

These features provide an optical attachment assembly which is characterized by a backlash-free connection of mirror diaphragm 28, base body 32 and insert 34 achieved with a minimum of components.

Claims

Expectations

1. Ancillary optics assembly (30) for a partial high beam module for a motor vehicle headlight (10) with a plurality of light guides (36, 66) arranged in a row, each of which has a light entry surface (44) and a light exit surface (84) and is set up for this purpose, light entering the light entry surface (44) to the light exit surface

(84) to direct, and with one

Front lens body (32) containing the first light guide (36) of the row of light guides (36, 66), and with an insert (34) produced separately from the front lens body (30), the second

Light guide (66) of the row of light guides (36,

66), wherein one in the row to a first light guide (36) next adjacent light guide is a second light guide (66) and one in the row A first light guide (36) is a first light guide (36) next to a second light guide (66), characterized in that the optical attachment assembly (30) has a mirror cover (28) for the motor vehicle headlight (10) and that the insert (34) between the mirror cover (28 ) and the base body (30) is arranged and that the mirror screen (28) spanning the insert part (34) is latched elastically braced with the base body (32) at two different points.

2. Ancillary optical assembly (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that the base body (32) has n first light guides (36).

3. Ancillary optical assembly (30) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base body (36) has a first base plate (38).

4. Ancillary optical assembly (30) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a pin (48) is arranged at each lateral end of the base body (32), which extends in the vertical direction.

5. auxiliary optics assembly (30) according to claim 4, characterized in that between each one pin (48) and the base plate (38) on both sides of the Base body (32) each has a contact surface (50) for the insert (34) and a latching structure (52) which is designed to latch with a latching structure (53) of the mirror panel (28) set up as a counterpart.

6. Ancillary optics assembly (30) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insert (34) has a second base plate (62) and that the second base plate (62) has a central locking lug (72) which, by its arrangement, size and the shape is adapted to latch with the central recess (54) of the first base plate (38) of the base body (32).

7. Ancillary optical assembly (30) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the insert (34) is an element produced separately from the base body (32) and contains m second light guides (66), the numbers m and n of the first light guides (36) and the second light guide (66) preferably differ from one another by 1.

8. Ancillary optics assembly (30) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an opening (68) is arranged at each lateral end of the insert (34), which by its arrangement and orientation as well as by its size and the shape is set up to precisely enclose one of the pins (48) of the base body (32) extending in the vertical direction.

9. Ancillary optical assembly (30) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mirror diaphragm (28) consists of a flexurally elastic material.

10. Ancillary optics assembly (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that the mirror diaphragm (28) has positioning holes (76) which, due to their arrangement, size and shape, are designed to enclose the pins (48) of the base body (32) with an accurate fit and that the mirror screen has a plurality of resilient latching structures (53) which are set up to latch with latching structures (52) of the base body (32) that are complementary to them.

11. Ancillary optics assembly (30) according to claim 7, characterized in that the m first light guides (36) are arranged in the base body (32) so that they run in a fan shape, with a channel-shaped gap running between two next adjacent first light guides (32) whose size decreases from the light inlet end (44) to the light outlet end on the first base plate (38). 12. Auxiliary optical assembly (30) according to claim 11, characterized in that the n second light guides (66) are arranged in the insert part (34) so that they run in a fan shape, with a gap between two second light guides (66) next to one another, the size of which decreases from the light inlet end (44) to the light outlet end on the second base plate (62).

13. Ancillary optics assembly (30) according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the first light guides (36) and the second light guides (66) are arranged and dimensioned relative to one another in such a way that when the insert (34) and the base body (32 ) a second light guide (66) is received by a channel-shaped gap between two first light guides (36) and that, conversely, a first light guide (36) is received by a gap between two second light guides (66).

14. Ancillary optics assembly (30) according to one of the claims

11 to 13, characterized in that the light-guiding cross-section of each individual light guide (36, 66) between its light entry end (44) and its light exit end increases to such an extent that the gap at the light exit end is completely covered by the light guide located in the gap is filled out.

15. Auxiliary optics assembly (30) according to claim 14, characterized in that the gap between light exit surfaces (84) of two next adjacent first light guides (36) is just large enough that it is filled by exactly one light exit area of a second light guide (66) .