Laser head lamp for vehicle and vehicle

• US 10,189,398 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2017
• Issued: 01/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZKW Group GmbH (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Jung, Dami, Ahn, Yunho
• Primary Examiner(s): A, Minh D
• Application Number:
  US15/856,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20180290584A1
• Time in Patent Office: 397 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/0023 the element being a sensor, e.g. distance sensor, camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/085 due to special conditions, e.g. adverse weather, type of road, badly illuminated road signs or potential dangers B60Q1/10, B60Q1/12, B60Q1/1423 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/1415 Dimming circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/143 combined with another condition, e.g. using vehicle recognition from camera images or activation of wipers
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 11/005 for lighting devices, e.g. indicating if lamps are burning or not
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/146 Abnormalities, e.g. fail-safe
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/336 Crossings
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/40 Indexing codes relating to other road users or special conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/45 Special conditions, e.g. pedestrians, road signs or potential dangers
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/16 Laser light sources
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/40 characterised by screens, non-reflecting members, light-shielding members or fixed shades
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/62 for adaptation between right-hand and left-hand traffic
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/645 by electro-optic means, e.g. liquid crystal or electrochromic devices
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/663 by switching light sources by switching incandescent light sources F21S41/162
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 45/10 Protection of lighting devices cooling of lighting devices F21S45/40; waterproofing of lighting devices F21S45/50
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/30 Semiconductor lasers

Abstract

A laser head lamp for a vehicle includes: a plurality of lamp modules each comprising a laser diode and configured to output at least one of a low beam or a high beam; at least one processor; and a computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: acquiring total operation time of each of the plurality of lamp modules; and controlling, based on the acquired total operation times, at least one first lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules differently from at least one second lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules.

Claims

1. A laser head lamp for a vehicle, comprising:

a plurality of lamp modules each comprising a laser diode and configured to output at least one of a low beam or a high beam;

at least one processor; and

a computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

acquiring total operation time of each of the plurality of lamp modules; and

controlling, based on the acquired total operation times, at least one first lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules differently from at least one second lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules.

2. The laser head lamp according to claim 1, wherein controlling the at least one first lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules differently from the at least one second lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules comprises:

turning on or turning off each of the at least one first lamp module and the at least one second lamp module to regulate an increase of the total operation times of each of the plurality of lamp modules in a balanced manner.

3. The laser head lamp according to claim 2, wherein controlling the at least one first lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules differently from the at least one second lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules comprises:

determining that (i) the total operation time of the at least one first lamp module is greater than a reference value, and (ii) the total operation time of the at least one second lamp module is less than or equal to the reference value; and

based on the determination that (i) the total operation time of the at least one first lamp module is greater than the reference value, and (ii) the total operation time of the at least one second lamp module is less than or equal to the reference value, turning on the at least one second lamp module and turning off the at least one first lamp module.

4. The laser head lamp according to claim 1, wherein controlling the at least one first lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules differently from the at least one second lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules comprises:

acquiring a temperature of each of the plurality of lamp modules; and

controlling, based on the acquired temperatures, the at least one first lamp module differently from at least one second lamp module.

5. The laser head lamp according to claim 1, further comprising:

at least one shield configured to block a portion of the low or high beam generated by one or more lamp modules of the plurality of lamp modules.

6. The laser head lamp according to claim 5, wherein the at least one shield comprises a transparent display arranged forward of the plurality of lamp modules in a light emitting direction of the plurality of lamp modules and extending across the plurality of lamp modules in a second direction orthogonal to the light emitting direction.

7. The laser head lamp according to claim 5,

wherein the plurality of lamp modules comprises:

a first lamp module; and

a second lamp module,

wherein the shield comprises;

a first sub-shield disposed forward of the first lamp module and having a first pattern; and

a second sub-shield disposed forward of the second lamp module and having a second pattern different from the first pattern,

wherein the first and second patterns are configured to form a low beam pattern, and wherein the operations comprise;

turning on both the first and second lamp modules.

8. The laser head lamp according to claim 1, wherein the operations comprise:

controlling a first lamp module group among the plurality of lamp modules to generate the low beam; and

controlling a second lamp module group among the plurality of lamp modules to generate the high beam.

9. The laser head lamp according to claim 8,

wherein each of the lamp modules of the first lamp module group comprises:

a first light emitting unit comprising the laser diode; and

a first beam pattern unit configured to receive light generated by the laser diode and to generate a low beam pattern,

wherein each of the lamp modules of the second lamp module group comprises;

a second light emitting unit comprising the laser diode; and

a second beam pattern unit configured to receive light generated by the laser diode and to generate a high beam pattern, and

wherein a structure and components of the first light emitting unit are identical to a structure and components of the second light emitting unit.

10. The laser head lamp according to claim 8, wherein the operations comprise:

determining that (i) a first total operation time of the first lamp module group is greater than a second total operation time of the second lamp module group, and (ii) a difference between the first total operation time and the second total operation time is greater than a reference value; and

based on the determination that (i) the first total operation time of the first lamp module group is greater than the second total operation time of the second lamp module group, and (ii) the difference between the first total operation time and the second total operation time is greater than the reference value, generating the low beam by turning off the first lamp module group and turning on the second lamp module group.

11. The laser head lamp according to claim 8, wherein controlling the first lamp module group among the plurality of lamp modules to generate the low beam comprises:

turning on one or more, but not all, of the lamp modules of the first lamp module group to generate the low beam.

12. The laser head lamp according to claim 11, wherein turning on the one or more, but not all, of the lamp modules of the first lamp module group to generate the low beam comprises:

based on the total operation time of each of the lamp modules of the first lamp module group, determining a combination of lamp modules among the first lamp module group to be turned on to generate the low beam.

13. The laser head lamp according to claim 8, wherein the operations comprise:

turning on first one or more lamp modules of the first lamp module group and second one or more lamp modules of the second lamp module group to generate the low beam.

14. The laser head lamp according to claim 13, wherein turning on first one or more lamp modules of the first lamp module group and second one or more lamp modules of the second lamp module group to generate the low beam comprises:

based on the total operation time of each of the lamp modules of the first lamp module group and the second lamp module group, determining a combination of lamp modules among the first one or more lamp modules and the second one or more lamp modules to be turned on to generate the low beam.

15. The laser head lamp according to claim 8,

wherein the operations further comprise:

acquiring a first temperature of the first lamp module group;

determining that the first temperature is greater than or equal to a reference value; and

based on the determination that the first temperature is greater than or equal to the reference value, generating the low beam by;

reducing light output of the first lamp module group from a first level to a second level, and

turning on the second lamp module group.

16. The laser head lamp according to claim 8, wherein the operations comprise:

acquiring inoperable state information of a first lamp module of the first lamp module group; and

based on the inoperable state information of the first lamp module of the first lamp module group, generating the low beam by;

controlling lamp modules of the first lamp module group other than the first lamp module, and

controlling a second lamp module among the second lamp module group.

17. The laser head lamp according to claim 1, further comprising:

an interface unit,

wherein the operations comprise;

receiving, through the interface unit, object information associated with an object located outside of the vehicle; and

based on the total operation time of each of the plurality of lamp modules, determining a first lamp module among the plurality of lamp modules to be turned on to illuminate the object.

18. The laser head lamp according to claim 17,

wherein the operations comprise:

based on the total operation time of each of the plurality of lamp modules, determining a combination of lamp modules, other than the first lamp module, among the plurality of lamp modules to be turned on to generate the low beam.

22. A vehicle comprising:

a plurality of wheels;

a power source configured to drive at least one of the plurality of wheels; and

the laser head lamp according to claim 1.

19. A laser head lamp for vehicle, comprising:

a plurality of left-hand lamp modules each comprising a laser diode and configured to output at least one of a left-hand low beam or a left-hand high beam;

a plurality of right-hand lamp modules each comprising a laser diode and configured to output at least one of a right-hand low beam or a right-hand high beam;

at least one processor; and

a computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

acquiring total operation time of each of the plurality of left-hand lamp modules and the plurality of right-hand lamp modules, and

controlling, based on the acquired total operation times, at least one first lamp module among the plurality of left-hand lamp modules and at least one second lamp module among the plurality of right-hand lamp modules differently from left-hand lamp modules, other than the at least one first lamp module, of the plurality of left-hand lamp modules and right-hand lamp modules, other than the at least one second lamp module, of the plurality of right-hand lamp modules, respectively.

20. The laser head lamp according to claim 19, wherein the operations comprise:

controlling one or more left-hand lamp modules and one or more right-hand lamp modules to generate a left-hand low beam.

21. The laser head lamp according to claim 19, wherein the operations comprise:

controlling one or more left-hand lamp modules and one or more right-hand lamp modules to generate a right-hand low beam.