Illumination device and vehicle

• US 10,457,194 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2018
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Company Limited
• Inventors: Kurashige, Makio
• Primary Examiner(s): Sember, Thomas M
• Application Number:
  US16/199,527
• Publication Number:
  US 20190092224A1
• Time in Patent Office: 337 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/14 having dimming means
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/00 Illuminating devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. headlamps reversing lights F21S43/00
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/125 Coloured light
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/16 Laser light sources
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/285 Refractors, transparent cover plates, light guides or filters not provided in groups F21S41/24-F21S41/28
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/663 by switching light sources by switching incandescent light sources F21S41/162
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/675 by moving reflectors

Abstract

Provided is an illumination device which has a coherent light source that emits a first coherent light beam and a second coherent light beam, an optical device that diffuses the first coherent light beam to illuminate a first illumination zone and diffuses a wave of the second coherent light beam to illuminate a second illumination zone, and a timing control unit that individually controls incidence timing of the first coherent light beam and the second coherent light beam on the optical device or illumination timing of the first illumination zone and the second illumination zone, wherein the optical device includes a first diffusion region on which the first coherent light beam is incident, and a second diffusion region on which the second coherent light beam is incident, the first diffusion region is capable of illuminating the first illumination zone by diffusion of the incident first coherent light beam.

Claims

1. An illumination device comprising:

a coherent light source that emits a first coherent light beam and a second coherent light beam;

an optical device that diffuses the first coherent light beam to illuminate a first illumination zone and diffuses the second coherent light beam to illuminate a second illumination zone;

a timing control unit that individually controls incidence timing of the first coherent light beam and the second coherent light beam on the optical device or illumination timing of the first illumination zone and the second illumination zone; and

a scanning unit that scans the optical device with at least one of the first coherent light beam and the second coherent light beam from the coherent light source,

wherein the optical device includes a first diffusion region on which the first coherent light beam is incident, and a second diffusion region on which the second coherent light beam is incident,

the first diffusion region is capable of illuminating the first illumination zone by diffusion of the incident first coherent light beam,

the second diffusion region is capable of illuminating the second illumination zone that is at least partially different from the first illumination zone by diffusion of the incident second coherent light beam,

the first diffusion region includes a plurality of first element diffusion regions, the first element diffusion regions illuminating respective first partial regions in the first illumination zone by diffusion of the incident first coherent light beam, the first partial regions being respectively illuminated by the first element diffusion regions at least partially different from one another, and

the second diffusion region also includes a plurality of second element diffusion regions, the second element diffusion regions illuminating respective second partial regions in the second illumination zone by diffusion of the incident second coherent light beam, the second partial regions being respectively illuminated by the second element diffusion regions at least partially different from one another.

2. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the first diffusion region is capable of illuminating the first illumination zone conforming to a light distribution standard of a headlight by diffusion of the incident first coherent light beam, and

the second diffusion region is capable of illuminating the second illumination zone outside the light distribution standard by diffusion of the incident second coherent light beam.

3. A vehicle comprising the illumination device according to claim 2.

4. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the scanning unit includes a light scanning device that periodically changes a traveling direction of at least one of the first coherent light beam and the second coherent light beam emitted from the coherent light source.

5. The illumination device according to claim 4, wherein the timing control unit controls the incidence timing of the second coherent light beam on the optical device or the illumination timing of the second illumination zone in synchronization with timing of scan with the first coherent light beam and the second coherent light beam by the light scanning device, such that an illumination mode of the second illumination zone changes periodically or temporarily.

6. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the first diffusion region and the second diffusion region each have an elongated shape extending in a uniaxial direction and are disposed adjacent to each other in a direction orthogonal to the uniaxial direction.

7. The illumination device according to claim 1, further comprising an object detection unit that detects an object existing in the second illumination zone,

wherein the light emission timing control unit controls the incidence timing of the second coherent light beam on the optical device or the illumination timing of the second illumination zone so as to illuminate the object detected by the object detection unit.

8. The illumination device according to claim 7, wherein the object detection unit comprises:

an imaging device that images the inside of the second illumination zone; and

an image processing unit that performs image processing on an imaging result of the imaging device to recognize the object in the second illumination zone.

9. The illumination device according to claim 7, wherein the object detection unit comprises:

a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of a vehicle;

a storage unit that stores position information of an object; and

an information processing unit that recognizes the object in the second illumination zone based on the position information of the vehicle acquired by the position information acquisition unit and the position information of the object stored in the storage unit.

10. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the optical device is a hologram recording medium,

the first element diffusion regions of the first diffusion region are element hologram areas in which different interference fringe patterns are formed, and

the second element diffusion regions of the second diffusion region are element hologram areas in which different interference fringe patterns are formed.

11. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the optical device is a lens array group including a plurality of lens arrays,

the first element diffusion regions of the first diffusion region include lens arrays, and

the second element diffusion regions of the second diffusion region include lens arrays.