Systems and components for enhancing rear vision from a vehicle
First Claim
1. A vehicle signal lamp assembly comprising:
- a support structure for mounting to a vehicle;
a lens mounted to said support structure;
a first set of LEDs mounted to said support structure behind said lens, said first set of LEDs being activated in response to a first activation signal such that colored light is emitted from said lens; and
a second set of LEDs mounted to said support structure behind said lens, said second set of LEDs being selectively activated in response to a second activation signal such that substantially white light is emitted from the lamp assembly, wherein said second set of LEDs include LEDs that emit binary complementary colors, and wherein said vehicle signal lamp assembly is capable of projecting white illumination of greater than 15 lux at a predetermined distance of 10 times the minimum distance between any two of said LEDs in said second set of LEDs.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle system is disclosed that includes a vehicle lamp assembly including a plurality of LEDs that emit white light so as to function as an illuminator light. The lamp assembly also may include a plurality of LEDs that emit colored light, such as red or red-orange, so as to function as a signal light. Alternatively or additionally, the lamp assembly may include a camera of a vehicle imaging system. The lamp assembly may serve as a center high mounted stop light or as a tail light. The system also includes a controller that rapidly pulses the LEDs on and off at a rate that is imperceivable by the human eye. The pulsing intervals of the LEDs may be related to the readout intervals of the camera sensor array. In this manner, the LEDs may be pulsed on during camera readout so as to increase their intensity while the camera is capturing an image, or may be pulsed off during camera readout to prevent feedback glare from interfering with image capture by a highly sensitive image sensor array of the camera.
554 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A vehicle signal lamp assembly comprising:
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a support structure for mounting to a vehicle;
a lens mounted to said support structure;
a first set of LEDs mounted to said support structure behind said lens, said first set of LEDs being activated in response to a first activation signal such that colored light is emitted from said lens; and
a second set of LEDs mounted to said support structure behind said lens, said second set of LEDs being selectively activated in response to a second activation signal such that substantially white light is emitted from the lamp assembly, wherein said second set of LEDs include LEDs that emit binary complementary colors, and wherein said vehicle signal lamp assembly is capable of projecting white illumination of greater than 15 lux at a predetermined distance of 10 times the minimum distance between any two of said LEDs in said second set of LEDs.
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2. A vehicle lamp assembly for mounting to a vehicle comprising:
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at least one multichip white-light-emitting discrete LED device, said LED device including;
a lead frame, at least two LED chips mounted on said lead frame, and a polymer encapsulant for encapsulating said LED chips on said lead frame, wherein when energized, said LED chips emit light having two different and complementary spectral bands that together form white light. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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- 22. A vehicle lamp assembly for mounting to a vehicle comprising at least one multichip LED device, said multichip LED device including a first LED chip and a second LED chip, where said first LED chip emits light having a first hue that is different from a second hue of light that is emitted by said second LED chip, said multichip LED device being selectively activated in response to an activation signal such that when the activation signal is received both said first and second LED chips are proportionately energized and light projected from said first and second LED chips overlaps and forms effective white light.
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29. A vehicle lamp assembly comprising:
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a lamp structure comprising at least two LED chips, said lamp structure adapted for mounting to a vehicle, wherein, when proportionally energized, said LED chips emit light having two different and complementary spectral bands other than red and that together form effective white light. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification