System for generating a light beam in the area in front of a motor vehicle

• US 8,723,948 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2008
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hella Gmbh & Co. Kgaa (Forvia SE)
• Original Assignee: Hella KGaA Hueck & Company
• Inventors: Hagedorn, Susanne, Hster, Christian, Kornek, Alexander, Menk, Wolfgang, Roslak, Jacek, Gtz, Micro, Giebl, Rafael
• Primary Examiner(s): Perungavoor, Sath V
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Peter D
• Application Number:
  US12/674,904
• Publication Number:
  US 20110267455A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,100 Days
• Field of Search: 348/135
• US Class Current: 348/135
• 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 2300/056 Special anti-blinding beams, e.g. a standard beam is chopped or moved in order not to blind
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/41 preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/42 oncoming vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/143 the main emission direction of the LED being parallel to the optical axis of the illuminating device
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/153 arranged in a matrix
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/663 by switching light sources by switching incandescent light sources F21S41/162

Abstract

A system for producing a light beam in the front area of a vehicle includes a headlamp with an LED array, a device for detecting objects in the area, a device for determining the position of a detected object relative to the vehicle. The light beam produced by the array has a horizontal illuminance distribution wherein the horizontal angles of the contributions of at least two LEDs to the illuminance distribution overlap at least partially, each illuminance being selectively varied for different positions in front of the vehicle and different horizontal angles relative to a reference direction. Depending on the detected object'"'"'s position to the vehicle and an object width, a glare-critical horizontal angle range is determined, and the individual LEDs arc controlled, under consideration of how much the horizontal angle ranges of their contributions to the illuminance distribution overlap, such that an illuminance limit value is not exceeded.

Claims

1. A system for producing a light beam in the front area of a motor vehicle comprising:

a headlamp comprising at least one LED array of multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs) each of which can electrically be controlled separately,

an object detection device for detecting objects within the surrounding area of the vehicle,

a positioning device for determining the position of a detected object relative to the motor vehicle,

the light beam produced by the LED array in connection with an optical imaging system has at least a horizontal illuminance distribution wherein each illuminance can be selectively varied for each of a plurality of different positions in front of the motor vehicle and for each of a plurality of different horizontal angles relative to a reference direction,

the horizontal angles of the contributions from at least two LEDs to the illuminance distribution overlap at least partially,

a range of glare-critical horizontal angles is determined for each detected object depending on the object'"'"'s position relative to the motor vehicle and depending on at least one of an assumed or a determined object width,

the individual LEDs are controlled considering the overlap of the horizontal angles of their contributions to the illuminance distribution, such that an illuminance limit value is not exceeded within the glare-critical horizontal angle range and related to the position of the detected object;

wherein the object detection device, is comprised of a camera and an image processing unit;

wherein the camera in series with the image processing unit is used to detect vehicle as objects based on their light sources; and

wherein each light source is recognized as a vehicle, where a lateral range with a value of B/2 on each of both sides of the light source is assumed for determining an object width to be declared, where B is the overall width of the object.

2. A system for producing a light beam in the front area of a motor vehicle comprising:

a headlamp comprising at least one LED array of multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs) each of which can electrically be controlled separately,

an object detection device for detecting objects within the surrounding area of the vehicle,

a positioning device for determining the position of a detected object relative to the motor vehicle,

the light beam produced by the LED array in connection with an optical imaging system has at least a horizontal illuminance distribution wherein each illuminance can be selectively varied for each of a plurality of different positions in front of the motor vehicle and for each of a plurality of different horizontal angles relative to a reference direction,

the horizontal angles of the contributions from at least two LEDs to the illuminance distribution overlap at least partially,

a range of glare-critical horizontal angles is determined for each detected object depending on the object'"'"'s position relative to the motor vehicle and depending on at least one of an assumed or a determined object width,

the individual LEDs are controlled considering the overlap of the horizontal angles of their contributions to the illuminance distribution, such that an illuminance limit value is not exceeded within the glare-critical horizontal angle range and related to the position of the detected object; and

wherein the system has headlamps each comprising an LED array of multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs) each of which can electrically be controlled separately, wherein the same illuminance limit value is specified for each of the two headlamps, and the sum of the two illuminance limit values corresponds to a glare value, whereby illuminances up to this glare value are not perceived as glare.