Lamp for vehicle and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10422500-B2
Application number	US-201715816715-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 17, 2017
Priority date	Dec 27, 2016
Publication date	Sep 24, 2019
Grant date	Sep 24, 2019

Abstract

A vehicle lamp includes: a light source unit including at least one light source configured to generate light; a lens that is arranged closer to a front of the vehicle lamp as compared to the light source unit, the lens configured to transmit the light generated by the light source unit; and a shield that is arranged between the light source unit and the lens, and configured to receive the light generated by the light source and allow at least a portion of the received light to pass therethrough, wherein the shield includes a plurality of pixels having respective light transmittances that are configured to be variably controlled, and wherein each of the plurality of pixels is configured to allow independent control of respective light transmittances.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle lamp, comprising:
a light source unit comprising at least one light source configured to generate light;
a lens that is arranged closer to a front of the vehicle lamp as compared to the light source unit, the lens configured to transmit the light generated by the light source unit; and
a shield that is arranged between the light source unit and the lens, and configured to receive the light generated by the light source and allow at least a portion of the received light to pass therethrough,
wherein the shield comprises a plurality of pixels having respective light transmittances that are configured to be variably controlled,
wherein each of the plurality of pixels is configured to allow independent control of respective light transmittances,
wherein the plurality of pixels of the shield are configured to define:
at least one first region having a first light transmittance for passing light therethrough,
at least one second region having a second light transmittance for blocking light, and
at least one intermediate region having a preset light transmittance between the first light transmittance and the second light transmittance.

2. The vehicle lamp of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pixels are arranged on the shield in a matrix form.

3. The vehicle lamp of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of pixels of the shield is configured to provide a variably controlled amount of light transmittance therethrough.

4. The vehicle lamp of claim 3 , wherein for each pixel, a light transmittance of a first sub portion of the pixel is controllable to be different from a second sub portion of the pixel.

5. The vehicle lamp of claim 1 , further comprising at least one processor configured to control a light transmittance of the shield.

6. The vehicle lamp of claim 5 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
control a portion of the plurality of pixels of the shield to selectively block light from passing therethrough to form a beam pattern having a cut-off line.

7. The vehicle lamp of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
determine whether the light received by the shield is a direct light or a reflected light; and
based on a result of the determination of whether the light received by the shield is a direct light or a reflected light, control a portion of the plurality of pixels of the shield to selectively block light from passing therethrough.

8. The vehicle lamp of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
based on a determination that the light received by the shield is a reflected light, control the pixels of a first portion of the plurality of pixels to selectively block light from passing therethrough; and
based on a determination that the light received by the shield is a direct light, control the pixels of a second portion different from the first portion of the plurality of pixels to selectively block light from passing therethrough.

9. The vehicle lamp of claim 6 , wherein:
the plurality of pixels of the shield are configured to form at least one high light transmittance region, at least one low light transmittance region, and at least one adjacent region adjacent to both the high light transmittance region and the low light transmittance region, and
the at least one processor is configured to set a light transmittance of the at least one adjacent region to a preset light transmittance.

10. The vehicle lamp of claim 9 , further comprising:
a sensing unit configured to sense information related to a vehicle including the vehicle lamp,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to set the light transmittance of the at least one adjacent region to the preset light transmittance by:
determining that the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies a preset condition; and
based on a determination that the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies the preset condition, setting the light transmittance of the at least one adjacent region to the preset light transmittance.

11. The vehicle lamp of claim 10 , wherein:
the preset condition comprises a first preset condition and a second preset condition different from the first preset condition, and
the at least one processor is configured to set the light transmittance of the at least one adjacent region to the preset light transmittance by:
determining whether the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies the first preset condition or the second preset condition;
based on a determination that the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies the first preset condition, setting the light transmittance of the at least one adjacent region to a first preset light transmittance; and
based on a determination that the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies the second preset condition, setting the light transmittance of the at least one adjacent region to a second preset light transmittance different from the first preset light transmittance.

12. The vehicle lamp of claim 11 , wherein:
the preset first light transmittance is greater than the second preset light transmittance,
the first preset condition comprises any one of a surrounding brightness of the vehicle being higher than a reference brightness, the vehicle traveling on a highway, a presence of another vehicle traveling in an opposite direction within a predetermined distance from the vehicle, or the vehicle traveling on a downhill road, and
the preset second condition comprises any one of the surrounding brightness of the vehicle being lower than the reference brightness, the vehicle traveling on a dirt road or a one-way road, an absence of another vehicle traveling in an opposite direction within the predetermined distance from the vehicle, or the vehicle traveling on a uphill road.

13. The vehicle lamp of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine that the information related to the vehicle satisfying the preset condition is not sensed through the sensing unit; and
based on a determination that the information related to the vehicle satisfying the preset condition is not sensed through the sensing unit, restore the light transmittance of the at least one adjacent region to an original light transmittance.

14. The vehicle lamp of claim 6 , further comprising:
a sensing unit configured to sense information related to a vehicle including the vehicle lamp,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
based on the sensed information related to the vehicle, control a portion of the plurality of pixels of the shield that blocks light from passing therethrough to vary a position of the cut-off line of the beam pattern with respect to the vehicle.

15. The vehicle lamp of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
determine whether the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies a first preset condition or a second preset condition;
based on a determination that the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies the first preset condition, modify a light transmittance of a first portion of the plurality of pixels of the shield to block light from passing therethrough; and
based on a determination that the sensed information related to the vehicle satisfies the second preset condition, modify a light transmittance of a second portion of the plurality of pixels different from the first portion to allow light to pass therethrough.

16. The vehicle lamp of claim 15 , wherein:
the first preset condition includes the vehicle being oriented

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Na Taeyoung

Classifications

• G01S17/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• H05B47/10

  Controlling the light source · CPC title

• F21W2102/14

  having vertical cut-off lines; specially adapted for adaptive high beams, i.e. wherein the beam is broader but avoids glaring other road users · CPC title

• F21S41/145

  the main emission direction of the LED being opposite to the main emission direction of the illuminating device · CPC title

• B60Q2300/45

  Special conditions, e.g. pedestrians, road signs or potential dangers · CPC title