Motor vehicle comprising a lighting module for generating a symbol

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11046245-B2
Application number	US-201916562606-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2019
Priority date	Mar 9, 2017
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

A motor vehicle includes a lighting module that generates a symbol on the ground in the surroundings of the motor vehicle, a surrounding sensor system that detects sensor information in a region in the surroundings of the motor vehicle, and a controller designed to control the lighting module depending on the sensor information such that the symbol is generated automatically by the lighting module in a ground region between the motor vehicle and another road user as soon as the distance between the motor vehicle and the other road user falls below a specified threshold according to the sensor information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A motor vehicle comprising:
a lighting module configured to generate a symbol on the ground in an area surrounding the motor vehicle;
a surrounding area sensor system configured to detect sensor information in a region in the area surrounding the motor vehicle;
a control device configured to control the lighting module depending on the sensor information such that the symbol is automatically generated by the lighting module in a ground region between the motor vehicle and a road user as soon as a distance between the motor vehicle and the road user undershoots a predetermined threshold based on the sensor information;
wherein the control device is configured to control the lighting module such that, when the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user undershoots the predetermined threshold, at least one of a color, a brightness, a position, and a shape of the symbol is changed depending on the distance.

2. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting module comprises a laser light source, the symbol being generated on the ground by light of the laser light source.

3. The motor vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the lighting module comprises a holographic-optical element onto which the light of the laser light source falls, wherein the holographic-optical element is substantially non-absorbent to the light of the laser light source, and wherein the holographic-optical element is configured to generate the symbol.

4. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting module and the surrounding area sensor system are installed in the motor vehicle such that the lighting module emits light into a rear region of the motor vehicle and the surrounding area sensor system detects sensor information in the rear region of the motor vehicle, wherein the rear region is situated behind the motor vehicle with respect to a longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, wherein the symbol is generated only in the rear region of the motor vehicle in a space between extrapolations of two longitudinal sides of the motor vehicle.

5. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting module and the surrounding area sensor system are installed in the motor vehicle such that the lighting module emits light into a front region of the motor vehicle and the surrounding area sensor system detects sensor information in the front region of the motor vehicle, wherein the front region is situated in front of the motor vehicle with respect to a longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, wherein the symbol is generated only in the front region of the motor vehicle in a space between extrapolations of two longitudinal sides of the motor vehicle.

6. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the brightness of the symbol on the ground is increased as the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user becomes smaller.

7. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the symbol comprises a plurality of individual elements, wherein a distance between the individual elements is reduced as the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user becomes smaller.

8. The motor vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the individual elements comprise a plurality of bars which are arranged offset in relation to one another in a longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, wherein the plurality of bars include at least one of straight bars and bent bars in a form of arrowheads, wherein the arrowheads of the bent bars are directed toward the motor vehicle or away from the motor vehicle.

9. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to control the lighting module such that, when the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user undershoots a limit value smaller than the predetermined threshold, a warning message is output as the symbol.

10. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising a display which is visible to the road user, wherein the control device is further configured to control the display such that, when the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user undershoots a limit value smaller than the predetermined threshold, a warning message is generated on the display.

11. The motor vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising a camera configured to record the road user, wherein the control device is further configured to control the camera such that, when the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user undershoots a threshold value smaller than the predetermined threshold, the camera records an image of the road user.

12. The motor vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the lighting module and the surrounding area sensor system are installed in the motor vehicle such that the lighting module emits light into a rear region of the motor vehicle and the surrounding area sensor system detects sensor information in the rear region of the motor vehicle, wherein the rear region is situated behind the motor vehicle with respect to a longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, wherein the symbol is generated only in the rear region of the motor vehicle in a space between extrapolations of two longitudinal sides of the motor vehicle.

13. The motor vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the lighting module and the surrounding area sensor system are installed in the motor vehicle such that the lighting module emits light into a front region of the motor vehicle and the surrounding area sensor system detects sensor information in the front region of the motor vehicle, wherein the front region is situated in front of the motor vehicle with respect to a longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, wherein the symbol is generated only in the front region of the motor vehicle in a space between extrapolations of two longitudinal sides of the motor vehicle.

14. The motor vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the control device is configured to control the lighting module such that, when the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user undershoots the predetermined threshold, at least one of a color, a brightness, a position, and a shape of the symbol is changed depending on the distance.

15. The motor vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein the symbol comprises a plurality of individual elements, wherein a distance between the individual elements is reduced as the distance between the motor vehicle and the road user becomes smaller.

16. A motor vehicle comprising:
a lighting module configured to generate a symbol on the ground in an area surrounding the motor vehicle;
a surrounding area sensor system configured to detect sensor information in a region in the area surrounding the motor vehicle;
a control device configured to control the lighting module depending on the sensor information such that the symbol is automatically generated by the lighting module in a ground region between the motor vehicle and a road user as soon as a distance between the motor vehicle and the road user undershoots a predetermined threshold based on the sensor information;
wherein the control device is configured to define the predetermined threshold depending on a parameter relating to at least one of the motor vehicle and the area surrounding the motor vehicle.

Assignees

• Bayerische Motoren Werke Ag

Inventors

• Erdl Helmut
• Hanafi Abdelmalek
• Hausmann Thomas
• Sorokin Lenja

Classifications

• B60Q3/80 Primary

  Circuits; Control arrangements (for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47) · CPC title

• B60Q1/535 Primary

  to prevent rear-end collisions, e.g. by indicating safety distance at the rear of the vehicle · CPC title

• B60Q2400/50

  Projected symbol or information, e.g. onto the road or car body · CPC title

• B60Q1/0035

  relative to the vehicle · CPC title

• F21S41/16

  Laser light sources · CPC title