Lighting apparatus of autonomous vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11097656-B2
Application number	US-202016870566-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2020
Priority date	Nov 16, 2018
Publication date	Aug 24, 2021
Grant date	Aug 24, 2021

Abstract

A lighting apparatus of an autonomous vehicle may include: a roof formed at the top of a vehicle; a lighting unit installed on the roof, and configured to display an autonomous driving status of the vehicle to the outside; and a control unit configured to vary a lighting status of the lighting unit according to the autonomous driving status of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A lighting apparatus of an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
a roof formed at a top of a vehicle;
an extended-around lighting unit installed under a roof wall of on the roof, and configured to display an autonomous driving status of the vehicle; and
a control unit configured to vary a lighting status of the extended-around lighting unit based on the autonomous driving status of the vehicle,
wherein the extended-around lighting unit comprises:
an external light output lens disposed between a sidewall of the vehicle and a periphery of the roof wall and extending around the vehicle along the periphery of the roof wall;
a plurality of light sources configured to emit light beams, the plurality of light sources being disposed inwardly from the external light output lens, the plurality of light sources being arranged along the external light output lens; and
a beam splitter comprising a ring-shaped body extending along the external light output lens to surround the plurality of light sources, the beam splitter being located between the external light output lens and the plurality of light sources to guide light beams emitted from the plurality of light sources toward the external light output lens,
wherein the light beams are emitted from the plurality of light sources, transmitted through the beam splitter and output through the external light output lens extending around the vehicle such that the light beams emitted from the extended-around lighting unit are visible from any direction outside the vehicle.

2. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control unit configured to:
in a first lighting mode, control the lighting unit to irradiate light in first color when the vehicle autonomously moves; and
in a second lighting mode, control the lighting unit to irradiate light in second color when the vehicle autonomously stops.

3. The lighting apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the control unit is configured to, in a third lighting mode, control the lighting unit to irradiate light in a different manner from the first and second lighting modes, when the vehicle is switched from the autonomous stop to the autonomous driving.

4. The lighting apparatus of claim 3 , wherein in the third lighting mode, the control unit is configured to control the lighting unit to flicker in the first or second color, or sequentially turn on the plurality of light sources installed in the lighting unit.

5. The lighting apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the control unit is configured to, in a fourth lighting mode, turn off the lighting unit when an autonomous driving mode of the vehicle is canceled.

6. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the lighting unit is disposed at a height of 1,200 millimeters or more from a ground.

7. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor unit disposed on a same horizontal or vertical line as the lighting unit, and configured to sense a driving condition or surrounding situation of the vehicle.

8. The lighting apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the lighting unit has a lighting region overlapping a monitoring region of the sensor unit.

9. The lighting apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the sensor unit comprises:
a plurality of LiDARs (Light Detection And Ranging) installed in multiple directions and configured to detect an object around the vehicle and sense a distance to the object; and
a plurality of cameras installed in multiple directions and configured to sense the surrounding situation of the vehicle as images.

10. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the beam splitter is formed of a transparent material, and configured to induce portions of light beams incident from the plurality of light sources source to the external light output lens, and induce portions of the light beams incident from the plurality of light sources to an inside of the vehicle.

11. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
an inner lens installed between the external light output outer lens and the beam splitter.

12. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the external light output lens comprises a color lens.

13. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the beam splitter comprises:
an incidence surface facing the plurality of light sources;
an emitting surface facing the external light output lens;
a top surface configured to reflect the light beams;
a bottom surface opposite to the top surface; and
a plurality of light output grooves formed on the bottom surface and configured to emit portions of the light beams inside the vehicle.

Assignees

• Hyundai Mobis Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Eun Jeong
• Baek Seung Woo
• Choi Ban Suk
• Shin Cheon Seop
• Cha Jun Hyuk
• Kim Moo Kwan

Classifications

• B60Q1/507

  specific to autonomous vehicles · CPC title

• B60Q1/2611 Primary

  Indicating devices mounted on the roof of the vehicle · CPC title

• B60Q1/543

  for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle (indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045) · CPC title

• H05B47/10

  Controlling the light source · CPC title

• G01S17/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title