Light guide layer for vehicle glass, vehicle glass and vehicle interior lighting system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12153242-B2
Application number	US-202118250679-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 5, 2021
Priority date	Nov 5, 2020
Publication date	Nov 26, 2024
Grant date	Nov 26, 2024

Abstract

A light guide layer for vehicle glass, a vehicle glass and a vehicle interior lighting system are provided. The light guide layer or vehicle glass includes a transparent body or a glass body including a first surface and a second surface arranged opposite to each other, and the transparent body being adapted to be couple to vehicle glass, so as to receive light-source light emitted from a light source arranged at a predetermined position of a vehicle and allow the light-source light to propagate within the transparent body; and a light diffusion part formed in the transparent body or the glass body or on at least one of the first surface and the second surface and configured to diffusely reflect, scatter and/or refract the light-source light propagating to the light diffusion part to a predetermined area of at least one of the first surface and the second surface, so as to emit the light-source light out from the predetermined area.

First claim

We claim:

1. A light guide layer for a vehicle glass, comprising:
a transparent body comprising a first surface and a second surface arranged opposite to each other, and adapted to be coupled to the vehicle glass, the transparent body being configured to receive light-source light emitted from a light source arranged at a predetermined position of a vehicle and allow the light-source light to propagate within the transparent body; and
a light diffusion part integrally formed in the transparent body or on at least one of the first surface and the second surface and configured to diffusely reflect, scatter and/or refract the light-source light propagating to the light diffusion part to a predetermined area of at least one of the first surface and the second surface, so as to emit the light-source light out from the predetermined area.

2. The light guide layer of claim 1 , wherein the light diffusion part comprises a microstructure portion arranged on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, and wherein the microstructure portion is configured to diffusely reflect or scatter the light-source light propagating to the microstructure portion to the predetermined area of at least one of the first surface and the second surface while allowing light propagating in a direction perpendicular to the first surface or the second surface to pass therethrough.

3. The light guide layer of claim 2 , wherein the microstructure portion comprises at least one of:
protrusions formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface by additive manufacturing;
recesses formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface by subtractive manufacturing; and/or
wherein the microstructure portion is micrometer-sized or nanometer-sized; and/or
wherein the microstructure portion is formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface by at least one of machining, chemical etching, photolithography and UV gel curing.

4. The light guide layer of claim 1 , wherein the transparent body is prefabricated to have a curvature matching with a curvature of the vehicle glass; and/or
wherein the transparent body is adapted to be coupled to a visible area of the vehicle glass; and/or
wherein the transparent body is adapted to be arranged on a surface of the vehicle glass, or wherein the vehicle glass comprises a laminated glass in which the transparent body is arranged; and/or
wherein the light guide layer is crease-resistant; and/or
wherein the light guide layer is ductile; and/or
the light guide layer further comprises a heating-reflecting layer and/or a low emissivity layer arranged on a surface of the light guide layer.

5. The light guide layer of claim 1 , wherein the transparent body is deformable so as not to affect changes of a direction of the light-source light made by the microstructure portion in a case where the transparent body is deformed to have a curvature matching with a curvature of the vehicle glass.

6. The light guide layer of claim 1 , wherein the light diffusion part comprises suspended particles arranged in the transparent body.

7. The light guide layer of claim 6 , wherein the transparent body is made by at least one of: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) and terephthalic acid (TPA).

8. The light guide layer of claim 7 , wherein the vehicle glass comprises a laminated glass and the transparent body is an interlayer between a first glass layer in the laminated glass facing interior of the vehicle and a second glass layer facing exterior of the vehicle.

9. The light guide layer of claim 1 , wherein the light diffusion part comprises an ink portion arranged on at least one of the first surface and the second surface.

10. The light guide layer of claim 9 , wherein the ink portion has anti-sticky property; and/or
wherein the ink portion is compatible with a bending temperature; and/or
wherein the ink portion has an L* value greater than 58 in a color space LAB.

11. A vehicle glass, comprising:
a glass body; and
the light guide layer of claim 1 .

12. The vehicle glass of claim 11 , wherein the light guide layer is arranged on a surface of the glass body via an interlayer; and/or
the vehicle glass further comprises a protective layer arranged on a surface of the light guide layer away from the glass body; and/or
wherein the glass body is provided with a light-source hole for receiving at least a part of a light source, preferably, the light-source hole is formed such that the light source received in the light-source hole is arranged in a non-visible area of the vehicle glass; and/or
the vehicle glass further comprises a heating-reflecting layer and/or a low emissivity layer arranged inside or on a surface of the vehicle glass.

13. The vehicle glass of claim 11 , wherein the glass body comprises a first glass layer and a second glass layer, and
the light guide layer is arranged between the first glass layer and the second glass layer via an interlayer, or
the light guide layer is an interlayer that bonds the first glass layer with the second glass layer.

14. The vehicle glass of claim 13 , wherein the light guide layer is arranged between the first glass layer and the second glass layer via the interlayer, the light diffusion part comprises a microstructure portion arranged on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, and wherein the microstructure portion is configured to diffusely reflect, scatter and/or refract the light-source light propagating to the microstructure portion to a predetermined area of at least one of the first surface and the second surface while allowing light propagating in a direction perpendicular to the first surface or the second surface to pass therethrough, wherein the interlayer has a refractive index different from the microstructure portion.

15. A vehicle interior lighting system, comprising:
the vehicle glass according to claim 11 ; and
a light source arranged adjacent to at least a part of the vehicle glass and/or inside the vehicle glass.

16. The vehicle interior lighting system of claim 15 , wherein the light source comprises at least one of a continuum light source, a linear light source and a point light source; and/or
wherein the light source is arranged around at least one of first glass layer and second glass layer of the vehicle glass; and/or
wherein at least a part of the vehicle glass comprises a light guide layer; and/or
wherein the light source is arranged in at least one of first glass layer and second glass layer of the vehicle glass via a light-source hole.

17. A vehicle glass, comprising:
a glass body comprising a first surface and a second surface arranged opposite to each other, and configured to receive light-source light emitted from a light source arranged at a predetermined position of a vehicle and allow the light-source light to propagate within the glass body; and
a light diffusion part integrally formed in the glass body or on at least one of the first surface and the second surface and configured to diffusely reflect, scatter and/or refract the light-source light propagating to the light diffusion part to a predetermined area of at least one of the first surface and the second surface, so as to emit the light-source light out from the predetermined area.

18. The vehicle glass of claim 17 , wherein the light diffusion part comprises a microstructure portion arrange

Assignees

• Saint Gobain

Inventors

• Ma Siteng
• Wang Lu

Classifications

• G02B6/0041

  provided in the bulk of the light guide · CPC title

• B60J3/00

  Antiglare equipment associated with windows or windscreens (optical viewing arrangements for vehicles B60R1/00); Sun visors for vehicles (sun visors having appliances for storing or holding personal property B60R7/05) · CPC title

• B60J1/001

  Double glazing for vehicles · CPC title

• B32B2605/00

  Vehicles · CPC title

• B32B17/10788

  containing ethylene vinylacetate · CPC title