Method and device for operating a headlamp for a motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9404630-B2
Application number	US-201313912744-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 7, 2013
Priority date	Jun 15, 2012
Publication date	Aug 2, 2016
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016

Abstract

A method for operating a headlamp for a motor vehicle, which can be operated in at least two illumination states, comprises: detecting at least one influencing variable, which can influence a future change of mode of the headlamp from one of the illumination states to another of the illumination states; detecting a time profile of the influencing variable; detecting a control signal that is intended to cause a change of mode of the headlamp from a current illumination state to another of the illumination states; and controlling the mode of the headlamp depending on the control signal, wherein the change of mode of the headlamp is delayed depending on the time profile of the influencing variable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a headlamp of a motor vehicle configured to operate in at least two illumination states comprising:
detecting at least one influencing variable, which influences a future change of a mode of the headlamp from one of the at least two illumination states into another of the at least two illumination states;
detecting a time profile of the at least one influencing variable;
generating a control signal operable to effect a change of the mode of the headlamp from a current illumination state of the at least two illumination states into another illumination state of the at least two illumination states with a signal generator;
receiving the generated control signal with a controller;
modifying the control signal with the controller to delay the change of the mode of the headlamp depending on the time profile of the influencing variable; and
controlling the mode of the headlamp with the modified control signal.

2. The method according to claim 1 , the modifying further comprising:
preventing a start of the change of the mode for at least a first time period relative to a delay-free change of the mode to delay the change of the mode.

3. The method according to claim 1 , the modifying further comprising:
reducing a speed of the change of the mode relative to a rate of a delay-free change of the mode for at least a second time period to delay the change of the mode.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a state variable of the headlamp as the at least one influencing variable.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
detecting as the state variable a change of mode of the headlamp from one of the at least two illumination states to another of the at least two illumination states.

6. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
detecting as the state variable a duration of at least one of the at least two illumination states.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting at least one ambient measurement value for surroundings of the motor vehicle as the at least one influencing variable.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:
determining a probability for an appearance of another vehicle in a working range of the headlamp from the time profile of the ambient measurement value, wherein
the ambient measurement value is based upon a detected corona effect, and
modifying the control signal with the controller to delay the change of the mode of the headlamp comprises modifying the control signal based on the probability.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein modifying the control signal comprises:
modifying the control signal with the controller to delay the change of the mode of the headlamp depending on at least one of changes, durations, and frequencies of at least parts of the time profile of the at least one influencing variable.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
operating with the controller the headlamp in a low beam illumination state;
detecting with an optical sensor an ambient light level corresponding to a light corona from another vehicle that is separated from the motor vehicle by an obstruction, the detected ambient light level being below a predetermined threshold to enable operation of the headlamp in a high beam illumination mode;
modifying with the controller the control signal to delay a change in operational mode to the high beam illumination state with reference to the detected light corona from the other vehicle;
detecting with the optical sensor the ambient light level from the other vehicle when the obstruction no longer separates the motor vehicle and the other vehicle; and
generating with the controller the control signal to operate the headlamp in a high beam illumination state after expiration of the delay and after the ambient light level detected with the optical sensor drops below a predetermined threshold in response to the other vehicle passing the motor vehicle.

11. A control and evaluation system for operating a headlamp for a motor vehicle configured to operate in at least two illumination states, the control and evaluation system comprising:
a sensor configured to sense at least one influencing variable that influences a future change of mode of the headlamp from one of the at least two illumination states to another of the at least two illumination states; and
a controller operatively connected to the sensor, the controller having an input configured to receive, from a signal generator of the vehicle, a control signal operable to effect a change of a mode of the headlamp from a current illumination state of the at least two illumination states to another of the at least two illumination states, the controller having an output operably connected to the headlamp, the controller configured to (i) detect the at least one influencing variable with the sensor, (ii) determine a time profile of the at least one influencing variable, (iii) receive the control signal from the signal generator, (iv) modify the control signal to delay the change of the mode of the headlamp based on the determined time profile of the influencing variable, and (v) control the mode of the headlamp with the modified control signal.

12. A method of operating a headlamp of a motor vehicle, comprising:
detecting a state variable of the headlamp over a non-instantaneous period of time;
generating a time profile of the state variable over the non-instantaneous period of time;
generating a control signal, which effects a change of a mode of the headlamp from a first illumination state to a second illumination state;
delaying transmission of the generated control signal to the headlamp based upon the generated time profile; and
controlling the headlamp using the generated control signal after delaying control of the headlamp.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
generating the time profile comprises generating the time profile with a control and evaluation unit;
generating the control signal comprises generating the control signal with a vehicle signal generator; and
delaying transmission of the generated control signal to the headlamp comprises delaying transmission of the generated control signal to the headlamp with the control and evaluation unit.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
retrofitting the control and evaluation unit into the motor vehicle; and
connecting the control an evaluation unit to the vehicle signal generator, wherein the vehicle signal generator is an original vehicle signal generator of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein detecting the state variable of the headlamp comprises:
receiving an input from a sensor configured to detect at least one illumination state of the headlamp.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one illumination state of the headlamp consists of a full beam illumination mode.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
detecting at least one ambient measurement value associated with surroundings of the motor vehicle with a sensor; and
delaying control of the headlamp using the generated control signal based upon the detected ambient measurement value.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein,
the ambient measurement value is an ambient light level; and
the ambient measurement value is based upon a detected corona effect.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein detecting at least one ambient measurement value comprises:
detecting the at least one ambient m

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Foltin Johannes

Classifications

• B60Q2300/052

  Switching delay, i.e. the beam is not switched or changed instantaneously upon occurrence of a condition change · CPC title

• F21S41/00 Primary

  Illuminating devices specially adapted for vehicle exteriors, e.g. headlamps (reversing lights F21S43/00) · CPC title

• B60Q1/1423 Primary

  Automatic dimming circuits, i.e. switching between high beam and low beam due to change of ambient light or light level in road traffic · CPC title

• F21S48/10 Primary

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic