IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,878,622
Granted Patent B2
US 11,878,622 · App. 17/642,135 · Granted Jan 23, 2024

Vehicle light fitting, radar module, radar, and vehicle

Inventors: Yoshihiro Katsurada (Shizuoka, JP); Yuichi Watano (Shizuoka, JP); Yuta Maruyama (Shizuoka, JP); Osamu Kuboyama (Shizuoka, JP); Akihito Horikawa (Shizuoka, JP); Kosei Kikuchi (Shizuoka, JP)
Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
B60Q1/0023F21S43/14F21S43/242G01S13/931H01Q1/3283F21Y2115/10G01S2013/93277
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,878,622
App. No.
17/642,135
Granted
Jan 23, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

A left vehicle lamp includes a lamp housing, a lamp cover that covers an opening of the lamp housing, an illumination unit that is disposed inside a lamp chamber formed by the lamp housing and the lamp power bar, a radar) configured to acquire a radar data indicating a surrounding environment of a vehicle by emitting radio waves toward the outside of the vehicle, and a light guide member that is disposed in a manner of facing the radar so as to hide at least a part of the radar from the outside of the vehicle and is configured to transmit radio waves emitted from the radar. The radar is disposed outside the housing. The light guide member is configured to emit light toward the outside of the vehicle.

Claims (78)

1. A vehicle lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a lamp cover that covers an opening of the lamp housing;

an illumination unit disposed in a lamp chamber formed by the lamp housing and the lamp cover;

a radar configured to acquire radar data indicating a surrounding environment of a vehicle by emitting radio waves to the outside of the vehicle; and

a light guide member that is disposed in a manner of facing the radar so as to hide at least a part of the radar from the outside of the vehicle, and is configured to transmit the radio waves emitted from the radar,

wherein the radar is disposed outside the lamp chamber,

wherein the light guide member is configured to emit light toward the outside of the vehicle,

wherein the light guide member has

a first surface that faces the radar,

a second surface located at a side opposite to the first surface, and

a plurality of steps formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface,

wherein the plurality of steps are configured to emit light spreading inside the light guide member toward the outside of the vehicle,

wherein a height or a depth d of each of the plurality of steps satisfies the following condition,

d<λ/ 8

wherein λ is a wavelength of radio waves emitted from the radar.

2. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a light source that is disposed in the lamp chamber and configured to emit light toward the light guide member.

3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 ,

wherein the light guide member is disposed in the lamp chamber, and

wherein a part of the lamp housing is disposed between the light guide member and the radar.

4. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 ,

wherein the light guide member functions as a lamp or a daytime running lamp (DRL) configured to present information related to traveling of the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle.

5. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 ,

wherein the plurality of steps are configured to form an optical pattern on the light guide member.

6. A vehicle lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a lamp cover that covers an opening of the lamp housing;

an illumination unit disposed in a lamp chamber formed by the lamp housing and the lamp cover;

a radar configured to acquire radar data indicating a surrounding environment of a vehicle by emitting radio waves to the outside of the vehicle; and

a light guide member that is disposed in a manner of facing the radar so as to hide at least a part of the radar from the outside of the vehicle, and is configured to transmit the radio waves emitted from the radar,

wherein the radar is disposed outside the lamp chamber,

wherein the light guide member is configured to emit light toward the outside of the vehicle,

wherein a thickness t 1 of the light guide member is defined by the following equation,

t 1=λ(2ε r1 1/2 )× n

wherein λ is a wavelength of radio waves emitted from the radar, Ed is a relative permittivity of the light guide member, and n is an integer equal to or larger than 1.

7. A vehicle lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a lamp cover that covers an opening of the lamp housing;

an illumination unit disposed in a lamp chamber formed by the lamp housing and the lamp cover;

a radar configured to acquire radar data indicating a surrounding environment of a vehicle by emitting radio waves to the outside of the vehicle; and

a light guide member that is disposed in a manner of facing the radar so as to hide at least a part of the radar from the outside of the vehicle, and is configured to transmit the radio waves emitted from the radar,

wherein the radar is disposed outside the lamp chamber,

wherein the light guide member is configured to emit light toward the outside of the vehicle,

wherein a part of the lamp housing is disposed between the light guide member and the radar, and

wherein a thickness t 2 of a part of the lamp housing is defined by the following equation,

t 2=λ(2ε r 2 1/2 )× n

wherein λ is a wavelength of radio waves emitted from the radar, ε r1 is a relative permittivity of a part of the lamp housing, and n is an integer equal to or larger than 1.

8. A vehicle lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a lamp cover that covers an opening of the lamp housing;

an illumination unit disposed in a lamp chamber formed by the lamp housing and the lamp cover;

a radar configured to acquire radar data indicating a surrounding environment of a vehicle by emitting radio waves to the outside of the vehicle; and

a light guide member that is disposed in a manner of facing the radar so as to hide at least a part of the radar from the outside of the vehicle, and is configured to transmit the radio waves emitted from the radar,

wherein the radar is disposed outside the lamp chamber,

wherein the light guide member is configured to emit light toward the outside of the vehicle,

wherein a part of the lamp cover faces the light guide member, and

wherein a thickness t 3 of a part of the lamp cover is defined by the following equation,

t 3=λ/(2ε r3 1/2 )× n

wherein λ is a wavelength of radio waves emitted from the radar, ε r3 is a relative permittivity of a part of the lamp cover, and n is an integer equal to or larger than 1.

9. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 ,

wherein the radar is fixed to the lamp housing via a support member that supports the radar.

10. A vehicle lamp comprising:

a lamp housing;

a lamp cover that covers an opening of the lamp housing;

an illumination unit disposed in a lamp chamber formed by the lamp housing and the lamp cover; and

a light guide member that is disposed in a manner of facing a radar so as to hide, from the outside of a vehicle, at least a part of the radar disposed outside the lamp chamber so as to acquire radar data indicating a surrounding environment of the vehicle by emitting radio waves toward the outside of the vehicle and that is configured to transmit the radio waves emitted from the radar,

wherein the light guide member is configured to emit light toward the outside of the vehicle,

wherein the light guide member has

a first surface that faces the radar,

a second surface located at a side opposite to the first surface, and

a plurality of steps formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface,

wherein the plurality of steps are configured to emit light spreading inside the light guide member toward the outside of the vehicle,

wherein a height or a depth d of each of the plurality of steps satisfies the following condition,

d<λ/ 8

wherein λ is a wavelength of radio waves emitted from the radar.

11. The vehicle lamp according to claim 10 ,

wherein the radar is fixed to a vehicle body via a support member that supports the radar.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 27, 2022
From: KATSURADA, YOSHIHIRO; WATANO, YUICHI; MARUYAMA, YUTA; KUBOYAMA, OSAMU; HORIKAWA, AKIHITO; KIKUCHI, KOSEI
To: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 060038/0153 →
Priority Claims (10)
JP 2019-164750 · Sep 10, 2019 · national
JP 2019-183068 · Oct 3, 2019 · national
JP 2019-183069 · Oct 3, 2019 · national
JP 2019-183070 · Oct 3, 2019 · national
JP 2019-186787 · Oct 10, 2019 · national
JP 2019-206320 · Nov 14, 2019 · national
JP 2019-206321 · Nov 14, 2019 · national
JP 2019-207074 · Nov 15, 2019 · national
JP 2019-216675 · Nov 29, 2019 · national
JP 2020-088267 · May 20, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230062751A1 · Mar 2, 2023
Cited By (2)
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