40 patents in this list

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Modern automotive lighting systems consume between 200-300W in typical driving conditions, with LED headlamps alone drawing 25-40W per unit. As vehicles incorporate more advanced lighting features—from adaptive driving beams to ambient interior lighting—managing power consumption while meeting safety and comfort requirements becomes increasingly critical.

The fundamental challenge lies in balancing luminous efficacy, thermal management, and precise optical control while operating within strict automotive power and space constraints.

This page brings together solutions from recent research—including adaptive color rendering systems, integrated thermal management architectures, smart control algorithms, and novel phosphor technologies. These and other approaches demonstrate practical methods for reducing energy consumption while maintaining or improving lighting performance in automotive applications.

1. LED Lighting System with Integrated Adjustable Color Temperature in Tubular Form Factor

COLT INTERNATIONAL CLOTHING INC., 2019

LED lighting system that provides adjustable color temperature in a form factor similar to traditional fluorescent tubes. The system uses a combination of LEDs that emit light in two predetermined color temperature ranges, like daylight and tungsten. The LEDs are interspersed in the same tube to create a continuous light source. This allows changing the color temperature without physically swapping bulbs or gels.

2. Matrix Car Lighting System with MiniLED Arrays and Integrated Dynamic Beam Adjustment and Thermal Management

FUDAN UNIVERSITY, UNIV FUDAN, 2023

Adaptive high and low beam matrix car lighting system using miniLED arrays that provides improved visibility and safety for night driving. The system has a miniLED array instead of traditional headlight sources. It dynamically adjusts the beam pattern based on surroundings using sensors. A heat dissipation system prevents overheating. The miniLED array is integrated on a circuit board with a heat sink, fan, and temperature control. The system optimizes heat dissipation, stabilizes the miniLEDs, and reduces brightness if they overheat.

CN117087525A-patent-drawing

3. Vehicle Lighting Array with Individual LED Control Using Two-Stage Power Supply and Integrated Communication Interfaces

SAIC GM WULING AUTOMOBILE CO LTD, SAIC-GM-WULING AUTOMOBILE CO LTD, 2023

Vehicle lighting control system that allows individual control of each LED light in a vehicle's lighting array. The system uses a two-stage power supply circuit with a boost chip followed by a matrix chip to provide adjustable voltage and current to each LED. This allows precise dimming and brightness control of individual lights. The system also integrates communication interfaces like CAN, SPI, and NTC to provide diagnostics, temperature monitoring, and fault detection.

4. Red Phosphor with SrLi(Al, Ga)3N4:Eu Crystal Phase and High Reflectance in Specific Wavelength Range

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE, 2023

A red phosphor for LED lighting that has high reflectance in a specific wavelength range from the emission peak wavelength to 800 nm and that includes a crystal phase with a specific composition, such as SrLi(Al, Ga)3N4:Eu. The phosphor has a red emission peak with favorable characteristics like narrow bandwidth and high intensity, as well as improved efficiency, color rendering, and conversion compared to existing red phosphors.

5. Integrated Heat Dissipation Structure for Automotive LED Headlights with Unified Radiator, Heat Pipes, and LED Board

SHENZHEN AURORA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED, 2023

Heat dissipating structure for automotive LED headlights to improve brightness, power and lifetime while keeping the lights cool. The structure integrates the radiator, heat pipes and LED board into a single unit to efficiently transfer heat from the LEDs to the fins. This eliminates the need for separate parts that can compromise heat dissipation. The integrated structure allows quick heat transfer and dissipation, reducing LED temperatures to improve brightness and longevity. The design also enables higher power LEDs without overheating. By welding the parts together, heat is directly conducted from the LEDs to the fins. This ensures better heat transfer compared to separate components.

US11754253B2-patent-drawing

6. LED Headlight Module with Dual-Element Disjunctive Operation and Common Heatsink

LUMILEDS LLC, 2023

A vehicle headlight system using LEDs that achieves low and high beam patterns from a single module. The system has two LED elements mounted on a common heatsink. In low beam mode, one LED is operated at high power while the other is off. In high beam mode, the second LED is operated at high power while the first is dimmed. The disjunctive operation reduces thermal load on the heatsink. The LEDs can be dimmed using PWM or using fewer LEDs from a group.

US11746975B2-patent-drawing

7. Vehicle LED Lighting System with IoT-Integrated Sensor-Controlled Beam Adjustment

WENZHOU VOCATIONAL & TECHNICAL COLLEGE, 2023

LED lighting system for vehicles that uses IoT technology to improve safety and efficiency. The system has a control device, an IoT system, and at least one LED lighting device. The IoT system includes sensors like a driver's seat sensor, windshield light sensor, and center console light sensor. This allows the system to detect conditions like streetlights, oncoming vehicles, and interior light levels. The control device uses this data to intelligently switch between high and low beams, wide beams, and interior lights. This improves visibility, reduces glare, and conserves power compared to fixed modes.

8. LED Lamp Bead with Ambient Light-Responsive Brightness Adjustment System

GUANGZHOU LINUO ELECTRONIC TECH CO LTD, GUANGZHOU LINUO ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2023

Energy-saving LED lamp bead that adjusts brightness based on ambient light. The lamp has an LED bead, fixed box, control box, sensor module, current control module, control panel, and transmission module. The sensor detects ambient light and sends signal to the control panel. The panel adjusts current through the control module to the LED bead based on the sensor signal. This allows the lamp to dynamically adjust brightness based on ambient light, preventing overillumination and power waste when fixed brightness lamps are too bright.

CN219459355U-patent-drawing

9. Multi-Pixel LED Array Headlight Control Device with Independent Communication Interfaces for Adaptive Lighting

CHANGZHOU XINGYU AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING SYSTEMS CO LTD, 2023

Multi-pixel adaptive driving beam (ADB) headlight control device for vehicles that uses a multi-pixel LED array to provide accurate adaptive lighting without sacrificing brightness. The device has separate communication interfaces to connect to the vehicle body controller, vehicle-mounted camera, and LED board. It uses vehicle status, front object information, and camera input to control the LEDs on the board to selectively turn them on/off for adaptive lighting without large dark areas. The device also switches between ADB working states based on vehicle conditions.

CN218750530U-patent-drawing

10. Vehicle Lighting System with Power Line-Based Dimming Control and Switched Voltage Level Generation

양성진, 2022

Vehicle lighting system that allows dimming control using the existing power line instead of separate dimming wires or wireless signals. The system receives DC power from the vehicle battery and generates switched voltage levels based on dimming commands transmitted over the power line. Controllable power transmission units pass or drop the voltage level based on the dimming bits. LED driving circuits selectively drive LED elements based on the received voltage. This enables dimming through the power line without additional wiring or transceivers.

11. LED Headlight Brightness Control System with Energy Conversion-Based Adjustment Mechanism

KELLERMANN GMBH, 2022

Controlling the brightness of an LED light in a motorcycle headlight to prevent damage and optimize performance. The method involves monitoring the amount of energy converted in the LED and adjusting brightness based on that measurement. This prevents overheating the LED or components in the light. By influencing the LED brightness based on converted energy rather than just input power, it allows maximum brightness without risking damage. The converted energy measurement can be done internally in the light or externally in the motorcycle wiring.

12. LED Driver IC-Based Vehicle Interior Light Control System with Integrated Dimming and Signal Priority Logic

IKSEMI CO LTD, 2022

Vehicle interior light control system that uses an LED driver IC instead of an MCU to reduce components and simplify dimming. The IC receives power from the vehicle battery, turns on/off the interior light using door and switch signals, and performs dimming control internally. The IC has a priority logic to determine signal importance, a dimming block with PWM generation and capacitor to adjust dimming time, and protection features. This allows dimming and door control without an MCU or additional power conversion.

13. LED Vehicle Lamp with External Light Sensor and Adaptive Brightness Control System

JIANGSU CORN INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING CO LTD, JIANGSU CORN INTELLIGENT MFG CO LTD, 2022

LED vehicle lamp with adaptive brightness control that automatically adjusts brightness based on external light levels. The lamp has an internal adaptive control box and an external brightness monitoring box. The adaptive box contains the circuitry to control the LED beads. The monitoring box has a sensor to detect external light. A PLC analyzes the sensor data and sends instructions to the adaptive box to adjust the LED brightness based on external light levels. This prevents over-brightness in daylight and ensures adequate illumination at night.

CN114165763A-patent-drawing

14. Vehicle Lighting System with Microcontroller-Controlled Dynamic Brightness Adjustment Based on Environmental Sensing

CHANGZHOU BEISU SMART TECH CO LTD, 2021

Vehicle lighting system that saves energy by dynamically adjusting brightness based on environment. The system uses a microcontroller connected to a switch circuit and light sampling circuit. The microcontroller receives brightness switching signals from the switch and ambient light information from the sampling circuit. It then controls the LED driving circuit to dynamically adjust the LED lamp group's brightness based on the switching signals or ambient light. This allows adaptive lighting that conserves power by matching brightness to needs.

CN213960360U-patent-drawing

15. Vehicle Lighting System with Microcontroller-Controlled Adaptive Brightness via Environmental Sensing

CHANGZHOU BEISU SMART TECH CO LTD, 2021

Vehicle lighting system that conserves power by dynamically adjusting brightness based on environment. The system uses a microcontroller connected to a switch and light sensor. The microcontroller receives switch signals for brightness levels and light sensor data. It then controls the LED driver to set the LED brightness based on the switch or environment. This allows the LEDs to adapt to different needs instead of fixed brightness.

16. Regionalized LED Lighting System with Synchronous Brightness Adjustment via Wide-Area IoT Connectivity

CHENG SHIU UNIVERSITY, UNIV CHENG SHIU, 2020

Regionalized LED lighting system that divides an environment into smaller areas and synchronously adjusts the brightness of LED lights in each area based on movement of people and vehicles. It uses wide-area IoT technology to connect the LED lights and allows coordinated brightness changes within an area when people/vehicles pass through. This provides visual comfort and saves energy by avoiding over-illumination.

TWM602771U-patent-drawing

17. LED Lighting System with Sensor-Based Brightness Adjustment and Spectrum Analysis

深圳民爆光电股份有限公司, SHENZHEN UP-SHINE LIGHTING CO LTD, 2020

LED lighting system that intelligently adjusts brightness to save energy while maintaining proper lighting levels. The system uses sensors to detect natural light levels and spectrum near each LED lamp group. A control unit calculates the natural light brightness near each group based on the detected spectrum and distances between groups. This allows accurate determination of natural light levels without interference from other lamps. The control unit then adjusts lamp brightness based on natural light vs artificial light comparison. This prevents over-compensation for low natural light and prevents wasting energy in daylight.

CN108235518B-patent-drawing

18. Vehicle Lighting System with Mode-Dependent Light Distribution Adjustment

KOITO MANUFACTURING CO LTD, KOITO MFG CO LTD, 2020

Vehicle lighting system that optimizes brightness based on driving mode to balance visibility and power consumption. The system adjusts the light distribution pattern of the headlights based on manual, assisted, or automated driving. In manual mode, brightness is set for clear visibility. In assisted/automated mode, lower brightness is used to conserve power since sensors can still capture surroundings.

EP3663134A1-patent-drawing

19. LED Lamp with Integrated Light Sensor and Dynamic Brightness Adjustment Mechanism

SHANGHAI GOOD FRIEND IOT TECH CO LTD, SHANGHAI GOOD FRIEND IOT TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2020

LED lamp that automatically adjusts brightness based on surrounding light levels to save energy and provide optimal illumination. The lamp has an onboard light sensor connected to the LED driver. When the sensor detects brightness, it sends a signal to the driver to adjust the LED output accordingly. This creates a dimming loop where the lamp brightness follows the surrounding light levels.

20. Vehicle Lighting System with Selectively Activatable LED Pixels and Controller-Based Directional Control

北京新能源汽车股份有限公司, BEIJING ELECTRIC VEHICLE CO LTD, 2020

A vehicle lighting system that provides precise control of light direction and light-emitting area for improved accuracy, lower cost, and ease of control compared to mechanical systems. The system uses individual LED pixels in the lamps that can be selectively turned on based on vehicle state. A controller communicates with the lamps to determine which pixels to activate based on factors like road width, slope, and turning. This allows tailored lighting patterns optimized for the vehicle's specific circumstances instead of fixed mechanical aiming.

CN108377599B-patent-drawing

21. Microcontroller-Driven Electronic Switch with Touchless Motion Sensing for LED Control

22. LED Headlight Brightness Adjustment System with Environmental and Steering Input Sensors

23. Multi-Channel LED Lighting Control System with Adjustable PWM Duty Cycle for Intensity Regulation

24. Vehicle Headlamp Controller for Multiple LED Modules with Individual Brightness Adjustment via Pulse Width Modulation

25. Vehicle Backlight Unit with Independent Dimming Control for First and Last LEDs in Each String

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These technologies -- from an integrated heat dissipation system and adaptive LED headlight system to a dual-mode LED headlight system, are providing development in attaining energy-efficient automotive lighting solutions. This will improve visibility while driving while also being sustainable.