Cost Reduction Strategies in Automotive Lighting

A vehicle lighting device that can be produced inexpensively and flexibly is dimensionally stable and highly resistant to stress cracking. The device has a housing and a frame that are joined by plastic welding. The housing and frame materials are selected to resist stress cracking. The frame is molded onto a light panel using plastic injection molding, eliminating the need for annealing after joining.

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Compact, integrated, high precision headlight optical element for matrix LED headlights that reduces size, cost, and complexity compared to conventional headlight assemblies. The headlight optical element has a curved shape with protruding surfaces that integrates light entry, transmission, and emergence in sequence. It can be mounted in a simplified headlight module with a bracket, circuit board, radiator, and light adjustment mechanism. The compact, integrated design reduces parts, volume, and cost while maintaining optical precision. The headlight module can be arranged longitudinally, horizontally, or obliquely for versatility.

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Headlight optical element for matrix LED headlights that is small, compact, integrates multiple optical elements, simplifies mounting, and reduces cost compared to traditional matrix headlights. The headlight optical element has a curved light incident surface that protrudes backwards, followed by a curved light transmitting surface that protrudes forwards. This integrated design allows the headlight to have a smaller size, as the light sources are the only external components needed. The headlight module uses a bracket to hold the element, and connectors attach the circuit board and radiator. This simplifies assembly compared to separate optical elements. The compact size, integrated design, and fewer parts make the headlight more compact, easier to mount, and lower cost.

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Compact and efficient vehicle headlight module design that reduces size while maintaining lighting performance. The module has three parts arranged sequentially along the light path: a light collecting part, a reflection part, and a light output part. The upper edge of the reflection part is below the output part, and the lower edge is above. This allows the output part to receive the most reflected light. The smaller reflection part size reduces module size. The light source collects light and then reflects it into the output part. This converges the beam angle for higher utilization. The module can be used in headlights with vertical, horizontal, or oblique mounting for single or multi-function lighting.

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Headlight for vehicles with improved homogeneity of light functions and reduced complexity compared to conventional headlights. The headlight has a single pivoting light module that contains a matrix of individually controllable LEDs for high beams and a separate LED for low beams. The high beam matrix segments can be selectively activated and masked based on steering angle to adapt the beam pattern. This allows precise segmented high beam illumination without shading outer regions like conventional adaptive systems. The pivoting mechanism allows the module to rotate around a vertical axis through the center of gravity for rigidity. The pivot angle can also affect which segments are activated. A control unit coordinates the LEDs and pivot drive.

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A headlight design for vehicles that uses light guides instead of reflectors to reduce cost and size compared to prior art headlights. The headlight has separate light guides for the low and high beams instead of using a reflector for the low beam. This allows a more compact and less expensive headlight design. The light guides have entry surfaces for the low beam LEDs and exit surfaces to direct the light. The low beam guide prevents stray light from entering the high beam guide. The low beam guide can also have structured exit surfaces to homogenize the light and prevent hotspots on lenses.

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Reducing inhomogeneities in the edge regions of the light image of pixel-light headlights by adjusting the spacing between light sources in the high-beam row versus the row above it. In the edge regions, the vertical distance between the high-beam row and the row above decreases more than in the center. This shifts the outer high-beam sources slightly upwards, reducing dark stripes in the edges. The center high-beam sources maintain the same spacing for a taller main-beam.

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Vehicle headlight with reduced cost and improved transition between lighted and unlighted areas. The headlight uses multiple monolithically pressed primary optic arrays made of transparent inorganic glass. The first array has an entry face and the second array has an exit face. Additional arrays can be added. The close spacing between arrays creates a smooth gradient between lit and unlit areas without visible transitions. This allows softer cutoffs and better light distribution compared to separate optics. The monolithic molding reduces costs compared to multiple separate optics.

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A lighting module for vehicle headlights that enables customizable adaptive driving beams without complex optical systems. The module has a primary optical element with a light pixel forming structure that cooperates with a light source. The primary element has a corrector diopter at the exit. Multiple identical modules arranged horizontally create continuous light segments. The diopters form a toroidal surface. This allows simple, standardized modules instead of bespoke lenses for each headlight design. The segments can be duplicated and juxtaposed to form a continuous illuminated field.

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A primary optical element for a headlight module that enables multiple lighting functions like an adaptive beam, dynamic bending light, and weather light from a single module. The element has a vertical stack of primary optical guides facing separate light sources for a segmented beam. Above that, continuous primary guides face another set of light sources for a homogeneous beam. This allows the creation of segmented high beams and homogeneous low beams using different sources and guides. The segmented guides can be switched off for adaptive beams. The homogeneous guides can have varying intensities for weather light. The module can also have a secondary element to shape the light further.

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