Description

The present invention relates to a frontend panel for a vehicle, with a base body and with a light transmissive cover element, whereas at least one light source is provided to emit light and to transmit the light through the cover element, and whereas the panel features at least one transverse width and a front direction, and the front direction is defined by the main light emitting direction of the light to be transmitted through the cover element, in order to self-i Hum i nate said frontend panel.

US 4,920,460 A discloses a frontend panel for a vehicle with a base body and with a light transmissive cover element, and two light sources formed by light bulbs are disclosed to self-illuminate the front panel. The light bulbs are mounted on the base body and illuminate the inner surface of the cover element, in order to transmit light through the cover element. The frontend panel is thought to be arranged between two headlamps and to eliminate letters written on the light transmissive cover element. As shown, the frontend panel receives the light bulbs in a certain distance to each other, and the light distribution of the light which transmits through the cover element is not homogeneous.

Figure 1 shows a common prior art having modern light sources formed by semiconductor light sources, and the light source 12 is formed by an array of LEDs. The light sources 12 are received by a PCB 20, and the PCB 20 is arranged on the backside next to the base body 10 of the frontend panel 1 . The light sources 12 are electrically powered, the light 13 is directed to the light transmissive cover element 1 1 , whereas a light influencing means 15 is arranged on or next to the inner side of the cover element 1 1 , and the light influencing means 15, e.g., a panel or a grid, transforms the homogenous light 13 into a defined light distribution transmitting the cover element 1 1 , e.g., to generate the appearance of letters, numbers, a graphic design or a similar coloured and/or structured appearance. The frontend panel 1 is arranged in between two headlights 18 of a car, and usually a frontend of a car features in some cases a RADAR unit 19, and unfortunately when the PCB 20 carrying the light sources 12 and the PCB 20 is arranged in the planar distribution of the main plate of the base body 10, the RADAR beam cannot pass the frontend panel 1 , at least not unaffected. According to another disadvantage, a large PCB 20 is necessary to form an array of a high number of light sources 12, usually formed by LEDs, in particular when the light which passes through the cover element 11 should have a homogeneous appearance across the surface. This leads to the necessity of large PCBs 20 and surrounding electronic components.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved frontend panel for a vehicle with a simplified construction, a reduced number of light sources, which can be provided cheaper and which allows the transmission of a RADAR beam.

This object is achieved by a frontend panel as thought by claim 1 of the present invention. Advantages embodiments of the inventive frontend panel are defined in the sub claims.

The invention discloses the technical teaching that the at least one light source is arranged in the end area of the transverse width, and the light is projected into a space between the base body and the light transmissive cover element.

The core idea of the invention is to project light of a light source at least indirect towards the cover element which is arranged in a side area or a side band of the base body, which leads to the effect, that a hollow centre area of the base body is provided, which is free of light sources and in particular free of PCBs. When the light source is powered on to project light into the centre space between the base body and the cover element, as a first step the light emits into the inner space of the frontend panel, defined in between the base body and the cover element, and in a second step the light passes through the cover element, either in a direct path or after at least one reflec- tion, in particular at the inner surface of the base body. In other words, the at least one light source emits light, whereas the main direction of the emitted light is defined by a transverse direction, e.g. from a left side to a right side or from the right side to the left side, which sides border to the head lights, but the emission of the light is directed into the front direction by passing the cover element. In the sense of the inventive frontend panel, the transverse direction extends nearly perpendicular to the front direction.

This leads to a main reduction of the number of light sources, and e.g., only two light sources are provided, namely a first light source in a first lateral end area of the base body and a second light source in a second lateral end area of the base body. The end area of the base body of course forms the end areas of the entire frontend panel and which are positioned next to the head lights, when the frontend panel is applied to a car, and the at least one light source can of course also be arranged at the outside of the inner space defined by the base body and the cover element.

As a preferred embodiment, a light influencing means is arranged at least partly in the path of the light which is passing the cover element. Preferably, the light influencing means is formed with the same 2-D-extension as the extension of the cover element, and in other words, the influencing means can be arranged parallel to or on the surface of the cover element, at least partly or preferably on the entire surface of the cover element. As a preferred embodiment, the light influencing means is arranged on or slightly above the inner surface of the cover element, which is directed to the inner space of the frontend panel, so the light influencing means is protected from damaging from the outside.

In the sense of the invention, the light source is projected and formed or shaped to direct the light against the light influencing means. When the light influencing means is arranged parallel to the extension of the cover element, of course the light source is formed to directly emit the light against the cover element. This forms a first embodiment, in which the light which is provided by the light source can at least partly be directed towards the light influencing means, and the cover element, respectively. The light influencing means features a 2-dimensional extension, and as an advantage the light influencing means features nearly or exactly the same extension compared to the extension of the cover element in the light transmissive area. According to yet another advantage, the light influencing means is arranged parallel to or applied onto the surface of the cover element.

The light influencing means may be formed by a pattern grid, a diffusor or projection foil, which is mechanically, thermally or chemically fixed to the cover element. As yet another embodiment, the light influencing means can be moulded in a cast-in molding tool together with the injection moulding of the light transmissive cover element.

In the same sense, the light influencing means is formed by a surface coating that is deposited onto the surface of the cover element, in particular the surface of the cover element which is directed to the inner space of the frontend panel.

According to another advantage the cover element forms a cover lens having light influencing characteristics. As an example only, the cover element may comprise optical structures on the surface, maybe formed by multi length arrays or similar structures.

According to another advantage, the frontend panel and in particular the base body and/or the cover element are RADAR beam transmissive, in order to have the possibility to arrange a RADAR unit behind the frontend panel and the RADAR beam can propagate through the frontend panel and in particular through the base body and/or through the cover element.

According to jet another advantage, at least one RADAR unit is arranged inside the frontend panel. The base body can at least partly be formed as a radome, including a RADAR unit, respectively.

The present invention is also embodied in a frontend panel having light sources, which are fixed to the base body by means of fixation means, whereas the fixation means enable the adjustment of the light sources relative to or in the base body. The fixation means can be embodied as glue connections, or the fixation means comprises screws to adjust the position of the light sources relative to the base body. This leads to the advantage that the light which is emitted into the inner space of the frontend panel, can be adjusted, which can be necessary to achieve a certain pattern of the light which is projected onto the light influencing means and passes said light influencing means. As a result, the light can generate or create a desired pattern in the appearance of the frontend panel.

According to yet another embodiment the frontend panel features at least one light reflection means, whereas the light source is arranged to direct at least partly the light onto the light reflection means, before the light passes the light influencing means and/or the cover element. The reflected light forms another embodiment of illuminating the light influencing means next to the embodiment that the light is emitted by the light source can directly illuminate the light influencing means.

In other words, a first part of the light provided by the light source can be directed onto the light influencing means on a direct path and another part of the light provided by the light source can reflect on the surface of the reflecting means and subsequently the light influencing means is illuminated by the reflected light. This leads to a homogeneous light distribution over the entire surface of the cover element, in particular when the light reflecting means are optimized and adopted to the topography of the cover element.

As an example, the light reflecting means can be received inside the frontend panel and features a mirror, a mirror array or a prism array. According to a simple embodiment, the inner surface of the base body features a reflective coating. As another embodiment, the inner surface of the base body features a number of facets, and the topography of the facets leads to a homogeneous light distribution of the light passing the light influencing means and the cover element, respectively.

According to jet another embodiment, inside the frontend panel is arranged at least one light guiding means like a glass or plastic fibre or a glass or plastic light guiding body. As it is known for rear lights or design light applications in head lights, light guiding means may feature a rear side having a prism topography, which leads to a homogeneous emission of light along the extension of the light guiding means, in particular in a 2-dimensional line emission or in a planar 3-dimensional surface emission.

The present invention is also embodied in a front end of a car having two headlights and a frontend panel according to the description above, whereas the frontend panel is arranged in between two headlights. The headlights are part of the frontend. According to another advantage the front end also features a RADAR unit, which is arranged inside and/or behind the frontend panel with respect to the main direction, which forms the forward driving direction of the car.

The aforementioned components as well as the claimed components and the components to be used in accordance with the invention in the described embodiments are not subject to any special exceptions with respect to their size, shape, material selection and technical concept, such as that the selection criteria known in the pertinent field can be applied without limitations.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Additional details, characteristics and advantages of the object of the invention are disclosed in the sub-claims and the following description of the respective figures, which show preferred embodiments of the frontend panel. The figures show are as follows:

Figure 1 a frontend panel according to the prior art,

Figure 2 a frontend panel in a schematic top view according to the invention,

Figure 3 a frontend panel in a schematic front view, Figure 4 a frontend panel in a schematic top view according to figure 2 with a RADAR unit arranged inside the frontend panel and

Figure 5 a schematic view of a cross section of the frontend panel.

Figure 1 forms a prior art frontend panel and has already been described in the introduction part.

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a frontend panel 1 in a top view, and at the left and at the right side of the frontend panel 1 are depicted head lights 18. Accordingly, the frontend panel 1 is defined as a panel which can be arranged in between the headlights 18 of a vehicle, in particular the frontend panel 1 forms a vehicle grill, which grill can also be a carrier construction to carry further equipment like a RADAR unit 19. In the embodiment herein described, the RADAR unit 19 is not part of the frontend panel, but can be arranged behind the frontend panel 1 , which position of the RADAR unit 19 is opposite to the front direction F as depicted with the arrow.

The main extension of the frontend panel 1 is defined by a transverse width W1 , which extension is the left-right extension in the shown depicture and is aligned with the crosswise direction of a car. The second transverse width W2 is the vertical extension, which is measured perpendicular to the transverse width W1 .

The frontend panel 1 features a base body 10, which forms a housing or a rear case of the frontend panel 1 . In the front direction F of the frontend panel 1 features a light transmissive cover element 11 , and in the inner space in between the base bodies 10 and the cover element 11 are arranged two light sources 12. The light sources 12 are positioned in end areas 14 with respect to the transverse width W1 , which end areas 14 form the outer areas of the main extension in the transverse or crosswise direction of the longitudinal shaped panel 1 . In other words, when the frontend panel 1 is fixed to a vehicle as a part of a frontend, the light sources 12 are positioned next to the head lights 18. The frontend panel 1 features a cover element 11 , which overdraws the entire base body 10 with respect to the front direction F, and when the light sources 12 are electrically powered, light 13 is projected into the inner space of the frontend panel 1 . A part of the light 13 is directly irradiating towards the cover element 11 , and another part is reflected at the inner surface of the base body 10. In order to reflect said part of the light 13, light reflecting means 17 are applied on the base body 10, which are only shown in an exemplary fashion, and in the sense of the invention, at least a part of the light 13 has a main light direction which is aligned with the transverse width W1. This leads to the advantage that the light sources 12 are not applied over a main surface of the base body 10, in particular in the form of a LED-array, but according to the invention at least one or preferred two light sources 12 are applied in the end areas 14 and project the light into the inner space. As a result, the light 13 passes the cover element 11 either in a direct path or by reflecting on the light reflecting means 17 and after reflecting the light 13 passes the cover element 11 .

In order to allow an exact adjustment of the light sources 12 in the arrangement to the base body 10, fixation means 16 are applied by which fixation means 16 the exact position of the light sources 12 can be adjusted, in particular to obtain the desired pattern of light which can be generated by a light influencing means 15. The fixations means 16 enable to align the light 13 to the light influencing means 15, either by a direct irradiation or by the reflected light as described above.

In order to obtain a certain pattern on the front side of the frontend panel 1 , near or next to the cover element 11 the light influencing means 15 is applied. The light influencing means 15 is formed by a certain pattern grid, a diffusor or a projection foil, which is mechanically, thermally or chemically fixed to the cover element. As an example only, the light influencing means 15 is formed by a surface coating that is deposited onto the surface of the cover element 11 , in particular onto the inner surface. The pattern which is generated by the light influencing means 15 can be provided by illuminating the means 15 with the light 13 which is provided by the light sources 12, whereas the light 13 can have a certain wavelengths, which at least can be changed over the time, an intensity distribution of the light 13, and in particular the means 15 features a certain pattern e.g. with openings, through which the light can pass the means 15 and subsequently can pass the cover element 1 1 .

Figure 3 shows the frontend panel 1 in between the two head lights 18, and the depiction shows schematically the base body 10, whereas the viewing axis is represented by the front direction F as shown in figure 2.

As a part of the cover element 1 1 the light influencing means 15 is applied, which features a certain pattern, which are exemplary shown as triangles. The pattern is shown with two different patterns, namely a first pattern 21 a and a second pattern 21 b, whereas the first pattern 21 a is provided by the light source 12 on the right side in the depiction and the second pattern 21 b is provided by the light source 12 in the left side of the depiction. The pattern can be exchanged by exchanging the light influencing means 15, and the pattern of the light influencing means 15 can be individually designed for each car manufacturer or car model or a certain configuration line of a car.

Figure 4 shows the frontend panel 1 in a top view according to figure 2, and the reference numbers are analogue to the referencing in figure 2, but the arrangement of the RADAR unit 19’ is different. In this embodiment, the

RADAR unit 19’ formed as a part of the frontend panel 1 and is arranged inside the frontend panel 1 . The RADAR unit 19’ is fixed to the base body 10 and a RADAR beam propagates through the cover element 1 1 .

Figure 5 shows a section view of the frontend panel 1 with the base body 10 and the cover element 1 1 , whereas the light source 12 is shown being received in the inner space between the base body 10 and the cover element 1 1 . Parallel to the inner surface of the cover element 1 1 the light influencing means 15 is depicted, which generates a certain pattern of the light which passes through the cover element 1 1 . The cover element 1 1 is joined to the base body 10 in a sealing means 22, which sealing means features a closed loop to provide a dust and humidity sealed inner space of the frontend panel 1 .

List of Numerals

1 frontend panel

10 base body

11 cover element

12 light source

13 light

14 end area

15 light influencing means

16 fixation means

17 light reflecting means

18 head light

19 RADAR unit

19‘ RADAR unit

20 PCB

21 a first pattern

21 b second pattern

22 sealing means

F front direction

W1 transverse width

W2 transverse width