Large area and uniformity:new trends in rear lamps design A tradeoff between style and efficiency

摘要

In recent years a new technological revolution in rear lighting design occurred.This important change is due to the integration of LED sources,innovative optical systems,new materials,along with the growth of virtual simulation tools.All these enhancements have enabled designers to create attractive lamps with three-dimensional shape and large elements that provide ergonomic lighting.Nevertheless,these systems are optically inefficient and very complex; in fact they contain several lighting sources,electrical components,heat sinks and plastic elements.These considerations imply two critical issues:a considerable increase of production costs and a decrease of sustainability of the lamps (energy and materials consumption).The purpose of this paper is to investigate innovative optical solutions for signaling functions, such as light guides, diffuser molding compounds, by focusing on two strategic and competitive optical aspects: visual comfort and luminous efficiency.The first part of this work is devoted to homogeneity analysis; a new integrated rating. combining physical and subjective aspects, is proposed. Then the safety features of these systems are taken into account, and photometrical performances are evaluated. A more comprehensive model of lighting efficiency is obtained correlating the achieved results with power consumption and costs. The improvement of optical performances together with the maintaining of a nice appearance are explored. Finally. the paper presents OLED-lighting systems; this technology has high potential for future automotive applications and could reach the tradeoff between style and efficiency that market requires.