1. An optical coupler comprising:
an optical element (32);
a lead frame (36, 92) on which the optical element (32) is mounted and which is electrically connected to the optical element (32); and
a lens member (38, 55, 82) including a lens (47, 56) that condenses light that is incident on or emitted from the optical element (32), wherein
the lens (47, 56) of the lens member (38, 55, 82) is placed facing an optical surface (46), on or from which light is incident or emitted, of the optical element (32), and
a transparent resin (41) is interposed between the lens member (38, 55, 82) and the optical surface (46) of the optical element (32).
2. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the transparent resin (41) also extends over a surface of the lead frame (36, 92) located on a side on which the lens member (38, 55, 82) is placed, and
the lens member (38, 55, 82) is made to adhere to the lead frame (36, 92) via the transparent resin (41) that extends over the surface of the lead frame (36, 92) and is not put in direct contact with the lead frame (36, 92).
3. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the transparent resin (41) has a Young’s modulus of not greater than 1 GPa.
4. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the transparent resin (41) is a silicon based compound.
5. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein
a portion excluding at least the lens member (38, 55, 82) and the transparent resin (41) is sealed with a filler-added resin (37, 94).
6. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 5, wherein
a resin reservoir portion (50, 58, 93), which prevents the transparent resin (41) put in between the lens member (38, 55, 82) and the optical surface (46) of the optical element (32) from expanding beyond a region of the lens member (38, 55, 82), is provided at the filler-added resin (37, 94).
7. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 6, wherein
the resin reservoir portion (50, 58, 93) is comprised of a recess, which has a planar shape roughly identical to a planar shape of the lens member (38, 55, 82) and in which the lens member (38, 55, 82) is accommodated, and
a connector portion (35), in which a tip end portion of an optical fiber (33) for transmitting light that is incident on or emitted from the optical element (32) is fit and which performs positional alignment between the tip end portion of the fit optical fiber (33) and the lens member (38, 55, 82) is provided at a periphery of an opening of the resin reservoir portion (50, 58, 93).
8. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 1, wherein
a through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) is formed at the lead frame (36, 92),
the optical element (32) is placed so that the optical surface (46) is located in the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) formed at the lead frame (36, 92), and one opening of the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) is closed,
the lens member (38, 55, 82) is placed so that an optical axis of the lens (47, 56) penetrates inside of the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) formed at the lead frame (36, 92), and the other opening of the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) is closed, and
the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) is filled with the transparent resin (41).
9. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 8, wherein
a projection (48), which is inserted in the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) of the lead frame (36, 92) when placed so that the lens member (38) is located to close the other opening of the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) of the lead frame (36, 92), is provided on a surface, which faces the lead frame (36, 92), of the lens member (38).
10. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 9, wherein
the projection (48) of the lens member (38) has a taper shape whose dimension in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis is reduced toward the tip end.
11. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 8, wherein
a groove portion (51), which communicates with the through hole (45, 62, 72, 95) of the lead frame (36, 92) and the outside is provided on a surface, which faces the lead frame (36, 92), of the lens member (38, 82).
12. The optical coupler as claimed in claim 8, wherein
an inner peripheral surface (63) of the through hole (62) of the lead frame (36) is a reflecting surface for reflecting light that is incident on or emitted from the optical element (32).
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-26. (canceled)
27. A multisignal device being applicable to a rear-view mirror of a vehicle, the device being installed in the inside of a housing carrying the mirror, on a portion of the housing or on a lower housing cover and integrating a light source being fit to provide an intermittent signal projecting the light in the forward, sideward and rearward directions; characterized in that it includes two signaling units being arranged in a joint or separate arrangement, one of them comprising an array of light emitters being adapted to be progressively switched on in a sequential, combined andor consecutive manner as per the vehicle’s running direction and speed and thus allowing to cover a wide range with their light beams by extending the illuminated field in a vertically downward direction and in a rearward direction andor towards an external side of the vehicle, the array of light emitters integrating a number of light-emitting elements being fixed on a supporting core having conductive paths forming a double-faced circuit or two parallel or nonparallel, opposite circuits, the path-carrying faces being connected by an electric bridge, the light being emitted by these light-emitting elements being directed through a transparent cover along a light path from one and the same supporting core, the device being adapted to provide the intermittent light function.
28. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that for the signals the transparent or translucent element or elements it uses are colorless or slightly tinted in a fum\xe9, light blue, watery green, whitish or orange tint, among others, the device emitting a white light to the front in a direction for the first beam of the progressive signal and of a wave length of between 400 and 620 nanometers for the intermittent signal covering the rearward oriented area taking as a reference a 60\xb0 angle to be covered outside the vehicle as from the running axis taken as a 0\xb0 reference.
29. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that it has a rearwardly oriented light outlet being a path between the surface of the transparent cover and the reflector being normally metallized or of another color and having a concave, tube-shaped bottom, the light exiting at the end through a zone being delimited by two adjacent surfaces where the increased difference between the surfaces produces a solid passage for the light and incorporating a series of microprisms in order to give a better definition to the passage of the light through it and to prevent the light from being directly visible for the eyes of the driver of the vehicle.
30. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that in order to prevent the steaming up and the condensation it incorporates a second transparent plate being thinner than the outside transparent cover, an air chamber being created by a gap of at least 0.1 mm between the transparent cover and plate, this latter being gripped around the whole perimeter between the transparent cover and the reflector, this latter being in part possibly provided with prisms, microlenses or a diffusing engraving, the device being atmospherically linked in order to thus balance the temperature through an orifice, the system being completed by an external orifice andor the dissipating fins, andor a metal plate being close to the ventilated source or core andor a second circuit separating the resistive circuit from the source, instead of the surface an athermal film being alternatively applied which is made of a material having a heat conduction being different from that of the transparent cover and being provided with manometrically operating microflutes and thus repelling the water and the condensation.
31. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the transparent cover offers a crystalline, shadowless perimeter as from the boundary with a width of 10 mm in a great part of its extension, the crystalline vision band consisting in hiding the weld edge underneath the housing edge, the surfaces (1-A) and (1-B) respectively being the external and the internal one being related to each other as 2 surfaces that are as parallel, flat and smooth as possible, (1-B) at utmost having an inclination of less than 40\xb0 with respect to (1-A), and if (1-B) is curved this condition is satisfied by its tangent at a middle point of the 10 mm.
32. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the devices being arranged in a joint or separate arrangement achieve a crystalline, shadowless perimeter by applying a cut at the perimeter of the opening of the housing or portion containing them even if the originally preformed opening did not exist with a cut by laser beam being programmed with temperatures between 1,500 and more than 20,000 degrees centigrade or by means of a water jet being at a high pressure of more than 100 bar, this allowing to fit a portion in the inside with a higher accuracy for a standard piece being external to the rear-view mirror by means of a double-faced adhesive perimeter besides making up a joint against the aerodynamic noise andor with screws andor clamps.
33. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the light-emitting core with its paths is painted in any color being similar to that of the reflector and is covered by a protuberant portion of the reflector having axial orifices through which the light exits in the lateral directions andor frontal orifices of any shape for ventilation and extra light exit in the direction, andor is covered only by a machined area with inner microprisms, concavities of a hemicylinder type, machining, lenses or a diffusing engraving at the transparent cover of at least 10 mm before and after the intersection of the transparent cover and the tip of the core or circuit.
34. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the light-emitting core, according to the desired light angle, is a sandwich including two circuits being interconnected by bridges or tubes being printed by deposition or connecting cables, plates or rivets, the two circuits being fixed or adhered to a preformed core being made of a material having a high heat-conducting power, the preformed core being provided with longitudinal perforations allowing the air circulation, the resulting external faces of the light source module being parallel or nonparallel and deviating from an axis between 0\xb0 and +\u221290\xb0 as from a lower or upper angular point up to being a plane or circuit, the faces carrying the light-emitting elements of the same or different nature on an external face.
35. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that on the light-emitting core the circuit paths are printed by any deposition, stamping or adhesive process even directly on the radiating body of the core, or else they are made of die-cut, bent and fixed sheet enveloping the core in case of this latter being a molded piece with the opposite faces arranged with the desired spacing, inclination and shape, or else they can have a base in order to thus be stably fixed to a second circuit such as the resistive protection one, flat or sheet-shaped cable or supporting base circuit.
36. A device as per claim 27, characterized in that at its base the core is provided with insertion and plug-in paths allowing to connect it to a second circuit in its turn consisting of press-formed and die-cut plate paths in order to thus insert, hold and grip one or several cores having the same or different configurations as per a repetitively modular shape, with the light exiting from one or more faces, the core being laterally shiftable in a parallel connection on the paths of the second supporting circuit.
37. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the light-emitting core has nonparallel, opposite and spaced faces, and it also has a third face facing the front with a light-emitting element being operable to emit light in the direction, the frontal face or circuit being also able to house a camera of any type with its interface.
38. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that at their circuits or paths the cores are prepared for a combined insertion of light-emitting elements of the same or different nature and provided with optics of any kind, such as LED’s, PCB circuits with a chip LED array or multichip encapsulated LED’s, with weld paths being adjacent to the cathode points of the elements having a cathode a minimum surface of irregular shape of 10 mm2.
39. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that at the light-emitting core the body is metallic and electroconductive and is connected to the paths through the bridges so as to thus enhance the conduction of heat to an element having a bigger metallic mass, this connectivity being to the same pole connecting with the cathodes of the different light-emitting elements.
40. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the light-emitting core is fixed and held by studs or clamps onto a support cover of the circuit or between the cover and the reflector or fixed to the reflector or to the transparent cover or gripped between two of those parts andor fitted to another circuit by means of a stable base in order to thus keep the resistor circuit at a distance from the light-emitting portion with the possibility of inserting several cores into a base.
41. A device as per claim 40, characterized in that the supporting cover having an upper or inclined shape is made of a material having a high heat-conducting power such as polycarbonate with filler, resin, ceramic, polyamides or metal and is provided with fins for dissipating the heat, and furthermore provides a guide for the air circulation through an orifice, the orifices being located at the cover or in some internal portion of the device or between the parts, the internal chambers of the reflectors, the passage and the chamber between transparent plates being thus atmospherically balanced, the cover having an almost flat joining perimeter and being fixed by a clamp, a welded joint or screws to the inside of the reflector body, or else it can be the actual reflector body or an inner housing body of the device.
42. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that a reflecting surface for any of the signals is an axial collimator or reflector having an elongated surface with the shape of an elongated, stepped parabola being almost parallel to the surface of the transparent cover with micromirrors being arranged like the slats of a jalousie reflecting the light towards the front and thus establishing a light path based on the light along the path.
43. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that as a variant it projects the light in the rearward direction from a concentrated, flat core through the passage by means of a retroreflector being part of the reflector piece or separate from it and consisting in a flat micromirror being slightly curved or parabolic and inclined at a 45\xb0 angle within +\u221230\xb0 with respect to the initial mayor axis of the light-emitting element and being applied in an interposed arrangement between the light emitting element and the transparent cover thus producing a deviation of the light close to 90\xb0 or along the path (x1) towards (F2).
44. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that as a variant it projects the light in the rearward direction from a flat core by means of a transparent optical reflector or prismatic body having a light receiving surface in the vicinity of the light-emitting element as per a normal to the initial light path, the light being reflected on the inner surface being smooth or provided with microprisms with an inclination of about 45\xb0 being variable within +\u221230\xb0, where part of the light is bifurcated and follows the path (x2) by transparency, and the other part follows the path (x1) at 90\xb0 with respect to the initial path towards the focus, the prismatic body extending as much as necessary towards the outlet surface and having in its path a middle inner surface with a number of reflecting surfaces or inner collimator with a curved, half-tube-shaped bottom.
45. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that as a variant it projects the light in the rearward direction (F2) from a concentrated core being a bulb lamp being tinted or masked in order to produce the color light, this latter being reflected on a cover consisting in a separate, heat-resistant piece of metallized polycarbonate or metal having more or less the shape of a \u201cT\u201d or \u201cY\u201d with outspread flanges, the reflecting surfaces being smooth, flat, parabolic or provided with micromirrors and inclined at 45\xb0 with respect to the beams being emitted by the bulb lamp in order to thus orient the light at 90\xb0 in a sense towards (F2) with respect to the path being normal to the transparent cover or focal center that the bulb lamp would have towards the outside of the device.
46. A device as per claim 27 wherein the reflectors and cores are commonly characterized in that they are or are not separate elements, this allowing:
A\u2014them to be fixed to the surface or to the reflector or inner body by means of clamps, press-fitting, gluing, hot stamping, ultrasound or other thermal means;
B\u2014them to be shifted without redesigning the device in order to thus obtain an accurate adjustment of the light exit in the desired direction;
C\u2014to avoid the dark zone in the direction (x2) by means of holes in the retroreflector separating the surfaces, the flanges or the faces of the circuits of the core, and to include between both a light-emitting element emitting light towards (x2);
D\u2014to have another similar, symmetric and opposite element in order to project the light towards the collimator or zone (F1); and
E\u2014them to form an integrating part of some of the pieces of the device such as the reflector for the mirror or the transparent plates for the body or the core as a module being inserted into another circuit or base.
47. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the progressive function (B1) is a light beam being in a position to be permanently switched on and visible at the front in white color, the light beams serving the purpose of determining two lighted paths at the sides of the vehicle from an infinitely remote location up to the lateral ground in the vicinity and distinguishing the width and presence of the vehicle as seen at the front, the light beams by means of the light source providing an illumination towards a focus at the front coinciding with the running axis at 0\xb0, the intensity of that focus being higher than that of the rest of the area being lighted by the same function and higher than 1 candela, for the remaining area the intensity being higher than 0.01 candela within a horizontal extension spanning from +80\xb0 towards the outside up to +45\xb0 towards the inside and vertically a minimum of +\u221215\xb0 from a 0\xb0 plane coinciding with the focal center, the remaining vertical beams of the device progressively merging till lighting a path at the sides, the remaining vertical beams possibly being of other colors such as yellow, blue or green.
48. A device as per claim 27 characterized in that the lighting functions of the vehicle and their controls are connected to a general circuit of the vehicle and include the turning signal andor the complementary illumination of the camera andor the frontal light whose beams are in a position to be progressively added or removed, the lighting functions being in a position to be automatically actuated with other lights of the vehicle andor the centralized locking system by means of the remote control, the operation of the camera andor the connection of a safety and alarm system, andor indirectly as comfort and safety lights together with interior lights of the passengers cabin or the trunk, andor with the opening of the motor compartment or the doors, andor they will be voluntarily actuated in a separate manner as regards the remaining lighting functions of the vehicle.
49. A device as per claim 48, characterized in that the progressive function is controlled by means of an information bus or driver automatically connecting or disconnecting it when detecting any change in the direction of the wheels andor in synchronism with a give speed andor with a give gear being used, in order to thus facilitate the parking maneuvers, andor by rain or darkness sensors.
50. A device as per claim 48, characterized in that the progressive function (B-C) is connected or disconnected with an interposed actuation of the voluntary or automatic controls of an own attenuator or dimmer being fit to progressively increase or reduce its light intensity.
51. A device as per claim 27 which by employing the techniques characterizing the light-emitting core andor its reflective versions andor the progressive beam function including the horizontal shape can be adapted to different luminaries and lighting fixtures in the home and industry or in other parts of the vehicles or to other vehicles.