# US 11,028,994 B2 · Illumination module, illumination device, vehicle and driving method of illumination device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,028,994 B2 - Document ID: US11028994B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/727,446 - Filed: 2019-12-26 - Published: 2020-12-17 - Granted: 2021-06-08 - Earliest claimed: 2019-06-14 - Assignees: Au Optronics Corporation - Applicants: Au Optronics Corporation - Inventors: Cheng-Te Lin - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11028994B2 ## CPC - B60Q 1/085: {due to special conditions, e.g. adverse weather, type of road, badly illuminated road signs or potential dangers (B60Q1/10, B60Q1/12, B60Q1/1423 take precedence)} - F21S 41/645: {by electro-optic means, e.g. liquid crystal or electrochromic devices} - B60Q 1/08: automatically - F21S 41/153: arranged in a matrix - B60Q 2300/112: Vehicle speed - B60Q 2300/122: Steering angle - B60Q 2300/32: Road surface or travel path - B60Q 2300/324: Road inclination, e.g. uphill or downhill - B60Q 2300/45: Special conditions, e.g. pedestrians, road signs or potential dangers - B60Q: ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL - F21S: NON-PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES; SYSTEMS THEREOF; VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLE EXTERIORS ## Abstract An illumination module including a light emitting unit and a first liquid crystal lens is provided. The light emitting unit emits illumination light. The first liquid crystal lens is arranged corresponding to the light emitting unit and receives the illumination light. The first liquid crystal lens is configured to converge, diverge or deflect the illumination light. An illumination device, a vehicle, and a driving method for the illumination device are also provided. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An illumination module, comprising: a light emitting unit emitting an illumination light; and a first liquid crystal lens arranged corresponding to the light emitting unit, wherein the first liquid crystal lens receives the illumination light and is configured to converge, diverge or deflect the illumination light; and a second liquid crystal lens disposed between the light emitting unit and the first liquid crystal lens, wherein the second liquid crystal lens receives the illumination light from the light emitting unit, and the first liquid crystal lens receives the illumination light from the second liquid crystal lens, wherein the second liquid crystal lens is configured to modulate a distribution of the illumination light received by the first liquid crystal lens, and wherein a distance d between the first liquid crystal lens and the second liquid crystal : ⁢ 0 ≤ d ≤ f 1 - v - ( l ′ tan ⁢ ⁢ β ) , lens satisfies the following relationship wherein f1 is a focal length of the first liquid crystal lens, is the image distance of the second liquid crystal lens, l′ is half of the imaging length of the second liquid crystal lens, and β is half of the angle of the beam of the illumination light. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) An illumination device, comprising: a plurality of the illumination modules according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting units of the illumination modules are arranged to form a light emitting array, the first liquid crystal lenses of the illumination modules are arranged to form a lens array. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The illumination device according to claim 2, wherein second liquid crystal lenses of the illumination modules are arranged to form another lens array. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The illumination device according to claim 2, wherein the illumination modules are arranged along a first direction; when the illumination device is in a first mode, a divergence angle of the illumination light transmitted by the first liquid crystal lenses at both ends in the first direction is larger than a divergence angle of the illumination light transmitted by the first liquid crystal lenses at a middle portion in the first direction. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The illumination device according to claim 4, wherein in the first mode, the illumination light of the illumination modules is transmitted along a second direction; in a third mode, each of the first liquid crystal lenses of the illumination modules is configured to deflect the illumination light along a third direction, and the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The illumination device according to claim 2, wherein when an observer is located on an irradiation area of the illumination device, the illumination device is driven with a second mode; in the second mode, a divergence angle of at least a portion of the illumination modules configured to irradiate to the observer is increased. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The illumination device according to claim 2, wherein in the light emitting array, the light emitting units are configured to emit the illumination light of different intensities, respectively. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The illumination device according to claim 2, wherein in the lens array, at least two of the first liquid crystal lenses are configured to provide the illumination light of different convergences, divergences or deflections. ### Claim 9 (depends on 2) A vehicle, comprising: the illumination device according to claim 2; a sensor module outputting a sensing signal; and a processing unit connected to the sensor module and the illumination device, wherein the processing unit is configured to provide a control signal to the illumination device according to the sensing signal; the illumination device is configured to control each of the first liquid crystal lenses of the illumination modules according to the control signal so as to converge, diverge or deflect the illumination light. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein a first direction is parallel to a ground on which the vehicle runs. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the sensor module comprises: a speed sensing unit configured to provide speed information of the vehicle, wherein the sensing signal comprises the speed information, and a divergence angle of the illumination light emitted by at least a portion of the illumination modules is decreased as a speed in the speed information is increased. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the sensor module comprises: an image-capturing unit configured to capture a detection image of the irradiation area of the illumination modules in front of the vehicle; the sensing signal comprises the detection image, wherein when the processing unit determines that an observer is in the irradiation area based on the detection image, the processing unit is configured to drive the illumination device with a second mode, and a divergence angle of at least a portion of the illumination modules configured to irradiate to the observer is increased in the second mode. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the sensor module comprises: a turn-sensing unit configured to provide a turning direction and a turning angle of the vehicle; the sensing signal comprises turning direction information and turning angle information, wherein when the processing unit determines that the vehicle turns to a direction based on the turning direction information and the turning angle information, a divergence angle of the illumination light transmitted from the first liquid crystal lenses in a middle portion is increased toward the direction. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the sensor module comprises: a turn-sensing unit configured to provide a turning direction and a turning angle of the vehicle; the sensing signal comprises turning direction information and turning angle information; when the processing unit determines that the vehicle is being driven in a downhill or an uphill based on the turning direction information and the turning angle information, the processing unit drives the illumination device with a third mode, wherein each of the first liquid crystal lenses of the illumination module is configured to deflect the illumination light along a third direction in the third mode, and the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and an advancing direction of the vehicle. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The vehicle according to claim 14, wherein when the vehicle is driven in the downhill, the processing unit is configured to drive the illumination device to deflect the illumination light toward a ground; when the vehicle is driven in the uphill, the processing unit is configured to drive the illumination device to deflect the illumination light away from the ground. ### Claim 16 (depends on 2) A method of driving the illumination device of claim 2, comprising: receiving a sensing signal from a sensor module; and providing a control signal to the illumination device according to the sensing signal by a processing unit, wherein the illumination device is configured to control each of the first liquid crystal lenses of the illumination modules according to the control signal so as to converge, diverge or deflect the illumination light. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method according to claim 16, further comprising: driving the illumination device with a first mode, a second mode or a third mode according the control signal by the processing unit. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method according to claim 17, further comprising: determining that an observer is located in an irradiation area of the illumination device based on the sensing signal by the processing unit; and providing the control signal to the illumination device by the processing unit so that the illumination device drives the lens array with the second mode. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The method according to claim 16, further comprising: controlling the light emitting units of the illumination modules according to the control signal by the illumination device so that at least two of the light emitting units in the light emitting array respectively emit the illumination light with different intensities.