The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 17, 2025
Filed:
Jun. 17, 2021
Audi Ag, Ingolstadt, DE;
Valentin Schmidt, Neuburg a.d. Donau, DE;
Daniel Halbig, Riedenburg, DE;
Ernst Reiter, Ingolstadt, DE;
Roman Horst, Ingolstadt, DE;
Viktor Hahn, Ingolstadt, DE;
AUDI AG, Ingolstadt, DE;
Abstract
A method for operating a taillight of a motor vehicle, wherein the taillight, in particular in addition to a functional light source assigned to at least one further light function, has a taillight source assigned to a taillight function, having a plurality of lighting regions that can be controlled independently with respect to operation and brightness, wherein at least one environment sensor of the motor vehicle records sensor data describing other traffic participants behind within a predefined distance range from the rear of the motor vehicle, wherein if at least one activation criterion evaluating the sensor data and checking for the presence of at least one further traffic participant within a predetermined distance range from the rear of the motor vehicle, a brightness-increasing switching operation, in particular an activation and/or a dimming, of a second lighting region of the taillight source which was previously inactive or is operating with lower brightness than at least one other, first lighting region is carried out in such a way that the emitted total brightness of a portion of the taillight comprising at least the taillight source remains constant.