Leonhard Kurz Present Innovative Automotive Lighting Solutions at K 2016

Leonhard Kurz is one of the most renowned companies in the world in the field of automotive coatings and design. The recently participated in K 2016, one of the leading global trade fairs related to plastics and rubber, with a wide array of lighting design solutions for the automotive sector.

The ambient lighting in a vehicle can set the mood for the journey. The vehicle’s interiors whether it has wooden veneers or mood lighting can have a significant impact on the psychological well being and status of the occupants. There is an increasing trend to customize the interiors based on personal preferences and this was reflected in the designs that Leonhard Kurz presented at K 2016.

Kurz’s innovative lighting solutions and design solutions include elements like cool chrome and elegant piano effect with black and white elements and mood lighting. Customization of the interior space in a vehicle can help motorists to retreat to a world of their own and sophisticated ambient lighting can play a key role in this. Symbol illumination also needs to fulfill these stringent requirements and be accommodated within the interior lighting design, whilst ensuring that drivers can quickly take in the required information.

Full-surface and partial backlighting
Kurz has a comprehensive range of decoration technologies which can be used for both functional and highly decorative symbol illumination, and for surface designs with unusual lighting effects. These cover full-surface backlighting of carbon, wood, metal or colored designs. In these designs when the lighting fixtures are activated, the base designs take on a modified form and totally different color and material effects are created.

It is also possible to implement partially backlit designs in which during the daytime, viewers will see only a single- or multi-colored solid decorative surface. However, when it is backlit, various levels of transparency can be seen and both the solid and translucent elements become visible. A few of Kurz’s designs may appear deceptively simple but when backlit acquire a striking depth effect.

Kurz presented several such innovative designs using a wide range of backlit and decorated automotive components at the K 2016 show which was held from September 19 – 26 in Düsseldorf..

Dead front effects, touch and gesture functions
At the show, Kurz not only showcased its backlit surface designs, but also the company’s expertise when it comes to integrating touch and gesture functions and dead front effects. The company used sensor technology or PolyTC technology obtained from its subsidiary PolyIC, to equip plastic parts with a sensor function which that can be made invisible when it is not active. Viewed during daylight hours, the component will appear to be a solid, opaque decorative surface but when a light source is activated by touching or approaching it, a control panel becomes visible.

Visitors to the company’s booth at the show were able to test these functions on demonstration parts using a touch control panel, through gesture control and a dead front effect. The booth also had a trackpad demonstrator with backlightable symbols made with means of IMD (in-mold decoration) technology which can be operated through an integrated multi-touch function.