JP2003141907A - Lighting tool for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lighting tool for a vehicle which can not only fully perform functions as a lamp at lighting but also can realize uniformity and cooperativeness with a car body and its painted color, window glass, parts or the like. SOLUTION: The lighting tool for a vehicle with at least one light source arranged inside provided with a lamp room having an opening for light emission is so structured that a lamp cover consisting of a transparent cover main body and a polarizing film set on an inner surface of the cover main body and equipped with a microscopic concavo-convex structure is fitted at the opening for light emission of the lamp room.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp, and more specifically, it is possible to change the appearance when the lamp is turned on and when the lamp is turned off. Therefore, it is possible to provide a new and high quality appearance design. Vehicle lighting. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The vehicular lamp of the present invention can be advantageously used as a rear combination lamp for passenger cars.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automobile lamps have been required to show an improved appearance both when turned on and when turned off, in addition to their original function as illumination means. The most important issue in improving the appearance is the lamp color,
That is, the color tone of the lamp when observed from the outside.
For example, looking at a turn signal lamp (direction indicator light), when it is turned on, the lamp cover (outer cover) is used to emit light from a yellow color (which actually looks like an amber color between yellow and orange, but here it is conveniently called yellow). (Also called a lens) is colored yellow when not only visible when turned on, but also recognized when turned off, which may impair the sense of unity and cooperation depending on the vehicle type and body color. Many. Further, such a problem of lamp color becomes more complicated when a plurality of lamps are combined like a rear combination lamp. For example, when three colors of a red stop lamp and tail lamp (brake light, tail light), a yellow turn signal light, and a colorless backup lamp (back light) are mixed, there is a sense of unity and cooperation in the lamp colors. It has always been a problem how to hold the.

Although many attempts have been made to improve the unity and cooperation of lamp colors from the past, they have not provided sufficiently satisfactory results and practicality.

For example, a method of making a lamp cover uncolored and covering a light source in a lamp chamber with a yellow or red cap is widely practiced. This method is intended to obtain a colorless and uniform appearance when different light emission color portions in the rear combination lamp are turned off, but when turned off, the color of the cap is visible through the lamp cover.

In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-6510, in order to make the color of the colored cap inconspicuous when the lamp is turned off, a sheet (semi-transparent mirror) having selective light transmission is provided between the colored cap and the lamp cover. A vehicle lighting device is disclosed.
However, this method has a serious drawback that the light transmittance during light emission is also reduced. Further, in the case of this method, since the semi-transparent mirror is attached, the manufacturing process becomes complicated and the cost also increases.

Further, in JP-A-5-290606, in a rear combination lamp in which a red light emitting surface, a yellow light emitting surface and a white light emitting surface are provided in an integral lamp body, a red inner lens is provided on the red light emitting surface. , A yellow inner lens is provided on the yellow light emitting surface, a yellow green inner lens is provided on the white light emitting surface, and each light emitting surface is covered with a single red-based outer lens to make the lens surface a uniform color. A rear combination lamp characterized by the above is disclosed. However, with this method, it is possible to obtain a uniform appearance only when red,
Moreover, since the outer lens is colored only in a light color, the inner lens disposed inside is undesirably visually recognized. That is, this method is imperfect in terms of unity. Further, in the case of this method, since the inner lens is arranged, the manufacturing process becomes complicated and the cost also increases.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-228812, a housing, a valve, a colored and transparent cap for covering the valve, an inner lens with a prism surface for covering the cap, and an outer attached to an opening of the housing. And a lens, and a stepped portion is further provided on both front and back surfaces of a part of the inner lens, and a vehicular lamp is disclosed. However, this method complicates the manufacturing process due to the complicated structure of the lamp chamber and the special processing of the inner lens, not only increases the cost, but also that the inner lens has a complicated undulation surface. Since the prism pattern is rough, the amber color of the cap is visually recognized to some extent through the outer lens when the light is off.
In addition, there is a defect that the appearance is not uniform.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and in addition to being able to fully exhibit its function as a lamp when turned on, when it is turned off,
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp that can realize a unified feeling and cooperation with a vehicle body, its coating color, window glass, parts and the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp which has a simple structure and is easily manufactured at low cost.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicular lamp including a lamp chamber in which at least one light source is arranged and which has a light emitting opening. In the light exit opening of the lamp chamber, a transparent cover body having a shape and size at least covering the light exit surface of the lamp, and a polarizing film having a fine uneven structure on the surface provided on the inner surface of the cover body. It can be achieved by a vehicular lamp characterized in that a lamp cover made of is attached.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention resides in a vehicular lamp, and more particularly to an improvement in a lamp body in which a polarizing film is provided on a lamp cover on the light emitting surface of the vehicular lamp. In the lamp of the present invention, by using a polarizing film that expresses special optical properties derived from the surface fine structure, it is possible to change the color depending on the emission color when the lamp is turned on and the appearance when the lamp is turned off. It is possible to realize a high quality appearance design.

The vehicular lamp according to the present invention can be used in various vehicles as lighting means, signal means, and the like. Suitable vehicles include, but are not limited to, those listed below, including passenger cars (including RVs, campers, etc.), buses, trucks, etc., but with improved exterior design. Therefore, a passenger car is particularly suitable as a target. Furthermore, the vehicular lamp of the present invention can have any form. That is,
The lamp may include one lamp chamber or a plurality of lamp chambers (combination lamp). In some cases, the lamp of the present invention may be a thin lamp structure in which a flat light emitting body is used as a light source and is integrated with a lamp cover, instead of the structure in which the lamp chamber is provided with the light source.

The vehicular lamp of the present invention usually has a structure in which a light source is provided in the lamp chamber. At least one light source is arranged in the lamp chamber. Also, at least 2 lamps
It is also possible to provide individual lamp chambers and to arrange a light source having an appropriate brightness in each lamp chamber. Depending on the case, two or more light sources may be arranged in one lamp chamber. Also,
The inner wall of the lamp chamber may have a structure such as a concave mirror so that the light from the light source may be condensed. Otherwise, a concave mirror or similar light reflecting means is provided as a reflector in addition to the inner wall. May be.

In the vehicular lamp of the present invention, if it takes the form of a combination lamp, it is preferable to arrange the lamp chambers adjacent to each other and in relation to each other. Specifically, the lamp chamber includes, but is not limited to those listed below, a red stop lamp / tail lamp, an amber turn signal lamp, and a colorless backup lamp. Also,
If necessary, a fog lamp, a clearance lamp, etc. may be incorporated in the lamp.

When the vehicular lamp of the present invention is a combination lamp in which at least two lamp chambers are combined, the lamp chambers may have the same shape and size, or otherwise have different shapes. And may have a size. In the lighting fixture, the combination of lamp chambers can be changed arbitrarily, but in order to improve visibility and design, and to realize a sense of unity with the vehicle body, etc., it is almost straight in the vertical direction or in the horizontal direction. It is preferable to arrange them in a straight line, otherwise in a block. However, if necessary, changes may be made such that two or more lamp chambers having different shapes and sizes are nonlinearly compacted.

As an example, the vehicular lamp of the present invention can be formed by incorporating at least two lamps of a stop lamp / tail lamp, a turn signal lamp and a backup lamp in an arbitrary pattern and combination.
In general, the stop lamp / tail lamp, the turn signal lamp and the backup lamp can be arranged in this order or in a different order and arranged vertically or horizontally. Further, as a modified example, a relatively long stop lamp / tail lamp may be arranged in one row, and the turn signal lamp and the backup lamp may be arranged in the rows adjacent to each other with the same length in total.

In the vehicle lamp of the present invention, the light emitting opening of the lamp chamber is covered with the lamp cover. The lamp cover is
Usually, it is composed of a transparent cover body and a polarizing film provided on the inner surface thereof. The cover body is not particularly limited as long as it has a shape and size that at least covers the light emitting surface of the lamp chamber, but is generally rectangular, square, or circular, and in some cases L-shaped. It may have a deformation pattern such as a mold.

The cover body is optional, that is,
The lamp chambers may be colored with different hues depending on the hue of the light emitted therefrom. For example, the cover of a stop lamp / tail lamp that requires red light emission is colored red, and the cover of a turn signal lamp that requires amber light emission is colored amber. Alternatively, instead of coloring the cover, a colorless cover may be used with a colored lamp or else a colored cap may be wrapped around the colorless lamp. By using such an alternative method, it is possible to obtain an appearance different from that using the colored cover. Of course, the cover of the colorless backup lamp need not be colored.

The colorless or colored cover body can be advantageously formed by molding from any light transmissive resin. Suitable molding methods include conventional molding methods such as injection molding and vacuum molding. The raw material resin used for molding is not limited to those listed below, but examples thereof include a styrene resin, a hard vinyl chloride resin, an acrylic resin, and a polycarbonate resin. In particular, acrylic resin can be advantageously used. This is because it has excellent strength and transparency and can be advantageously subjected to coloring.

Further, when manufacturing a colored cover body, an appropriate amount of a coloring agent can be mixed in the resin raw material as described above. Suitable colorants include, but are not limited to, those listed below, pigments such as perylene pigments, azo pigments, iron oxides, or quinophthalone dyes, azo dyes, disazo dyes, anthraquinone dyes, benzopyran dyes, etc. Dyes (all from the color index) can be mentioned. In the practice of the present invention, dyes such as azo dyes and disazo dyes can be particularly advantageously used because they are excellent in dispersibility in a resin and have good color developability, transparency and weather resistance.

In the production of the cover body, the resin raw material may contain additives commonly used in the field of plastic molding, in addition to the colorant. Examples of suitable additives include ultraviolet absorbers, light stabilizers, and heat stabilizers. For example, suitable UV absorbers include, but are not limited to, those listed below, including benzotriazoles, benzophenones, diphenyl acrylates, amine UV absorbers, and the like.

The cover body has an inner surface (a surface on the lamp side).
An uneven pattern may be provided on the. Concavo-convex pattern, for example, the pattern is given to the mold, at the stage of molding,
It can be transferred from a mold to a molded body (lamp cover).

In the lamp cover of the present invention, a polarizing film is provided on the inner surface of the cover body. The polarizing film may be composed of a single film or sheet as long as the desired polarizing effect is obtained. The polarizing film may optionally have additional layers, if desired.

The polarizing film is preferably formed of a transparent material. The transparent material used for forming the polarizing film is, for example, a polyester film, a polyethylene film, a polycarbonate film, a vinyl chloride film, an acrylic film, a polyurethane film, a polyolefin film, a vinylidene fluoride film, or the like. The polarizing film can be manufactured to have a desired film thickness by mixing a raw material resin and, if necessary, a coloring agent and the like, and then using a conventional molding method such as a calender molding method. Although the thickness of the polarizing film can be widely changed according to the usage area of the lamp cover,
Usually, it is in the range of about 5 to 500 μm, and more preferably in the range of about 20 to 100 μm. If the thickness of the polarizing film is less than 5 μm, it is no longer possible to obtain a film. On the other hand, if it exceeds 500 μm, the thickness is increased, which may adversely affect the effects of the present invention.

The polarizing film preferably transmits P polarized light and reflects S polarized light, and the reflected S polarized light is
It has an optical property of transmitting the polarizing film after the polarization is canceled by multiple reflection. Such optical properties can be obtained by preferably selecting a linear triangular or semi-cylindrical prism, a pyramidal triangular or quadrangular pyramid prism, or a combination thereof as the concavo-convex structure of the polarizing film. .

The polarizing film having the above-mentioned optical characteristics is usually used as an optical element for a backlight in a panel-shaped liquid crystal display device, and is commercially available as a prism sheet, a lens film or the like. A particularly suitable polarizing film is a brightness enhancement film.
For example, the brightness enhancement film is manufactured by 3M under the trade name "BE.
It is available as "F" series, "RBEF" series, etc. Polarizing film of such series has several 10
It is processed with a linear prism of μm. Further, it is preferable to dispose the prism surface of such a polarizing film on the light source side, and it is also effective in terms of uniformity that the surface opposite to the prism surface has low gloss.

The polarizing film may be provided as a sheet along the cover body, or may be attached to the cover body via an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer used here can be formed by using an adhesive commonly used in the field of adhesive tapes, pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and the like. Suitable adhesives include, for example, acrylic adhesives, polyurethane adhesives, polyester adhesives, etc. When weather resistance and the like are taken into consideration, acrylic adhesives are particularly preferably used. it can. Although the thickness of such an adhesive layer can be varied over a wide range, it is usually in the range of about 10 to 500 μm, and more preferably in the range of about 20 to 100 μm. If the thickness of the adhesive layer is less than 10 μm, a satisfactory adhesive force cannot be obtained, and if it exceeds 500 μm, the entire thickness of the polarizing film becomes very large, which is not preferable. In fact, when a polarizing film is attached to the lamp cover, a sense of discomfort appears with the resin of the cover.

In the vehicular lamp of the present invention, any optical element may be arranged between the light source and the lamp cover in the lamp chamber. Suitable optical elements are, for example, filter elements or inner lenses. This is because, for example, by interposing a colored filter element or an inner lens, a unique appearance effect derived from the filter can be obtained. The optical element may be a plastic film or sheet or plate or a glass plate.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the examples below.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing one structural example of a vehicular lamp according to the present invention. The illustrated lamp 20 has a lamp chamber 21 that serves as a stop lamp and a tail lamp that emits red light. In the lamp chamber 21, a light source (bulb) 22 having a predetermined brightness and having a surface coated with red paint so as to be a red color of a stop lamp and a tail lamp is fitted in a socket (not shown). The front surface of the lamp chamber 21 is opened, and a light emitting opening 25 is formed. In addition, a concave mirror structure 21a is provided on the bottom wall of the lamp chamber 21 around the light source 22, and collects the light of the light source 22 and emits the light from the light emitting opening 25 to the outside (see the arrow L). be able to. Further, the light emitting opening 25 of the lamp chamber 21 has a lamp cover 1 colored in amber.
It is covered with 0. In addition, on the inner surface of the lamp cover 10, the polarizing film 11 has the concave-convex structure facing the light source side,
It is attached. The polarizing film 11 is a film having a fine concavo-convex structure on its surface (here, a prism sheet of 3M Company, BEF series is used).

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the lamp cover 10 and the polarizing film 11 of the lamp 20 of FIG. As described above, the polarizing film 11
Is a prism sheet of 3M company, BEF series,
Therefore, the base material 1 made of a polyester film,
And a polarizing layer (a linear acrylic prism sheet) 2 formed thereon. The acrylic prism 2 used here has a thickness t of about 200 μm, an apex angle α of 90 °, and a prism pitch p of 50 μm. The polarizing film 11 is attached to the lamp cover 10 with an adhesive layer 12.

Generally speaking, the prism sheet used as the polarizing film in the present invention generally has a thickness of about 50 to 300 μm, preferably about 100 to 250 μm. More preferably, it is in the range of about 150 to 200 μm. The pitch p of the prism is usually 1 mm or less, preferably in the range of about 10 to 500 μm, and more preferably in the range of about 24 to 250 μm. Further, the apex angle α of the prism is usually 130 ° or less, preferably in the range of about 50 to 120 °, and more preferably in the range of about 70 to 100 °. In the structure of the prisms, the prisms may be arranged regularly or randomly, and the pitch may not be uniform as well. Further, the apex angle of the prism may be rounded (r may be added).

In the vehicle lamp shown in the figure, a film (prism sheet) between the light source and the lamp cover is processed with fine prisms as used in a liquid crystal panel backlight.
Since the light from the light source is emitted through the lamp cover to the outside of the lamp chamber, a combination of a cover color that gives a predetermined functional color and a light source color different from the cover color is adopted. , Both the functional color and the cover color can be different. Furthermore, in the lamp of the present invention, since the prism sheet is used, the effect of preventing the visual recognition of the light source color when the light is turned off is very high compared to the conventional technique, and only the cover color is visible when the light is turned off. , It is possible to make the difference in color between when the light is turned on and when it is turned off.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example in which the lamp of the present invention is applied to a rear combination lamp. The illustrated rear combination lamp 20 has two lamp chambers,
That is, it has a structure in which a lamp chamber 21R for a red stop lamp and a tail lamp and a lamp chamber 21A for an amber turn signal lamp are combined. Each lamp chamber is partitioned from each other by a partition wall 23,
Further, a light source (bulb) 22 having a predetermined brightness is fitted in a socket (not shown) in each lamp chamber. The light source 22 of the lamp chamber 21A is colorless, and the lamp chamber 21
The R light source 22 is red. One surface of the lamp chamber is opened, and a light emitting opening 25 is formed.
Further, a concave mirror structure is provided on the bottom wall of the lamp chamber around the light source 22, so that the light of the light source 22 can be condensed and emitted from the light emitting opening 25 to the outside. Further, the light emitting openings 25 of the respective lamp chambers are covered with a common lamp cover 10 of amber color for turn signals. The lamp cover 10 is attached by an edge 24. Further, in the lamp chamber 21R of the stop lamp and the tail lamp, the polarizing film 11 is provided on the inner surface of the lamp cover 10 with the concavo-convex structure facing the light source side.
It is provided approximately 1 to 3 mm away from the cover surface. The polarizing film 11 is a film having a fine concavo-convex structure on its surface (here, a prism sheet manufactured by 3M,
It uses the RBEF series).

By using this method and combining cover colors that are the same but have different functional colors, for example, the direction indicator lamp is turned yellow when it is turned off and turned on, and the brake light is turned yellow when turned off and turned on. If is adjusted to red, it looks the same yellow when it is turned off, and a good appearance quality with a high sense of unity can be obtained.

Further, since the prism pitch is fine and precise, it does not appear that the prism is applied when the light is turned off or turned on, and a uniform and good appearance can be obtained.

In the rear combination lamp shown in FIG. 3, the polarizing film may be provided not only in the lamp chamber of the stop lamp / tail lamp but also in the lamp chamber of the turn signal lamp at the same time. You can get a high sense of unity when the lights are off.

Subsequently, the results of the actual manufacture of the vehicular lamp of the present invention and the evaluation of the appearance when the lamp is turned off and when it is turned on will be described below. Examples 1 to 15 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 Production and Evaluation of Polarizing Films: 14 types of polarizing films as shown in Table 1 below were prepared. The polarizing film prepared in this example is a prism film except for the films 13 and 14, and the films 1 to 10 are products of Sumitomo 3M Co., Ltd. (the product name is shown in the name column), and the films 11 and 12 are Sumitomo. It is a prototype of 3M. Each prism film had a prism structure only on one surface. Further, the film 13 is a prototype of Sumitomo 3M, and the film 14 is a product of Teijin Limited under the product name "U4".

[0039]

[Table 1]

Each of the polarizing films was attached to the inner surface of the amber lamp cover of the rear combination lamp of the passenger car. At that time, the polarizing film was attached in two directions: A: the prism surface was on the light source side and B: the prism surface was on the lamp cover side. As the adhesive, an acrylic adhesive available from Soken Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. as product number “1429F-2” is used. This has a width of about 5 mm and a thickness of about 40 μm at the peripheral edge which is the bonding surface of the polarizing film. Then, it was attached 1 to 3 mm away from the inner surface of the lamp cover. further,
A red transparent filter was attached to the light source side of the lamp cover so that the transmitted light, including the cover, had the same color as the light emitted by the stop lamp and tail lamp when it was turned on.

The rear combination lamp manufactured as described above has the appearance (1) when turned off and (2)
The appearance during lighting was visually evaluated. The distance from the observer to the lamp was 10 m. The measurement results as shown in Table 2 below were obtained.

[0042]

[Table 2]

[Discussion] In Comparative Example 1, since the polarizing film was not used together, the red color of the red filter disposed in the back side was transparent, and the red appearance was common when the light was turned off and when it was turned on.

In Comparative Examples 2 and 3, if light is dispersed by tin vapor deposition or a low gloss agent (particles) is mixed to make the red color of the filter placed in the back invisible, the cover placed in front when the light is turned off. You can see the amber color and make it different from the light color. However, the light at the time of lighting is also attenuated by this light dispersion, resulting in weak light emission, and only a dark red appearance is obtained.

In Examples 1 to 15, since a film having a fine prism structure was used as a polarizing film, an amber color was visible when the light was off and a bright red light emission comparable to that of Comparative Example 1 was possible when the light was on.

In addition, the following points were considered.

The prism of the polarizing film can be formed from various resin materials. For example, even if the resin is changed to acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin, polyurethane resin or the like, the same effect can be obtained.

The pitch of the prisms may be uniform or random. The apex angle of the prism may have an angle, may have an angle, and may have r. It is effective for both prisms.

The cross-sectional shape of the prism can be changed arbitrarily. The prism triangles may be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Further, the prism may be linear or pyramid-shaped. It is effective for both prisms.

When the polarizing film is provided on the inner side of the lamp cover, the lens structure surface is directed to the light source side, and also the lens cover surface is directed to the lamp cover side.

[0051]

As described above, when the vehicular lamp of the present invention is used, the function as a lamp can be sufficiently exhibited at the time of lighting, and at the time of turning off, the vehicle body and its coating color and window glass, It is possible to realize a sense of unity and cooperation with parts and the like. That is, when the vehicular lamp of the present invention is used for a rear combination lamp, the lamp cover on the side of the stop lamp and the tail lamp is amber when the lamp is off, and when the light source is turned on, the lamp cover can be turned on in red.

The lamp of the present invention has a simple structure and can be easily manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one configuration example of a vehicular lamp of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a lamp cover of the lamp of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the use of the lamp of the present invention in a rear combination lamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Base material 2 ... Polarizing layer 10 ... Lamp cover 11 ... Polarizing film 12 ... Adhesive layer 20 ... Vehicle lamp 21 ... Lamp room 22 ... Light source 23 ... Partition 25 ... Aperture for light emission

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle lamp including a lamp chamber in which at least one light source is arranged and having a light emitting opening, wherein the light emitting surface of the lamp is in the light emitting opening of the lamp chamber. For a vehicle, characterized in that a lamp cover comprising a transparent cover body having a shape and a size that at least covers the inner surface of the cover body and a polarizing film having a fine concavo-convex structure on the surface of the cover body is attached. Light fixture. 2. The polarizing film transmits P-polarized light and reflects S-polarized light, and the reflected S-polarized light is transmitted through the polarizing film after the polarization is canceled by multiple reflection. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1. 3. The concavo-convex structure of the polarizing film is composed of a linear triangle or a semi-cylindrical prism, a pyramidal triangular pyramid or a quadrangular pyramid prism, or a combination thereof. The vehicle lighting described. 4. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the polarizing film is a brightness enhancement film. 5. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, further comprising a filter element between the light source and the lamp cover. 6. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the cover body is made of a light transmissive resin. 7. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the hue of the cover body and the hue of light emitted from the light source to the lamp cover side through the polarizing film are different from each other. 8. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the cover body has a lens function. 9. The vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 8, which is a split type lamp structure including at least two lamp chambers in which lamps are arranged. 10. A rear combination lamp for a vehicle, wherein at least two of a stop lamp / tail lamp, a turn signal lamp and a backup lamp are incorporated in an arbitrary pattern and combination. Item 10. A vehicle lamp according to Item 9.