JP6459252B2 - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp.

Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicular lamp that includes a lens that irradiates light from a semiconductor-type light source toward the front side of the vehicle.
The lens of the vehicular lamp includes a main lens part and an auxiliary lens part integrally formed around the main lens part (for example, the lower side of the main lens part).
The main lens portion forms a main light distribution pattern (for example, a low beam light distribution pattern), and the auxiliary lens portion forms an auxiliary light distribution pattern (for example, an overhead light distribution pattern).

JP2013-051168A

  By the way, miniaturization is demanded for the vehicular lamp, and when the auxiliary lens portion is provided around the main lens portion as in Patent Document 1, the size of the lens becomes large. And the vehicular lamp becomes larger accordingly.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and by reducing the size of the lens without sacrificing the function of forming the main light distribution pattern and the auxiliary light distribution pattern, the present invention can be made smaller than before. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp that can be used.

The present invention is grasped by the following composition in order to achieve the above-mentioned object.
(1) The vehicular lamp according to the present invention includes a light source and a lens disposed on the vehicle front side of the light source, and the lens forms a main light distribution pattern in which an emission surface is divided in the vehicle vertical direction. A plurality of divided emission surfaces, a step surface connecting the divided emission surfaces, and a reflection surface formed on the bottom surface, and at least a part of the step surface located on the vehicle lower side than the optical axis of the light source, It is used as an exit surface for upward illumination light distribution, and the reflection surface reflects light to the step surface that becomes the exit surface for upward illumination light distribution.

(2) In the configuration of (1) above, the stepped surface serving as the upper irradiation light distribution emitting surface extends from the lower side of the divided emitting surface located on the upper side of the vehicle to the front side of the vehicle and is adjacent to the lower side of the vehicle. It is formed so as to be connected to the upper side of the divided emission surface located at the position.

(3) In the configuration of the above (1) or (2), the step surface serving as the emission surface for the upper irradiation light distribution is formed as a concave surface.

(4) In any one of the constitutions (1) to (3), the lens is not formed with a flange at least on the bottom surface.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicular lamp that can be made smaller than before by sacrificing the lens without sacrificing the function of forming the main light distribution pattern and the auxiliary light distribution pattern. .

It is the top view which looked at the vehicle provided with the vehicle lamp of embodiment from the top. It is a perspective view of the lamp unit of embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view of the lamp unit of embodiment. It is a front view of the lens of an embodiment. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of FIG. It is a figure explaining the light distribution control of the lens of embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiments”) will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same number is attached | subjected to the same element through the whole description of embodiment. In the embodiments and drawings, “front” and “rear” indicate “forward direction” and “reverse direction” of the vehicle, respectively, and “up”, “down”, “left” unless otherwise specified. "And" Right "respectively indicate directions viewed from the driver who gets on the vehicle.

(Overall configuration of vehicle lamp)
The vehicular lamp according to the embodiment of the present invention is a vehicular lamp (101R, 101L) provided on the left and right in front of the vehicle 102 shown in FIG.
The vehicular lamp of the present embodiment includes a housing (not shown) having an opening on the front side of the vehicle and an outer lens (not shown) attached to the housing so as to cover the opening of the housing. A lamp unit 10 (see FIG. 2) is disposed in the lamp chamber formed by

(Lamp unit)
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the lamp unit 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, the lamp unit 10 includes a lens holder 20, a lens 30, and a heat sink 40.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the lamp unit 10 disassembled.
As shown in FIG. 3, the lamp unit 10 is assembled by attaching the lens 30 to the lens holder 20 from the rear side, and then screwing the lens holder 20 with the lens 30 attached to the heat sink 40. Yes.

The heat sink 40 is made of a metal member or a resin member having a high thermal conductivity, and includes a light source mounting surface 41 on which the light source 50 is mounted.
On this light source mounting surface 41, a semiconductor-type light source 50 in which a self-luminous semiconductor-type light emitting element 52 such as an LED or an EL (organic EL) is mounted on a substrate 51 on which a power supply pattern or the like (not shown) is formed. Is installed.

The number and shape of the semiconductor light emitting elements 52 used for forming the light emitting portion are not particularly limited. For example, a plurality of square semiconductor light emitting elements 52 are horizontally arranged on the substrate 51 (vehicle width). The light emitting surface may be formed in a flat rectangular shape as a whole, or the light emitting surface may be formed by providing only one square or rectangular semiconductor light emitting element 52.
Further, the semiconductor light emitting device 52 may be packaged by sealing with a sealing resin.

  In the substrate 51, the center of the light emitting part formed by the semiconductor light emitting element 52 coincides with the center of the lens 30 (the center of the lens 30 in the horizontal and vertical directions) when viewed from the front side of the vehicle, or It is mounted on the heat sink 40 so as to be located in the vicinity.

(lens)
FIG. 4 shows a front view of the lens 30 viewed from the front side of the vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 4, the exit surface that emits the light of the lens 30 is a plurality of divided exit surfaces that are divided in the vehicle vertical direction.
More specifically, the lens 30 is formed with three divided emission surfaces including an upper divided emission surface 31, an intermediate divided emission surface 32, and a lower divided emission surface 33.
In this example, the case of having three divided emission surfaces in the vertical direction is shown, but the number of the divided emission surfaces is not particularly limited, and two according to the light distribution pattern to be formed. It may be 4 or more.

Further, the intermediate divided emission surface 32 is also divided in the left-right direction of the vehicle. Specifically, the right emission surface 32a (left side in the figure) on the right side of the vehicle, the central emission surface 32b in the center, and the left emission surface on the left side of the vehicle. It is divided into three planes 32c (right side in the figure).
In this example, the intermediate divided emission surface 32 is divided into three surfaces in the vehicle left-right direction, but the number of divisions of the intermediate divided emission surface 32 is not particularly limited, and the light distribution pattern to be formed The number may be two, four or more, and may not be divided in the left-right direction of the vehicle.

Further, the central emission surface 32b is divided into an upper emission surface 32ba and a lower emission surface 32bb.
The central exit surface 32b is also not particularly limited in the number of divisions, and may be divided into three or more according to the light distribution pattern to be formed, and conversely, may not be divided.

  All of the six exit surfaces (31, 32a, 32ba, 32bb, 32c, 33) described above constitute an exit surface for forming a main light distribution pattern, for example, a low beam light distribution pattern in this example. .

  As shown in FIG. 4, the lens 30 is formed with flanges 34 a and 34 b for attaching the lens 30 to the lens holder 20 at both ends in the left-right direction of the vehicle.

Next, the lens 30 will be further described in detail with reference to FIG. 5 which is a cross section taken along line AA of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a step surface 35 a is formed between the upper divided emission surface 31 and the intermediate divided emission surface 32 to connect the adjacent divided emission surfaces. A stepped surface 35b is formed between the side divided emission surface 33 and connects the adjacent divided emission surfaces.

  More specifically, the lower side of the upper divided emission surface 31 is on the vehicle rear side with respect to the upper side of the intermediate divided emission surface 32, and the step surface 35a is connected to the lower side of the upper divided emission surface 31 so as to connect the two sides. To the front side of the vehicle and connected to the upper side of the adjacent intermediate divided emission surface 32.

  Similarly, the lower side of the intermediate divided emission surface 32 is on the vehicle rear side with respect to the upper side of the lower divided emission surface 33, and the step surface 35b is connected to the vehicle from the lower side of the intermediate divided emission surface 32 so as to connect these two sides. It is formed so as to extend to the front side and to be connected to the upper side of the adjacent lower divided emission surface 33.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the stepped surface 35b (see dotted circle).
The step surface 35b is formed so as to be slightly inclined to the lower side of the vehicle, and is not a complete plane but a free curved surface formed of a gentle concave surface.
Further, when focusing on the lower part of the lens 30, a reflective surface 36 having a free-form surface is formed on the bottom surface of the lens 30.
The reflection surface 36 is formed to be slightly inclined toward the vehicle upper side.

Hereinafter, how the light is controlled by the lens 30 as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the lens 30 has a main light distribution incident surface 37a and an upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b on the light source 50 side.
The main light distribution entrance surface 37a is formed as a free-form surface having a shape that is gently recessed toward the front of the vehicle, and the upward illumination light distribution entrance surface 37b maintains the curvature state of the main light distribution entrance surface 37a. The surface is extended below the main light distribution entrance surface 37a, and is provided outside 35 ° from the outgoing optical axis of the light source.

The upper irradiation light distribution entrance surface 37b is the main surface when the surface of the exit surface of the lens 30 that is substantially the same as the width in the vehicle vertical direction is considered on the light source 50 side (that is, the entrance surface side) of the lens 30. It is formed by effectively utilizing the portion located outside the range of 35 ° below the outgoing optical axis of the light source used as the light distribution entrance surface 37a.
Therefore, the width of the lens 30 in the vertical direction of the vehicle is substantially the same as the width of the exit surface necessary for forming the main light distribution.

The main light distribution incident surface 37a and the upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b are not limited to such shapes, and may be planar, and may be loose toward the light source 50 side. It may be convex.
In this example, the upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b is formed as an extended surface so as to maintain the curvature state of the main light distribution incident surface 37a. You may form as a surface different from the curvature state of the entrance surface 37a for main light distribution.

As shown in FIG. 6, the light incident from the main light distribution entrance surface 37a is subjected to light distribution control, and is divided into an upper divided output surface 31, an intermediate divided output surface 32, and a lower The main divided light distribution pattern (low beam light distribution in this example) is further controlled by the upper divided emission surface 31, the intermediate divided emission surface 32, and the lower divided emission surface 33 toward the side divided emission surface 33. The pattern is irradiated on the front side of the vehicle (see the light distribution pattern for low beam on the screen in FIG. 6).
Note that “VU-VD” indicates vertical lines on the upper and lower sides of the screen on which the light distribution pattern is projected, and “HL-HR” indicates horizontal lines on the left and right of the screen on which the light distribution pattern is projected.

On the other hand, the light incident from the upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b is once reflected by the reflection surface 36 on the bottom surface of the lens 30, and the reflected light faces the step surface 35b from the step surface 35b to the front side of the vehicle. Irradiate upward.
In the present embodiment, an overhead light distribution pattern is formed by adjusting the shapes of the reflection surface 36 and the step surface 35b (see the overhead light distribution pattern on the screen in FIG. 6).
Note that the shape of the upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b may be adjusted to form the upper irradiation light distribution pattern (in this example, the overhead light distribution pattern).

Incidentally, a structure such as a flange is not provided on the bottom surface of the lens 30 (see FIG. 4).
Here, if a flange or the like for mounting on the lens holder 20 is formed on the bottom surface of the lens 30, the state of light incident on the upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b changes (for example, due to vehicle vibrations or the like). When the incident state fluctuates), the light incident from the upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b may not be directed correctly to the reflection surface 36, but may be incident on the flange or the like and become glare light.

  As in this embodiment, the flanges 34a and 34b are provided at both ends of the lens 30 in the left-right direction of the vehicle, and the flange 30 and the like are not formed on the bottom surface of the lens 30, thereby generating the above glare light. Can be suppressed.

(Operational effect of this embodiment)
Hereinafter, the effect of this embodiment is demonstrated, referring FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, a divided emission surface (an upper divided emission surface 31, an intermediate divided emission surface 32, and a lower divided emission surface 33) for the main light distribution pattern of the lens 30 is formed. The stepped surface is sometimes used for the upper irradiation light distribution exit surface (see step surface 35b), and the bottom surface of the lens 30 is used to light the upper irradiation light distribution exit surface (see step surface 35b). Is formed.

  Further, the upper irradiation light distribution entrance surface 37b has a main distribution when a surface that is substantially the same as the width of the exit surface of the lens 30 in the vehicle vertical direction is considered on the light source 50 side (incident surface side) of the lens 30. It is formed by effectively utilizing the portion located outside the range of 35 ° below the outgoing optical axis of the light source used as the light incident surface 37a.

  Thus, the lens 30 of the present embodiment uses a step surface (see the step surface 35b) that can be formed when forming the main light distribution pattern, or a bottom surface of the lens 30 that is not used to form the main light distribution pattern. In addition, when a surface having a width approximately equal to the width in the vehicle vertical direction of the exit surface of the lens 30 is considered on the incident surface side, it is below the main light distribution entrance surface 37a (35 ° from the exit optical axis of the light source 50). Since the upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 37b is formed as a surface extending downward from the main light distribution incident surface 37a, the surface located on the outer side of the lens 30 itself is formed in the vehicle vertical direction. An upward illumination light distribution pattern can be obtained without increasing the width.

Accordingly, as in the prior art, an auxiliary lens unit is provided to form an upward illumination light distribution pattern (for example, an overhead light distribution pattern), and the lens size is larger than the size of the main lens unit (main light distribution pattern lens). Will not grow.
As a result, the lens holder 20 and the heat sink 40 can be downsized, and the lamp unit 10 can be downsized.
If the lamp unit 10 can be downsized, the size of the vehicular lamp itself can be designed to be small.

In the present embodiment, the reflection surface 36 is formed on the bottom surface of the lens 30 to reflect light to the stepped surface 35b that is the exit surface for upward irradiation light distribution.
For this reason, the shape of this reflective surface 36 can be utilized for light distribution control for forming an upward irradiation light distribution pattern.
Since the bottom surface of the lens 30 does not affect the formation of the main light distribution pattern, the upper illumination light distribution pattern is formed without affecting the basic design for forming the main light distribution pattern of the lens 30. It is possible to design a light distribution for this purpose.

The present invention has been described above by taking specific embodiments as examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, and the like within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are not described. It is included in the present invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, the substantially entire surface of the step surface 35b of the lens 30 is used as the exit surface for the overhead light distribution pattern.

However, since the amount of light incident from the light source is large on the center side in the vehicle width direction of the lens 30, it is possible to sufficiently form an overhead light distribution pattern only on the center side.
Therefore, only the region on the vehicle center side of the step surface 35b, for example, the portion of the step surface 35b in the range of the central output surface 32b in FIG. 4 may be used as the output surface for the overhead light distribution pattern.

Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the main light distribution pattern was a low beam light distribution pattern, and the level | step difference surface 35b was made into the output surface for overhead light distribution patterns, it is not limited to this.
The main light distribution pattern is a high beam light distribution pattern, and the stepped surface 35b may be used as the exit surface for the upper irradiation light distribution pattern for irradiation upward at that time.

Furthermore, although the above embodiment has been described in the case where the stepped surface 35b located on the lowermost side of the lens 30 is used as the exit surface, the present invention is not limited to this.
If it is a stepped surface formed on the lower side of the vehicle from the optical axis of the light source, light can be emitted upward, so the stepped surface as the exit surface is formed on the lower side of the vehicle from the optical axis of the light source What is necessary is just to adjust so that light may be reflected in the level | step difference surface which makes the shape of the reflective surface 36 the output surface suitably.

  In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the step surface is a step surface protruding from the lens 30 side to the vehicle front side so as to extend to the vehicle front side, but is not limited thereto. Of the stepped surfaces, it is sufficient that at least a portion to be the upper irradiation light distribution emitting surface protrudes toward the vehicle front side.

  In addition, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the lens 30 has a horizontally long rectangular shape in the vehicle left-right direction when viewed from the front, but is not limited to such a shape. For example, an oval lens that is horizontally long in the vehicle left-right direction may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Lamp unit 20 Lens holder 30 Lens 31 Upper division | segmentation exit surface 32 Intermediate division | segmentation exit surface 32a Right exit surface 32b Center exit surface 32ba Upper exit surface 32bb Lower exit surface 32c Left exit surface 33 Lower segment exit surfaces 34a, 34b Flange 35a Step surface 35b Step surface (upper surface light distribution exit surface)
36 Reflecting surface 37a Main light distribution incident surface 37b Upper irradiation light distribution incident surface 40 Heat sink 41 Light source mounting surface 50 Light source 51 Substrate 52 Semiconductor light emitting device

Claims (4)

A light source;
A lens disposed on the vehicle front side of the light source,
The lens has a plurality of divided emission surfaces forming a main light distribution pattern obtained by dividing the emission surface in the vehicle vertical direction, a step surface connecting the divided emission surfaces, and a reflection surface formed on the bottom surface,
At least a part of the step surface located on the vehicle lower side than the optical axis of the light source is used as an emission surface for upward irradiation light distribution,
The vehicular lamp, wherein the reflecting surface reflects light to the stepped surface that is the exit surface for upward irradiation light distribution.   The stepped surface that becomes the upper irradiation light distribution exit surface extends from the lower side of the split exit surface located on the upper side of the vehicle to the front side of the vehicle and is connected to the upper side of the split exit surface located on the lower side of the adjacent vehicle. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular lamp is formed as described above.   3. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the stepped surface serving as the upward irradiation light distribution emitting surface is formed as a concave surface. 4.   The vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a flange is not formed on at least a bottom surface of the lens.

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