JPS6314801B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Object of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel lens for a vehicle lamp,
Particularly in signal lights such as automobile taillights, the light from the light source can be effectively emitted from the lens without loss, and the brightness of the lens surface can be made more uniform by preventing the generation of dark lines due to lens steps formed on the lens. The object of the present invention is to provide a novel lens for a vehicular lamp that provides excellent visibility of the lamp and provides suitable light distribution.

BACKGROUND ART Vehicle lighting equipment, particularly signal lights such as automobile taillights and side lights, require a suitable light distribution to allow vehicles behind and to the sides to accurately see the operating status and intention of the vehicle. What is important is what you get. In order to obtain the appropriate light distribution, the light from the light source must be effectively passed through the lens and emitted without loss, so that the lens surface is sufficiently bright, and the emitted light has a predetermined directivity from the lens surface. It is important that the light be emitted regularly and that the brightness be uniform without creating any non-light emitting areas such as dark areas on a part of the lens surface. Also, as a design consideration for the vehicle, it cannot be ignored that the lens of the light fixture should have a clear design that does not give a foreign body or strange feeling as much as possible. It is also important to ensure that the lens step does not create an unpleasant appearance of the lamp.

However, conventional vehicle lamps have had several problems in meeting the above-mentioned requirements. The problem will be described with respect to a conventional vehicle lamp illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Conventional Example In Fig. 1, a indicates a lamp body having a reflective surface b formed on its inner surface, and an outer lens c and an inner lens d are attached to the front surface of the lamp body a with a slight distance from each other. The outer lens c is formed with fisheye lenses e, e, etc. divided into a large number of rectangles, and the inner lens d has a refractive prism section f in which refractive prisms are formed concentrically at the center of the front surface. A reflective prism portion h is formed on the outer periphery of the rear surface of the inner lens d, that is, the surface facing the light source filament g.

In FIG. 2, i indicates a lamp body having a reflective surface j formed on its inner surface, and an outer lens k and an inner lens l are attached in front of the lamp body i with a slight distance from each other. A refracting prism part m is formed in the center of the front surface of the inner lens l, and a fisheye lens n is formed on the outer periphery of the refractive prism part m.
n, . . . are formed at the center of the rear surface of the inner lens 1, and fisheye lenses o, o . The outer lens k is a so-called transparent lens in which no special lens step is formed. q is the light source filament.

Disadvantages of the Conventional Example According to such a conventional vehicle lamp, the central part of the lens c or k is intensively irradiated with direct light from the light source filament g or q, and the central part becomes abnormally bright. Although the phenomenon has been largely resolved, other brightness unevenness and design flaws still remain.

First, at the boundary position between the refractive prism section f or m formed at the center of the front surface of the inner lens d or l and the reflection prism section h or p formed at the outer periphery of the rear surface, light from the light source filament g or q is detected. When the lamp is turned on, a non-light-emitting part r or s like a dark line is generated at the boundary position because light is surface-reflected on the lens surface or light is not refracted in a predetermined direction. In particular, in the case of the form of the inner lens l shown in FIG. 2, the fisheye lenses o, o, ... which are in contact with the reflection prism part p capture a portion of the light that enters the reflection prism on the boundary side of the reflection prism part p from the light source filament q. Therefore, the above-mentioned non-light-emitting portion s appears more clearly.

Second, especially when the inner lens l has a shape like that shown in FIG. Because of this, the light emitted from the inner lens l becomes extremely irregular, making it very difficult to design the light distribution. However, if the shape of the cut of the fisheye lens o, o, etc. is partially changed, it becomes more difficult to design the light distribution, requires multiple types of cutters, and increases the number of processing steps. .

Thirdly, a part of the light traveling from the light source filament g or q to the reflecting mirror b or j is blocked by the internal lead wire t or u that supports the filament, so that it is linear on the reflecting surface b or j. A shadow is formed, and this shadow produces another non-light emitting part v or w on the lens surface.

Fourthly, these lamps are equipped with an outer lens c.
Or, when viewed from the front of k, the concentric steps of the refractive prism part f or m and the reflective prism part h or p formed on the inner lens d or l look like a spotted pattern, causing considerable discomfort. In particular, when these lenses are rectangular, this circular spotted pattern gives a stronger sense of foreign body or strangeness.

As mentioned above, the lenses of conventional vehicle lights are
This has had many problems in terms of the efficiency of light emission from the light source, the brightness of the lens surface, and the appearance.

Means for Solving the Problems Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to effectively emit light from a light source from a lens without any loss, and to make the brightness of the lens surface more uniform without causing any partial non-light emitting parts on the lens surface. To provide a lens for a vehicular lamp that can provide excellent visibility of the lamp, provide suitable light distribution, and also has excellent design considerations such that no unpleasant spotted pattern is visible on the lens surface. Something,
It consists of an inner lens arranged on the inside, that is, on the light source side, and an outer lens, arranged on the outside, that is, on the side opposite to the light source.The inner lens has a refraction prism part formed in a part of the area on the side opposite to the light source. A diffusion step portion having a diffusion property in one direction is formed in the other area, and a semi-cylindrical diffusion portion having a diffusion property in the same direction as the diffusion step portion is formed in an area corresponding to the refraction prism portion on the surface on the light source side. A step portion is formed and a reflective step portion is formed in a region other than the diffusion step portion, and a diffusion step portion is formed on the outer lens and has a diffusivity in a direction perpendicular to the diffusion direction of the diffusion step portion of the inner lens. It is characterized by consisting of:

Embodiments Hereinafter, details of a lens for a vehicle lamp according to the present invention will be described according to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an example 1 of the lens of the vehicle lamp according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a lamp body having a rectangular front opening 3. A reflective surface 4 is formed on the inner surface of the lamp body, and the lamp body 2 is partitioned by a lens, which will be described later, and is attached to cover the front opening. A bulb 7 having a filament 6 is arranged in the lamp chamber 5. In this embodiment, the filament 6 is stretched by its internal lead wire 8 in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis xx of the reflective surface 4 in the horizontal direction.

Reference numeral 9 denotes an inner lens made of glass or a transparent synthetic resin material, and is attached to cover the front opening 3 of the lamp body 2. A refraction prism portion is formed in a certain area on the front surface of the inner lens 9, that is, on the side opposite to the light source, and a cylindrical lens portion is formed on the outer side of the refraction prism portion. A cylindrical lens portion is formed within a certain area, and a reflecting prism portion is formed outside the cylindrical lens portion. That is, the refractive prism 1 is located approximately at the center of the front surface of the inner lens 9 within a generally horizontally long rectangular area.
A refraction prism section 11 is formed in which a large number of 0, 10, . . . are arranged concentrically.
A cylindrical lens portion 13 is formed in the upper, lower, left, and right outer regions of the lens 1. A cylindrical lens portion 13 is formed in which a large number of convex cylindrical lenses 12, 12, . On the other hand, on the rear surface of the inner lens 9, a cylindrical lens part 15 is formed, in which a large number of convex cylindrical lenses 14, 14, . ing. The range in which the cylindrical lens part 15 is formed is a range 16 (see FIGS. 3B and C) corresponding to the formation area of the refraction prism part 11 formed at the center of the front surface of the inner lens 9. ing. That is, the cylindrical lens portion 15 at the center of the rear surface is also formed within a rectangular region that is elongated in the substantially horizontal direction. Reference numeral 17 denotes a reflective prism section formed in the outer region of the cylindrical lens section 15, that is, the region corresponding to the cylindrical lens section 13 formed on the front surface of the inner lens 9, and includes a large number of reflective prisms 18, 18,
... are formed in concentric circles.

Reference numeral 19 denotes an outer lens disposed in front of the inner lens 9 at a slight interval, for example, 5 to 15 mm, and the rear surface of the outer lens 19 has a concave half-shaped cross section (horizontal cross section). Cylindrical lenses 20, 20,... with circular curved surfaces
A cylindrical lens portion is formed in which a large number of... are formed in parallel in the vertical direction.

By the way, as described above, the correspondence relationship in the front-rear direction between the refraction prism part 11 formed at the center of the front surface of the inner lens 9 and the cylindrical lens part 15 formed at the center of the rear surface is as described above, and each of them has a horizontally long rectangular area. However, in this embodiment, at least the long sides serving as the upper and lower boundaries of the rectangular area correspond almost exactly.
That is, as shown in FIG. 3B, boundary lines 21, 22 and 23, 2 located at the upper and lower ends of the range 16
4, that is, the refraction prism section 11 formed on the front surface
The upper boundary line 21 of each forming area of the cylindrical lens part 15 and the reflecting prism part 17 formed on the rear surface is the optical axis xx line. The lower boundary line 23 of each forming area of the refractive prism section 11 and the cylindrical lens section 13 formed on the front surface and the cylindrical lens formed on the rear surface correspond to each other on a line 25 extending in the front-rear direction parallel to the The lower boundary line 24 of each formation area of the reflective prism part 17 and the part 15 correspond to each other on a line 26 extending in the front-rear direction. The reason for this is to prevent this boundary line portion from being seen from the front of the lens, and will be described in detail later.

Moreover, the curvature of the curved surfaces of the cylindrical lenses 14, 14, .
The curvature of the curved surface of 12, . That is, in FIG. 4, r1 is the cylindrical lens 1 formed at the center of the rear surface of the inner lens 9.
Indicates the curvature of the curved surface 27 of 4, 14, ..., and r
2 is a cylindrical lens 1 formed in the outer region of the front surface.
The curvature of the curved surface of 2, 12, ... is shown. And the curvature r1 is made larger than the curvature r2 (r1>
r2). This is especially to prevent the light from the light source from being surface-reflected on the curved surfaces 27 of the cylindrical lenses 14, 14, . It is something.

In the lens of the vehicle lamp of the present invention configured as described above, the light from the light source 6 is incident on the cylindrical lenses 14, 14, . . . at the center of the rear surface of the inner lens 9, as shown in FIG. Here, the light is appropriately refracted in the vertical direction and passes through the front refraction prisms 10, 1.
0, . . ., is further refracted, enters the cylindrical lenses 20, 20, .
Also, the reflective prism 1 on the rear surface of the inner lens 9
The light incident on 8, 18, . , ..., where it is diffused in the left and right direction and emitted.

In this way, the front surface of the outer lens 19 is made to shine and a predetermined light distribution is obtained.Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows the refraction of direct light from the light source at the inner lens 9. In the figure 2
9, 30, 31 and 32 indicate direct light from the light source filament 6. Reflection prisms 18, 18,...
The direct light 29 incident on... is approximately on the optical axis x at its reflecting surface.
- It is reflected in a direction parallel to the x-rays, refracted in the vertical direction by the front cylindrical lenses 12, 12, . . . and emitted. Also, the rear cylindrical lens 14,1
Direct light rays 30, 31 and 32 incident on 4,... are refracted in the vertical direction by the convex curved surfaces 27, 27, . A curved surface 27A in contact with the upper boundary line 22 between the lens section 15 and the reflective prism section 17
Since the incident light 30 is refracted downward, when looking at the lens from the front, the boundary line 22
I can't see the parts. Furthermore, this cylindrical lens part 1
Curved surfaces 27, 2 of the cylindrical lenses 14, 14, . . . 5
Since the curvature of 7, .
The angle of incidence of direct light incident on the curved surface can be made small, and therefore surface reflection on this curved surface can be prevented.

Furthermore, the cylindrical lenses 14, 14, .
7, 27, ..., the light 34, 34 that is diffusely refracted upward when this cylindrical lens is made into a concave semicircular curved surface as shown by the two-dot chain line 33 in the figure is Since no light is generated, the emission efficiency is good and the light distribution can be formed with a predetermined directivity.

On the other hand, in the lens of the above vehicle lamp, the inner lens 9 is formed with a refraction prism part 11 and a reflection prism part 17 having concentric patterns,
A cylindrical lens 2 arranged perpendicularly to an outer lens 19 attached in front of the inner lens 9.
0, 20, . . . are formed, when this lens is viewed from the front of the outer lens 19, the concentric pattern of the inner lens 9 cannot be seen, especially when the lamp is not lit. This is because the concentric pattern formed on the inner lens 9 is imaged as at least one line in the vertical direction by the cylindrical lenses 20, 20, . . . arranged in the vertical direction of the outer lens. be.

Furthermore, out of the light directed from the filament 6 toward the reflective surface 4, a shadow (the first
2), the shadow of the cylindrical lens 14 on the rear surface of the inner lens 9,
14, ... is dissipated by the vertical focusing effect of
When the light is emitted through refraction by the cylindrical lens portion 20 of the outer lens 19 and diffusion by the cylindrical lens portion 20 of the outer lens 19, the shadow no longer exists.

As is clear from the above description, the lens of the vehicle lamp of the present invention consists of an inner lens disposed on the inside, that is, on the light source side, and an outer lens disposed on the outside, that is, on the side opposite to the light source. A refraction prism part is formed in a part of the area on the side opposite to the light source, and a diffusion step part having diffusion property in one direction is formed in the area other than the refraction prism part, and corresponds to the refraction prism part on the surface on the light source side. A semi-cylindrical diffusion step portion having diffusivity in the same direction as the diffusion step portion is formed in a region, a reflection step portion is formed in an area other than the diffusion step portion, and the outer lens has a diffusion step portion of the inner lens. Since the step part is formed with a diffusive step part that has diffusivity in a direction perpendicular to the direction of diffusion of the part, the light from the light source can be effectively emitted from the lens without loss, and dark lines etc. can be prevented from forming on a part of the lens surface. It is possible to make the brightness of the lens surface more uniform without causing any problems, and it also has an excellent design because no disharmonious lens pattern is visible on the external appearance of the lens.
Furthermore, there is no irregular emitted light due to the fisheye lens in conventional lenses, and a suitable light distribution can be obtained.
A lighting fixture with excellent visibility can be obtained.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment 1A of the lens of the vehicle lamp of the present invention. In this example, the inner lens was formed in two parts. Note that the other configurations are completely the same as those in the first embodiment described above, so the same reference numerals are given and explanations are omitted.

In the figure, 35 is a first inner lens that is attached to the light source filament 6 side, and 36 is a second inner lens that is disposed in front of the first inner lens 35 with a slight gap or in close contact with it. show. On the front surface of the second inner lens 36, a refractive prism section 11 is formed in its central region, and a cylindrical lens section 13 is formed in its outer region. Further, on the rear surface of the first inner lens 35, a cylindrical lens section 15 is formed in the center thereof, and a reflecting prism section 17 is formed in the outer region thereof. In the diffusion step portion formed in the outer lens 19, cylindrical lenses 37, 37, .

That is, in the lens of the vehicle lamp of the present invention, the front lens step and the rear lens step formed on the inner lens may be integrally formed on the front and back sides of a single inner lens,
Alternatively, the two inner lenses may be formed separately, and at least convex cylindrical lenses arranged horizontally are formed in a portion of the front lens step corresponding to the rear of the refracting prism section, and It suffices if the reflecting prism part is formed at a portion corresponding to the rear of the cylindrical lens part.

Note that the above-mentioned correspondence in the front-rear direction between the front lens step and the rear lens step is not necessarily formed at only one location on the lens surface;
In the case of a lamp having specifications in which two light source filaments are arranged, the above-mentioned front lens step and rear lens step may be formed in correspondence with each other at a location on the lens surface corresponding to each light source filament. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 show different examples of lamps using lenses of conventional vehicle lamps. Figure 1A is a front view, and Figure B is a B-B in Figure A
Transverse plan view along line, Figure 2 A is front view, B is A
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view taken along the line B--B in the figure, FIG. 3 shows an example of the lens of the vehicle lamp of the present invention in a state where it is attached to a lamp body, A is an exploded perspective view, B is a central vertical sectional side view, and C 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an enlarged main part of the inner lens shown in FIG. 3; and FIG. 5 is a lateral plan view showing another embodiment of the lens of the vehicle lamp according to the present invention. It is. Explanation of symbols, 1... Lens of vehicle lamp, 9...
...Inner lens, 11...Refraction prism section, 1
2...Cylindrical lens, 13...Cylindrical lens part, 14
...Cylindrical lens, 15...Cylindrical lens part, 17...
... Reflection prism section, 19 ... Outer lens, 2
0...Cylindrical lens.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Consists of an inner lens disposed on the inside, that is, on the light source side, and an outer lens disposed on the outside, that is, on the side opposite to the light source, and the inner lens has a refractive prism portion in a part of the area on the side opposite to the light source. is formed, a diffusion step portion having diffusivity in one direction is formed in a region other than the refraction prism portion, and a diffusion step portion having diffusivity in the same direction as the diffusion step portion is formed in a region corresponding to the refraction prism portion on the light source side surface. A semi-cylindrical diffusion step portion is formed, and a reflection step portion is formed in an area other than the diffusion step portion. What is claimed is: 1. A lens for a vehicular lamp, characterized in that a diffusion step portion is formed therein. 2. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the diffusion step portion formed on the side opposite to the light source of the inner lens and the outer lens is formed by a set of convex or concave cylindrical lenses. lens. 3. A lens for a vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein in the inner lens, the curvature of the cylindrical lens formed on the side surface of the light source is larger than the curvature of the cylindrical lens formed on the side surface opposite to the light source. .