JP5563333B2 - Vehicle lamp system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an illumination lamp or a sign lamp provided in a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a vehicle lamp system that can notify other vehicles of the priority of travel between vehicles approaching each other.

  In recent years, for driving assistance in automobiles, road information obtained from a navigation device, road-to-vehicle communication information obtained by performing information communication between a vehicle and a communication device installed on the road, and information communication between vehicles It is considered to use the inter-vehicle communication information obtained by performing the above. In particular, since road-to-vehicle communication and inter-vehicle communication can obtain information such as the vehicle speed and acceleration / deceleration of other vehicles, it is possible to construct a system that ensures safe driving of the vehicle based on such information. Patent Document 1 proposes a technique for calculating a time until the vehicle (first vehicle) travels to a front intersection road and transmitting the time as frequency information. By using this technology, the other vehicle (second vehicle) receives the frequency information transmitted from the first vehicle, and the second vehicle calculates the time until it reaches the crossing road, and the possibility of a collision is calculated. It is possible to prevent a collision with the first vehicle by determining the presence / absence and performing an avoidance action when there is a possibility of a collision.

JP 2009-64331 A

In the technique of Patent Document 1, each vehicle judges the situation of other vehicles to determine the possibility of a collision, and performs a collision avoidance process after this determination. Because it is done, it cannot be recognized in other vehicles. Therefore, even if the other vehicle entering the cross road is confirmed and it is determined whether the priority of entering the cross road first is in the own vehicle or in the other vehicle, the other vehicle recognizes this. I can't confirm that. If other vehicles have priority, it is only necessary to enter the crossing road without accelerating the vehicle, and this is not a problem. However, since it is not possible to confirm that the other vehicle recognizes this even though the vehicle has priority, it is thought that the other vehicle will enter the intersection road first, The driver is forced to drive carefully, for example, decelerate until it is confirmed that the other vehicle enters the cross road with a certain delay. As a result, a deceleration operation that is originally unnecessary is performed, and as a result, the timing at which the vehicle enters the crossing road is delayed, and the vehicle may approach another vehicle. Also, other vehicles will perform the deceleration operation in the same way, and as a result, the host vehicle and other vehicles following it will also have to decelerate, causing obstacles to the smooth running of the vehicle on the road and causing traffic congestion. It becomes one of the factors to do.

  An object of the present invention is to notify the priority in the own vehicle by the lighting state of the lamp, so that the other vehicle can recognize the priority, eliminate unnecessary driving operation in the vehicle, ensure safe driving, and smooth the vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle lamp system that makes it possible to ensure smooth running.

The present invention relates to own vehicle traveling information detection means for detecting traveling information of the own vehicle, other vehicle traveling information detection means for detecting traveling information of other vehicles, and the own vehicle based on the own vehicle traveling information and other vehicle traveling information. and the priority calculating means for calculating a priority of the time travel of the other vehicle, e Bei a lamp control means for changing control of the lighting embodiment of the vehicle headlamp based on the obtained priority, lamp control means Based on the obtained priority, a part of color of illumination light of the headlamp is controlled to change .

For example , a part of the illumination light is colored red when the priority of the vehicle is high, and is colored blue when the priority is low.

In this case, it is preferable to switch the lights in the left and right side regions of the illumination light to different colors.

  According to the present invention, the lighting form of the lamp of the own vehicle is changed based on the priority of the own vehicle and the other vehicle, and the other vehicle can recognize the priority of the own vehicle by this lighting form. Moreover, the priority of another vehicle can be confirmed from the lighting form of the lamp of the other vehicle. As a result, each of the own vehicle and the other vehicle confirms the priority and travels according to the priority, thereby ensuring the safety of the travel and eliminating unnecessary deceleration and causing traffic jams. Smooth running can be realized.

The conceptual block diagram which shows the outline of the system of this invention. The block block diagram of the motor vehicle which builds the system of this invention. The schematic diagram explaining the priority between vehicles. The longitudinal cross-sectional view and front view of a headlamp. The light distribution diagram of the headlamp corresponding to the priority. The blink form figure of the turn signal lamp corresponding to a priority.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a vehicle lamp system of the present invention. An automobile (hereinafter referred to as the first vehicle) CAR1 traveling on the main road MR, an automobile (hereinafter referred to as the second vehicle) CAR2 traveling on the road SR that intersects or merges in front of the road, and other automobiles, here 3 shows a third vehicle CAR3 that travels in the vicinity of the diagonally rear of one vehicle CAR1. On the roads MR and SR, fixed monitoring devices SSD including terminal devices such as ITS (Intelligent Road Traffic System) equipped with vehicle sensors, monitoring cameras, etc. are arranged, and between the vehicles traveling on the roads. Wireless communication using infrared rays or ultrashort waves is possible. Each vehicle CAR detects travel information such as the vehicle speed, travel lane, and acceleration / deceleration state of the host vehicle, and transmits this to the fixed monitoring device SSD. Each vehicle can also acquire travel information such as the speed, travel lane, acceleration / deceleration state, etc. of other vehicles from the fixed monitoring device SSD. Further, each vehicle can transmit the detected traveling information of the own vehicle to other vehicles, and conversely, the traveling information of the other vehicles can be received from the other vehicles and acquired. In this way, each vehicle can acquire travel information of other vehicles directly via the fixed monitoring device SSD or between vehicles.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of each of the vehicles CAR1 to CAR3. Each vehicle is provided with a front monitoring camera 10 for capturing an image of a front area of the vehicle and detecting a sign, a road surface display, a road shape, a preceding vehicle, and the like in front of the road. Moreover, the navigation apparatus 11 using GPS is provided, and the road information of the road which drive | works with this navigation apparatus 11 is acquirable. As this road information, not only the road map information in the area including the road but also the road information specific to the area such as vehicle speed limit, temporary stop obligation, one-way regulation, etc. in the area can be acquired. Yes. In addition, as described above, the road-vehicle communication device 12 that performs communication with the fixed monitoring device SSD and the vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 13 that performs mutual communication with other vehicles are provided. Further, although details are omitted, in addition to the information of the navigation device of the own vehicle, the current vehicle speed, acceleration / deceleration of the own vehicle based on the sensor outputs of the vehicle speed sensor Sv, acceleration / deceleration sensor Sa, steering sensor Ss, etc. A host vehicle travel information detection device 14 that detects travel information such as a travel lane is provided. In addition, another vehicle travel information detection device 15 is provided, and is transmitted from the ground monitoring device by communication with the road-to-vehicle communication device 12 or transmitted from another vehicle by communication with the vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 13. It is possible to detect travel information.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, a priority calculation device 16 is provided. The priority calculation device 16 includes road information obtained from the navigation device 11, own vehicle travel information detected by the own vehicle travel information detection device 14, and other vehicle travel detected by the other vehicle travel information detection device 15. Based on the information, a calculation is performed with a required algorithm, and a priority is calculated when the host vehicle and the other vehicle travel, particularly when intersecting or joining. Here, in the intersection road ahead of the own vehicle obtained from the road information from the navigation device 11, it is the safety of the vehicle traveling that either the own vehicle or another vehicle that intersects or merges with the other vehicle travels first on the intersection road. The priority of whether it is suitable from the smoothness is calculated and output.

  For example, in FIG. 3, when the first vehicle CAR1 that travels on the main line MR of the highway is the host vehicle, the road on which the host vehicle travels is a priority road, so that the host vehicle has a high priority and travels on the junction road SR. The incoming second vehicle CAR2 is output as a low priority. In the case of an intersecting road where there is no distinction between priority roads, calculation is performed based on the current position of the first vehicle CAR1 and the second vehicle CAR2, the vehicle speed and acceleration / deceleration of each automobile, and until the first vehicle reaches the intersecting road When the time is shorter than that of the second vehicle, the first vehicle is set as the high priority and the second vehicle is set as the low priority. If the times are opposite, the first vehicle has a low priority and the second vehicle has a high priority.

The priority calculation device 16 outputs a priority particularly when it is calculated that the first vehicle and the second vehicle travel as they are, and that neither vehicle encounters on the intersection road and no problem in traveling safety occurs. You may make it not. Also, do not output priority even when the speed of both cars is lower than, for example, 25 km / h, and traffic has already occurred on the crossing road, and crossing cars are alternately passing or joining. It may be configured.

Further, when the driver manually operates the priority forcing switch SW provided in the driver's seat, the output of the priority calculation device 16 is forcibly set to the high priority of the own vehicle, or vice versa. A manual priority setting device 18 capable of setting the priority is provided.

In FIG. 2, a lamp control device 17 is provided. This lamp control device 17 changes and controls the lighting state of the lamp of the own vehicle based on the priority of the own vehicle output from the priority calculation device 16. Further, in this embodiment, as the lamp of the own vehicle, the case of the headlamp HL and the lighting form of the turn signal lamp TSL are changed and controlled.

When applied to the headlamp HL as the lamp, the headlamp HL is configured to be able to switch and emit predetermined color light in addition to the normal lamp configuration. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a low-beam-distributed headlamp using an LED as a light source, FIG. 4 (a) is a cross-sectional view along the lamp optical axis, and FIG. 4 (b) is a diagram viewed from the front. . A white LED 21 mounted on the base 22 as a light source is provided, and a reflector 23 having a spheroidal shape for temporarily collecting the white light emitted from the white LED 21 to the second focal point F2, and a light collecting A main shade 24 for shielding a part of the emitted light to form a cut line on the light distribution, and a subshade 25 for shielding the light projected upward in the left and right side regions as will be described later, A projection lens 26 is provided for projecting light that is not shielded by the shades 24 and 25 toward the front in a required light distribution pattern. Further, a colored filter 27 having a lens function is disposed in the vicinity of the second focal point F2 where the light reflected by the reflector 23 is collected, and this colored filter 27 is placed in the optical path of the lamp light by the filter driving device 28. It is configured to be able to advance and retreat.

In other words, the filter driving device 28 is constituted by a solenoid mechanism in which the driving rod 28a can be reciprocated in three stages in the vertical direction. Usually, the driving rod 28a is at the lowest first position S1, and the lamp control device When a predetermined signal is input from 17, the drive rod 28 a is moved stepwise up to the second position S 2 and the third position S 3. The coloring filter 27 is supported on the upper end of the drive rod 28a. When viewed from the front of the lamp, the coloring filter 27 corresponds to both the left and right regions of the lamp, and the upper blue and the lower red 2 The two filters fb and fr are integrated. These blue and red filters fb and fr color the transmitted white light to emit low-stimulation blue light and high-stimulation red light, respectively, and slightly orient the optical axis of the transmitted light. It is also configured as a deflection lens that deflects the light. Normally, when the drive rod 28a is at the first position S1, the colored filter 27 is not disposed on the optical path of the headlamp, but when the drive rod 28a is moved up to the second position S2, the blue filter fb. Are arranged on the optical path, and both the left and right regions of the light distribution pattern projected by the projection lens 26 are colored in blue, and the blue colored region is oriented slightly upward from the horizontal line. Further, when the drive rod 28a is moved up to the third position S3, the red filter fr is arranged in an optical path and the left and right regions of the light distribution pattern projected by the projection lens 26 are colored red, and the red colored region. Is a direction slightly above the horizon. At the third position S3, the blue filter fb is shielded by the subshade 25, so that blue light is not distributed.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the lamp is also constituted by a turn signal lamp TSL of an automobile. However, the turn signal lamp itself has a normal configuration, and the description thereof is omitted. Here, the lighting or blinking state is controlled to be changed between the turn signal lamps arranged on the left and right of the vehicle body or between the turn signal lamps arranged on the front and rear of the vehicle body by the control of the lamp control device 17. It is configured. This point will be described later.

The operation of the system of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described.
Now, as shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the first vehicle CAR1 travels on the main line MR of the highway, and the second vehicle CAR2 travels through a merged path SR that merges in front of the first vehicle CAR1. In the first vehicle CAR 1, road information in the front area of the host vehicle is detected by the front monitoring camera 10, road information is obtained by the navigation device 11, and this is output to the priority calculation device 16. At the same time, the own vehicle travel information detecting device 14 detects the vehicle speed, acceleration / deceleration, etc. of the own vehicle, and transmits this through the road-to-vehicle communication device 12 or the inter-vehicle communication device 13, while the detected own vehicle travel information is displayed. It outputs to the priority calculating device 16. The same applies to the second vehicle CAR2. On the other hand, the first vehicle CAR1 acquires other vehicle travel information, that is, travel information of the second vehicle CAR2, via the road-to-vehicle communication device 12 and the inter-vehicle communication device 13, and outputs this to the priority calculation device 16. . Similarly, in the second vehicle, the traveling information of the first vehicle CAR1 is output to the priority calculation device 16 of the own vehicle. By doing in this way, both the first vehicle CAR1 and the second vehicle CAR2 acquire the own vehicle travel information and the other vehicle travel information in the own vehicle priority calculation device 16, and based on these information, the required calculation If it is determined whether the host vehicle or other vehicle (first vehicle or second vehicle) should proceed first at the junction, and based on this determination, if the host vehicle should proceed first Make your vehicle a high priority, and other vehicles a low priority. Needless to say, if the determination is reversed, the vehicle is given a low priority and the other vehicle is given a high priority.

  The priority information obtained in this way is determined in each vehicle by exchanging information between the first vehicle CAR1 and the second vehicle CAR2 via the road-vehicle communication device 12 or the vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 13. It is possible to check the priority. For example, an indicator for displaying the priority may be provided in the driver seat of each vehicle so that the driver can recognize the priority of the own vehicle by confirming this display. In addition, when the priority determination in the own vehicle and the priority of the own vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle do not match, the determination in one of the vehicles is given priority and the determination in the other vehicle is performed. It is also possible to perform correction processing that is invalidated and unified to the determination of the one vehicle.

  The lamp control device 17 controls the lighting mode of the headlamp HL based on the output from the priority calculation device 16. Here, the headlamp HL is set to a low beam distribution, and the normal low beam distribution is a distribution of white light having a required cut line as shown in FIG. When the vehicle has high priority according to the output of the priority calculation device 16, the lamp control device 17 turns on the headlamp HL and drives the filter driving device 28 to set the coloring filter 27 to the third position s3. The red filter fr is disposed on the optical path. Therefore, the light distribution of the light projected from the headlamp HL of the own vehicle is white W in the central region as shown in FIG. 5B, but in the left and right regions due to the lens action and filter action of the red filter fr. The red light R is projected to a region above the horizontal line. When the vehicle has a low priority, the lamp control device 17 turns on the headlamp HL, sets the colored filter 27 to the second position s2, and arranges the blue filter fb on the optical path. Therefore, the light distribution of the light projected from the headlamp of the host vehicle is white W in the central region as shown in FIG. 5C, but in the regions on the left and right sides due to the lens action and the filter action of the blue filter fb. The blue light B is projected to a region above the horizontal line.

  Therefore, in the case of FIG. 3, if the first vehicle CAR1 is high priority and the second vehicle CAR2 is low priority, the first vehicle CAR1 projects red light R and the second vehicle CAR2 emits blue light B. Project. The driver of the first vehicle CAR1 determines that the vehicle has high priority by confirming that the projection light of the vehicle is red and that the projection light of the second vehicle CAR2 is blue. Since it can be determined that the driver of the second vehicle CAR2 also recognizes at the same time, the vehicle proceeds first at the junction. The driver of the second vehicle CAR2 can determine that the vehicle has a low priority by confirming that the projection light of the vehicle is blue and the projection light of the first vehicle CAR1 is red. The first vehicle CAR1 travels first, and the host vehicle travels thereafter. As described above, the driver of the first vehicle CAR1 and the second vehicle CAR2 only recognizes the projected light color of the headlamp of the own vehicle and the projected light color of the headlamp of the other vehicle. Will be able to judge whether it should proceed first. Therefore, an unskilled driver can easily and safely join or join other vehicles, and unnecessary deceleration is not necessary, and traffic congestion can be avoided in advance.

  Although not shown in the figure, the color filter 27 shown in FIG. 4 is connected to a portion corresponding to the first position S1 of the filter drive device 28, that is, a blue filter fb with a light shielding filter or a neutral density filter. In addition, when the headlamp is normally turned on, a predetermined low beam light distribution is realized by disposing a light blocking filter or a neutral density filter on the optical path so as not to substantially illuminate both side areas. As described above, when the vehicle is turned on during driving, it is configured to irradiate blue light and red light on both sides of the low beam light distribution. It becomes possible to improve the informing property for.

In the above operation, the lamp control device 17 controls the headlamp HL based on the priority calculated by the priority calculation device 16, but the priority forcing switch SW is manually operated based on the judgment of the driver. It is also possible to perform a manual setting in which the vehicle is forcibly set to a high priority, or vice versa. In this case, the headlamp HL of the own vehicle emits blue light or red light based on the priority set forcibly manually. In this case, it is possible to transmit the priority information forcibly set by the own vehicle to the other vehicle and forcibly set the priority of the other vehicle. However, in this case, it is necessary to provide means for reliably informing the driver of the other vehicle that the manual setting has been made.

In the above description, the both-side regions of the light distribution pattern of one lamp constituting the headlamp are colored, but a multi-lamp head that combines the light distribution of a plurality of lamp units to obtain a required light distribution. In the case of a lamp, any one of the lamp units may be colored. For example, the light distribution of the peripheral region including the left and right side regions can be obtained by configuring the light distribution of the lamp unit that illuminates the outermost region among the plurality of lamp units.

  The above explanation is an example of a merged road where vehicles meet, but it is safer and smoother to drive either the first vehicle or the second vehicle on the intersected road first on an intersecting road where there is no traffic light. The same can be applied in the case of determining whether it is effective in securing. It is also possible to clarify the priority of the own vehicle for pedestrians and light vehicles.

An operation when the lamp is a turn signal lamp of an automobile will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the first vehicle CAR1 and the second vehicle CAR2 are provided with four turn signal lamps TSL, one in each of the front, rear, left and right. Then, when traveling on this junction road, it is assumed that the priority calculation device of the first vehicle CAR1 calculates that the own vehicle is high priority and the other vehicle (second vehicle) CAR2 is low priority. As schematically shown in FIG. 6, in the first vehicle CAR1, the lamp control device 17 turns the front and rear turns on the right side of the own vehicle among the four turn signal lamps TSL of the own vehicle, that is, on the side facing the second vehicle CAR2. The signal lamps TSLf and TSLr are blinked. At this time, since the vehicle has a high priority, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 6, after the front turn signal lamp TSLf blinks at a high frequency several times, the rear turn signal lamp TSLr is lowered by 1 to 2 times. Flashes at a frequency. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis represents time TIME, the solid color indicates lighting, and the white color indicates extinguishing. This blinking pattern is defined as a high-priority pattern here. This high-priority pattern is defined as one cycle 1C, and the same blinking pattern is repeated thereafter with a required non-lighting time interposed.

On the other hand, in the low-priority second vehicle CAR2, the turn signal lamps TSLf and TSLr before and after the left side of the own vehicle, that is, the side facing the first vehicle CAR1 among the four turn signal lamps TSL are blinked. Since the vehicle has a low priority at this time, as shown in FIG. 6, after the front turn signal lamp TSLf blinks at a low frequency only once or twice, the rear turn signal lamp TSLr at a high frequency only a plurality of times. Blink. This blinking pattern is defined here as a low priority pattern. This low priority pattern is defined as one cycle 1C, and the same blinking pattern is repeated thereafter with the required non-lighting time interposed.

  Therefore, when the driver of the first vehicle CAR1 recognizes that the blinking pattern of the turn signal lamp TSL of the second vehicle CAR1 is the low priority pattern, it can be confirmed that the second vehicle CAR2 recognizes the low priority. The vehicle travels before the second vehicle CAR2 at the junction. When the driver of the second vehicle CAR2 visually recognizes that the blinking pattern of the turn signal lamp TSL of the first vehicle CAR1 is a high priority pattern, the own vehicle proceeds after the first vehicle CAR1 at the junction. As described above, the driver of the first vehicle CAR1 and the second vehicle CAR2 can determine which of the own vehicle and the other vehicle should proceed first only by visually recognizing the blink pattern of the turn signal lamp TSL of the other vehicle. It becomes like this. Therefore, an unskilled driver can easily and safely join or join other vehicles, and unnecessary deceleration is not necessary, and traffic congestion can be avoided in advance.

It should be noted that this high-priority pattern and low-priority pattern blinking pattern is an example, and any pattern can be adopted, but when all drivers see the blinking pattern, the difference in priority is clearly A blinking pattern that can be recognized is preferable. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, when viewed from the third vehicle CAR3 traveling in the vicinity of the first vehicle CAR1, the blinking of the turn signal lamps of the first vehicle CAR1 and the second vehicle CAR2 changes the normal course. It is also necessary to have a blinking pattern that can be clearly distinguished from blinking in times and emergencies.

The present invention is not necessarily limited to the case where the priority is communicated between the own vehicle and the other vehicle. When the priority is determined by the own vehicle alone, the lamp of the own vehicle is controlled to be turned on separately. You may comprise so that the priority of the own vehicle with respect to a vehicle may be claimed. In particular, for other vehicles that do not have inter-vehicle communication function, the priority of the own vehicle is forcibly set by the driver of the own vehicle, and this is unilaterally notified to the other vehicle, so that the priority of the own vehicle over the other vehicle In addition to being able to recognize the degree, it can also serve as driving assistance for drivers of other vehicles.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to a lamp provided in a vehicle that can perform vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication, and at least can determine the priority when traveling between the host vehicle and another vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Navigation apparatus 12 Road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 13 Inter-vehicle communication apparatus 14 Own vehicle travel information detection apparatus 15 Other vehicle travel information detection apparatus 16 Priority calculation apparatus 17 Lamp control apparatus 18 Manual priority setting apparatus 21 White LED
23 Reflector 24 Main Shade 25 Sub Shade 26 Projection Lens 27 Colored Filter 28 Filter Drive Device HL Headlamp TSL Turn Signal Lamp CAR1 1-3 Vehicle 1 to Vehicle 3

Claims (4)

Own vehicle travel information detecting means for detecting travel information of the own vehicle, other vehicle travel information detecting means for detecting travel information of the other vehicle, and the own vehicle and the other vehicle based on the own vehicle travel information and the other vehicle travel information. a priority calculating means for calculating a priority of the time traveling, e Bei a lamp control means for changing control of the lighting embodiment of the vehicle headlamp based on the obtained priority, said lamp control means is obtained A vehicle lamp system that controls change in color of a part of illumination light of the headlamp based on priority . The vehicle lamp system according to claim 1, wherein the lamp control means switches a part of the illumination light of the headlamp to a different color . The vehicle lamp system according to claim 2, wherein a part of the illumination light is colored red when the priority of the own vehicle is high, and is colored blue when the priority is low. The vehicle lamp system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the lights in the left and right side regions of the illumination light are switched to different colors .

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