JP6214389B2 - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp, and more particularly to a vehicular lamp using a pixel type projector and a scanning line drawing device.

  Conventionally, pixel type projectors and scanning line drawing devices are known as devices that visually convey information related to safe driving to a driver. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle illumination system using a DMD (Digital Micro Mirror Device) which is an example of a pixel type projector. Further, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses an in-vehicle driving support device including a scan actuator configured by an ultrasonic deflector or a galvanometer mirror. In this apparatus, a pattern with a desired shape is drawn on the road surface by scanning the visible light beam with a scan actuator.

JP 2004-9829 A JP 2006-21631 A

  Both the pixel type projector and the scanning line drawing device are devices for transmitting visual information to the driver, but each has advantages and disadvantages. A pixel-type projector is generally suitable for drawing over a wide range, but has a feature that a detailed and high-brightness line drawing is difficult. On the other hand, the scanning line drawing apparatus is suitable for drawing a fine and high-brightness line drawing, but has a feature that flickering and a reduction in luminance become noticeable in a wide range of drawing.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, The objective is to provide the vehicle lamp which can perform visual information transmission correctly with respect to a driver | operator.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a vehicle lamp according to an aspect of the present invention includes a first pattern forming device that reflects irradiated light to form a light distribution pattern in front of the lamp, and reflects the irradiated light. And a light source unit configured to irradiate diffused light to the first pattern forming device and irradiate convergent light to the second pattern forming device.

  The first pattern forming apparatus may include a pixel type projector in which a plurality of optical elements capable of controlling the reflection direction of light emitted from the light source unit are arranged.

  The second pattern forming apparatus may include a scanning line drawing apparatus having an optical element that scans light from the light source unit.

  The light source unit reflects the diffused light from the first light source that emits the diffused light, the second light source that emits the convergent light, the diffused light from the first light source to the first pattern forming device, and the converged light from the second light source. You may provide the reflective mirror which reflects in a 2nd pattern formation apparatus.

  The light source unit includes: a light source that emits convergent light; a beam splitter that divides the convergent light from the light source into two parts; and one of the convergent lights divided by the beam splitter is converted into diffused light to the first pattern forming apparatus. You may provide the 1st optical member to irradiate, and the 2nd optical member to irradiate the 2nd pattern formation apparatus with the other convergent light divided | segmented with the beam splitter.

  The vehicular lamp of this aspect may further include a head-up display device that performs light-emitting display using input light, and an optical member that guides light from the light source unit to the head-up display device.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicular lamp that can accurately transmit visual information to a driver.

It is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic structure of a vehicular lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the visual information displayed ahead of a vehicle with the vehicle lamp which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic structure of a vehicular lamp according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, a vehicular lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted as appropriate. The embodiments do not limit the invention but are exemplifications, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

  FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic structure of a vehicular lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicular lamp 1 according to the present embodiment is a vehicular headlamp device having a pair of headlamp units arranged on the left and right sides in front of the vehicle. Since the pair of headlamp units have substantially the same configuration except that they have a symmetrical structure, FIG. 1 shows the structure of one headlamp unit as the vehicular lamp 1.

  The vehicular lamp 1 includes a lamp body 2 having an opening on the front side of the vehicle, and a translucent cover 4 attached so as to cover the opening of the lamp body 2. The translucent cover 4 is made of translucent resin or glass. In the lamp chamber 3 formed by the lamp body 2 and the translucent cover 4, a light source unit 5, a pixel type projector 6 as a first pattern forming device, and a scanning line drawing device 7 as a second pattern forming device. The projection lens 8, the condensing lens 9, and the optical fiber 10 are accommodated. Each part is attached to the lamp body 2 by a support mechanism (not shown).

  The light source unit 5 includes a substrate 11, an LED 12 and a semiconductor laser 13 mounted on the substrate 11, and a reflecting mirror 14. The LED 12 and the semiconductor laser 13 emit light by current supplied from the substrate 11. The LED 12 emits diffused light toward the reflecting mirror 14. On the other hand, the semiconductor laser 13 emits convergent light (for example, laser light) toward the reflecting mirror 14. The reflecting mirror 14 reflects the diffused light from the LED 12 toward the pixel type projector 6 and reflects the convergent light from the semiconductor laser 13 toward the scanning line drawing device 7. In FIG. 1, the diffused light is indicated by a solid line, and the convergent light is indicated by a broken line. In the present embodiment, the light source unit 5 is configured so that the diffused light from the LED 12 and the convergent light from the semiconductor laser 13 are reflected by the reflecting mirror 14 and irradiated to the pixel type projector 6 and the scanning line drawing device 7, respectively. . However, the reflecting mirror 14 is not essential, and the light source unit 5 is configured so that the diffused light from the LED 12 is directly applied to the pixel type projector 6 while the convergent light from the semiconductor laser 13 is applied directly to the scanning line drawing device 7. May be.

  The pixel type projector 6 may be a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) mirror array in which a plurality of micromirrors capable of controlling the reflection direction of diffused light emitted from the light source unit 5 are arranged in an array. Since the MEMS mirror array is publicly known, the detailed description of the structure is omitted in this specification.

  Each micromirror of the pixel-type projector 6 changes the inclination angle to reflect the diffused light from the light source unit 5 toward the projection lens 8 positioned in front of the lamp (hereinafter referred to as “on state”). The state in which the diffused light from the light source unit 5 is reflected toward a light absorbing member (not shown) provided at a position off the projection lens 8 (hereinafter referred to as “off state”) can be individually switched. is there. The inclination angle of the micromirror differs depending on whether the micromirror is on or off. For example, in FIG. 1, the micromirror 6a is in an on state, and the micromirror 6b is in an off state. The diffused light reflected in front of the lamp by the micromirror 6 a in the on state enters the projection lens 8. On the other hand, the diffused light reflected by the micromirror 6b in the off state enters the light absorbing member and is absorbed.

  The projection lens 8 is composed of, for example, a free-form surface lens having a free-form surface on the front surface and the back surface, and a light source image formed on the back focal plane including the back focus of the projection lens 8 is used as a reverse image. Project onto the front virtual vertical screen. The projection lens 8 is arranged so that its rear focal point is located on the optical axis of the vehicular lamp 1 and in the vicinity of the light emitting surface of the pixel projector 6 (that is, the reflecting surface of the MEMS mirror array). Therefore, the projection lens 8 projects the light from the micromirror in the on state of the pixel projector 6 in front of the lamp in order to form a desired light distribution pattern. In the present embodiment, the light projected from the projection lens 8 can form various light distribution patterns. The projected light distribution pattern will be described later.

  The scanning line drawing device 7 includes a galvano mirror that reflects the convergent light emitted from the light source unit 5 and an actuator that rotates the galvano mirror to scan the converged light emitted from the light source unit 5. The scanning line drawing device 7 can form a line drawing pattern having a desired shape on the road surface by rotating and rotating the galvanometer mirror to reflect and scan the convergent light. Further, the scanning line drawing device 7 can reflect the convergent light toward the condenser lens 9 by setting the galvanometer mirror to a predetermined rotation angle.

  The condensing lens 9 condenses the convergent light irradiated from the scanning line drawing device 7 and makes it incident on the optical fiber 10. The optical fiber 10 is connected to a head-up display (HUD: Head-Up Display) device 15 provided outside the lamp chamber 3, and the convergent light incident on the inside from one end is transmitted to the head-up display device 15. Lead to.

  The head-up display device 15 performs light emission display using the convergent light input from the optical fiber 10. For example, the head-up display device 15 may display characters and graphics on the front window of the vehicle. Since the head-up display is known, the detailed description of its structure is omitted in this specification.

  In the present embodiment, adjustment of emission intensity of diffused light and convergent light from the light source unit 5, reflection of diffused light by the pixel type projector 6, scan of convergent light by the scanning line drawing device 7, and information of the headup display device 15 The display is controlled by the control unit 16. The control unit 16 is realized by elements and circuits including a CPU and a memory of a computer as a hardware configuration, and is realized by a computer program and the like as a software configuration. The control unit 16 is provided outside the lamp chamber 3 in FIG. 1, but may be provided inside the lamp chamber 3. The control unit 16 receives signals from the image processing device 18 connected to the imaging device 17 and a light switch (not shown). Then, the control unit 16 transmits various control signals to the light source unit 5, the pixel type projector 6, the scanning line drawing device 7, and the head-up display device 15 according to the received signal.

  The imaging device 17 is arranged to image the front of the lamp. The image processing device 18 acquires image data picked up by the image pickup device 17 and performs image processing. As a result, the image processing device 18 identifies vehicles, pedestrians, lane marks, and the like included in the image data, and detects these positions. Since the technology for specifying these and the technology for detecting the position are well known, detailed description thereof is omitted here. The detected position information is sent to the control unit 16. The positional information is used by the control unit 16 to control the light source unit 5, the pixel type projector 6, the scanning line drawing device 7, and the head-up display device 15.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining visual information displayed in front of the vehicle by the vehicular lamp 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In the vehicular lamp 1 according to the present embodiment, the diffused light emitted from the pixel projector 6 through the projection lens 8 forms a wide light distribution pattern PW on the road surface in front of the vehicle. The light distribution pattern PW having a desired shape can be formed in the front of the vehicle by turning on some of the micromirrors of the pixel projector 6 and turning off the other micromirrors. For example, when an oncoming vehicle or a pedestrian is detected in front of the vehicle based on an image captured by the imaging device 17, the micromirror corresponding to the area where the oncoming vehicle or the pedestrian is present is turned off. Thereby, it can prevent giving glare to an oncoming vehicle or a pedestrian.

  In the vehicular lamp 1 according to the present embodiment, the convergent light scanned by the scanning line drawing device 7 forms a line drawing pattern PS on the road surface in front of the vehicle. By rotating the galvanometer mirror and reflecting / scanning the convergent light from the light source unit 5, a line drawing pattern PS having a desired shape can be formed in front of the vehicle. For example, when a lane mark is detected in front of the vehicle based on an image captured by the imaging device 17, the galvanometer mirror of the scanning line drawing device 7 is scanned so that a line drawing pattern is formed along the lane mark. Thereby, the information of the lane mark can be accurately presented to the driver. In this case, the micromirror of the pixel type projector 6 corresponding to the area where the lane mark exists may be turned off. Thereby, since the line drawing pattern irradiated by the scanning line drawing device 7 is more conspicuous, the information of the lane mark can be presented to the driver more suitably. Further, the scanning line drawing device 7 may display the course of the vehicle on the road surface in conjunction with, for example, a car navigation system.

  In the vehicular lamp 1 according to the present embodiment, the head-up display device 15 displays, for example, character / graphic information PH on the front window of the vehicle. In this case, the micro mirror of the pixel type projector 6 corresponding to the area where the character / graphic information PH exists may be turned off. Thereby, since the character / graphic information PH displayed by the head-up display device 15 is more prominent, the character information PH can be more suitably presented to the driver.

  As described above, in the vehicular lamp 1 according to this embodiment, the pixel lamp 6, the scanning line drawing device 7, and the head-up display device 15 are provided in the vehicular lamp 1, and different information is presented to the driver. It was configured as follows. Specifically, the pixel projector 6 displays a wide range of light distribution patterns, the scanning line drawing device 7 displays detailed and high-brightness line drawing patterns, and the head-up display device 15 displays character / graphic information. Displayed. By combining information displays that each device is good at in this way, visual information can be accurately transmitted to the driver.

  In the present embodiment, the light source of the pixel projector 6, the scanning line drawing device 7, and the head-up display device 15 is a common light source unit 5. Thereby, it can be set as a cheap structure compared with the case where a light source is provided in each apparatus separately.

  FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic structure of a vehicular lamp according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the vehicular lamp 1 illustrated in FIG. 3, the same or corresponding components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is appropriately omitted.

  In the vehicular lamp 1 according to the present embodiment, the configuration of the light source unit 5 is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. The light source unit 5 of this embodiment includes a semiconductor laser 13 mounted on a substrate 11, a beam splitter 30, a yellow phosphor 31, a reflecting mirror 14, and a convergent light reflecting mirror 32.

  The semiconductor laser 13 emits blue convergent light. The blue convergent light emitted from the semiconductor laser 13 is divided into two by the beam splitter 30. The split ratio of the beam splitter 30 is 9: 1, for example. That is, the beam splitter 30 transmits 90% of the incident blue convergent light and reflects 10% of the incident blue convergent light.

  The blue converged light that has passed through the beam splitter 30 enters the yellow phosphor 31. The yellow phosphor 31 converts blue convergent light into white diffused light and emits it to the reflecting mirror 14. The reflecting mirror 14 reflects the white diffused light toward the pixel type projector 6.

  On the other hand, the blue convergent light reflected by the beam splitter 30 enters the convergent light reflecting mirror 32. The convergent light reflecting mirror 32 reflects the blue converged light toward the reflecting mirror 14. The reflecting mirror 14 reflects the blue converged light from the convergent light reflecting mirror 32 toward the scanning line drawing device 7. The subsequent operation of the scanning line drawing device 7 is the same as that of the vehicular lamp shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the light source unit 5 shown in FIG. 5, diffused light and convergent light can be generated from one semiconductor laser 13 by using the beam splitter 30. By reducing the number of light sources, an inexpensive configuration can be realized.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the light source unit 5 is configured to generate the diffused light by causing the blue convergent light transmitted by the beam splitter 30 to enter the yellow phosphor 31, but the blue convergent light reflected by the beam splitter 30 is generated. The light source unit 5 may be configured to enter the yellow phosphor 31 to generate diffused light. Further, the convergent light reflecting mirror 32 and / or the reflecting mirror 14 are not essential. For example, the diffused light emitted from the yellow phosphor 31 is directly applied to the pixel projector 6 and the convergent light branched by the beam splitter 30 is directly applied. The scanning line drawing device 7 may be irradiated.

  The present invention has been described above based on the embodiment. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are exemplifications, and that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the MEMS mirror array including a plurality of micromirrors is exemplified as the pixel type projector. However, the pixel type projector is not limited to the MEMS mirror array, and may be, for example, a diffractive MEMS array including a plurality of movable ribbons. There may be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the scanning line drawing apparatus using the galvano mirror is exemplified. However, the scanning line drawing apparatus is not limited to the one using the galvano mirror. For example, one small mirror is driven in a two-dimensional direction. It can be a single MEMS mirror.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle lamp, 2 Lamp body, 3 Lamp chamber, 4 Light transmission cover, 5 Light source unit, 6 Pixel type projector, 7 Scanning line drawing device, 8 Projection lens, 9 Condensing lens, 10 Optical fiber, 11 Substrate, 12 LED, 13 semiconductor laser, 14 reflecting mirror, 15 head-up display device, 16 control unit, 17 imaging device, 30 beam splitter, 31 yellow phosphor, 32 convergent light reflecting mirror.

Claims (5)

A first pattern forming device that reflects the irradiated light to form a light distribution pattern in front of the lamp;
A second pattern forming device that reflects the irradiated light to form a line drawing pattern;
A light source unit configured to irradiate diffused light to the first pattern forming device and irradiate convergent light to the second pattern forming device;
Equipped with a,
The light source unit reflects a diffused light from the first light source that emits diffused light, a second light source that emits convergent light, and the first light source to the first pattern forming device, and from the second light source. And a reflecting mirror that reflects the convergent light to the second pattern forming device . A first pattern forming device that reflects the irradiated light to form a light distribution pattern in front of the lamp;
A second pattern forming device that reflects the irradiated light to form a line drawing pattern;
A light source unit configured to irradiate diffused light to the first pattern forming device and irradiate convergent light to the second pattern forming device;
With
The light source unit includes: a light source that emits convergent light; a beam splitter that divides the convergent light from the light source into two; and one of the convergent lights divided by the beam splitter is converted into diffused light. A vehicular lamp, comprising: a first optical member that irradiates the pattern forming apparatus; and a second optical member that irradiates the second pattern forming apparatus with the other convergent light divided by the beam splitter. The first pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a pixel type projector in which a plurality of optical elements capable of controlling the reflection direction of the irradiation light are arrayed from the light source unit Vehicle lamp. The second pattern forming apparatus for a vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a scanning line drawing apparatus having an optical element for scanning the light from the light source unit. A head-up display device that emits light using the input light; and
An optical member for guiding light from the light source unit to the head-up display device;
The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, further comprising a 4.

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