JP7528571B2 - Vehicle lighting fixtures - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp that reflects light emitted from a light source by a reflector and irradiates the light in front of the vehicle.

Conventionally, vehicle lamps equipped with a reflector that reflects light from a light source and irradiates it in a predetermined light distribution pattern forward of the vehicle have been known. For example, in the projector-type vehicle headlamp described in Patent Document 1, a light source and a reflector that reflects the emitted light forward are mounted and integrated on a heat sink within a lamp chamber defined by a lamp body and a front cover, and housed as a light source unit.

When such a headlamp is used for low beam, a shade is provided between the reflector and the lens in front of it to block some of the light reflected from the reflector, and the light is emitted forward as a low beam light distribution pattern with a specified cut-off line. In addition, to adjust the direction (optical axis) of the emitted light, an aiming mechanism is provided that tilts the light source unit up and down and left and right within the lamp chamber and fixes it in place.

The aiming mechanism of the vehicle headlamp described in Patent Document 1 is composed of an aiming bracket that supports the light source unit, three aiming screws, and three bearing nuts. By rotating the aiming screw, the light source unit can be tilted around the horizontal tilt axis and the vertical tilt axis, respectively, to adjust the tilt of the light axis in the left-right and up-down directions.

JP 2018-005980 A

In Japan, cars and other vehicles drive on the left side of the road, while in other countries there are regions where people drive on the left side and regions where people drive on the right side, and the desired light distribution pattern also differs depending on the country or region. For this reason, various different reflectors, lenses, shades, etc. are used in Japan, Europe, and North America to obtain a light distribution pattern for vehicle lamps that meets the requirements of the country or region.

Specifically, in areas where people drive on the left side of the road, such as Japan, the cutoff line in the light distribution pattern is lower on the right side (the side of oncoming vehicles) so as not to dazzle oncoming vehicles, and the amount of light to the right side is also reduced, while the amount of light on the left side is increased so that it can be irradiated further, so the lenses and reflectors are designed to do so. The opposite is true in areas where people drive on the right side of the road. To achieve this, the light distribution pattern is formed by blocking the light from the light source with a shade placed at the rear focus of the lens, and the light itself blocked by the shade has a shape symmetrical on both sides of the optical axis of the lens.
However, such a configuration blocks much of the light emitted from the light source, making it impossible to fully utilize the luminous flux of the light source.

In consideration of these problems, the object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of use of light emitted from a light source in a projector-type vehicle lamp by making the shape of the reflected light from a reflector that passes through a shade suitable for forming a light distribution pattern.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following aspects.
(1) One aspect of the present invention is a vehicle lamp comprising a heat sink in which a light source is arranged, a reflector that reflects light emitted from the light source toward the front of the vehicle, and a lens that projects the reflected light from the reflector toward the front of the vehicle, wherein a shade that blocks a portion of the reflected light from the reflector is arranged between the lens and the reflector and is attached to a member on the vehicle body side via a bracket, and at least the reflector is selectively tilted to either the left or right side of the vehicle around the optical axis of the lens and attached to the bracket.
(2) In the aspect of (1) above, the reflector may be attached to the bracket in a state inclined toward the road shoulder with respect to a vertical axis passing through the optical axis of the lens.
(3) In the above aspect (1) or (2), the lens may be connected to the reflector via a lens holder and may be integrally inclined to either the left or right side of the vehicle.
(4) In any of the aspects (1) to (3), the reflector may be attached to the heat sink, one of the bracket or the heat sink may be provided with positioning holes that form a pair on the left and right sides of the vehicle, and the other may be provided with positioning protrusions that form a pair on the left and right sides of the vehicle, and a center line connecting the centers of the left and right positioning holes of the bracket may be inclined with respect to the horizontal portion at the upper edge of the shade when viewed in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, in a projector-type vehicle lamp, the shape of the reflected light from the reflector that passes through the shade can be made suitable for forming a light distribution pattern, thereby improving the efficiency of use of light emitted from the light source.

1 is a plan view showing an example of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view for explaining the configuration of the lamp unit. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of the lamp unit. 4 is a front view of the movable shade of the lamp unit as viewed from the front of the vehicle. FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the lamp unit attached to the bracket with an inclination to the right. FIG. 2 is a front view of the lamp unit attached to the bracket and tilted to the left. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic symmetrical light distribution pattern. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a light distribution pattern tilted to the left according to the Japanese domestic specification. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a light distribution pattern tilted to the right according to the US domestic specification.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that in the attached drawings, for ease of viewing, only some of the parts with the same attribute that exist in multiple locations may be given reference symbols.

Unless otherwise specified, "front" and "rear" refer to the "forward direction" and "reverse direction" of the vehicle, respectively, and "up," "down," "left," and "right" refer to the direction as seen by the driver in the vehicle. "Up" and "down" also refer to "up" and "down" in the vertical direction, while "left" and "right" also refer to "left" and "right" in the horizontal direction. Additionally, the outside of the vehicle refers to the outside in the left-right direction of the vehicle with respect to the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle that passes through the center of the vehicle in the left-to-right direction, and the inside of the vehicle refers to the side closer to the front-to-rear axis in the left-to-right direction of the vehicle.

[Overall configuration of vehicle lamp]
1 is a plan view of a vehicle 102 equipped with a vehicle lamp according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the vehicle lamps according to the present embodiment are headlights 101L and 101R provided on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle 102, but hereinafter, these will be simply referred to as vehicle lamps.
This vehicle lamp comprises a housing (not shown) that opens to the front and an outer lens (not shown) that is attached to the housing so as to cover the opening, and a lamp unit 10 (see Figures 2 and 3) is disposed within a lamp chamber formed by the housing and the outer lens.

Figure 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the lamp unit 10 of the vehicle lamp of this embodiment, and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lamp unit 10 cut in a vertical plane passing through the optical axis Z of the lens 50. Note that in Figure 3, for ease of viewing, only what is located on the cross section is shown, and parts that can be seen beyond the cross section are not shown.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the lighting unit 10 includes a light source 20 (shown only in Figure 3), a heat sink 30 on which the light source 20 is disposed, a reflector 40 disposed on the heat sink 30 and reflecting light from the light source 20 forward, a lens 50 disposed forward of the light source 20 and irradiating light forward, and a movable shade 60 disposed between the lens 50 and the light source 20 and switching the light distribution pattern between low beam and high beam.

(Light source 20)
The light source 20 is a semiconductor type light source having a light emitting chip provided on a substrate, and although an LED is used in this embodiment, an LD, an EL (organic EL), etc. may also be used. The shape and number of the light emitting chips used on the substrate are not particularly limited, and for example, only one square light emitting chip may be disposed on the substrate, or multiple light emitting chips may be disposed on the substrate in a horizontal line to form a rectangular light emitting surface, or only one rectangular light emitting chip may be disposed on the substrate.

(Heat sink 30)
The heat sink 30 includes a base portion 31 on which the light source 20 is disposed, and a plurality of heat dissipation fins 32 that protrude vertically downward from the base portion 31, extend in the left-right direction (vehicle width direction), and are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction. The heat sink 30 also includes mounting portions 33 that are provided on the left and right sides forward of the base portion 31 and the heat dissipation fins 32, and to which the movable shade 60 and the lens holder 52 are attached.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the left and right mounting parts 33 has two screw fixing holes 33a spaced apart vertically. In other words, a total of four screw fixing holes 33a are provided, two pairs on the left and right in the horizontal direction, and as will be described in detail later, a lens (lens holder 52) and a movable shade 60 are attached to the heat sink 30 by screwing a screw 34 into each of the holes.

In addition, one each of the left and right mounting parts 33 is provided, in other words, a pair of left and right positioning pins 33b (positioning protrusions) are provided in the horizontal direction, and as will be described in detail later, the heat sink 30, lens holder 52, and movable shade 60 are positioned relative to each other by being inserted into the positioning holes 54b and 61b, respectively. In other words, the reflector 40 and lens 50 attached to the heat sink 30 are positioned relative to the movable shade 60.

(Reflector 40)
2 and 3, the reflector 40 is in the shape of a semi-dome that covers the light source 20, and is attached to the base portion 31 of the heat sink 30. A reflective surface that reflects light from the light source 20 forward is provided on the inner surface of the reflector 40. The first focal point of the reflective surface is located at or near the center of the light emitting surface of the light source 20, and the second focal point is located near the upper end of the shade portion 62 of the movable shade 60.

The reflecting surface of the reflector 40 is formed symmetrically, as an example, and reflects the light from the light source 20 forward to form a symmetric light distribution pattern P (see FIG. 6A). Then, as described in detail below, the heat sink 30 to which the reflector 40 is attached is positioned relative to the movable shade 60, so that the reflecting surface of the reflector 40 is inclined toward the shoulder side with respect to the vertical axis passing through the optical axis of the lens, forming a light distribution pattern (see FIGS. 6B and 6C) that is desirable for the destination of the vehicle, such as Japan or the United States.

(Lens 50)
The lens 50 projects the light from the light source 20 reflected by the reflector 40 forward, and is made of a transparent material such as, for example, an acrylic resin, a polycarbonate resin, glass, etc. As an example, the lens 50 may be an aspheric lens having a curved exit surface 50a protruding forward and a substantially flat entrance surface 50b, as shown in Fig. 3, but is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 2, the outer periphery of the lens 50 is provided with a flange portion 51 that is clamped by the lens holder 52. The lens holder 52 has a roughly cylindrical lens fixing portion 53, and the flange portion 51 of the lens 50 abuts against the front peripheral portion of this lens fixing portion 53. The flange portion 51 of the lens 50 is clamped between the peripheral portion and a plurality of clamping pieces 53a that are spaced apart in the circumferential direction.

On the other hand, a pair of left and right mounting parts 54 are provided on the rear side of the lens fixing part 53 in correspondence with the left and right mounting parts 33 of the heat sink 30, and two screw holes 54a are provided vertically spaced apart so as to correspond to the screw fixing holes 33a provided in the mounting parts 33 of the heat sink 30, and a positioning hole 54b is provided between them so as to correspond to the positioning pin 33b.

That is, the pair of left and right mounting parts 54 of the lens holder 52 are provided with two pairs of screw holes 54a in the horizontal direction, totaling four, and a pair of left and right positioning holes 54b in the horizontal direction. Then, as will be described in detail later, the screws 34 inserted into each of the screw holes 54a are screwed into the screw fixing holes 33a of the heat sink 30, thereby integrating the heat sink 30, the lens holder 52, and the movable shade 60.

At this time, the pair of left and right mounting parts 54 and the pair of left and right mounting parts 33 of the heat sink 30 are fastened together, sandwiching a pair of flange parts 61a provided on the left and right sides of the bracket 61 of the movable shade 60 between them. In addition, the positioning pins 33b of the heat sink 30 are inserted into the positioning holes 61b provided in each of the flange parts 61a, thereby positioning the heat sink 30, lens holder 52, and movable shade 60 relative to each other.

(Movable shade 60)
4 is a front view of the movable shade 60, showing a state in which the movable shade 60 is in a low beam position where it blocks a portion of the light emitted from the light source 20 and reflected by the reflector 40. The movable shade 60 of this embodiment includes a bracket 61 and a shade portion 62, and the shade portion 62 is in the form of a rectangular plate extending to the left and right, and its upper edge 62a is shaped to generate a cutoff line CF (see FIGS. 6A to 6C) of the low beam light distribution pattern.

The shade section 62 is supported by an axis 63 so that it can rotate in the front-rear direction, and is biased by a torsion coil spring (not shown) to rotate forward toward the low beam position. The shade section 62 is rotated backward about the axis 63 by a solenoid 64 attached to the bracket 61 so as to protrude forward, and is switched to a lowered state (high beam position) in which it does not block the light reflected from the reflector 40.

That is, a power transmission member 66 such as a wire or a wire is disposed between the shaft portion 63 and the plunger 65 of the solenoid 64, and transmits the force generated by the solenoid 64 to the shade portion 62 as a rotational force in the forward and backward directions. When power is supplied to the solenoid 64, the power transmission member 66 rotates horizontally, and the shade portion 62 rotates backward around the shaft portion 63, switching to the high beam position.

The bracket 61 to which the shade portion 62, which can be switched between these positions, is attached has a pair of left and right flange portions 61a, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. Each flange portion 61a is sandwiched and fastened between the mounting portion 54 of the lens holder 52 and the mounting portion 33 of the heat sink 30. For this reason, the flange portion 61a has a positioning hole 61b at a position corresponding to the positioning pin 33b of the heat sink 30.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the positioning pin 33b of the heat sink 30 is inserted into the positioning hole 61b of the movable shade 60, and the movable shade 60 is attached to the heat sink 30. After that, the positioning pin 33b of the heat sink 30 is inserted into the positioning hole 54b of the lens holder 52 to which the lens 50 is attached, and the lens holder 52 is also attached to the heat sink 30.

Then, a screw 34 is inserted into the screw hole 54a of the lens holder 52 and screwed into the screw fixing hole 33a of the heat sink 30. This sandwiches the flange portion 61a of the movable shade 60 between the mounting portion 54 of the lens holder 52 and the mounting portion 33 of the heat sink 30 and fastens them together. This completes the assembly of the lamp unit 10, and the lamp is fixed to the housing of the vehicle lamp (a member on the vehicle body side) via the movable shade 60. Note that a screw insertion hole may be provided in the flange portion 61a of the movable shade 60, and the lens holder 52 and the movable shade 60 may be screwed into the screw fixing hole 33a of the heat sink 30 with the screw 34 and fastened together.

(Inclined arrangement of the lighting unit)
Incidentally, as for the pair of left and right positioning holes 61b provided in the bracket 61 as described above, the positioning hole 61b on the right side of the vehicle (the left side in the figure) is located higher than the positioning hole 61b on the left side of the vehicle (the right side in the figure) when viewed in the front-rear direction as shown in Fig. 4. Therefore, a line C (center line C) connecting the centers of the pair of left and right positioning holes 61b is inclined downward to the right by a preset angle α in the figure with respect to the horizontal portion of the upper edge 62a of the shade portion 62 when viewed in the front-rear direction.

On the other hand, the pair of left and right positioning pins 33b of the heat sink 30 that are inserted into the positioning holes 61b are positioned at approximately the same height. Therefore, when the installation of the lamp unit 10 is completed as described above, the lens 50, heat sink 30, and reflector 40 are attached to the bracket 61 of the movable shade 60 at an angle α to the left side of the vehicle around the optical axis Z of the lens 50.

In other words, as shown in a front view from the front in FIG. 5A, in the specifications for Japan, where traffic is on the left side of the road, the entire lamp unit 10 including the lens 50 and reflector 40 is inclined by the preset angle α to the left side of the vehicle (the right side in the figure). As described above, in this embodiment, the reflective surface of the reflector 40 is formed symmetrically, and the basic light distribution pattern is symmetrical as shown in FIG. 6A.

Therefore, when the lamp unit 10 is mounted on the left side of the vehicle around the optical axis Z of the lens 50 (i.e., on the road shoulder side in Japan where traffic is on the left side), as described above, the reflecting surface of the reflector 40 is also tilted to the left with respect to the vertical axis passing through the optical axis of the lens, forming a light distribution pattern P tilted to the right as shown in FIG. 6B. As a result, in the low beam light distribution pattern below the cutoff line CF, the amount of light blocked by the shade is reduced in the right part of the light distribution pattern P, and the amount of light irradiated to the position close to the vehicle in the right driving lane (oncoming lane) increases (shown with diagonal lines in the figure). In addition, by adding a straight part of the light distribution pattern P to the cutoff line CF of the left driving lane (own lane), the amount of light irradiated to the vicinity of the cutoff line CF of the left driving lane increases.

In contrast, in specifications for countries or regions where traffic drives on the right side, such as the United States, (not shown), the left positioning hole 61b of the bracket 61 is formed at a higher position than the right positioning hole 61b, and the center line connecting their centers is inclined downward to the right by an angle α with respect to the horizontal portion of the upper edge 62a of the shade portion 62 when viewed from the front.

Therefore, as shown in Fig. 5B when viewed from the front, the entire lamp unit 10 including the lens 50 and the reflector 40 is inclined by an angle α to the right side of the vehicle (the left side of the figure, the shoulder side of the road in a right-hand traffic area), forming a light distribution pattern P inclined to the left side as shown in Fig. 6C as an example. As a result, in the low beam light distribution pattern below the cutoff line CF, the amount of light blocked by the shade is reduced in the left part of the light distribution pattern P, and the amount of light irradiated to a position close to the vehicle in the left driving lane (opposing lane) is increased (shown with diagonal lines in the figure). In addition, by adding a straight line part of the light distribution pattern P to the cutoff line CF of the right driving lane (own lane), the amount of light irradiated to the vicinity of the cutoff line CF of the right driving lane is increased.

[Effects of the vehicle lamp according to the embodiment]
As described above, in the vehicle lamp according to this embodiment, the heat sink 30, reflector 40, and lens 50 of the lamp unit 10 are selectively tilted to either the left or right side of the vehicle around the optical axis Z of the lens 50, and are attached to the housing via the bracket 61 of the movable shade 60. This allows the projector-type vehicle headlamp to effectively use the light emitted from the light source to form a light distribution pattern, improving the efficiency of use of the light emitted from the light source. In addition, multiple parts can be standardized between left-hand traffic in Japan and right-hand traffic in the United States, reducing costs.

In particular, in this embodiment, a pair of left and right positioning holes 61b on the bracket 61 of the movable shade 60 are provided at different heights on the left and right so that the center line C connecting them is inclined when viewed in the front-to-rear direction, while the positioning pin 33b of the heat sink 30 and the positioning hole 54b of the lens holder 52 are at the same height on the left and right. Therefore, simply by replacing the bracket 61, it is possible to accommodate multiple destinations and more parts can be standardized.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the basic light distribution pattern formed by the reflecting surface of the reflector 40 is symmetrical, and the reflector 40 is tilted to the left or right, so that the amount of light irradiated to positions near the cutoff line of the vehicle's own lane and close to the vehicle in the oncoming lane can be increased without dazzling oncoming vehicles in both left- and right-hand traffic, and light that would previously have been blocked by a shade can be effectively utilized.

[Other embodiments]
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail, the configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the claims. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the heat sink 30, the reflector 40, and the lens 50 of the lamp unit 10 are inclined as a unit, but this is not limiting, and the heat sink 30 and the lens 50 do not need to be inclined as long as at least the reflector 40 is inclined.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the heights of a pair of left and right positioning holes 61b provided in the bracket 61 of the movable shade 60 are made different in order to tilt the heat sink 30, reflector 40, etc., but this is not limited to this, and the heights of a pair of left and right positioning pins 33b provided in the heat sink 30 may also be made different.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the reflective surface of the reflector 40 is formed symmetrically, but this is not limited thereto, and the reflective surface does not have to be symmetrical.

10: Lighting unit 20: Light source 30: Heat sink 40: Reflector 50: Lens 60: Movable shade 61: Bracket 62: Shade portion (shade)
101L, 101R Headlights (vehicle lighting fixtures)
102 Vehicle Z Lens optical axis

Claims (4)

A heat sink on which a light source is disposed;
a reflector that reflects light emitted from the light source toward the front of the vehicle;
a lens that projects the reflected light from the reflector forward of the vehicle,
a shade for blocking a part of the reflected light from the reflector is disposed between the lens and the reflector, and is attached to a member on a vehicle body side via a bracket;
At least the reflector is selectively tilted to either the left or right side of the vehicle about the optical axis of the lens with respect to a horizontal portion at an upper edge of the shade and attached to the bracket. 2. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the reflector is attached to the bracket in a state in which the reflector is inclined downward toward a road shoulder with respect to a vertical axis passing through an optical axis of the lens. A vehicle lamp according to claim 1 or 2, in which the lens is connected to the reflector via a lens holder and is integrally inclined to either the left or right side of the vehicle. the reflector is attached to the heat sink;
one of the bracket and the heat sink is provided with a pair of positioning holes on the left and right sides of a vehicle, and the other is provided with a pair of positioning protrusions on the left and right sides of the vehicle;
4. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein a center line connecting the centers of the left and right positioning holes of the bracket is inclined with respect to a horizontal portion at an upper edge of the shade when viewed in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle.