Vehicle light

Abstract

The present application provides a vehicle lamp, which is provided with a light guide plate, simplifies the structure of the light guide plate, improves the freedom of the pattern shape of the light emission pattern, and further makes the design and manufacture of the light guide plate easy. The vehicle lamp is provided with a light source (1, 11) and a light guide plate (light guide plate, 2), the light guide plate has a surface and a back surface and internally propagates the light of the light source, the light guide plate (2) is formed with a plurality of light reflection steps (3) on the back surface, the light reflection steps (3) reflect the internally propagated light and emit the light from the surface, and the required light emission pattern is composed of the light reflected by the light reflection steps (3) and emitted from the surface of the light guide plate (2). Moreover, the plurality of light reflection steps (3) include a plurality of first light reflection steps (31) for reflecting the internally propagated light of the light guide plate (2) towards the required direction, and the directions of the light reflected by the plurality of first light reflection steps (31) and emitted from the light guide plate (2) are different respectively.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to lamps installed on vehicles such as automobiles, and particularly to lamps employing light guides that produce different luminous patterns when viewed from multiple different directions. Background Technology

[0002] One type of automotive lamp is a lamp employing a light guide. In this lamp, the surface of the light guide is positioned facing the outside of the vehicle body, and a desired pattern of light-reflecting steps is formed on the back side of the light guide. Furthermore, when light from a light source enters the interior of the light guide, a portion of the light propagating inside the light guide is reflected at the light-reflecting steps, and the reflected light exits from the surface of the light guide. In this way, the lamp functions as a light-emitting pattern corresponding to the shape of the light-reflecting steps.

[0003] Patent document 1 discloses a lamp in which a convex lens is provided on the surface of a light guide. By utilizing the light refraction effect of the convex lens, different light emission patterns can be observed when viewed from different directions, thereby improving the design effect of the lamp. Existing technical documents

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-63890

[0005] The lamp in Patent Document 1 employs a so-called double-convex lens technique. Because a convex lens is formed on the surface of the light guide and a light-reflecting step is formed on the back, the surface and back of the light guide need to be processed separately, resulting in a complex structure and difficult manufacturing. Furthermore, since the light-reflecting step needs to be positioned corresponding to the convex lens, the placement of the light-reflecting step is constrained, limiting the design freedom of the light-emitting pattern formed by the light-reflecting step, and making it difficult to design the specific positions for forming the light-reflecting step. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide a vehicle light that simplifies the structure of the light guide and increases the freedom of the shape of the light-emitting pattern, thereby making the design and manufacture of the light guide easier.

[0007] The vehicle lamp of the present invention includes a light source and a light guide. The light guide has a surface and a back surface and propagates the light of the light source inside. The light guide has a plurality of light reflection steps formed on the back surface that reflect the light propagating inside and emit it from the surface. The light reflected by the plurality of light reflection steps and emitted from the surface of the light guide constitutes a desired light emission pattern. The vehicle lamp is characterized in that the plurality of light reflection steps include a plurality of first light reflection steps that reflect the light propagating inside the light guide in a desired direction. The directions of the light reflected by the plurality of first light reflection steps and emitted from the light guide are different.

[0008] The light-reflecting step of the present invention may further include a second light-reflecting step, which reflects light propagating inside the light guide in a non-directional state and emits it from the surface. Moreover, the light-emitting pattern may be formed by combining the light-emitting pattern formed by the first light-reflecting step and the light-emitting pattern formed by the second light-reflecting step.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first light-reflecting step is composed of a cylindrical or prismatic recess, the bottom surface of which constitutes a reflective surface. The angles of the reflective surfaces of the multiple first light-reflecting steps, each with a different direction of emitted light, are different in the light guide. Furthermore, the second light-reflecting step is composed of a spherical or conical recess, the bottom surface of which constitutes a reflective surface.

[0010] According to the present invention, even if the surface of the light guide is flat, different light emission patterns can be observed by moving the observation position relative to the lamp. Thus, it is unnecessary to form protrusions and lenses on the surface of the light guide, and it is also unnecessary to form protrusions and lenses in specific, precise positions. This simplifies the structure of the light guide and facilitates the design and manufacture of the light guide plate. Attached Figure Description

[0011] Figure 1 This is a partial exterior view of a car in which the present invention is applied to the rear combination lamp, and a simplified perspective view of the rear combination lamp partially cut out. Figure 2 This is the front view of the taillights. Figure 3 It is along Figure 2 Enlarged cross-sectional view of line III-III. Figure 4 The diagram illustrates a unit pattern of a light-reflecting step. (a) is the front view, and (b) is an enlarged view of part B of (a). Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the light reflection mechanism of the first and second light reflection steps. Figure 6 This is a diagram schematically representing the first light-reflecting step of a series of steps. Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the method of setting the tilt angle of the first light-reflecting step. Figure 8 It is a conceptual diagram illustrating the different luminous patterns observed when an observer moves. Detailed Implementation

[0012] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1This is a partial perspective view of a car CAR in which the present invention is applied to a left rear combination lamp L-RCL located on the left side of the rear of the vehicle body. The left rear combination lamp L-RCL includes a taillight TL, a turn signal TSL, and a reversing light BUL, and the present invention is applied to the taillight TL. Since the right rear combination lamp R-RCL and the left rear combination lamp L-RCL have a symmetrical structure, the following description will focus on the left rear combination lamp L-RCL.

[0013] Figure 1 This is a simplified perspective view showing a partial cutaway of the left rear combination light L-RCL removed from the vehicle body of a car. The lamp housing 100 of the left rear combination light L-RCL includes: a lamp body 101 mounted on the rear left corner of the car body; and a transparent light-transmitting cover 102 that is bent into a protruding shape, at least horizontally, following the curved shape of the rear left corner, and mounted on the front opening of the lamp body 11. The interior of the lamp housing 100 is divided into multiple regions, in which the taillight TL, turn signal TSL, and reversing light BUL are integrated. The structure of the turn signal TSL and reversing light BUL is not particularly limited, and detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0014] The taillight TL is configured as a lamp unit having a light source 1 and a plate-shaped light guide (hereinafter, light guide plate) 2. Figure 2 This is the front view of the lamp unit. Figure 3 The diagram shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of line III-III. The light source unit 1 includes an LED (light-emitting diode) 11 that emits red light when powered. The LED 11 is mounted on a support substrate 12 with its emitting surface facing downwards. The support substrate 12 is mounted on the lamp body 101. Although not shown in the diagram, a light-emitting circuit for emitting light from the LED 11 is formed on the support substrate 12. Thus, when power is supplied to the LED 11 through the light-emitting circuit, the LED 11 emits red light downwards from its emitting surface.

[0015] The light guide plate 2 is formed of a light-transmitting transparent resin, such as PMMA (acrylic) resin, and is a generally uniformly thick plate member that is almost straight in the vertical direction and slightly protrudes in the horizontal direction, mimicking the curved shape of the lamp housing 100. The light guide plate 2 is mounted on the lamp body 101 and located below the light source section 1. Here, of the two surfaces of the light guide plate 2, the surface facing the front of the taillight TL is surface 21, and the surface opposite to it is back surface 22.

[0016] Furthermore, the light guide plate 2 is formed as a trapezoid with a lower side longer than the upper side, and its upper end surface 23 faces the light-emitting surface of the LED 11. An incident lens 24 is formed on the upper end surface 23 to allow the light emitted from the LED 11 to enter efficiently. The light from the LED 11 is uniformly incident into the interior of the light guide plate 2 in a slightly divergent manner through the incident lens 24, and then spreads almost throughout the entire interior of the light guide plate 2 from the upper region to the lower region.

[0017] Furthermore, on the back surface 22 of the light guide plate 2, the light-reflecting steps 3, described in detail later, are formed in a desired pattern. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the light-reflecting step 3 is composed of a tiny recess that causes the back surface 22 of the light guide plate 2 to be recessed in the desired shape. When the taillight TL is lit, i.e., when LED 11 emits light... Figure 3 As shown by the middle arrow, the light propagating inside the light guide plate 2 is reflected at the bottom of the recess in the light reflection step 3 and emitted from the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2. The light emitted from the surface 21 passes through the light-transmitting cover 102 and is emitted in the front direction of the taillight TL, becoming the illumination light of the taillight TL.

[0018] Therefore, when the taillight TL is illuminated, when viewed from the front, it appears as almost the entire surface of the light guide plate 2 emitting a low-brightness red light. However, due to the light reflected by the light-reflecting steps 3 and emitted from the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2, a high-brightness luminous pattern composed of multiple light-reflecting steps 3 is observed, thus improving the design of the taillight TL. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the taillight TL also functions as a brake light, and the brightness of the red light emitted by the LED 11 is increased when the vehicle decelerates or stops, emitting a luminous pattern with a higher brightness than when it is used as a taillight.

[0019] The light-emitting pattern 4 formed by the light-reflecting steps 3 is as follows in this embodiment: Figure 2 As shown, five unit patterns 41-45, which are flattened trapezoidal frames formed by multiple light-reflecting steps 3, constitute a luminous pattern 4 arranged in the vertical direction (same as the up-down direction in the figure, the same below). The dimensions of the above five unit patterns 41-45 in the horizontal direction (same as the left-right direction in the figure, the same below) gradually increase from top to bottom, but the basic pattern shapes are almost the same.

[0020] Figure 4 (a) is a front view of one of the five unit patterns 41 to 45 described above, unit pattern 43. Unit pattern 43 is a trapezoidal frame formed by an upper side 4u and a lower side 4d extending horizontally, and a left side 4l and a right side 4r sloping at both ends. The upper side 4u and the lower side 4d form a straight area with the required width in the vertical direction. The left side 4l and the right side 4r form a tapered area with a width that gradually increases from the lower end to the upper end in the horizontal direction.

[0021] Furthermore, in the light-reflecting steps 3, the light-reflecting steps 31 arranged on the left side 4l and the right side 4r, and the light-reflecting steps 32 arranged on the upper side 4u and the lower side 4d, are constructed with steps of different shapes. Here, the light-reflecting steps 31 arranged on the left side 4l and the right side 4r are referred to as the first light-reflecting steps, and the light-reflecting steps 32 arranged on the upper side 4u and the lower side 4d are referred to as the second light-reflecting steps.

[0022] Figure 4 (b) is Figure 4 The enlarged view of part B in (a) shows a portion of the first light-reflecting step 31 on the left side 4l and a portion of the second light-reflecting step 32 on the lower side 4d. The first light-reflecting step 31 is formed into a step shape that reflects light in the desired direction in the horizontal direction, that is, a light-reflecting step that performs directional light reflection in the horizontal direction. Here, it is formed into a cylindrical recess that tilts the column axis in the horizontal direction or at a desired angle relative to the horizontal direction, in other words, a cylindrical (arched) recess.

[0023] The first light-reflecting step 31 formed by the cylindrical concave portion is as follows: Figure 5 As shown in the schematic diagram in (a), when light L propagates from above and is projected, it is reflected in a divergent state in the vertical direction V on its circumferential surface, while in a directional state in the horizontal direction H, where the divergence of light L is suppressed. Furthermore, although the diagram is omitted, as long as the first light-reflecting step 31 is a structure that performs directional reflection in the horizontal direction, it can also be formed as a recess of a triangular or quadrangular prism that performs directional light reflection in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

[0024] on the other hand, Figure 4 The second light-reflecting step 32 shown in (b) is formed as a step that reflects light in a divergent state in both the horizontal and vertical directions, and is here a spherical concave portion. The second light-reflecting step 32 formed by the spherical concave portion is as follows... Figure 5 As shown in the schematic diagram in (b), when light L propagates from above is projected, it is reflected in a divergent state in both the vertical direction V and the horizontal direction H on the aforementioned spherical surface. Furthermore, although the diagram is omitted, as long as the second light-reflecting step 32 is a structure that reflects light in a divergent state in both the vertical direction V and the horizontal direction H, it can also be formed as a conical concave portion.

[0025] Moreover, such as Figure 4As shown in (a), in the left side portion 4l and the right side portion 4r, the first light-reflecting steps 31 are arranged in multiple columns facing upward to the right and upward to the left, respectively, forming the aforementioned conical region. Furthermore, in the upper side portion 4u and the lower side portion 4d, the second light-reflecting steps 32 are arranged in a matrix or according to a prescribed pattern in the vertical and horizontal directions, forming the aforementioned linear region.

[0026] Furthermore, the first light-reflecting steps 31 of the left side 4l and the right side 4r respectively constitute step shapes with the desired light-reflecting characteristics. For example... Figure 4 As shown, in the left side 4l, a plurality of first light-reflecting steps 31 are arranged in a column tilted to the upper right, and the plurality of columns are arranged in an almost horizontal direction. For ease of understanding, the first step column C1 to the nth step column Cn (n is a positive integer) are defined as moving from the outer side of the vehicle width direction (same as the left side of the figure) to the inner side of the vehicle width direction (same as the right side of the figure) downwards to the right. The lower ends of the respective first step columns C1 to the nth step columns Cn are arranged close together, and the spacing between them gradually increases as they move towards the upper right.

[0027] The first light-reflecting steps 31 arranged in this way set the orientation of the reflective surface of the cylindrical recess in such that the multiple first light-reflecting steps constituting the same step column reflect the propagated light in the same direction. That is, the multiple first light-reflecting steps 31 constituting each step column C* (* is 1 to n) are formed so that they all reflect light in the same direction and emit light from the surface of the light guide plate. On the other hand, the orientation of the reflective surface of the cylindrical recess is set between each step column C* in such a way that the reflection direction of the propagated light is different.

[0028] Figure 6 This is a diagram schematically representing the first light-reflecting steps 31 of the local step series Ci, Ci+1, Ci+2 (i being a natural number). For example... Figure 3 As shown, when light propagating from inside the light guide plate 2 is projected from above onto the first light reflecting step 31 of each step row, the light reflected by each light reflecting step 31 is projected onto the front of the lamp at a specific angle relative to the horizontal direction, and then emitted from the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2.

[0029] That is, the tilt angle θti of the long side axis (cylindrical axis) of the cylindrical recess of the first light-reflecting step 31 of the step row Ci on the outer side of the vehicle width direction relative to the horizontal line H (the line extending in the horizontal direction) is greater than the tilt angle θti+1 of the first light-reflecting step 31 of the step row Ci+1 on the inner side of the vehicle width direction. Similarly, the tilt angle θti+1 of the first light-reflecting step 31 of the step row Ci+1 is greater than the tilt angle θti+2 of the first light-reflecting step 31 of the step row Ci+2 on the inner side of the vehicle width direction.

[0030] When the angle between the emitted light reflected by the first light-reflecting step 31 of each stepped row and emitted from the light guide plate 2 and the front direction of the lamp is defined as the emission angle, in this example, the emission angle θoi of the light D1 reflected by the first light-reflecting step 31 of the stepped row Ci located on the outer side of the vehicle width direction is greater than the emission angle θoi+1 of the light D2 reflected by the first light-reflecting step 31 of the stepped row Ci+1 located on the inner side of the vehicle width direction. Similarly, the emission angle θoi+1 of the light D2 reflected by the stepped row Ci+1 located on the outer side of the vehicle width direction is greater than the emission angle θoi+2 of the light D3 reflected by the stepped row Ci+2 located on the inner side of the vehicle width direction.

[0031] In addition, in this embodiment, from Figure 4 As shown in (b), the tilt angle of the first light-reflecting step 31 in a portion of the step array located at or near the innermost side in the vehicle width direction, such as step array Cn, becomes an angle tilted in the opposite direction. In this step array composed of the first light-reflecting step 31 tilted in the opposite direction, the light is reflected inwards in the vehicle width direction relative to the front direction of the lamp. Moreover, the direction of the light reflected by all step arrays C* is towards the area that satisfies the light distribution characteristics required by the taillight TL.

[0032] Figure 7 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for designing the tilt angle of the first light-reflecting step 31 in each step row. Figure 7 (a) is a frontal view of the semi-cylindrical cylindrical recess that forms the first light-reflecting step 31, with an angle θti of inclination relative to the cylindrical axis A of the horizontal line H. Figure 7 As shown in (b), the light path R1 of the incident light Lin, which is incident from the upper end face 23 of the light guide plate 2 and propagates inside the light guide plate 2, is set, and the reflection point P1, which is projected and reflected by the incident light Lin onto the first light reflection step 31 that is the object of the design, is set.

[0033] On the other hand, a reflected light path R2 is set for the emitted light Lout that travels from the reflection point P1 toward the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2 and is refracted by the surface 21 before exiting. In setting the reflected light path R2, the refractive index of the resin constituting the light guide plate 2 is taken into account, and the path is set in such a way that the exit angle of the emitted light Lout from the surface reaches a predetermined angle θoi. At this time, the exit angle θoi is set with the reflected light path R2 of the emitted light Lout projected onto the horizontal XY plane F, thereby enabling the setting of an accurate exit angle θoi in the horizontal direction.

[0034] Furthermore, the angle θtt between the incident light path R1 and the emitted light path R2 at the reflection point P1 is determined, and the line T that bisects the angle θtt is found. Moreover, the angle between the cylindrical axis A and the line T is calculated, thereby obtaining the tilt angle θti. It should be noted that the method described here is merely an example; since various other methods can be used to calculate the tilt angle, the present invention is not limited to the method described above.

[0035] Here, because the light from LED11 propagates downwards in a dispersed manner within the light guide plate 2, the direction of incident light hitting each first light-reflecting step 31 is not fixed. Furthermore, in this embodiment, because the light guide plate 2 is curved horizontally along its surface and back, mimicking the curved shape of the rear of a car body, the tilt angle of each first light-reflecting step 31 may not be consistent with the angle observed from the front of the lamp. Therefore, the tilt angles of the first light-reflecting steps 31 in the same step column C* may not be exactly the same angle.

[0036] The above describes an example of the first light-reflecting step 31 in the left side portion 4l. Similarly, the right side portion 4r is also configured with multiple rows of first light-reflecting steps 31 arranged along the vehicle width direction, and each row of steps is composed of multiple first light-reflecting steps 31. Specifically, in the right side portion 4r, from... Figure 4 As can be seen from (a), each step row is arranged facing the upper left or vertically upward. In addition, the number of the first light-reflecting steps 31 constituting each step row is also less than that of the left side 4l.

[0037] Although there are structural differences between the left side 4l and the right side 4r, the number of step rows constituting the right side 4r is the same as that of the left side 4l. Furthermore, although not illustrated, the emission angle θoi of the reflected light emitted from the light guide plate 2 in the multiple step rows arranged in the vehicle width direction of the right side 4r is the same as the emission angle θoi of the multiple step rows arranged in the vehicle width direction in the left side 4l. That is, the emission angle of the Xth step row Cx from the left in the left side 4l is set to be equal to the emission angle of the Xth step row Cx from the left in the right side 4r.

[0038] When the LED11 of the light source unit 1 is powered and emits light according to the above structure, the combined lamp is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, light emitted from the light-emitting surface of LED 11 enters the light guide plate 2 through the incident lens 24 on the upper end surface 23 of the light guide plate 2, and propagates slightly downwards inside the light guide plate 2. The propagated light is propagated to all the light reflection steps 3 formed on the back side of the light guide plate 2, namely the first light reflection step 31 and the second light reflection step 32, and is reflected respectively. The reflected light is emitted from the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2.

[0039] Thus, as Figure 8As shown in the conceptual diagram, when an observer looks at the rear assembly L-RCL from behind the car (CAR), each light-reflecting step 31, 32 is observed as a luminous pattern emitting light in a dotted or slightly expanded planar manner, and further observed as a luminous pattern 4 formed by the combination of the luminous patterns of the aforementioned light-reflecting steps 31, 32. In this example, it is observed as a luminous pattern 4 consisting of five trapezoidal unit patterns 41-45 arranged in a vertical direction.

[0040] Furthermore, when the observer moves to a predetermined angular position in the left-right direction relative to the frontal direction of the taillight TL, the observed pattern shape changes. That is, in the right side 4r and left side 4l of the unit pattern, the light reflected by each step column is emitted from the light guide plate 2 in different directions. Therefore, for the observer M1 observing from the leftmost angular position, the emitted light from the step columns arranged at the left positions of the right side 4r and left side 4l respectively enters the field of view. That is, the luminous pattern of these step columns is observed.

[0041] For observer M2, who has moved to the right of the taillight TL, light emitted from a stepped array arranged slightly to the right of the right side 4r and left side 4l, compared to observer M1's position, enters the field of view, and the luminous pattern of these stepped arrays is observed. For observer M3, who has moved further to the right of the taillight TL, light emitted from a stepped array arranged slightly further to the right of the right side 4r and left side 4l enters the field of view, and the luminous pattern of these stepped arrays is observed.

[0042] Right now, Figure 4 In the case of the structural example of the left side 4l shown in (b), for example, observer M1 observes the luminous pattern of step column C1, observer M2 observes the luminous pattern of step column C5, and observer M3 observes the luminous pattern of step column C8. At this time, since the light emitted from the other step columns does not enter the observer's eyes, the luminous patterns of the other step columns will not be observed.

[0043] Here, because the light reflected by each of the first light reflection steps 31 has Figure 5 The reflection characteristics shown in (a) are almost non-divergent in the horizontal direction but divergent in the vertical direction, so the light from adjacent first light-reflecting steps 31 partially overlaps. In particular, they partially overlap in the vertical direction. Thus, the luminous patterns of the first light-reflecting steps 31 of this step array become interconnected, and are thus observed as a fine, oblique luminous pattern tilted at the desired angle.

[0044] On the other hand, regarding the upper part 4u and the lower part 4d of the unit patterns 41-45, the second light-reflecting steps 32 that constitute the linear regions are as follows: Figure 5As shown in (b), due to the low directionality of the reflection, it is emitted towards a wide area, at least in the horizontal direction. Therefore, regardless of the observer's movement, almost all the light from the second light reflection step 32 enters the observer's eye and is observed as a thick line-like pattern extending in the horizontal direction.

[0045] Thus, when the observer moves to different positions relative to the front of the taillight TL, the upper 4u and lower 4d luminous patterns of each observed unit pattern 41-45 remain unchanged, but the luminous patterns of the left 4l and right 4r change. According to this embodiment, as the observer moves from the side of the taillight TL to the front, the tilt of the linear luminous patterns of the left 4l and right 4r increases. In other words, the tilt angle of the trapezoidal frame-shaped hypotenuse increases, thus changing the shape of each unit pattern. Since this shape change is almost identical in all five unit patterns 41-45 arranged vertically, the shape of the luminous pattern 4 is observed to change.

[0046] Furthermore, when the car is moving, an external observer sees both the moving and stationary parts of the light's shape, thus the observed shape changes. This makes the light easily noticeable and recognizable to the observer, allowing for reliable identification.

[0047] Furthermore, since the first light-reflecting steps 31 of the left side 4l and right side 4r of the unit pattern are composed of cylindrical recesses, therefore... Figure 5 As shown in (a), the light reflected by the reflective surface formed by its circumferential surface diverges slightly in the vertical direction. Therefore, even if the observer's eye position is different, the reflected light from each of the first light reflection steps 31 of the left side 4l and the right side 4r will enter the eye, so observers of different heights can also observe the luminous pattern. The second light reflection steps 32 of the upper side 4u and the lower side 4d also diverge in the vertical direction, so they are the same.

[0048] As described above, even if the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2 is flat, different light emission patterns can be observed through the first light reflection step 31 when the viewing position relative to the taillight TL is moved. Therefore, the surface of the light guide plate 2 does not need to have a protrusion as shown in Patent Document 1, which simplifies the structure of the light guide plate 2. In addition, the light reflection steps 31, 32 formed on the back surface 22 of the light guide plate 2 do not need to be formed in precise positions corresponding to the protrusions on the surface, which makes the design and manufacture of the light guide plate 2 easier.

[0049] When the first light-reflecting step 31 is formed by prismatic recesses such as triangular or quadrangular prisms, the reflected light also exhibits a certain degree of directionality in the vertical direction, so the height range of the luminous pattern is narrower than that of the cylindrical recess. However, because the directionality in the vertical direction suppresses light divergence, the observer can observe a brighter luminous pattern.

[0050] In this embodiment, the light guide plate is configured such that both its surface and back are curved in the horizontal direction; however, the same applies if the light guide plate is configured as a flat surface. Furthermore, by placing an optical system such as a focusing lens between the LED, which serves as the light source, and the light guide plate, light can propagate parallel within the light guide plate, allowing the front shape of the light guide plate to be quadrilateral. Moreover, in this case, since the light incident on the multiple first light reflection steps is in the same direction, the angle of the reflecting surface is easily calculated and formed.

[0051] In the embodiment, an example of a light-emitting pattern combining trapezoidal frame-shaped unit patterns is shown, but the shape described above is not limited to this. Furthermore, even when a trapezoidal frame-shaped pattern is formed, the shape of the light-reflecting steps, particularly the number and arrangement of the step rows, need not be the same on the left and right sides. Moreover, the light-emitting pattern formed by the first light-reflecting steps does not have to be linear; it can be formed as a surface with the desired shape. In this case, the step row formed by multiple first light-reflecting steps described in the embodiment is configured as a group of steps arranged in a surface. This surface pattern, where light step groups with different light emission directions constituting the first light-reflecting steps are mixed, changes the observed surface shape of the light-emitting pattern, thus further improving the design effect.

[0052] This invention is not limited to the taillights described in the embodiments; it can be applied to any light that uses a light guide plate. Furthermore, the type of light source and the shape of the light guide plate can be appropriately changed. For example, it can be used to represent lights in autonomous driving systems. In this case, it can emit blue-green light. Additionally, it can flash as a welcome light. In this case, it can be a novel way of changing the appearance by flashing when a person approaches the vehicle.

[0053] This international application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-019456, filed on February 10, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0054] The above description of specific embodiments of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only. The description is comprehensive, and the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Various modifications and alterations can be made by those skilled in the art based on the above description. Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0055] 1. Light source section 2. Light guide plate (light guide body) 3 Light-reflecting steps 4. Illuminated Patterns 11 LED (light source) 12 Supporting substrate 21 Surface 22 Back 23. Top surface 24 Incident Lens 31 First light reflection step 32 Second light reflection step Units 41-45 (luminous patterns) CAR (Car) TL taillights (vehicle lights) C1~Cn Step sequence (step group)

Claims

1. A vehicle lamp comprising a light source and a light guide, the light guide having a surface and a back surface and propagating light from the light source within it, the light guide having a plurality of light-reflecting steps formed on its back surface to reflect the light propagating within and exit from the surface, the light reflected from the plurality of light-reflecting steps and exiting from the surface of the light guide constituting a desired light-emitting pattern, the vehicle lamp being characterized in that... The plurality of light-reflecting steps include a plurality of first light-reflecting steps that reflect light propagating inside the light guide in a desired direction, and the light reflected by the plurality of first light-reflecting steps and emitted from the light guide has different directions. The plurality of first light-reflecting steps constitute a plurality of step columns, wherein the first light-reflecting steps in the step columns are arranged in a linear pattern. The light emitted from the first reflected light step of the same step column in the plurality of step columns has the same direction, while the light emitted from the first reflected light step of different step columns has different directions. The light-reflecting step includes a second light-reflecting step, which reflects light propagating inside the light guide in a non-directional manner and emits it from the surface. The luminescent pattern is formed by combining the luminescent pattern formed by the first light-reflecting step and the luminescent pattern formed by the second light-reflecting step.

2. The vehicle light according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first light-reflecting step is composed of a cylindrical or prismatic concave portion, and its bottom surface forms a reflective surface. The angles of the reflective surfaces of the multiple first light-reflecting steps with different directions of emitted light are different in the light guide.

3. The vehicle light according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second light-reflecting step is composed of a spherical or conical concave portion, the bottom of which forms a reflective surface.

4. The vehicle light according to claim 2, characterized in that, The second light-reflecting step is composed of a spherical or conical concave portion, the bottom of which forms a reflective surface.

5. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first light-reflecting step makes the direction of light emitted from the light guide different, at least in the horizontal direction.

6. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The light guide is formed as a plate with a curved back and surface that mimic the shape of the vehicle body.

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