Exterior structure and vehicular exterior structure

Abstract

To provide an exterior structure and a vehicular exterior structure capable of improving appearance.SOLUTION: An exterior structure comprises a non-light-transmitting part 12 that does not transmit light from the outside, and a light-transmitting part 13 that is arranged around the non-light-transmitting part 12 and reflects and transmits light. A color difference ΔE between the light reflected by the non-light-transmitting part 12 and the light obtained by combining the light reflected by light-transmitting part 13 and the light emitted to light-transmitting part 13 from the inside and transmitted through the light-transmitting part 13 is within 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an exterior structure and an exterior structure of a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, a light-emitting grille is known as a front grille constituting an exterior structure of a vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such a light-emitting grille has a translucent outer cover and a light-emitting element disposed inside the outer cover. The light-emitting grille emits light at night when light from the light-emitting element passes through the outer cover. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2022-35593 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, the illuminating grille is usually not illuminated during the day. When the illuminating grille is not illuminated and is irradiated with external light such as sunlight, part of the light passes through the outer cover and the rest is reflected by the outer cover. On the other hand, when external light such as sunlight is irradiated on the hood adjacent to the illuminating grille in the vehicle, it reflects most of the light. This results in a significant difference between the appearance of the illuminating grille and the appearance of the hood, which reduces the appearance of the vehicle.

[0005] These issues are not limited to vehicle exterior structures, but are also generally common to exterior structures other than vehicles that have non-translucent parts that do not transmit light and translucent parts that are arranged around the non-translucent parts and reflect and transmit light. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Various aspects of an exterior structure and a vehicle exterior structure for solving the above problems will be described below. [Aspect 1] An exterior structure including a non-transmitting portion that does not transmit light from the outside, and a translucent portion that is disposed around the non-transmitting portion and reflects and transmits the light, an exterior structure characterized in that a color difference ΔE between the light reflected by the non-translucent portion, the light reflected by the translucent portion, and light irradiated to the translucent portion from the inside and transmitted through the translucent portion is within 5.

[0007] According to the above-mentioned configuration, the difference in appearance between the non-transmitting portion and the transmissive portion is small, so that the boundary between the non-transmitting portion and the transmissive portion is less noticeable, thereby improving the appearance. [Embodiment 2] An exterior structure of a vehicle comprising a non-light-transmitting portion that does not transmit light from the outside, a light-transmitting portion that is arranged around the non-light-transmitting portion and that reflects and transmits the light, and a display light source that is arranged inside the light-transmitting portion and that enables a display to be made by shining light onto the light-transmitting portion, wherein the light-transmitting portion develops a color such that the exterior color of the light-transmitting portion is brought closer to the exterior color of the non-light-transmitting portion or the exterior color of the light-transmitting portion becomes the same as the exterior color of the non-light-transmitting portion, due to the light emitted by the display light source.

[0008] According to the above configuration, the difference in appearance between the non-transmitting portion and the transmissive portion is reduced or eliminated, so that the boundary between the non-transmitting portion and the transmissive portion becomes inconspicuous, thereby improving the appearance of the vehicle.

[0009] [Aspect 3] The vehicle exterior structure described in [Aspect 2], wherein the light-transmitting portion comprises a transparent resin base material, a first coloring layer containing a dye or pigment, and a second coloring layer containing a filler and composed of a cold mirror thin film that reflects visible light and transmits infrared light, and the transmittance of visible light having a wavelength of 380 nm or more and 800 nm or less is 5% or more and 20% or less, the maximum transmittance of infrared light having a wavelength of 900 nm or more and 2000 nm or less is 60% or more, and the attenuation rate of millimeter waves is 3.0 dB or less.

[0010] According to the above configuration, the light-transmitting portion does not prevent the transmission of infrared rays and millimeter waves. Therefore, when an electromagnetic wave sensor such as an infrared sensor or a millimeter wave sensor is disposed inside the light-transmitting portion, the light-transmitting portion can function as an electromagnetic wave transmitting cover for covering the infrared sensor or the millimeter wave sensor. Effect of the Invention

[0011] The present invention has the effect of improving the appearance. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an exterior structure of a vehicle according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main portion of the second color layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the exterior structure is embodied as an exterior structure for a vehicle will be described with reference to the drawings. <Vehicle 11 Configuration> 1, an exterior structure of a vehicle 11 as an example of an exterior structure includes a non-light-transmitting portion 12, a light-transmitting portion 13, a display light source 14, and a housing 15. The non-light-transmitting portion 12 is plate-shaped, and constitutes, as an example, a hood 16 located at the front of the vehicle 11. The light-transmitting portion 13, the display light source 14, and the housing 15 constitute, as an example, a light-emitting grille 17. The light-transmitting portion 13 is plate-shaped, and constitutes, as an example, the exterior of the light-emitting grille 17 located at the front of the vehicle 11.

[0014] The light-transmitting portion 13 is disposed around the non-light-transmitting portion 12. That is, the light-transmitting portion 13 is disposed adjacent to the lower side of the non-light-transmitting portion 12. The exterior colors of the non-light-transmitting portion 12 and the light-transmitting portion 13 are similar to each other. At a position behind the light-emitting grille 17 of the vehicle 11, an infrared sensor 18 and a millimeter wave sensor 19 are disposed next to each other above and below.

[0015] The infrared sensor 18 transmits infrared rays (near-infrared rays) having a wavelength of 900 nm or more and 2000 nm or less, among electromagnetic waves, toward the front of the vehicle 11, and receives the infrared rays reflected by objects outside the vehicle, including preceding vehicles and pedestrians, etc. Based on the transmitted and received infrared rays, the infrared sensor 18 recognizes the above objects outside the vehicle, and detects the distance, relative speed, etc. between the vehicle 11 and the above objects. The infrared sensor 18 has a feature that it can detect objects smaller than those that the millimeter wave sensor 19 can detect.

[0016] The millimeter wave sensor 19 transmits millimeter waves, which are electromagnetic waves, toward the front of the vehicle 11 and receives millimeter waves reflected by objects outside the vehicle, including preceding vehicles and pedestrians. Based on the transmitted and received millimeter waves, the millimeter wave sensor 19 recognizes the objects outside the vehicle and detects the distance and relative speed between the vehicle 11 and the objects. Millimeter waves are radio waves with a wavelength of 1 mm to 10 mm and a frequency of 30 GHz to 300 GHz. The millimeter wave sensor 19 is characterized by being resistant to bad weather such as rain, fog, and snow, and having a longer detectable distance than the infrared sensor 18.

[0017] <Non-transparent part 12> 1, the non-light-transmitting portion 12 does not transmit external light such as sunlight, that is, the non-light-transmitting portion 12 reflects almost 100% of external light.

[0018] <Transparent part 13> 1 and 2, the light-transmitting portion 13 reflects and transmits external light such as sunlight. That is, the light-transmitting portion 13 reflects a portion of the external light and transmits the remainder. When the light-transmitting portion 13 reflects, for example, 80% of the external light, it transmits the remaining 20%.

[0019] The light-transmitting portion 13 has a plate-shaped transparent resin substrate 20 and a decorative layer 21 laminated on the rear surface of the transparent resin substrate 20. The decorative layer 21 has a first coloring layer 22 laminated on the rear surface of the transparent resin substrate 20 and a second coloring layer 23 laminated on the rear surface of the first coloring layer 22. The transparent resin substrate 20 is made of, for example, polycarbonate (PC) resin. The first coloring layer 22 is a layer in which a first base resin 24 contains a dye or pigment.

[0020] 2 and 3, the second color-producing layer 23 is a layer in which a filler 26 made of a cold mirror thin film is contained in a second base resin 25. The cold mirror thin film has the characteristic of reflecting visible light and transmitting infrared light.

[0021] 1 and 2, the light-transmitting portion 13 preferably has a transmittance of 5% to 20% for visible light having a wavelength of 380 nm to 800 nm. If the visible light transmittance of the light-transmitting portion 13 is less than 5%, the amount of light that is emitted by the light from the display light source 14 may be insufficient when the light-transmitting portion 13 is caused to emit light for display, and if the visible light transmittance of the light-transmitting portion 13 exceeds 20%, the visible light reflectance of the light-transmitting portion 13 becomes too small compared to the visible light reflectance of the non-light-transmitting portion 12, and the difference in appearance between the non-light-transmitting portion 12 and the light-transmitting portion 13 may become large.

[0022] It is preferable that the light-transmitting portion 13 has a maximum transmittance of 60% or more for infrared rays having a wavelength of 900 nm or more and 2000 nm or less. If the maximum transmittance of infrared rays in the light-transmitting portion 13 is less than 60%, the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 18 may be insufficient. It is preferable that the light-transmitting portion 13 has an attenuation rate of the millimeter wave in a round trip of 3.0 dB or less. If the attenuation rate of the millimeter wave in a round trip of the light-transmitting portion 13 exceeds 3.0 dB, the detection accuracy of the millimeter wave sensor 19 may be insufficient.

[0023] <Housing 15> 1, the housing 15 is in the shape of a rectangular box with a bottom and an opening 27 at the front end. The opening 27 of the housing 15 is closed by the transparent resin base material 20 of the light-transmitting portion 13. The housing 15 has the opening 27 on the light-transmitting portion 13 side. The decorative layer 21 of the light-transmitting portion 13 is located inside the housing 15.

[0024] The housing 15 is made of, for example, polycarbonate (PC) resin, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) resin, acrylonitrile-ethylene-propylene-diene-styrene (AES) resin, acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate copolymer (ASA) resin, or the like.

[0025] The display light sources 14 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the surface 28 of the housing 15 facing the light-transmitting portion 13. That is, the housing 15 accommodates two display light sources 14 therein. Therefore, each display light source 14 is disposed at a position behind (inside) the light-transmitting portion 13. The display light source 14 has an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that irradiates visible light and a control circuit that controls the LED. The display light source 14 irradiates the light-transmitting portion 13 with visible light, and thereby performs light-emitting display of characters, patterns, and the like by the visible light that transmits through the light-transmitting portion 13.

[0026] <Operation of the embodiment> When the vehicle 11 is traveling at night, the display light source 14 is usually illuminated. Then, light is emitted from the display light source 14 to the light-transmitting portion 13, and the light that passes through the light-transmitting portion 13 illuminates and displays characters, pictures, and the like.

[0027] On the other hand, vehicle 11 does not normally illuminate letters, pictures, or the like on light-transmitting portion 13 when traveling during the day, and therefore display light source 14 is not illuminated for illumination. Light-transmitting portion 13 then reflects a portion of sunlight, which is an example of external light, but transmits the remainder. At this time, non-light-transmitting portion 12 adjacent to light-transmitting portion 13 reflects almost all of the sunlight that is irradiated. For this reason, the reflectance of sunlight at light-transmitting portion 13 is smaller than the reflectance of sunlight at non-light-transmitting portion 12.

[0028] Therefore, the amount of sunlight reflected by the light-transmitting portion 13 is less than the amount of sunlight reflected by the non-light-transmitting portion 12. That is, a difference occurs between the amount of sunlight reflected by the light-transmitting portion 13 and the amount of sunlight reflected by the non-light-transmitting portion 12. If this difference becomes large, even if the exterior colors of the light-transmitting portion 13 and the non-light-transmitting portion 12 are similar, the color development between the light-transmitting portion 13 and the non-light-transmitting portion 12 will be significantly different. As a result, the boundary between the light-transmitting portion 13 and the non-light-transmitting portion 12 becomes more noticeable, degrading the appearance of the vehicle 11.

[0029] In this regard, in this embodiment, when vehicle 11 is traveling in the daytime, display light source 14 is caused to emit light as follows. That is, display light source 14 is caused to emit light so that the color difference ΔE between the sunlight reflected by non-translucent portion 12, the sunlight reflected by translucent portion 13, and the light irradiated from display light source 14 disposed behind (inside) translucent portion 13 and transmitted through translucent portion 13 is within 5.

[0030] As a result, due to the above-described light emission from display light source 14, light-transmitting portion 13 develops a color such that the exterior color of light-transmitting portion 13 is closer to the exterior color of non-light-transmitting portion 12 or the exterior color of light-transmitting portion 13 is the same as the exterior color of non-light-transmitting portion 12. This is because the smaller the color difference ΔE between the light emitted to the outside from light-transmitting portion 13 and the light emitted to the outside from non-light-transmitting portion 12, the closer the exterior color of non-light-transmitting portion 12 and the exterior color of light-transmitting portion 13 will appear.

[0031] As a result, the appearance of the light-transmitting portion 13 and the appearance of the non-light-transmitting portion 12 become very similar, making the boundary between the light-transmitting portion 13 and the non-light-transmitting portion 12 less noticeable, thus improving the appearance of the vehicle 11.

[0032] 2, if the amount of incident sunlight 29 incident on each of the light-transmitting portion 13 and the non-light-transmitting portion 12 is 100, then in the light-transmitting portion 13, 80 of the 100 incident sunlight 29 are reflected as reflected light 30 and the remaining 20 incident sunlight 29 are transmitted as transmitted light 31, while in the non-light-transmitting portion 12, 100 incident sunlight 29 are reflected as reflected light 30. In this state, the amount of light emitted to the outside from the light-transmitting portion 13 is 80, and the amount of light emitted to the outside from the non-light-transmitting portion 12 is 100.

[0033] In such a case, light is irradiated as irradiation light 32 from display light source 14 to light-transmitting portion 13 so that the amount of light emitted to the outside from display light source 14 through light-transmitting portion 13 is 20. Then, the amount of light emitted to the outside from light-transmitting portion 13 is 80+20=100, so the amount of light emitted to the outside from light-transmitting portion 13 and the amount of light emitted to the outside from non-light-transmitting portion 12 become the same.

[0034] That is, the color difference ΔE between the light emitted to the outside from the light-transmitting portion 13 and the light emitted to the outside from the non-light-transmitting portion 12 becomes 0. Therefore, the exterior color of the light-transmitting portion 13 becomes the same as the exterior color of the non-light-transmitting portion 12. Therefore, the boundary between the light-transmitting portion 13 and the non-light-transmitting portion 12 becomes inconspicuous, improving the appearance of the vehicle 11.

[0035] The amount of incident sunlight 29 incident on each of the light-transmitting portion 13 and the non-light-transmitting portion 12 varies depending on the weather. For this reason, it is preferable to detect the amount of incident sunlight 29 with an optical sensor (not shown) and adjust the amount of irradiation light 32 irradiated from the display light source 14 to the light-transmitting portion 13 based on the detection result.

[0036] Moreover, since the light-transmitting portion 13 has a maximum transmittance of 60% or more for infrared rays having a wavelength of 900 nm or more and 2000 nm or less, the detection accuracy of the infrared sensor 18 is ensured. Furthermore, since the light-transmitting portion 13 has a round-trip attenuation rate of millimeter waves of 3.0 dB or less, the detection accuracy of the millimeter wave sensor 19 is ensured. Therefore, the light-transmitting portion 13 also functions as an electromagnetic wave transmitting cover.

[0037] <Effects of the embodiment> According to the embodiment described above in detail, the following effects are achieved. (1) The exterior structure of a vehicle 11 includes a non-light-transmitting portion 12 that does not transmit light from the outside, a light-transmitting portion 13 that is disposed around the non-light-transmitting portion 12 and reflects and transmits the light, and a display light source 14 that is disposed inside the light-transmitting portion 13 and enables display by irradiating the light-transmitting portion 13 with light. The light-transmitting portion 13 develops color when the exterior color of the light-transmitting portion 13 is brought close to the exterior color of the non-light-transmitting portion 12 or when the exterior color of the light-transmitting portion 13 is the same as the exterior color of the non-light-transmitting portion 12, due to the light emitted by the display light source 14.

[0038] According to the above configuration, the difference in appearance between the non-light-transmitting portion 12 and the light-transmitting portion 13 is reduced or eliminated, so that the boundary between the non-light-transmitting portion 12 and the light-transmitting portion 13 becomes inconspicuous. This makes it possible to improve the appearance of the vehicle 11.

[0039] (2) In the exterior structure of the vehicle 11, the light-transmitting portion 13 includes a transparent resin substrate 20, a first coloring layer 22 containing a dye or pigment, and a second coloring layer 23 containing a filler 26 formed of a cold mirror thin film that reflects visible light and transmits infrared light. The light-transmitting portion 13 has a transmittance of 5% to 20% for visible light having a wavelength of 380 nm to 800 nm, a maximum transmittance of 60% or more for infrared light having a wavelength of 900 nm to 2000 nm, and an attenuation rate of millimeter waves of 3.0 dB or less.

[0040] According to the above configuration, the light-transmitting portion 13 does not prevent the transmission of infrared rays and millimeter waves. Therefore, when an electromagnetic wave sensor such as the infrared sensor 18 or the millimeter wave sensor 19 is disposed inside the light-transmitting portion 13, the light-transmitting portion 13 can function as an electromagnetic wave transmitting cover for covering the infrared sensor 18 or the millimeter wave sensor 19.

[0041] <Example of change> The above embodiment can be modified as follows: The above embodiment and the following modifications can be combined with each other as long as they are not technically inconsistent.

[0042] The light-transmitting portion 13 does not necessarily have to have a transmittance of 5% or more and 20% or less for visible light having a wavelength of 380 nm or more and 800 nm or less. The light-transmitting portion 13 does not necessarily need to have a maximum transmittance of 60% or more for infrared rays having a wavelength of 900 nm or more and 2000 nm or less.

[0043] The light-transmitting portion 13 does not necessarily have to have an attenuation rate of millimeter waves of 3.0 dB or less. The light from outside is not limited to sunlight, but may be light from lighting equipment installed outdoors or indoors.

[0044] The decorative layer 21 may have at least one of a smoke layer for controlling reflected light and a complementary color layer for controlling the emitted light color. The exterior structure of the above embodiment may be applied to an exterior structure other than the vehicle 11, such as an exterior structure of a building having a non-translucent portion 12 and a translucent portion 13 on an outer wall. This exterior structure does not necessarily have to have a light source. In this exterior structure, light is irradiated from the inside to the translucent portion 13 and passes through the translucent portion 13. This light may be, for example, light from a light source inside the exterior structure, or light from the outside of the exterior structure. When the light is light from the outside of the exterior structure, the light is reflected at a position inside the translucent portion 13, and then irradiated from the inside to the translucent portion 13 and passes through the translucent portion 13. Furthermore, this exterior structure is configured so that the color difference ΔE between the light from the outside reflected by the non-translucent portion 12, the light from the outside reflected by the translucent portion 13, and the light irradiated from the inside of the translucent portion 13 and passing through the translucent portion 13 is within 5. In this way, the difference in appearance between the non-light-transmitting portion 12 and the light-transmitting portion 13 is reduced, and the boundary between the non-light-transmitting portion 12 and the light-transmitting portion 13 becomes less noticeable. This makes it possible to improve the appearance of the exterior structure.

[0045] The exterior structure of the vehicle 11 may be such that the light emitting grille 17 has a non-transmitting portion and a transmitting portion disposed adjacent to each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 11…Vehicle 12...Non-transparent part 13...Transparent part 14...Display light source 15. Housing 16…Food 17…Illuminated grille 18...Infrared sensor 19...Millimeter wave sensor 20…Transparent resin base material 21…Decorative layer 22…First color layer 23...Second color layer 24…First base resin 25…Second base resin 26…Filler 27…Opening 28…Opposite surface 29...Incoming sunlight 30…Reflected light 31…Transmitted light 32…Irradiated light

Claims

1. An exterior structure including a non-transmitting portion that does not transmit light from outside, and a translucent portion that is disposed around the non-transmitting portion and reflects and transmits the light, an exterior structure characterized in that a color difference ΔE between the light reflected by the non-translucent portion, the light reflected by the translucent portion, and light irradiated from the inside to the translucent portion and transmitted through the translucent portion is within 5.

2. An exterior structure of a vehicle, comprising: a non-light-transmitting portion that does not transmit light from outside; a light-transmitting portion that is disposed around the non-light-transmitting portion and that reflects and transmits the light; and a display light source that is disposed inside the light-transmitting portion and that enables display by irradiating the light-transmitting portion with light, The exterior structure of a vehicle, characterized in that the translucent portion develops a color in a state in which the exterior color of the translucent portion is brought closer to the exterior color of the non-translucent portion or the exterior color of the translucent portion becomes the same as the exterior color of the non-translucent portion, due to the light emitted by the display light source.

3. 3. The vehicle exterior structure according to claim 2, wherein the light-transmitting portion comprises a transparent resin base material, a first coloring layer containing a dye or pigment, and a second coloring layer containing a filler and constituted by a cold mirror thin film that reflects visible light and transmits infrared light, the transmittance of visible light having a wavelength of 380 nm or more and 800 nm or less being 5% or more and 20% or less, the maximum transmittance of infrared light having a wavelength of 900 nm or more and 2000 nm or less being 60% or more, and the attenuation rate of millimeter waves being 3.0 dB or less.

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