Illumination device for vehicle

Abstract

To provide an illumination device for vehicle capable of reducing luminance unevenness.SOLUTION: An illumination device comprises a housing 21 and a light emitting part 40. The housing 21 includes: a bottom wall part 23; a main body part 22 which is formed in a box shape having a side wall part 24 erected from the bottom wall part 23 toward an inside of a vehicle cabin and is non-translucent and capable of reflecting light emitted from the light emitting part 40; and a plate-shaped translucent panel 28 which is disposed so as to cover an opening of the main body 22, has translucency, and constitutes an in-cabin design surface. The light emitting part 40 is disposed on the side wall part 24. A non-translucent protruded wall part 33 which protrudes toward an inside of the housing 21 is provided to the side wall part 24 in a position closer to the translucent panel 28 than the light emitting part 40 is. The protruded wall part 33 is arranged so as to cover the light emitting part 40 in a view from the design surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a vehicle lighting device.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 below describes an interior material for a vehicle equipped with a lighting device. The interior material includes a light-emitting ornament as a decorative lighting device. This light-emitting ornament has a light source unit on the back side (the outside of the vehicle compartment) of a translucent plate-shaped panel member that constitutes the interior design surface on the vehicle compartment side. The light source unit emits light emitted from the light source as surface light, and the light emitted from the planar light guide is transmitted through the panel member and emitted into the vehicle compartment. Thereby, the design property of the vehicle interior material is enhanced.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in a lighting device configured to use a linear light guide as a light-emitting part (light source unit) or to perform direct irradiation by an LED, the luminance of the part adjacent to the light-emitting part tends to be higher than that of other parts, and luminance unevenness is likely to occur in the light emitted from the panel member.

[0005] The technology disclosed in this specification has been completed in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle lighting device capable of reducing luminance unevenness.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The technology disclosed in this specification, which was completed in view of the above problems, is a vehicle lighting device provided in a vehicle interior material, and includes a housing having a space inside and a light emitting portion capable of irradiating the inside of the housing. The housing has a box shape having a bottom wall portion and a side wall portion rising from the bottom wall portion toward the inside of the vehicle compartment. The housing includes a main body portion that is non-translucent and capable of reflecting light emitted from the light emitting portion, and a plate-shaped translucent panel that is disposed so as to cover the opening of the main body portion and has translucency and constitutes the interior design surface of the vehicle. The light emitting portion is disposed on the side wall portion, and a semi-translucent protruding wall portion that protrudes toward the inside of the housing is provided on the side wall portion on the translucent panel side from the light emitting portion. The protruding wall portion is disposed so as to cover the light emitting portion when viewed from the design surface side.

[0007] According to the above configuration, the light emitted from the light emitting portion is prevented from directly irradiating the translucent panel by the protruding wall portion, and the transmitted light transmitted through the semi-translucent protruding wall portion and the reflected light reflected by the main body portion are irradiated onto the translucent panel. Therefore, compared with a configuration in which the protruding wall portion is not provided on the side wall portion, it is possible to reduce the unevenness in luminance of the light irradiated from the translucent panel toward the inside of the vehicle compartment.

[0008] The protruding wall portion may be configured such that the light transmittance changes by changing the roughness of the embossing applied to its surface. Further, the protruding wall portion may be configured such that the light transmittance changes by changing its thickness dimension.

[0009] According to the above configuration, by lowering the light transmittance at a position near the light emitting portion of the protruding wall portion where the amount of light irradiated from the light emitting portion is large, and increasing the light transmittance as the distance from the light emitting portion increases, the amount of transmitted light emitted from the protruding wall portion can be made to be in a nearly uniform state.

[0010] The bottom wall portion may be inclined in a direction approaching the light-transmitting panel as it moves away from the light-emitting portion. According to such a configuration, as the distance from the light-emitting portion increases and the reflected light weakens, the distance between the bottom wall portion, that is, the reflecting surface, and the light-transmitting panel decreases, and the amount of light irradiated from the light-transmitting panel can be increased. Therefore, luminance unevenness can be further reduced.

Effects of the Invention

[0011] According to the technology disclosed in this specification, it is possible to provide a vehicle lighting device capable of reducing luminance unevenness.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] One embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In this embodiment, a light-emitting ornament (an example of a vehicle illumination device) 20 provided on a door trim (an example of a vehicle interior material) 10 that constitutes the interior surface of the side door of a vehicle will be exemplified. In addition, in each figure, the directions of the arrows FR and RR indicate the front (the vehicle traveling direction) and the rear, respectively, the directions of the arrows IN and OUT indicate the indoor side and the outdoor side, respectively, and the directions of the arrows UP and DW indicate the upward and downward directions, respectively.

[0014] The door trim 10 is mainly composed of a plate-shaped trim board 11. The trim board 11 is formed of a synthetic resin material such as polypropylene, and various functional components such as an armrest 16, an inside handle 17, a door pocket 18, and a speaker grill 19 are provided to constitute the door trim 10.

[0015] A light-emitting ornament 20 is provided between an upper board 12 constituting the upper end of the trim board 11 and a middle board 14 constituting the upper part of the armrest 16. The light-emitting ornament 20 decorates the door trim 10 with light to improve the design. This light-emitting ornament 20 has a long shape in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 2, the light-emitting ornament 20 includes a housing 21 having a space S formed therein and a light-emitting part 40. The housing 21 has a box shape that opens toward the vehicle interior, and includes a main body part 22 that constitutes the vehicle exterior side portion of itself, and a plate-shaped light-transmitting panel 28 that is disposed so as to close the opening of the main body part 22 and constitutes a part of the vehicle interior surface of the door trim 10 on the vehicle interior side of itself. The space S is formed in the portion surrounded by the main body part 22 and the light-transmitting panel 28.

[0017] More specifically, the main body part 22 is a generally box-shaped member with one side open, having a bottom wall part 23 (the vehicle exterior side portion) disposed to face the light-transmitting panel 28 and a side wall part 24 rising from the periphery of the bottom wall part 23 toward the vehicle interior. As shown in FIG. 2, the bottom wall part 23 is curved (inclined) so as to face the vehicle interior side more downward. It can also be said that the bottom wall part 23 is curved (inclined) in a direction approaching the light-transmitting panel 28 more downward. Further, the end portion of the side wall part 24 on the opening side of the main body part 22 is a diameter-enlarged part 25 having a cross-sectional crank shape that expands outward in diameter.

[0018] On the one hand, the light-transmitting panel 28 is a thick plate-shaped member that is gently curved and is fitted into the opening of the main body 22 described above (inside the large-diameter portion 25). Specifically, the light-transmitting panel 28 has the same outer shape as the main body 22 from the perspective in the vehicle interior and exterior direction, and at its periphery, it is fitted and joined inside the opening of the main body 22.

[0019] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a protruding wall portion 33 that protrudes downward (inside the housing 21) from its lower surface (the inner surface of the housing 21) is provided on the upper wall portion 26 disposed above among the side wall portions 24. The protruding wall portion 33 is in the form of a wall extending in the vehicle front-rear direction along the plate surface of the light-transmitting panel 28. This protruding wall portion 33 is formed by a plate-shaped member 30 different from the main body 22.

[0020] Specifically, the protruding wall portion 33 is formed by bending a long strip-shaped plate member 30 into an L-shaped cross-section along its longitudinal direction, and one side portion (hereinafter referred to as the fixed plate portion 32) sandwiching the bent portion 31 is arranged such that the bent portion 31 is on the side of the light-transmitting panel 28 and the end portion on the opposite side of the bent portion 31 is on the side of the bottom wall portion 23, and is overlapped on the lower surface of the upper wall portion 26 and fixed by an adhesive or the like, so as to protrude downward from the upper wall portion 26. That is, the protruding wall portion 33 is formed by the portion on the other side of the fixed plate portion 32 with the bent portion 31 interposed therebetween.

[0021] The above-described light-transmitting panel 28 and the plate-shaped member 30 (protruding wall portion 33) are made of a highly light-transmissive synthetic resin such as acrylic, PET, or polycarbonate, for example. A color film or the like may be attached to the light-transmitting panel 28 and the protruding wall portion 33, and a plurality of uneven portions or a pattern may be provided on its surface (plate surface) by means of embossing or the like. With such a configuration, the light-transmitting panel 28 can function as a design panel constituting the interior design surface of the vehicle. Also, at least the protruding wall portion 33 is made semi-translucent by adopting such a configuration or by dispersing white powder capable of reflecting light in the synthetic resin material. Note that the light-transmitting panel 28 may also be semi-translucent.

[0022] Note that the semi-translucency means that the amount of light transmitted through the protruding wall portion 33 is smaller than the amount of light incident on the protruding wall portion 33, that is, it refers to the property of transmitting a part of the incident light. In the present embodiment, the protruding wall portion 33 is configured to include a portion where its light transmittance (the amount of transmitted light / the amount of incident light) is in the range of, for example, 0.1 to 0.9. Note that the light that has not passed through the protruding wall portion 33 is preferably reflected as reflected light toward the bottom wall portion 23 side.

[0023] In addition, the protruding wall portion 33 of the present embodiment is configured such that the density of the embossing process (the roughness of the unevenness) on its surface varies depending on the portion, so that the light transmittance varies depending on the portion (the degree of semi-translucency varies). More specifically, the embossing process of the protruding wall portion 33 continuously changes from dense to sparse from the base end side to the tip end side of the protruding wall portion 33.

[0024] On the other hand, the main body portion 22 is made of a non-translucent material in which a reflective material is contained in an ABS resin, which is a thermoplastic resin for example, and is a glossy white member. This main body portion 22 can reflect the light irradiated into the housing 21, that is, it functions as a light reflecting member arranged on the outdoor side of the translucent panel 28 as a design panel and reflecting light toward the translucent panel 28.

[0025] The light emitting portion 40 includes a longitudinally extending substrate 41 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and a plurality of LEDs 42 arranged along the longitudinal direction on the substrate 41 (the lower surface in FIG. 2), and is capable of controlling the lighting state. Specifically, the LED 42 can change the illuminance within a certain range, can switch between lighting and extinguishing, and can change the illuminance stepwise within a range from a relatively bright high illuminance to a dark low illuminance when lit.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 2, this light-emitting unit 40 is attached to the upper end of the housing 21 in a manner that it is accommodated inside the housing 21. More specifically, the substrate 41 of the light-emitting unit 40 is attached to the upper wall portion 26 through the fixing plate portion 32 of the plate-like member 30 in a shape extending in the vehicle front-rear direction between the lower surface (the inner surface of the housing 21) of the upper wall portion 26 of the main body portion 22 and the end portion on the side of the bottom wall portion 23 of the protruding wall portion 33. That is, the substrate 41 of the light-emitting unit 40 is accommodated in the housing 21 with its plate surface facing the vertical direction, and the plurality of LEDs 42 are arranged to emit light downward. Also, the plurality of LEDs 42 are mounted at positions adjacent to the protruding wall portion 33, slightly biased toward the protruding wall portion 33 side (the vehicle interior side) from the central portion in the width direction of the substrate 41.

[0027] Incidentally, the lower end of the above-described protruding wall portion 33 is arranged at a position sufficiently separated below the top portion (the lower end in Fig. 2) of the LED 42 in a state where the light-emitting unit 40 is attached to the housing 21 through the fixing plate portion 32. It can also be said that the protruding dimension of the protruding wall portion 33 from the upper wall portion 26 is larger than the height dimension of the LED 42 from the upper wall portion 26. Thereby, the light-emitting unit 40 (LED 42) is in a state of being hidden by the protruding wall portion 33 when viewed from the vehicle interior side (the design surface side).

[0028] When the light-emitting unit 40 of the light-emitting ornament 20 is lit in the completed door trim 10, a part of the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 40 is reflected with the bottom wall portion 23 of the curved main body portion 22 serving as a reflecting surface, irradiating and transmitting through the translucent panel 28. That is, the reflected light can indirectly illuminate the translucent panel 28.

[0029] Also, a part of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 40, which is incident on the protruding wall portion 33, exits the protruding wall portion 33 with a reduced light amount and irradiates and transmits through the translucent panel 28. That is, the light transmitted through the protruding wall portion 33 can indirectly illuminate the translucent panel 28. At this time, the light transmittance of the protruding wall portion 33 is set such that the proximal end side (the upper side in FIG. 2) closer to the light emitting unit 40 is low, and it increases as it approaches the distal end side (the lower side in FIG. 2) farther from the light emitting unit 40. Therefore, the light amount of the light transmitted through the protruding wall portion 33 is made to be in a state where it is nearly uniform overall.

[0030] In this way, the light emitting unit 40 is disposed outside the vehicle compartment of the protruding wall portion 33, and the light amount of the light irradiating the translucent panel 28 is partially reduced at the position adjacent to the light emitting unit 40 by the semi-translucent protruding wall portion 33. Therefore, when the occupant views the light emitting ornament 20, compared with the light emitting ornament 50 (see FIG. 4) without the protruding wall portion 33, light unevenness is reduced. In FIG. 4, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2.

[0031] Next, the operation and effects will be described. The light emitting ornament 20 provided on the door trim 10 of the present embodiment includes a housing 21 having a space inside, and a light emitting unit 40 capable of irradiating the inside of the housing 21. The housing 21 has a box shape having a bottom wall portion 23 and a side wall portion 24 rising from the bottom wall portion 23 toward the vehicle compartment side, and includes a main body portion 22 that is non-translucent and can reflect the light emitted from the light emitting unit 40, and a plate-shaped translucent panel 28 that is disposed so as to cover the opening of the main body portion 22 and has translucency and constitutes the interior design surface of the vehicle. The light emitting unit 40 is disposed on the side wall portion 24 (upper wall portion 26), and a semi-translucent protruding wall portion 33 that protrudes toward the inside of the housing 21 is provided on the side of the side wall portion 24 closer to the translucent panel 28 than the light emitting unit 40. The protruding wall portion 33 is disposed so as to cover the light emitting unit 40 when viewed from the design surface side.

[0032] According to the above configuration, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 40 is prevented from directly irradiating the translucent panel 28 by the protruding wall portion 33, and the transmitted light that has passed through the semi-translucent protruding wall portion 33 and the reflected light reflected in the main body portion 22 are irradiated onto the translucent panel 28. Therefore, compared with the configuration in which the protruding wall portion 33 is not provided on the side wall portion 24, it is possible to reduce the unevenness in luminance of the light irradiated from the translucent panel 28 into the vehicle interior. Note that having translucency includes the case of being semi-translucent.

[0033] Further, the protruding wall portion 33 is configured such that the light transmittance changes by changing the roughness of the embossing applied to its surface from dense to sparse from the base end side to the tip end side. According to such a configuration, the light transmittance at a position near the light emitting unit 40 in the protruding wall portion 33, where the amount of light irradiated from the light emitting unit 40 is large, is made low, and the light transmittance is increased as the distance from the light emitting unit 40 increases, so that the amount of transmitted light emitted from the protruding wall portion 33 can be made to be in a nearly uniform state.

[0034] Also, the bottom wall portion 23 is inclined in a direction approaching the translucent panel 28 as the distance from the light emitting unit 40 increases. According to such a configuration, as the distance from the light emitting unit 40 increases and the reflected light weakens, the distance between the bottom wall portion 23, that is, the reflecting surface, and the translucent panel 28 decreases, and the amount of light irradiated from the translucent panel 28 can be increased, so that the luminance unevenness can be further reduced.

[0035] <Other Embodiments> The technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the embodiments described by the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope.

[0036] (1) In the above-described embodiment, the form in which the fixing plate portion 32 of the plate-shaped member 30 is fixed to the lower surface of the upper wall portion 26 (the inner surface of the housing 21) is shown. However, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the fixing plate portion 32 can also be in a form fixed to the upper surface of the upper wall portion 26 (the outer surface of the housing 21) by passing a part of the plate-shaped member 30 through the through-hole 27 provided in the upper wall portion 26. Further, a protruding wall portion protruding into the housing may be provided by other methods.

[0037] (2) In the above-described embodiment, a form in which a plurality of uneven portions or patterns are provided on the surface of the protruding wall portion 33 by embossing or the like, or the protruding wall portion 33 is made semi-translucent by dispersing white powder in a translucent synthetic resin is shown. However, the protruding wall portion can also be made semi-translucent by increasing the thickness dimension of the protruding wall portion to reduce the light transmittance.

[0038] (3) In the above-described embodiment, a form in which the light transmittance of the protruding wall portion 33 is changed from the base end side to the tip end side by partially varying the density of the embossing on its surface is shown. However, the light transmittance of the protruding wall portion may also be changed by varying the thickness dimension of the protruding wall portion as it moves away from the light emitting portion.

[0039] (4) In the above-described embodiment, a form in which the light transmittance of the protruding wall portion 33 is changed to increase from the base end side to the tip end side of the protruding wall portion 33 is shown. However, the light transmittance of the protruding wall portion may be made the same throughout.

[0040] (5) In the above-described embodiment, a form in which a plurality of LEDs 42 are mounted on the substrate 41 as the light emitting portion 40 is shown. However, the light emitting portion can also be, for example, a light source and a light guiding member.

[0041] (6) In the above-described embodiment, the light-emitting ornament 20 provided on the door trim 10 of the vehicle is exemplified as the vehicle lighting device. However, the technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the door trim, and can be variously modified and applied not only to other vehicle interior materials such as pillar garnishes, ceiling materials, console boxes, dashboards, various instrument panels, deck trims, etc., but also to vehicle interior materials for vehicles such as railways, airplanes, ships, etc.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0042] 10, 70: Door trim (vehicle interior material) 11: Trim board 20, 50, 60: Light-emitting ornament (vehicle irradiation device) 21: Housing 22: Main body portion 23: Bottom wall portion 24: Side wall portion 26: Upper wall portion 28: Translucent panel 30: Plate-like member 31: Bent portion 32: Fixed plate portion 33: Protruding wall portion 40: Light-emitting portion

Claims

1. A vehicle lighting device provided in an interior trim material for a vehicle, comprising: a housing having a space inside, and a light emitting part capable of irradiating the inside of the housing; The housing is a box-shaped body having a bottom wall portion and a side wall portion rising from the bottom wall portion toward the inside of the vehicle compartment, being non-translucent and capable of reflecting light emitted from the light emitting part; a plate-shaped translucent panel arranged to cover the opening of the main body portion, having translucency and constituting an interior design surface of the vehicle; The light emitting part is arranged on the side wall portion; a semi-translucent protruding wall portion protruding toward the inside of the housing is provided on the side wall portion on the side of the translucent panel from the light emitting part; The vehicle lighting device in which the protruding wall portion is arranged to cover the light emitting part when viewed from the design surface side.

2. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the protruding wall portion is configured such that the light transmittance changes by changing the roughness of the embossing applied to its surface.

3. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the protruding wall portion is configured such that the light transmittance changes by changing its thickness dimension.

4. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the bottom wall portion is inclined in a direction approaching the translucent panel as it moves away from the light emitting part.

Images