Vehicular lamp

Abstract

To provide a vehicular lamp which can be manufactured at lower costs compared to a conventional vehicle lamp including a sensor.SOLUTION: A vehicular lamp 10A comprises: a housing 20A; a light source unit cover 30 covering an opening of the housing 20A; a light source unit 40 disposed in a space S formed by the housing 20A and the light source unit cover 30; a sensor 50 for acquiring information outside a vehicle on the basis of electromagnetic waves having a wavelength in an invisible spectrum; and a sensor cover 20B disposed on the vehicle exterior side of the sensor 50. The sensor cover 20B and the housing 20A are an integrally molded article 20 composed of an opaque member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technology in which a sensor such as a millimeter wave radar is disposed in a vehicle lamp to acquire information about the surroundings of the vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a vehicle lamp that includes a cover having a first portion that covers a light source disposed in the vehicle lamp and a second portion that covers a sensor that acquires information about the outside of the vehicle based on invisible light, and the second portion has a lower transmittance of visible light than the first portion.

[0003] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, when focusing on the structure and manufacturing method of the portion that functions as a sensor cover that covers a sensor such as a millimeter-wave radar, and the portion that functions as a light source unit cover that covers a light source (or light source unit), the key points are as follows: That is, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, (i) the first portion (the portion that functions as a light source unit cover) and the second portion (the portion that functions as a sensor cover) that make up the cover are configured as a single molded product, or (ii) the first portion and the second portion that are provided as separate members are integrated by bonding, welding, fitting, or the like to form the cover. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-26305 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the conventional embodiment shown in (i) above, the one-piece molded product includes a transparent portion that transmits visible light irradiated from the light source unit and an opaque portion that does not transmit visible light in order to conceal the sensor from the outside of the vehicle. Therefore, in this embodiment, after preparing an one-piece molded product made of a transparent member, in order to form an opaque portion in a part of this one-piece molded product (transparent member), a process for making the part of the one-piece molded product (transparent member) opaque (for example, coating with paint containing a colorant) is required. Therefore, a process for forming the opaque portion is required. Furthermore, in the conventional embodiment shown in (ii) above, when manufacturing a vehicle lamp, it is necessary to prepare the first part and the second part that are provided as separate members, which not only increases the number of parts but also requires a process for integrating the first part and the second part by adhesion or the like.

[0006] In other words, in the conventional embodiments shown in (i) to (ii) above, when manufacturing a vehicle lamp equipped with a sensor, the manufacturing process becomes more complicated and the number of parts increases, which ultimately leads to an increase in the manufacturing cost of the vehicle lamp.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp that can be manufactured at lower cost than vehicle lamps equipped with conventional sensors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The above object is achieved by the present invention as follows: The vehicle lamp of the present invention comprises a housing, a light source unit cover that covers an opening of the housing, a light source unit arranged inside the space formed by the housing and the light source unit cover, a sensor for acquiring information outside the vehicle based on electromagnetic waves having a wavelength in the invisible light range, and a sensor cover arranged on the outside side of the sensor, wherein the sensor cover and the housing are integrally molded products made from opaque materials.

[0009] In one embodiment of the vehicle lamp of the present invention, the sensor cover and the sensor are preferably arranged outside the space.

[0010] In another embodiment of the vehicle lamp of the present invention, it is preferable that the sensor cover is a separate member from the light source unit cover and is disposed on a peripheral edge of the light source unit cover.

[0011] In another embodiment of the vehicle lamp of the present invention, it is preferable that the sensor cover as well as the opening of the housing is covered by the light source unit cover.

[0012] In another embodiment of the vehicle lamp of the present invention, the sensor is preferably a millimeter wave radar.

[0013] In another embodiment of the vehicle lamp of the present invention, the integrally molded product is preferably made of an opaque member of a single color. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle lamp that can be manufactured at lower cost than a vehicle lamp equipped with a conventional sensor. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a vehicle lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the vehicle lamp of the present embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the vehicle lamp of the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a vehicle lamp according to this embodiment, in which the X and Y directions are orthogonal to each other. In the description of FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2 and 3, the X direction refers to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle on which the vehicle lamp is mounted, and the Y direction refers to the vertical direction of the vehicle on which the vehicle lamp is mounted. The X1 direction refers to the forward direction of the vehicle, the X2 direction refers to the rearward direction of the vehicle, the Y1 direction refers to the upward direction of the vehicle, and the Y2 direction refers to the downward direction of the vehicle. Therefore, the areas on the X1 and Y2 directions of the vehicle lamp shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 refer to the exterior of the vehicle.

[0017] However, the definitions of the X, X1, X2, Y, Y1, and Y2 directions are merely for the convenience of explanation, and for example, in the above definitions, the definitions of the X1 direction and X2 direction may be changed to (X1 direction: rearward direction of the vehicle, X2 direction: forward direction of the vehicle), or the definition of the Y direction may be changed to (Y direction: left-right direction of the vehicle).

[0018] 1 includes a housing 20A, a light source unit cover 30 that covers the opening of the housing 20A, a light source unit 40 that is disposed inside a space S formed by the housing 20A and the light source unit cover 30, a sensor 50, and a sensor cover 20B that is disposed on the vehicle exterior side of the sensor 50. The sensor cover 20B and the housing 20A are an integrally molded product 20 made of an opaque member.

[0019] In the vehicle lamp 10A of this embodiment, the sensor cover 20B is not a light source unit cover 30 made of a transparent material that transmits light emitted from the light source unit 40, but is integrated with the housing 20A to form part of the integrally molded product 20. This allows for a reduction in the total number of parts constituting the vehicle lamp 10A. Furthermore, the integrally molded product 20, including the housing 20A and the sensor cover 20B, is made of an opaque material. Therefore, when manufacturing the integrally molded product 20, it is not necessary to opaque a portion of the transparent material molded as an integrally molded product using an injection molding machine with a transparent resin material. Therefore, the vehicle lamp 10A of this embodiment can be manufactured at lower cost than the conventional vehicle lamp equipped with a sensor described in Patent Document 1.

[0020] The sensor 50 used in the vehicle lamp 10A is a device used to acquire information about the outside of the vehicle based on electromagnetic waves having wavelengths in the invisible light range. The sensor 50 includes at least an emitter that emits electromagnetic waves and a detector that detects the emitted electromagnetic waves when the reflected waves are reflected by an object outside the vehicle. An information processor built into the sensor 50 or disposed on the vehicle body appropriately processes an electrical signal corresponding to the attributes (e.g., intensity, wavelength, etc.) of the electromagnetic waves detected by the detector, thereby obtaining information about the outside of the vehicle, such as the distance to the object.

[0021] Examples of electromagnetic waves used by the sensor 50 include millimeter waves, microwaves, and infrared rays. Specific examples of the sensor 50 include millimeter wave radar and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors.

[0022] The integrally molded product 20, which includes the sensor cover 20B as a part thereof, is made of an opaque material. Here, "opaque" means that it does not transmit visible light. Furthermore, the integrally molded product 20 is highly transparent to the electromagnetic waves used by the sensor 50 to acquire information about the vehicle's exterior. Therefore, when a vehicle equipped with the vehicle lamp 10A is viewed from the sensor cover 20B side, the sensor 50 is concealed by the sensor cover 20B, and the electromagnetic waves used by the sensor 50 to acquire information about the vehicle's exterior can pass through the sensor cover 20B, thereby not impeding the function of the sensor 50. The color of the integrally molded product 20 is not particularly limited as long as it is opaque, but it can be a predetermined color such as black, or the same color as the vehicle body color around which the vehicle lamp 10A is attached. Furthermore, the integrally molded product is preferably made of an opaque material of a single color. Furthermore, the material of the integrally molded product 20 is not particularly limited, but a resin material is typically used from the perspective of moldability. This resin material may contain various additives such as pigments, as long as they do not significantly impair the permeability of the electromagnetic waves used by the sensor 50.

[0023] The sensor cover 20B can be disposed at any position on the housing 20A constituting the main body of the integrally molded product 20. However, as illustrated in FIG. 1, it is preferably disposed near the outer periphery of the opening of the housing 20A. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the sensor cover 20B and the housing 20A are connected via an L-shaped connecting portion 20C extending from the outer periphery of the housing 20A near the opening. Therefore, the integrally molded product 20 is composed of three portions: the housing 20A, the sensor cover 20B, and the connecting portion 20C connecting the housing 20A and the sensor cover 20B. In this case, the sensor cover 20B and the sensor 50 are disposed outside the space S formed by the housing 20A and the light source unit cover 30. Furthermore, the sensor cover 20B, which is a separate member from the light source unit cover 30, is preferably disposed on the periphery of the light source unit cover 30. In this case, it is even more preferable that the outer peripheral surface of the light source unit cover 30 near the side where the sensor cover 20B is arranged is flush with the outer peripheral surface of the sensor cover 20B near the side where the light source unit cover 30 is arranged, as illustrated in Figure 1.

[0024] A decorative portion displaying the vehicle model name, brand logo, vehicle design, etc. may be provided on the vehicle exterior surface of sensor cover 20B as needed. The decorative portion may be made of a material that is transparent to electromagnetic waves such as millimeter waves used by sensor 50, or may be made of a material that is not transparent. In the latter case, however, an electromagnetic wave-transmitting portion that transmits the electromagnetic waves used by sensor 50 is provided in part of the decorative portion so as not to impede the function of sensor 50. The electromagnetic wave-transmitting portion or material that is transparent to electromagnetic waves may be, for example, an opaque resin or indium film when the electromagnetic waves are millimeter waves, and may be made of a laminate of multiple materials stacked in multiple layers.

[0025] The sensor 50 is disposed on the vehicle interior side of the sensor cover 20B (in FIG. 1, on the X2 direction (rear of the vehicle) side of the sensor cover 20B) so that the electromagnetic wave emission section and detection section face outward from the vehicle. In this case, the sensor 50 may be directly attached to the vehicle interior surface of the sensor cover 20B using an adhesive or the like, or, as illustrated in FIG. 1, may be attached to a bracket 60 attached to the vehicle interior surface of the sensor cover 20B using an adhesive or the like.

[0026] The light source unit 40 is disposed within a space S formed by the housing 20A and the light source unit cover 30 so as to emit light toward the light source unit cover 30 that covers the opening of the housing 20A. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the light source unit 40 includes a light guiding rod 40A, an inner lens 40B disposed on the light source unit cover 30 side of the light guiding rod 40A, and LED light sources (not shown) disposed at both ends of the light guiding rod 40A (both ends in a direction perpendicular to the XY plane in FIG. 1). However, the structure of the light source unit 40 is not particularly limited as long as it includes at least some kind of light source. Examples of light sources that can be used in the light source unit 40 include (1) lamp light sources such as incandescent lamps, halogen lamps, discharge lamps, and neon lamps, and (2) semiconductor light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes, laser diodes, and organic EL elements.

[0027] 1, only one light source unit 40 is arranged in the space S, but multiple light source units 40 can also be arranged in the space S. For example, if the vehicle lamp 10A is a headlight, a light source unit 40 for a high beam and a light source unit 40 for a low beam can be arranged in the space S.

[0028] The light source unit cover 30 is made of a transparent material that transmits the entire wavelength range or a part of the wavelength range of visible light emitted from the light source unit 40. This transparent material may be (i) a colorless transparent material, (ii) a colored transparent material that is colored in a predetermined color (for example, the yellow used for turn signals), or (iii) a low-transmittance transparent material (for example, a transparent material used as a smoked lens) that has a slightly lower transmittance for the entire wavelength range of visible light than the colorless transparent material shown in (i).

[0029] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of a vehicle lamp according to the present embodiment, illustrating a modification of the vehicle lamp 10A shown in FIG. 1. Similar to the vehicle lamp 10A shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle lamp 10B shown in FIG. 2 includes a housing 20A, a light source unit cover 30 covering the opening of the housing 20A, a light source unit 40 disposed within a space S formed by the housing 20A and the light source unit cover 30, a sensor 50, and a sensor cover 20B disposed on the vehicle exterior side of the sensor 50. The sensor cover 20B and the housing 20A are an integrally molded product 20 made of an opaque member. Therefore, like the vehicle lamp 10A shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle lamp 10B shown in FIG. 2 can be manufactured at lower cost than the vehicle lamp equipped with the conventional sensor described in Patent Document 1.

[0030] As described above, the main components of the vehicle lamp 10B shown in FIG. 2 share a common structure with the vehicle lamp 10A shown in FIG. 1, but the two differ in the relative positional relationship between the light source unit cover 30 and the sensor cover 20B. That is, in the vehicle lamp 10A shown in FIG. 1, the light source unit cover 30 is provided to cover only the opening of the housing 20A, whereas in the vehicle lamp 10B shown in FIG. 2, the light source unit cover 30 is provided to cover not only the opening of the housing 20A but also the sensor cover 20B. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the sensor cover 20B is directly connected to the outer peripheral surface of the housing 20A near the opening. Furthermore, a support portion 20D extending toward the outside of the vehicle body is provided at the end of the sensor cover 20B (the end on the Y2 side in the figure). Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the integrally molded product 20 is composed of three parts: the housing 20A, the sensor cover 20B, and the support portion 20D. One end of the light source unit cover 30 is attached to the support portion 20D. Except for the points described above, the vehicle lamp 10B shown in Fig. 2 basically has the same configuration as the vehicle lamp 10A shown in Fig. 1.

[0031] 2, in addition to the sensor cover 20B, a light source unit cover 30 that covers the sensor cover 20B is also located on the vehicle exterior side of the sensor 50. Therefore, a transparent member that has high transparency not only to the visible light emitted from the light source unit 40 but also to the electromagnetic waves used by the sensor 50 is used as the transparent member that makes up the light source unit cover 30. Note that, typically, a typical transparent resin material that makes up the light source unit cover 30 has high transparency to the electromagnetic waves used by the sensor 50.

[0032] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the vehicle lamp of this embodiment, and shows a modified example of the vehicle lamp 10B shown in FIG. 2. The vehicle lamp 10C shown in FIG. 3 is identical in configuration to the vehicle lamp 10B shown in FIG. 2, except that a decorative portion 70 is provided on the vehicle exterior side surface of the sensor cover 20B of the vehicle lamp 10B shown in FIG. 2. The decorative portion 70 shown in FIG. 3 may be the same as the decorative portion that can be provided in the vehicle lamp 10A shown in FIG. 1. In order to make the decorative portion 70 easily visible from outside the vehicle, it is preferable that at least the portion of the light source unit cover 30 that is located in a position that covers the decorative portion 70 is made of (i) a colorless transparent material.

[0033] The vehicle lighting fixtures 10A, 10B, and 10C of this embodiment are not limited to use as headlights or turn signals provided on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle as described above, but can also be used as various lighting fixtures that are provided at any position on the vehicle, such as tail lamps provided on the left and right sides of the rear of the vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 10A, 10B, 10C: Vehicle lighting fixtures 20: One-piece molded product 20A: Housing 20B: Sensor cover 20C: Connection part 20D: Support part 30: Light source unit cover 40: Light source unit 40A: Light guide rod 40B: Inner lens 50: Sensor 60: Bracket 70:Decorative part S: Space

Claims

1. Housing and a light source unit cover that covers the opening of the housing; a light source unit disposed inside a space formed by the housing and the light source unit cover; a sensor for acquiring information about the outside of the vehicle based on electromagnetic waves having wavelengths in the invisible light range; a sensor cover disposed on the vehicle exterior side of the sensor; Equipped with The sensor cover and the housing are integrally molded from an opaque material. Vehicle lighting fixtures.

2. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 , wherein the sensor cover and the sensor are disposed outside the space.

3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 2 , wherein the sensor cover is a separate member from the light source unit cover and is disposed on a peripheral edge of the light source unit cover.

4. 3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein the light source unit cover covers the sensor cover as well as the opening of the housing.

5. 3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a millimeter wave radar.

6. 3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the integrally molded product is made of an opaque member of a single color.

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