Headlamp device for vehicle

Abstract

To solve a problem that it is difficult to eliminate the annoyance of a driver during vehicle traveling since a low beam light distribution pattern is used for adjusting an optical axis in a conventional vehicular head lamp device.SOLUTION: A vehicular head lamp device 10 is mainly equipped with a head lamp unit 12 that is arranged at a front end portion of a vehicle 11, an optical axis adjusting portion 13 that is arranged on the head lamp unit 12 to adjust its optical axis, a reflector 23 and a shade 24 that adjust irradiation light from a light source 21 (refer to Fig. 2), an actuator 14 that moves the reflector 23 and the shade 24, and a control portion 15 that controls the actuator 14 according to an irradiation area of irradiation light. The control portion 15 converges a part of a high beam irradiation light 33 and uses it as a marking light 32 for adjusting an optical axis when producing vehicles, so that the annoyance of a driver caused by the matter that a bright and dark boundary on a road surface in front of the vehicle 11 are too clearly visible is solved.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp device, and more particularly to a vehicle headlamp device in which an illumination light converging portion is provided in a lens to converge a portion of the high beam illumination light and use it as marking light for adjusting the optical axis during vehicle production, thereby mitigating the light-dark boundary caused by the low beam cut line and eliminating annoyance for the driver. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of a conventional method for adjusting the aiming of a vehicle lamp, a method using a low-beam light distribution pattern is known. A low-beam lamp has a desired light distribution pattern with the optical axis facing downward so as not to dazzle oncoming vehicles. In Japan, where traffic is on the left side of the road, the low-beam light distribution pattern has a horizontal cut line in the right area and a cut line inclined upward and to the left in the left area.

[0003] The intersection of these horizontal and diagonal cut lines is called the elbow point and is set as the center of the light distribution pattern. When a headlight test is performed, it is determined whether the optical axis of the low beam lamp is directed in a specified direction by detecting whether this elbow point is within a specified range (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-190986 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] As described above, in the conventional method for adjusting the aiming of a vehicle lamp, it is detected whether or not the elbow point is present within a predetermined range. Therefore, by highlighting the light-dark boundary at the horizontal cut line and the inclined cut line of the low beam light distribution pattern, the elbow point becomes clear and the judgment accuracy is improved. In other words, in the conventional method for adjusting the aiming of a vehicle lamp, the light-dark boundary at the cut line of the low beam light distribution pattern is highlighted.

[0006] However, by highlighting the light-dark boundary at the cut line, when the light of the low beam light distribution pattern is irradiated onto the road surface or a vehicle ahead during normal driving of the vehicle, the light-dark boundary caused by the cut line becomes too clearly visible, making it difficult to see ahead of the vehicle, which is annoying for the driver.

[0007] In particular, when a traveling vehicle is about to enter an uphill lane on a slope, more light from the low beam light distribution pattern is projected onto the road surface than on a downhill lane or a flat lane, and the boundary between light and dark is too clearly visible, making it difficult to see ahead of the vehicle and making the driver feel uneasy.

[0008] In addition, by reducing the light blurring area of ​​the low beam light distribution pattern, the illuminated area of ​​the road surface during normal vehicle driving is reduced, resulting in a problem of reduced visibility for the driver.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and provides a vehicle headlamp device that provides an illumination light converging portion on a lens, converges a portion of the high beam illumination light, and uses it as marking light for adjusting the optical axis during vehicle production, thereby mitigating the light-dark boundary caused by the low beam cut line and eliminating annoyance for the driver. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] A vehicle headlamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light source and a lens through which light emitted from the light source passes, the lens having a light converging portion that converges a portion of the light when the light passes through the lens, and the light converging portion is a light passing area of ​​the high beam light emitted from the light source. A part of the surface of the lens is formed into a predetermined shape of a flat surface. , A part of the irradiation light emitted from the same light source is included in the high beam irradiation light as marking light for adjusting the optical axis of the predetermined shape. It is characterized by: Effect of the Invention

[0011] In the vehicle headlamp device according to one embodiment of the present invention, a portion of the high beam irradiation light is converged when passing through the irradiation light converging portion of the lens, forming marking light for adjusting the optical axis during vehicle production. This reduces the light-dark boundary caused by the low beam cut line, eliminating the annoyance to the driver when the vehicle is running. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle headlamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vehicle headlamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a vehicle headlamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams illustrating a process for adjusting the optical axis of the vehicle headlamp device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 1 is a diagram illustrating a light distribution pattern of a vehicle headlamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] First, a vehicle headlamp device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description of this embodiment, the same components are generally designated by the same reference numerals, and repeated description will be omitted. In the following description, the up-down direction refers to the height direction of the vehicle 11, the left-right direction refers to the width direction of the vehicle 11, and the front-rear direction refers to the overall length direction of the vehicle 11.

[0014] Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle headlamp device 10 according to the present embodiment. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a headlamp unit 12 of the vehicle headlamp device 10 according to the present embodiment, showing a cross section along the height direction of a vehicle 11. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the headlamp unit 12 of the vehicle headlamp device 10 according to the present embodiment, showing a cross section along the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 11.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle headlamp device 10 mainly includes a headlamp unit 12 disposed at the front end of a vehicle 11, a light axis adjustment section 13 disposed in the headlamp unit 12 and adjusting the light axis thereof, a reflector 23 (see FIG. 2) that reflects light emitted from a light source 21 (see FIG. 2) toward the front side of the vehicle 11, a shade 24 (see FIG. 2) that blocks a portion of the light reflected by the reflector 23, an actuator 14 that moves the reflector 23 and the shade 24, and a control section 15 that controls the actuator 14 in accordance with the illumination area of ​​the light.

[0016] The actuator 14 is configured, for example, by a stepping motor or the like, and is connected to the reflector 23 and the shade 24 that configure the headlamp unit 12. The actuator 14 then appropriately moves the reflector 23 and the shade 24 under the control of the control unit 15, thereby adjusting a low beam illumination area 44 (see FIG. 5) and a high beam illumination area 45 (see FIG. 5) while the vehicle is traveling.

[0017] The control unit 15 is an electronic control unit (ECU) that is configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and executes various calculations to control the vehicle headlamp device 10.

[0018] The control unit 15 stores position data, angle data, and the like of the reflector 23 and the shade 24 for forming the low beam illumination region 44 and the high beam illumination region 45. The control unit 15 controls the actuator 14 in response to a user's operation of an operation unit (not shown) of a steering unit (not shown) to cause the headlamp unit 12 to irradiate low beam illumination light and high beam illumination light 33 (see FIG. 4).

[0019] 2 and 3, the headlamp unit 12 mainly includes a light source 21, a lens 22, a reflector 23 and a shade 24 that adjust the irradiation area of ​​the light emitted from the light source 21, a housing 25 that supports the light source 21 and the lens 22, an outer portion 26 that supports the optical axis adjustment unit 13, and a front cover 27 that is disposed in front of the outer portion 26. For convenience of explanation, the light source 21 and the shade 24, the upper portions of which are covered by the reflector 23, are also shown by solid lines in FIG.

[0020] The headlamp unit 12 of this embodiment is an integrated low beam / high beam type, and uses, for example, one light emitting diode (LED) as the light source 21. The light emitting diode is electrically connected to a circuit board (not shown), and the circuit board is fixed at a desired position inside the housing 25. The light emitted from the light source 21 is adjusted by the reflector 23 and the shade 24, and travels toward the front side of the vehicle 11 on a specified optical axis.

[0021] The lens 22 is, for example, a projector lens, and is disposed on the front side of the vehicle 11 relative to the light source 21 so as to cover the opening in front of the housing 25. As shown in the figure, the lens 22 is a transparent resin lens, and the surface of the lens 22 facing the light source 21 is a flat lens surface 22A, and the surface of the lens 22 on the opposite side is a convex lens surface 22B. With this structure, the light emitted from the light source 21 directly enters the lens 22 from the flat lens surface 22A, and is diffused when passing through the convex lens surface 22B, thereby irradiating the front side of the vehicle 11 as low beam light or high beam light.

[0022] Details will be described later with reference to Figs. 4 and 5, but an irradiation light converging portion 22C is formed on the convex lens surface 22B of the lens 22. The irradiation light converging portion 22C is formed on the convex lens surface 22B in an area through which the high beam irradiation light 33 passes. As shown in the figure, the irradiation light converging portion 22C is formed by forming a part of the convex lens surface 22B as a flat surface, so that a part of the high beam irradiation light 33 passing through the irradiation light converging portion 22C is converged and irradiated toward the front of the vehicle 11 without diffusing. The irradiation light converged by the irradiation light converging portion 22C is used as marking light 32 (see Fig. 4) for adjusting the optical axis.

[0023] The reflector 23 has, for example, a bowl shape curved toward the front side of the vehicle 11, and its inner surface is plated or painted to have a reflective surface portion. The reflector 23 reflects the light emitted from the light source 21 toward the front of the vehicle 11. On the other hand, the shade 24 is disposed on the front side of the vehicle 11 of the reflector 23, and blocks a part of the light reflected by the reflector 23.

[0024] As described above, the reflector 23 and the shade 24 are movable via the actuator 14 controlled by the control unit 15, thereby causing the headlamp unit 12 to emit low beam light and high beam light 33.

[0025] The housing 25 is, for example, cylindrical and made of metal, and is open on the front side of the vehicle 11. The rear side of the housing 25 on the rear side of the vehicle 11 is fixed at a desired position with respect to the support plate 13A of the optical axis adjustment unit 13. The housing 25 moves integrally with the support plate 13A, and the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 21 is adjusted by finely adjusting the orientation of the support plate 13A.

[0026] The external portion 26 is formed, for example, by injection molding a resin material, and constitutes the external shape of the headlamp unit 12. The four main pillar portions 13B, 13C of the optical axis adjustment portion 13 are attached to the external portion 26, and the external portion 26 movably supports the optical axis adjustment portion 13. The external portion 26 is attached to the body of the vehicle 11 at the front end portion thereof, whereby the headlamp unit 12 is fixed to the vehicle 11.

[0027] The front cover 27 is formed from a transparent resin, and is attached so as to cover the front of the external portion 26. The front cover 27 is processed into a desired shape in accordance with the shape of the front end portion of the vehicle 11, and constitutes the design surface of the vehicle 11. The light emitted from the light source 21 passes through the lens 22 and the front cover 27, and illuminates the area ahead of the vehicle 11.

[0028] As shown in the figure, the optical axis adjustment unit 13 mainly has a support plate 13A that supports the housing 25, and four main pillars 13B, 13C that are fixed to the external portion 26 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 11. The main pillars 13B, 13C are composed of, for example, bolts and nuts, and are fixed to the rear end portion 26A of the external portion 26.

[0029] In the main pillar portions 13B and 13C, by rotating the nuts in one direction, the tip side of the bolt advances toward the front of the vehicle 11, while by rotating the nuts in the opposite direction, the tip side of the bolt retreats toward the rear of the vehicle 11. Although details will be described later, in the optical axis adjustment process during vehicle production, a worker operates the nuts to tilt the support plate 13A in the front-to-rear direction and the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 11, thereby adjusting the angle of the housing 25 and adjusting the optical axis of the light emitted from the light source 21.

[0030] Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the optical axis adjustment process of the vehicle headlamp device 10 of this embodiment. Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp device 10 of this embodiment.

[0031] 4 shows the implementation status of the optical axis adjustment process of the headlamp unit 12 in a production factory of the vehicle 11. As shown in the figure, the inspection screen 31 is fixed at a specified position with respect to the production line, and the optical axis adjustment of the headlamp unit 12 is performed for the vehicle 11 being transported on the production line.

[0032] The worker performs various settings based on the inspection conditions for optical axis adjustment for the vehicle 11, which is in front of the inspection screen 31 and parked at the inspection position on the production line, and connects an optical axis diagnosis device (not shown) to the control unit 15. The optical axis diagnosis device controls the light source 21 (see FIG. 2) via the control unit 15 to cause the light emitting diode that constitutes the light source 21 to emit light. The worker checks the marking light 32 for optical axis adjustment irradiated onto the inspection screen 31, and adjusts the optical axis so that the marking light 32 coincides with a target (not shown) on the inspection screen 31.

[0033] Here, as described above, the irradiation light converging portion 22C is formed on the convex lens surface 22B in the area through which the high beam irradiation light 33 passes. Therefore, in the optical axis adjustment process of the headlamp unit 12, the worker irradiates the high beam irradiation light 33 onto the inspection screen 31, and a part of the irradiation light is used as the marking light 32 for optical axis adjustment. In this embodiment, the irradiation light converging portion 22C is formed in a rectangular shape across the vehicle width direction on the convex lens surface 22B of the lens 22, and the marking light 32 of the illustrated shape is irradiated onto the inspection screen 31.

[0034] As shown in the figure, the marking light 32 is formed by using a part of the high beam irradiation light 33, so that the inspection screen 31 is irradiated with both the high beam irradiation light 33 and the marking light 32. The marking light 32 is converged by the irradiation light converging portion 22C of the lens 22, so that the boundary between the marking light 32 and the high beam irradiation light 33 stands out more clearly than the surrounding diffused marking light 32. In particular, by using a light emitting diode as the light source 21, the directionality of the light is increased, and the boundary can be made more prominent.

[0035] As described above, while checking the marking light 32 irradiated onto the inspection screen 31, the worker operates the main pillar portions 13B, 13C of the optical axis adjustment unit 13 (see FIG. 2) and tilts the support plate 13A in the fore-and-aft direction or in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 11, thereby adjusting the angle of the housing 25 and adjusting the optical axis of the light irradiated from the light source 21.

[0036] Furthermore, the marking light 32 for adjusting the optical axis is not limited to the above-mentioned rectangular shape, but may have any shape that can be molded onto the convex lens surface 22B of the lens 22, for example, a cross shape, a circle shape, or a square shape, and the design can be changed to any shape.

[0037] 5, the frame enclosed by a solid line 41 indicates an example of the low beam illumination area 44, and the frame enclosed by a solid line 42 indicates an example of the high beam illumination area 45. The optical axis adjustment illumination area 43 is formed within the high beam illumination area 45. As described above, in this embodiment, the control unit 15 controls the actuator 14 to appropriately move the reflector 23 and the shade 24, thereby adjusting the low beam illumination area 44 and the high beam illumination area 45.

[0038] In the vehicle headlamp device 10 of this embodiment, by forming the optical axis adjustment illumination region 43 inside the high beam illumination region 45, it is not necessary to emphasize the light-dark boundary of the cutoff line 44A of the low beam illumination region 44. In other words, in the low beam illumination region 44, the light-dark boundary around the cutoff line 44A can be made blurred.

[0039] As a result, when the vehicle 11 is normally traveling, the headlamp unit 12 emits low beam light, but the cutoff line 44A and the light in the vicinity thereof are unclear. Since the light-dark boundary caused by the cutoff line of the low beam light is mitigated, the driver is less likely to feel the difficulty in visibility caused by the illuminance difference on the road surface while traveling, and is less likely to feel annoyance such as difficulty in seeing the direction the vehicle 11 is traveling.

[0040] Furthermore, immediately before the vehicle 11 approaches an uphill lane during normal driving, the light emitted by the cutoff line 44A is particularly irradiated to the road surface of the uphill lane, and the light-dark boundary is too clearly visible. However, in this embodiment, as described above, the light of the cutoff line 44A and its neighboring area becomes ambiguous, so that the driver is less likely to feel uneasy or bothered by the difference in illuminance on the road surface ahead of the vehicle 11.

[0041] Furthermore, there is no need to reduce the blurred area of ​​the low beam illumination light too much, and the illumination area of ​​the road surface during normal driving of the vehicle 11 is secured, and the driver's visibility is secured, thereby improving the driving safety of the vehicle 11.

[0042] On the other hand, the high beam illumination light 33 is illuminated to the space diagonally above the vehicle 11 during normal driving of the vehicle 11, so that the amount of light illuminated to the road surface is less than that of the low beam illumination light. Even if the light-dark boundary of the marking light 32 for adjusting the optical axis is clearly highlighted, the light-dark boundary is not illuminated to the road surface ahead of the vehicle 11 due to the illumination direction of the high beam illumination light 33, so that the driver is prevented from feeling annoyed.

[0043] As a result, by clearly highlighting the light / dark boundary of the marking light 32 for adjusting the optical axis, during the optical axis adjustment process of the headlamp unit 12, the worker can easily recognize the marking light 32 clearly projected onto the inspection screen 31, thereby increasing the work efficiency of the optical axis adjustment and improving the adjustment accuracy.

[0044] In this embodiment, the case where the irradiated light converging portion 22C is formed on the lens 22, which is a projector lens, has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this case. For example, a converging lens may be disposed on the front side of the lens 22 with respect to the vehicle 11, so that a part of the high beam irradiated light 33 is converged and used as the marking light 32 for adjusting the optical axis.

[0045] In addition, although the case where one light emitting diode is used as the light source 21 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this case. For example, even if a halogen lamp or an HID lamp is used as the light source 21, the same effect as described above can be obtained via the irradiation light converging portion 22C of the lens 22.

[0046] In addition, in the headlamp unit 12, a structure in which the reflector 23 and the shade 24 are used has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this case. For example, even if the light source 21 is made up of a plurality of light-emitting diodes and the control unit 15 performs ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) control for selectively causing the plurality of light-emitting diodes to emit light in accordance with a high beam light distribution pattern or the like, and the light emitted from the light source 21 is caused to directly enter the lens 22, the same effect as above can be obtained via the light-emitting light converging unit 22C of the lens 22. Note that various other modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10. Headlamp device for vehicle 11 Vehicles 12 Headlamp unit 13 Optical axis adjustment section 13A Support plate 13B,13C Main pillar part 14 Actuator 15 Control section 21 Light source 22 Lens 22A Flat lens surface 22B Convex lens surface 22C Irradiation light focusing part 23 Reflector 24 Shades 25 Case 26 External shape 27 Front cover 31 Examination Screen 32 Marking light 33 High beam light 43 Irradiation area for optical axis adjustment 44 Low beam illumination area 45 High beam illumination area

Claims

1. A light source and a lens through which the light emitted from the light source passes, the lens has an irradiation light converging portion that converges a portion of the irradiation light when the portion passes through the lens, The illumination light converging portion is a passage area of ​​the high beam illumination light emitted from the light source, and is formed by forming a part of the surface of the lens into a predetermined shape of a flat surface, A vehicle headlamp device, characterized in that a part of the light emitted from the same light source is included in the high beam light as marking light of the predetermined shape for adjusting the optical axis.

2. 2. The vehicle headlamp device according to claim 1, wherein the lens is a projector lens.

3. The lamp further includes a reflector that reflects the irradiated light, and a shade that blocks a part of the irradiated light reflected by the reflector, 3. The vehicle headlamp device according to claim 2, wherein the light source is a light emitting diode.

Images