Vehicle lighting fixtures

Abstract

To improve uniformity in plane light emission.SOLUTION: A vehicular lighting fixture includes: an emitter (LED module 231); a light guide plate 240 for guiding the light from the emitter entering from one end-side edge portion toward the other end-side edge portion, and emitting the light from a surface-side face portion between the one end-side edge portion and the other end-side edge portion; and a diffuser panel 250 for diffusing the light emitted from the light guide plate 240. The diffuser panel 250 has a first diffusion portion 251 disposed along the face portion at the surface side of the light guide plate 240, and a second diffusion portion 252 disposed so that a distance to the first diffusion portion 251 becomes gradually shorter from the one end-side edge portion toward the other end-side edge portion of the light guide plate 240.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp that is attached to the body of an automobile or the like and emits light in a planar manner. [Background technology]

[0002] A known surface-emitting module used as a vehicle lamp is equipped with a light guide plate having an LED light source at one end, a diffusion film, and a prism film to improve the uniformity of surface emission (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2020-525968 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When using a light guide plate with an LED light source at one end as described above, it is not easy to obtain a highly uniform light emission state regardless of the distance from the LED light source, even if a diffusion film or prism film is used.

[0005] Furthermore, if a reflector is used instead of a light guide to obtain a highly uniform light emission state, the dimensions of the device will increase in both the depth and width directions.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to easily improve the uniformity of surface light emission while saving space. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, The present invention provides A vehicle lamp, A light emitter; a light guide plate formed from a transparent material, which guides light from the light emitter incident from one edge portion toward the other edge portion and causes the light to exit from a surface portion on a front side between the one edge portion and the other edge portion; a diffusion plate made of a milky white material that diffuses the light emitted from the light guide plate; Equipped with The diffusion plate is a first diffusion section disposed along the surface of the light guide plate on the front side; a second diffusion section arranged such that the distance between the second diffusion section and the first diffusion section becomes shorter from the one end edge of the light guide plate to the other end edge; The present invention is characterized by having the following.

[0008] As a result, the light emitted from the light guide plate is diffused by the first diffusion section, and then passes through a longer distance of space the closer it is to the light emitter, and is further diffused by the second diffusion section, making it easy to achieve good uniformity. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to easily improve the uniformity of surface light emission while saving space. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a main part showing an example of a vehicle in which a vehicle lamp is used; [Figure 2] 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a vehicle lamp; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a vehicle lamp. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle lamp 200 is provided near both the left and right sides of a front grille 101 of an automobile 100, and each of the lamps has four light-emitting areas 201 that emit light in a planar manner.

[0012] More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vehicle lamp 200 includes an outer lens 210 and a housing 220, and a wiring board 230, a light guide plate 240, a diffusion plate 250, and a bezel 260 disposed between them.

[0013] The outer lens 210 is made of a transparent resin and has four convex lens portions 211 corresponding to the light emitting regions 201 .

[0014] The housing 220 is fixed to the body of the automobile 100 by, for example, screws (not shown), so that the entire vehicle lamp 200 is fixed to the body.

[0015] Wiring board 230 is configured by mounting LED module 231 on the surface of a printed circuit board, and is configured to emit, for example, white light with an optical axis perpendicular to the surface of wiring board 230. Wiring board 230 is fixed to the edge of light guide plate 240 by, for example, screws (not shown).

[0016] The light guide plate 240 is made of a transparent resin and guides so-called side-emission light from the LED modules 231 that enters from one edge toward the other edge, and emits the light from the front side where the diffuser plate 250 is provided. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the light guide plate 240 has a wedge-shaped cross section in which the thickness of one edge is greater than the thickness of the other edge, and the rear surface is inclined with respect to the rear axis of the light emitted from the LED modules 231, so that light reflected by the rear surface (inner surface) is emitted from the front side. Although not required, a separate reflector may be provided on the rear side of the light guide plate 240.

[0017] Here, the surface on the rear side of the light guide plate 240 may be formed flat, or may have striped rear side unevenness 241 formed in the vertical direction as shown in Figures 4 and 5, so that the light incident from the LED module 231 is reflected while being scattered. Also, the depth of the rear side unevenness 241 may be shallower near the center than near one end edge and the other end edge, making it easier to improve reflection efficiency and uniformity.

[0018] Furthermore, the front surface of the light guide plate 240 may also be provided with vertically streaked front surface unevenness 242 to enhance the scattering of light emitted from the light guide plate 240. A specific cross-sectional shape of the front surface unevenness 242 may be, for example, a shape in which a plurality of arc-shaped recesses are connected, but is not limited thereto and may be variously set depending on the light guiding and scattering state, such as a shape in which a plurality of arc-shaped protrusions are connected. Furthermore, a front surface flat portion 243 may be formed near the other end edge of the front surface of the light guide plate 240 to facilitate improving the output efficiency. In particular, when the distance between one end edge and the other end edge of the light guide plate 240, i.e., the light guide distance, differs between the upper and lower portions of the light guide plate 240, the front surface flat portion 243 may be formed over a wider area as the light guide distance increases (the upper portion in this example).

[0019] The diffusion plate 250 is formed, for example, from a milky-white resin. The diffusion plate 250 includes a first diffusion section 251 arranged along the surface of the front side of the light guide plate 240, and a second diffusion section 252 arranged so that the distance between the first diffusion section 251 decreases from one edge of the light guide plate 240 to the other edge of the light guide plate 240. That is, the first diffusion section 251 and the second diffusion section 252 are arranged in a V-shape. Here, in the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second diffusion section 252 is formed thicker than the first diffusion section 251, but this is not limiting and various thicknesses may be used to adjust the degree of light diffusion. Ribs 253 are provided at appropriate positions in the vertical direction of the diffusion plate 250, i.e., at positions between the light-emitting regions 201 arranged in the vertical direction that do not affect light emission. This facilitates ensuring the accuracy of the V-shape.

[0020] Here, the first diffusion section 251 and the second diffusion section 252 may be integrally formed to reduce the number of parts, or may be formed as separate bodies to facilitate injection molding. When they are formed as separate bodies, it is also easy to make the degree of diffusion easier to adjust by differentiating the degree (depth) of milky white color between the first diffusion section 251 and the second diffusion section 252.

[0021] The bezel 260 has an opening 261 formed at a position corresponding to the light emitting area 201 , and is configured to hold the light guide plate 240 and the diffusion plate 250 between the housing 220 .

[0022] As described above, by emitting light from the side and guiding, reflecting, and scattering it through the light guide plate 240, the light is emitted through the first diffusion section 251 and the second diffusion section 252 arranged in a V-shape, and through the space between them, it is possible to easily increase the uniformity of the surface light emission while making the vehicle lamp 200 thinner.

[0023] In the above embodiment, the vehicle lamp is described as being used on both the left and right sides of the front grille, but the vehicle lamp of the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be set on the front bumper, rear bumper, etc.

[0024] In the above embodiment, the LED module is mounted on the surface of the printed circuit board and emits white light with its optical axis perpendicular to the surface of the printed circuit board, but a prism-cut light guide may be placed on the edge of the light guide 240, and the LED module may emit white light toward the end of the light guide. In this case, the white light is emitted from the LED module, enters the end of the light guide, passes through the light guide, and enters the edge of the light guide 240. [Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 100 Automobiles 101 Front Grill 200 Vehicle lighting fixtures 201 Luminous Area 210 outer lens 211 Lens section 220 Housing 230 Wiring board 231 LED module 240 Light guide plate 241 Rear side unevenness 242 Surface side unevenness 243 Flat part on the surface side 250 Diffuser 251 First diffusion section 252 Second diffusion section 253 Ribs 260 bezel 261 Opening

Claims

1. A vehicle lamp, A light emitter; a light guide plate formed from a transparent material, which guides light from the light emitter incident from one edge portion toward the other edge portion and causes the light to exit from a surface portion on a front side between the one edge portion and the other edge portion; a diffusion plate made of a milky white material that diffuses the light emitted from the light guide plate; Equipped with The diffusion plate is a first diffusion section disposed along the surface of the light guide plate on the front side; a second diffusion section disposed so that the distance between the second diffusion section and the first diffusion section becomes shorter from the one end edge of the light guide plate to the other end edge; and The vehicle lamp is characterized in that the first diffusion portion and the second diffusion portion are integrally formed from the same material.

2. 2. The vehicle lamp of claim 1, A vehicle lamp characterized in that an uneven portion is formed on the back side of the light guide plate.

3. 3. The vehicle lamp of claim 2, Furthermore, the vehicle lamp is characterized in that an uneven portion is formed on the surface side of the light guide plate.

4. 4. The vehicle lamp of claim 3, A vehicle lamp, characterized in that a portion of the surface of the light guide plate on the edge side of the one end is formed unevenly, while a flat portion is formed on the edge side of the other end.

5. A vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The vehicle lamp further comprises a reflector provided on the rear side of the light guide plate.

6. A vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The light guide plate is formed so that its thickness decreases from the edge portion on one end to the edge portion on the other end.

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