Vehicle lighting

Abstract

To provide a vehicle lamp fitting having a film heater which has a simple structure for installing a thermistor and having a high snow melting function.SOLUTION: A vehicle lamp fitting 1 includes: an outer lens 8 forming a lamp chamber therein with a lamp body 9; and a snow melting mechanism 7 having a thermistor 22 for temperature detection, a snow melting film heater 17 having a heating circuit 25 which generates heat based on energization, and a control board which controls energization to the heating circuit 25 based on a temperature detection result of the thermistor 22. The thermistor 22 is mounted on the heating circuit 25 of the film heater 17 and the film heater 17 mounted with the thermistor 22 is bonded to an inner side 8a of the outer lens 8 in the lamp chamber S.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] A technology related to vehicle lamps provided with a film heater having a high snow melting function and being simple.

Background Art

[0002] In

[0022] of Patent Document 1 and FIGS. 1 to 3, a film heater for warming the cover of a vehicle lamp based on the temperature inside the vehicle detected by a thermistor provided in the front grille of the vehicle is disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Since the film heater of Patent Document 1 has a thermistor provided inside the front grille of the vehicle as shown in

[0025] and FIG. 3, a heat insulating member is required to prevent the accurate measurement of the outside air temperature due to the heat generation of the capacitor and the radiator. Further, the thermistor of Patent Document 1 requires a dedicated comparison circuit independent of the heater drive circuit of the film heater as shown in FIG. 1. The film heater of Patent Document 1 has a problem in that the manufacturing cost increases due to the complication of the installation structure of the thermistor and the increase in the number of parts, that is, the installation structure and the heat insulating structure on the front grille are required, and a dedicated comparison circuit is required.

[0005] In view of the above problems, the present application provides a vehicle lamp having a film heater with a simple thermistor installation structure and a high snow melting function.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A vehicle lamp comprising an outer lens that forms a lamp chamber inside together with the lamp body, a snow melting mechanism having a thermistor for temperature detection, a film heater for snow melting having a heating circuit that generates heat based on the application of current, and a control board that controls the supply of current to the heating circuit based on the temperature detection result of the thermistor, wherein the thermistor is mounted on the heating circuit of the film heater, and the film heater on which the thermistor is mounted is attached to the inside of the outer lens inside the lamp chamber.

[0007] (Function) The thermistor is shielded from the heat of the radiator by being installed inside the lamp chamber. The thermistor also detects the temperature outside the lamp chamber through an outer lens to which a film heater is attached. The heating circuit functions as the current supply circuit for the thermistor.

[0008] Furthermore, in a vehicle lighting fixture, the heating circuit includes a heating copper foil provided in the design area of ​​the outer lens, and a power supply copper foil having a larger cross-sectional area than the heating copper foil, electrically connected to the heating copper foil, and provided in the non-design area of ​​the outer lens. The thermistor comprises a copper foil for heat testing, which has the same cross-sectional area as the heat-generating copper foil, is provided in a non-design area of ​​the outer lens, and is electrically connected to the heat-generating copper foil via the power supply copper foil. Preferably, the thermistor is provided in the non-design area of ​​the outer lens, near the copper foil for heat testing.

[0009] (Function) The heat-generating copper foil is placed in a non-design area of ​​the outer lens, separated from the heat-generating copper foil via a power supply copper foil, and generates heat at the same temperature as the heat-generating copper foil. The thermistor is placed in the non-design area and detects the temperature of the heat-generating copper foil.

[0010] Furthermore, in a vehicle lighting device, it is desirable that the control board starts supplying power to the heating copper foil based on the temperature outside the lamp chamber detected by the thermistor, and stops supplying power to the heating copper foil based on the temperature of the heating test copper foil detected by the thermistor.

[0011] (Operation) The control board supplies power to the heating copper foil based on the detection of the temperature outside the lamp room at which snow melting is deemed necessary, and stops supplying power when the temperature of the heating copper foil reaches the upper limit.

[0012] Furthermore, the vehicle lighting fixture is a rear combination lamp, and it is preferable that the film heater is provided in the rear fog lamp, which is one of the multiple lamp units that integrally constitute the rear combination lamp.

[0013] (Function) It occupies a smaller area than other lamp units and melts snow with a high-brightness rear fog lamp using less power consumption.

[0014] Furthermore, in vehicle lighting equipment, it is desirable that the control board is provided in the lamp body, has a general-purpose connector, and is connected to one of the multiple lamp units via a general-purpose connector cable connected to the general-purpose connector.

[0015] (Function) By connecting to any one of several lamp units, power is supplied in conjunction with the ON / OFF state of the connected vehicle lighting fixture. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] According to the vehicle lighting system, the thermistor can accurately detect the temperature outside the light chamber due to the close contact between the film heater and the outer lens. Furthermore, by installing the thermistor inside the outer lens, a heat shielding structure is unnecessary, and a dedicated power supply circuit for the thermistor is not required, resulting in a simpler thermistor installation structure and allowing for the inclusion of a film heater with high snow-melting capabilities.

[0017] Furthermore, in the case of vehicle lighting fixtures, thermistors installed in non-design areas can detect not only the temperature outside the lighting chamber but also the temperature of the heat-generating copper foil without being visible from the outside.

[0018] Furthermore, according to the vehicle lighting system, the heat generated by the film heater during snow melting is automatically started, and the heat generation can be stopped before it reaches a temperature that would adversely affect the outer lens.

[0019] In addition, according to the vehicle lamp, by melting snow with a rear fog lamp having high brightness, it is possible to save power consumption while achieving good appearance.

[0020] In addition, according to the vehicle lamp, by enabling the snow melting control to be interlocked with an arbitrary lamp unit, the freedom of the snow melting control is improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021] [Figure 1] Front view of the rear part of a vehicle including a vehicle lamp according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Horizontal cross-sectional view of the rear fog lamp of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] View of the film heater of FIG. 2 as viewed in the direction of arrow A. [Figure 4] (a) Cross-sectional view taken along line I-I of FIG. 3. (b) Cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 3. [Figure 5] Block diagram including a snow melting mechanism of a vehicle lamp.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0022] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the vehicle lamp of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 5. In each figure, each direction of the vehicle lamp will be described as (front: rear: left direction: right direction: upward direction: downward direction = Fr: Re: Le: Ri: Up: Lo).

[0023] Figure 1 shows the right rear of a vehicle 100 equipped with vehicle lighting fixtures including a snow-melting mechanism, which will be described later. Figure 1 shows the right rear combination lamp 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as RCL; the left RCL is not shown), which is provided in pairs on the left and right sides of the vehicle 100. The rear combination lamp 1 is a group of lamp units that integrates a number of lamp units and is installed in the lower right of the rear window 101. The rear combination lamp 1 includes four lamp units: a rear fog lamp 2, a tail and stop lamp 3, a turn signal lamp 4, and a reverse lamp 5. In this embodiment, as an example, a snow-melting mechanism 7 is provided in the rear fog lamp 2.

[0024] Figure 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a rear fog lamp 2, which is one of the lamp units. The rear fog lamp 2 comprises an outer lens 8 and a lamp body 9. The outer lens 8 and lamp body 9 are also shared by the other lamp units of the rear combination lamp 1, namely the tail and stop lamp 3, the turn signal lamp 4, and the reverse lamp 5, forming a common lamp chamber S on the inside. The lamp chamber S is partitioned for each lamp, thereby forming the four lamp units described above. The outer lens 8 shown in Figure 1 has a design area 2a and a non-design area 2b that does not transmit light, formed from transparent or translucent resin, for the rear fog lamp 2, and a design area 3a and a non-design area 3b that does not transmit light, formed from transparent or translucent resin, for the tail and stop lamp 3. The outer lens 8 also has a design area 4a for the turn signal lamp and a design area 5a for the reverse lamp 5, both formed from transparent or translucent resin. The translucent design areas 4a and 5a are separated by the non-translucent non-design area 6. The remaining areas of the outer lens are formed by the non-translucent non-design portion 10.

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, a stepped light source bracket 12 is provided inside the lamp chamber S of the rear fog lamp 2, fixed to the lamp body 9 by a plurality of support parts 11. Five light-emitting light sources (LEDs, etc.) 13 are provided on the rear surface 12a of each step of the light source bracket 12, facing the design area 2a. Note that the number of light-emitting light sources in this embodiment is just an example and may be one or more, not limited to five. In the outer lens 8, film heaters 17 are provided on the inner surface 2c of the design area 2a and the inner surface 2d of the non-design area 2b of the rear fog lamp 2. Furthermore, a control board 16 for controlling the film heaters 17 and a thermistor 22 (described later) is provided on the inner surface 9a of the lamp body 9, inside the non-design area 2b.

[0026] Figure 3 illustrates the film heater 17. Figure 3 is a view of the film heater 17 in the direction of arrow A in Figure 2. The film heater 17 consists of a heating region 18 and a power supply region 19. The heating region 18 is provided with a heating copper foil 20, and the power supply region 19 is provided with a power supply copper foil 21, a thermistor 22, and lands 23 and 24. The heating copper foil 20 is a thin copper wire with a thickness of several tens of microns, and forms a heating copper foil pattern in the heating region 18. The power supply copper foil 21 consists of a first copper foil pattern 21a electrically connected to both ends of the heating copper foil 20, and a second copper foil pattern 21b electrically connected to both ends of the thermistor 22. The first copper foil pattern 21a is a copper wire with an outer diameter of several hundred microns, which is thicker and has a larger cross-sectional area than the heating copper foil 20, and is electrically connected to the positive terminals 23a and 23b of the lands 23, respectively. The second copper foil pattern 21b is a copper wire having the same thickness and cross-sectional area as the first copper foil pattern 21a, and is electrically connected to the positive terminals 24a and 24b of the land 24, respectively.

[0027] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, it is desirable to provide a heat-generating copper foil 26 surrounding the thermistor 22. The heat-generating copper foil 26 has the same thickness and cross-sectional area as the heat-generating copper foil 20 and is electrically connected to the first copper foil pattern 21a of the power supply copper foil 21.

[0028] The laminated structure of the film heater 17 is illustrated in Figures 4(a) and 4(b). Figure 4(a) is a cross-sectional view II in the heat-generating region 18, and Figure 4(b) is a cross-sectional view II-II in the power supply region 19. The film heater 17, which has a heat-generating region 18 and a power supply region 19, is composed of a copper foil layer 17a, an adhesive layer 17b, a polymer film layer 17c made of flexible PET (POLY ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE: registered trademark) or the like, a surface protection layer 17d made of an insulating material such as polyimide, and an optically transparent adhesive sheet layer 17e made of an OCA (Optical Clear Adhesive) sheet or the like. The copper foil layer 17a is composed of heat-generating copper foil 20 in the heat-generating region 18, and of power supply copper foil 21 and heat-generating inspection copper foil 26 in the power supply region 19. The adhesive layer 17b, polymer film layer 17c, surface protection layer 17d, and optically transparent adhesive sheet layer 17e are all light-transmitting. Furthermore, the power supply copper foil 21 is formed to be extremely thin, making it very difficult for a person to see from the rear of the vehicle 100, and therefore does not obstruct the light transmission of the other layers.

[0029] As shown in Figures 4(a) and (b), the copper foil layer 17a is laid off the adhesive layer 17b and mounted on the surface 17c1 of the polymer film layer 17c. The surface of the copper foil layer 17a is covered by a surface protective layer 17d and insulated from the outside. The polymer film layer 17c is laid off the optically transparent adhesive sheet 17e provided on its back surface and attached to the back surface 1c of the design area 2a and the inner surface 2d of the non-design area 2b, which are part of the outer lens 8 of the rear fog lamp 2.

[0030] As shown in Figure 2, the film heater 17 has its heating region 18 attached to the inner surface 2c of the design region 2a, which is part of the outer lens 8 of the rear fog lamp 2, and its power supply region 19 is attached to the inner surface 2d of the non-design region 2b so as not to be exposed from the inner surface 2c of the design region 2a. Light from the five light-emitting element light sources 13 passes through the film heater 17 without its light transmission being obstructed by the copper foil layer 17a (power supply copper foil 21), and further emits forward from the design region 2a of the outer lens 8. When power is supplied via the land 23 and the first copper foil pattern 21a during snowfall, the heating copper foil 20 generates heat and melts the snow adhering to the design region 2a. The control board 16, film heater 17 and thermistor 22 shown in Figure 2 constitute the snow melting mechanism 7, and the heating copper foil 20, power supply copper foil 21, land 23, 24 shown in Figure 3 constitute the heating circuit 25.

[0031] The power supply copper foil 21 shown in Figure 3 is formed to be thicker than the heat-generating copper foil 20, making it more visible to the human eye. However, since it is located inside the non-design area 2b, which does not have light transmission, it is not visible from the rear of the vehicle 100 and does not obstruct the emitted light from the light-emitting element light source 13. The thermistor 22 shown is powered by the land 24 and the second conductive pattern 22a, and detects the ambient temperature via the outer lens 8. Furthermore, if the thermistor 22 mounted on the power supply copper foil 21 in the heating circuit 25 is mounted near the heat-generating copper foil 20 in the heating area 18, as shown by the dashed-dotted line in Figure 4(a) (electrically connected to the second conductive pattern 21b wired separately to the copper foil layer 17a via low-temperature solder 27; the second copper foil pattern 21a is placed between the two heat-generating copper foils 20), the temperature of the heat-generating copper foil can also be detected during heating.

[0032] However, since both the film heater 17 and the design area 2a of the outer lens 8 are translucent, if the thermistor 22 is placed in the heat-generating area 18, the thermistor 22 will be visible from the rear of the vehicle 100, making it unsightly. To avoid this, it is more desirable to mount the thermistor 22 in the power supply area 19 located inside the non-design area 2b, as shown in this embodiment in Figure 4(b). In that case, the thermistor 22 will be separated from the heat-generating copper foil 18, making it impossible to directly measure the temperature of the heat-generating copper foil 18. In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 3 and 4(b), the thermistor 22 is electrically connected to the second conductive pattern 21b via low-temperature solder 27, and further, a heat-generating inspection copper foil 26 is provided around the second conductive pattern 21b in the copper foil layer 17a so as to surround the thermistor 22 when viewed from the back side. Since the heat-generating copper foil 26 generates heat at the same time as the energized heating copper foil 20, the thermistor 22 can detect the temperature of the heating copper foil 18 via the heat-generating copper foil even when it is positioned inside the non-design area 2b.

[0033] Next, with reference to Figure 5, the specific configuration of the vehicle lighting fixture having the snow melting mechanism 7 in this embodiment will be described. As described above, the snow melting mechanism 7 has a control board 16, a film heater 17, and a thermistor 22. The control board 16 is independently connected to the heating copper foil 20 and the thermistor 22 via lands 23, 24 and power supply copper foil 21 in Figure 3. Specifically, the control board 16 has a control circuit 30 and a power supply board 31. The control circuit 30 is connected to lands 23 and 24 of the film heater 17 via the power supply board 31. The control circuit 30 is configured to include a temperature detection unit 32, a heater control unit 33, a lighting control unit 34, and a power supply determination unit 35, which are derived from an ECU or a set of control circuits.

[0034] The temperature detection unit 32 shown in Figure 5 controls the supply of power to the thermistor 22 via the power supply board 31, land 24, and second copper foil pattern 21b, and detects the change in the resistance value of the thermistor 22 due to temperature changes, thereby detecting the temperature around the thermistor 22, i.e., the ambient temperature of the rear combination lamp 1 and the temperature of the heat-generating copper foil 26. The heater control unit 33 in Figure 5 controls the supply of power to the heat-generating copper foil 20 and the heat-generating copper foil 26 via the power supply board 31, land 23, and first copper foil pattern 21a.

[0035] The lighting control unit 34 shown in Figure 5 is connected to the rear combination lamp 1, headlights 41, and other lamps 42 via the lighting power supply mechanism 39 and the lighting switching mechanism 40. The lighting power supply mechanism 39 is composed of a battery (not shown) of the vehicle 100. The lighting switching mechanism 40 is a mechanism that switches the electrical connection from the lighting power supply mechanism 39 to the rear fog lamp 2, tail & stop lamp 3, other lamps (turn signal lamps 4, reverse lamps 5, etc.) of the rear combination lamp 1, headlights 41, and other lamps 42 (front fog lamps, side marker lights, etc.). This may be an electronic or mechanical switch, or a mechanism that provides a general-purpose connector common to each lamp and manually switches the general-purpose connector at the other end of a general-purpose connector cable connected to the lighting power supply mechanism 39. The lighting control unit 34 controls the on / off status of the connected lamps and detects the ON / OFF status of each lamp by a driver (not shown) or a predetermined automatic control.

[0036] The snow melting mechanism 7 shown in Figure 5 is preferably controlled to turn the film heater 17 ON and OFF in conjunction with the illumination of the lamp or based on a predetermined temperature. In this embodiment, as an example, the rear fog lamp 2 is equipped with the snow melting mechanism 7, so preferably, it is preferable to link the snow melting mechanism 7 to the ON / OFF operation of the rear fog lamp 2 by a driver (not shown) or based on a predetermined automatic ON / OFF control, turning the film heater 17 ON when the rear fog lamp 2 is turned ON, and switching the film heater 17 OFF when the rear fog lamp 2 is turned OFF.

[0037] For example, when the snow melting mechanism 7 is operated in conjunction with the ON and OFF of the rear fog lamp 2, the power supply determination unit 35 of the control circuit 30 shown in Figure 5 detects that a switch (not shown) for the rear fog lamp 2 is operated or that the rear fog lamp 2 has been automatically turned ON during snowfall, and controls the power supply to the rear fog lamp 2 via the lighting control unit 34, the lamp power supply mechanism 39, and the lamp switching mechanism 40 to turn it on. The power supply determination unit 35 also starts supplying power to the heat-generating copper foil 20 of the film heater 17 via the heater control unit 33 and the power supply board 31, causing the heat-generating copper foil 20 to heat up. When the snowfall ends and the rear fog lamp 2 is turned OFF, the power supply determination unit 35 stops supplying power to the heat-generating copper foil 20 and stops heating.

[0038] Furthermore, for example, when operating the snow melting mechanism 7 based on a predetermined temperature, the power supply determination unit 35 of the control circuit 30 shown in Figure 5 detects the ON operation of a temperature detection switch (not shown) by a driver (not shown) during snowfall, and starts supplying power to the thermistor 22 via the temperature detection unit 32 and the power supply board 31 to detect the temperature outside the rear combination lamp 1. For example, if the temperature detection unit 32 detects that the temperature outside the lamp chamber S has fallen below 0°C due to snow accumulation on the outer lens 8, the power supply determination unit 35 starts supplying power to the film heater 17 via the heater control unit 33, thereby heating the heat-generating copper foil 20. Also, if the heat-generating copper foil 20 heats up to a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature, for example, if it exceeds 60°C, it may damage the outer lens 8. Therefore, it is desirable that the power supply determination unit 35 temporarily stops the power supply via the heater control unit 33 when the temperature of the heat-generating copper foil 26 exceeds 60°C, similar to the temperature of the heating copper foil 20, and resumes power supply to the heating copper foil 20 when the temperature of the heat-generating copper foil 26 drops to a predetermined temperature (for example, 0°C). The power supply determination unit 35 stops the power supply to the heating copper foil 20 via the heater control unit 33 when it detects the OFF operation of a temperature detection switch (not shown) by a driver (not shown) due to the end of snowfall.

[0039] Furthermore, the ON / OFF control of the snow melting mechanism linked to the ON / OFF of the rear fog lamp and the ON / OFF control of the snow melting mechanism based on temperature changes may be performed simultaneously. In addition, in this embodiment, the snow melting mechanism 7 is provided inside the rear fog lamp 2 as an example, but the snow melting mechanism 7 is not limited to the rear fog lamp 2, but may be provided inside a wide variety of vehicle lighting fixtures, such as the tail and stop lamps 3 of the rear combination lamp 1, other lamps (turn signal lamps 4 and reverse lamps 5, etc.), headlights other than the rear combination lamps, and other lamps (front fog lamps, side marker lights, etc.), as long as it is configured to have a film heater 17 with a thermistor 22 attached to the inside of the outer lens of the vehicle lighting fixture (each lamp unit in the case of RCL) and power supply control by a control board 16 provided inside the lamp body. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1. Rear combination lamp (vehicle lighting fixture) 2. Rear fog lamp (lamp unit) 2a Design area 2b Non-design area 7 Snow melting mechanism 8 Outer Lenses 8a Inner surface (inside of the outer lens) 9 Lamp body 16 Control board 17 Film Heater 20 Heat-generating copper foil 21 Power supply copper foil 22 Thermistor 25 Heating circuit 26 Copper foil for fever testing S light room

Claims

1. The outer lens, which forms the luminous chamber inside the lamp body, A snow melting mechanism comprising a thermistor for temperature detection, a film heater for snow melting having a heating circuit that generates heat based on the application of current, and a control board that controls the supply of current to the heating circuit based on the temperature detection result of the thermistor, In a vehicle lighting device equipped with, The thermistor is mounted in the heating circuit of the film heater. The film heater on which the thermistor is mounted is attached to the inside of the outer lens inside the lamp chamber. The aforementioned heating circuit is A heat-generating copper foil provided in the design area of ​​the outer lens, A power supply copper foil having a larger cross-sectional area than the aforementioned heating copper foil, electrically connected to the heating copper foil, and provided in the non-design area of ​​the outer lens, The heat-inspection copper foil has the same cross-sectional area as the heat-generating copper foil, is provided in the non-design area of ​​the outer lens, and is electrically connected to the heat-generating copper foil via the power supply copper foil, The thermistor mentioned above is A vehicle light fixture characterized in that it is provided in the non-design area of ​​the outer lens, near the copper foil for heat testing.

2. The control board is Based on the external temperature of the lamp chamber detected by the thermistor, power is supplied to the heating copper foil. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that power supply to the heating copper foil is stopped based on the temperature of the heating copper foil detected by the thermistor.

3. The vehicle light fixture is a rear combination lamp, The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the film heater is provided in the rear fog lamp, which is one of a plurality of lamp units that integrally constitute the rear combination lamp.

4. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 3, characterized in that the control board is provided on the lamp body, has a general-purpose connector, and is connected to any of the plurality of lamp units via a general-purpose connector cable connected to the general-purpose connector.

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