Vehicle headlight control device, control program, and vehicle headlight

Abstract

Provided is a control device for a vehicle headlight (21) mounted on a vehicle (1), said control device having an aiming unit that shifts the direction in which light is emitted by the vehicle headlight (21). The control device: can communicate with an emission position detection device (30) that detects the emission position of a light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlight (21); can receive a position detection signal indicating that the vehicle (1) is positioned at a prescribed position with respect to the emission position detection device (30), and a light emission ON detection signal indicating that the light emission of the vehicle headlight (21) is ON; and controls the aiming operation of the aiming unit. The control device starts the aiming operation of the aiming unit when the control device and the emission position detection device (30) are in a communicable state, the position detection signal is received for a predetermined time or longer, and the light emission ON detection signal is received.

Description

Vehicle headlamp control device, control program, and vehicle headlamp

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device for a vehicle headlamp, a control program, and a vehicle headlamp.

[0002] Aiming adjustment, which is the adjustment of the optical axis, is performed on vehicle headlights when they are installed on the vehicle body or during inspection. In aiming adjustment, the vehicle is fixed in a predetermined position, and the light from the vehicle headlights is projected onto an inspection screen of an aiming inspection device (see, for example, Patent Document 1 listed below).

[0003] Japan Special Table No. 2009-147799

[0004] The present inventors have considered automating the aiming adjustment in order to reduce the workload of the aiming adjustment.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a control device for a vehicle headlamp, a control program, and a vehicle headlamp that are capable of automating aiming adjustment.

[0006] A control device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a control device for a vehicle headlamp mounted on a vehicle, the control device having an aiming unit that displaces the irradiation direction of light from the vehicle headlamp, wherein the control device is capable of communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp, and is capable of receiving a position detection signal that indicates that the vehicle is located at a predetermined position relative to the irradiation position detection device and a light irradiation on detection signal that indicates that the light irradiation of the vehicle headlamp is on, and controls the aiming operation of the aiming unit, and when the control device and the irradiation position detection device are capable of communicating, the control device has received the position detection signal for a predetermined period of time or more, and the control device has received the light irradiation on detection signal, the control device starts the aiming operation of the aiming unit.

[0007] A control program according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a control program for a vehicle headlamp mounted on a vehicle, the control program comprising: an aiming step of causing the vehicle headlamp to displace an irradiation direction of light from the vehicle headlamp; a communication step of communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects an irradiation position of a light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp; a first receiving step of receiving a position detection signal indicating that the vehicle is located at a predetermined position; and a second receiving step of receiving a light irradiation-on signal indicating that the vehicle headlamp is in an on state; and the control program starts the aiming step if the vehicle is in a state where it can communicate with the irradiation position detection device in the communication step, has received the position detection signal for a predetermined period of time or more in the first receiving step, and has received the light irradiation-on signal in the second receiving step.

[0008] A control device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a control device for a vehicle headlamp mounted on a vehicle, the control device having an aiming unit that displaces the irradiation direction of light from the vehicle headlamp, wherein the control device is capable of communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects the irradiation position of a light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp, and during an aiming operation of the vehicle headlamp, when the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern is within a target range and the aiming adjustment value of the aiming unit has been written to a storage medium, the control device terminates the aiming operation.

[0009] A control program according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a control program for a vehicle headlamp mounted on a vehicle, comprising: an aiming step of causing the vehicle headlamp to displace an irradiation direction of light from the vehicle headlamp; a communication step of communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects an irradiation position of a light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp; and terminating the aiming step when, in the aiming step, the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern is within a target range and a completion signal indicating that writing of the aiming adjustment value of the aiming unit to a storage medium is completed is transmitted to the irradiation position detection device, and the state in which writing to the storage medium is permitted ends.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a control device for a vehicle headlamp, a control program, and a vehicle headlamp that are capable of automating aiming adjustment.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an aiming inspection system for a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an aiming inspection of a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is an image diagram of a low beam cutoff line of a light distribution pattern displayed on an irradiation position display device when the irradiation position is not within a target range during an aiming inspection of a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is an image diagram of a low beam cutoff line of a light distribution pattern displayed on an irradiation position display device when the irradiation position is within a target range during an aiming inspection of a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a vehicle headlamp according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012] In the following description, front, rear, left, right, top and bottom are defined as directions seen by a passenger in a vehicle equipped with the vehicle headlamp. Unless otherwise specified, in the following description, front, rear, left, right, top and bottom are defined when the vehicle headlamp is oriented so as to irradiate light in front of the vehicle.

[0013] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an aiming inspection system S for a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the aiming inspection system S is composed of a vehicle 1, an irradiation position detection device 30, an irradiation position display device 30M, and a vehicle position detection sensor 31.

[0014] The aiming test is an inspection of the irradiation direction of the vehicle headlights 21 of the vehicle 1, which is carried out during inspections (so-called vehicle inspections) carried out on production lines and under the automobile inspection and registration system. The light distribution patterns emitted from the left headlight 21A and the right headlight 21B of the vehicle 1 are projected onto the display screen of the irradiation position detection device 30, and it is inspected whether the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern is included within a target range. If the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern is not included within the predetermined range, the irradiation direction of the vehicle headlights 21 is adjusted so that it is included within the target range.

[0015] The irradiation position detection device 30 includes a test device for the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp 21, or a camera sensor that captures the light distribution pattern and an information processing device that analyzes the image captured by the camera sensor, and detects the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp 21. The irradiation position display device 30M is composed of a liquid crystal panel or the like and displays a low beam cutoff line CL including an elbow point EP of the light distribution pattern detected by the irradiation position detection device 30, and a target range PA (see FIGS. 5 and 6 ). The vehicle position detection sensor 31 is a contact or non-contact displacement sensor that detects that the vehicle 1 is located at a predetermined position P. Instead of the vehicle position detection sensor 31, a GPS (Global Positioning System) may be installed in the vehicle 1 to detect that the vehicle 1 is located at the predetermined position P. The predetermined position P is set as an appropriate position of the vehicle 1 relative to the irradiation position detection device 30 when performing the aiming test.

[0016] 2 is a block diagram of a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle 1 includes a vehicle control unit 10 and a headlamp unit 20.

[0017] The vehicle control unit 10 has a vehicle power supply 11 and controls various operations of the vehicle 1, such as driving. The vehicle control unit 10 includes a processor such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a general-purpose CPU (Central Processing Unit). Although not shown, the vehicle 1 also includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which various vehicle control programs are stored and a RAM (Random Access Memory) in which various vehicle control data are temporarily stored. The processor of the vehicle control unit 10 loads data specified by the various vehicle control programs stored in the ROM onto the RAM and controls various operations of the vehicle 1 in cooperation with the RAM.

[0018] The vehicle power supply 11 has an ignition power supply control unit 11A and an accessory power supply control unit 11B. When the ignition switch of the vehicle 1 is in the on state, the ignition power supply control unit 11A transmits an ignition-on detection signal to the headlamp control device 22. When the accessory switch of the vehicle 1 is in the on state, the accessory power supply control unit 11B transmits an accessory switch-on detection signal to the headlamp control device 22.

[0019] The headlight unit 20 has a vehicle headlight 21 and a headlight control device 22. The vehicle headlight 21 has a left headlight 21A and a right headlight 21B. The headlight control device 22 has an aiming unit 23, a communication unit 24, and a storage medium 25, and controls various operations such as illumination of the vehicle headlight 21. The headlight control device 22 includes a processor such as an ASIC, an FPGA, or a general-purpose CPU, for example.

[0020] The aiming unit 23 has a vertical aiming actuator 23A and a horizontal aiming actuator 23B. The vertical aiming actuator 23A is an actuator for adjusting the irradiation direction of the left headlight 21A and the right headlight 21B in the vertical direction. The horizontal aiming actuator 23B is an actuator for adjusting the irradiation direction of the left headlight 21A and the right headlight 21B in the horizontal direction. By simultaneously driving the vertical aiming actuator 23A and the horizontal aiming actuator 23B, the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern can be moved in a diagonal direction.

[0021] The communication unit 24 can communicate with the ignition power supply control unit 11A, the accessory power supply control unit 11B, the irradiation position detection device 30, and the vehicle position detection sensor 31 via in-vehicle communication connected by wires or via wireless communication such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The communication unit 24 receives an ignition-on detection signal from the ignition power supply control unit 11A and an accessory-on detection signal from the accessory power supply control unit 11B. The communication unit 24 also receives, from the irradiation position detection device 30, the determination result of the aiming test of the vehicle headlamp 21, and receives, from the vehicle position detection sensor 31, a position detection signal indicating that the vehicle 1 is located at a predetermined position P.

[0022] The storage medium 25 includes, for example, a read-only memory (ROM) storing various control programs and a random access memory (RAM) temporarily storing various control data, including an aiming adjustment value. The aiming adjustment value is, for example, a value indicating the vertical and horizontal displacement of the left headlight 21A and the right headlight 21B of the vehicle headlight 21 using a vertical aiming actuator 23A and a horizontal aiming actuator 23B. The processor of the headlight control device 22 loads data specified by the various control programs stored in the ROM onto the RAM and controls various operations of the headlight control device 22 in cooperation with the RAM. In the example shown in FIG. 2 , the storage medium 25 is located within the headlight control device 22, separate from the aiming unit 23, but it may also be located within the aiming unit 23.

[0023] [Configuration of Vehicle Headlamp] Fig. 3 is a schematic side view of a vehicle headlamp 21 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The left side of the drawing is the front of the vehicle headlamp 21, and the right side is the rear. As shown in Fig. 3, the vehicle headlamp 21 includes a lamp body 211 having an opening that opens toward the front of the vehicle, and an outer lens 212 attached to cover the opening of the lamp body 211. The outer lens 212 is formed of a translucent resin, glass, or the like. Within the lamp chamber formed by the lamp body 211 and the outer lens 212, an intermediate bracket 218 is held by an adjuster screw 213 and a support shaft 214, and the intermediate bracket 218 holds a light source unit LU.

[0024] 3 , the light source unit LU includes a light source holding portion 215, a light source LS, and an optical member 216. The light source LS is, for example, an LED or a semiconductor laser. The light source holding portion 215 is fixed to the main surface of the intermediate bracket 218 so as to protrude forward, and is a member that holds the light source LS. The optical member 216 is a curved reflecting mirror fixed to the light source holding portion 215, and is a member that reflects light from the light source LS and irradiates it forward of the vehicle headlamp 21 in a predetermined light distribution pattern.

[0025] The intermediate bracket 218 is a plate-shaped member. The light source LS, optical member 216, etc. are mounted on the front surface of the intermediate bracket 218. The intermediate bracket 218 is fixed to the lamp body 211 via a support shaft 214 and an adjuster screw 213. The tip of the support shaft 214 on the intermediate bracket 218 side is connected to the intermediate bracket 218 via a ball joint 222. The tip of the support shaft 214 supports the intermediate bracket 218 rotatably around the ball joint 222.

[0026] The tip of the adjuster screw 213 on the intermediate bracket 218 side is threaded into a nut 221 attached to the intermediate bracket 218. The lamp body 211 side of the adjuster screw 213 is fixed to an aiming motor 217. The aiming motor 217 is fixed to the lamp body 211. By driving the aiming motor 217 to move the adjuster screw 213 forward and backward, the portion of the intermediate bracket 218 where the nut 221 is attached can be displaced in the front-to-rear direction.

[0027] When viewed from the front, the intermediate bracket 218 is provided with one support shaft 214 and two adjuster screws 213. By moving the adjuster screw 213, which is provided at a position spaced apart from the support shaft 214 in the left-right direction, back and forth, the light emission direction of the light source unit LU provided on the intermediate bracket 218 can be adjusted left-right. By moving the adjuster screw 213, which is provided at a position spaced apart from the support shaft 214 in the up-down direction, back and forth, the light emission direction of the light source unit LU provided on the intermediate bracket 218 can be adjusted up-down.

[0028] [Processing Flow of Aiming Test] Hereinafter, a processing flow of the aiming test of the vehicle headlamp according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to Figures 4 to 6. Figure 4 is a flowchart of the aiming test of the vehicle headlamp according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 is an image diagram of the low beam cutoff line of the light distribution pattern displayed on the irradiation position display device when the irradiation position is not within the target range during the aiming test of the vehicle headlamp according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6 is an image diagram of the low beam cutoff line of the light distribution pattern displayed on the irradiation position display device when the irradiation position is within the target range during the aiming test of the vehicle headlamp according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] 4 , first, the ignition power supply control unit 11A turns on the ignition power supply and transmits an ignition-on detection signal to the communication unit 24, or the accessory power supply control unit 11B turns on the accessory power supply and transmits an accessory-on detection signal to the communication unit 24 (S101). This turns on the power supply of the headlamp unit 20 and causes the vehicle headlamp 21 to illuminate. Next, the headlamp control device 22 determines whether three aiming operation start conditions (i.e., the communication unit 24 and the illumination position detection device 30 are in a communicable state, a position detection signal has been received from the vehicle position detection sensor 31 for a predetermined time (e.g., one second) or more, and a light illumination-on detection signal has been received) are satisfied (S102). If the three aiming operation conditions are not satisfied (No in S102), the headlamp control device 22 waits until the three aiming operation conditions are satisfied. If the three aiming operation conditions are met (Yes in S102), the headlamp control device 22 instructs the aiming unit 23 to perform the aiming operation of the vehicle headlamp 21 (S103). The aiming operation conditions are not limited to the above three, and may be one or two of the above three. The headlamp control device 22 also permits writing of the aiming adjustment value to the storage medium 25 and driving of the drive motor for the adjuster screw 213 (S104). Next, the illumination position detection device 30 determines whether the elbow point EP of the low beam cutoff line CL of the light distribution pattern illuminated by the vehicle headlamp 21 is located within the target range PA (S105).

[0030] As shown in Fig. 5, if the elbow point EP of the low-beam cutoff line CL of the light distribution pattern emitted from the vehicle headlamp 21 is not within the target range PA (No in S105 in Fig. 4), the irradiation position detection device 30 determines that the aiming test is NG, calculates the difference between the current position of the elbow point EP and the target range PA, and transmits aiming test NG information and difference information to the headlamp control device 22 (S106 in Fig. 4). Note that the difference between the elbow point EP and the target range PA is, for example, the difference ΔL between the elbow point EP and the center point CP of the target range PA. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 6, if the elbow point EP of the low-beam cutoff line CL of the light distribution pattern emitted from the vehicle headlamp 21 is within the target range PA (Yes in S105 in Fig. 4), the irradiation position detection device 30 determines that the aiming test is OK, and transmits aiming test OK information to the headlamp control device 22 (S107 in Fig. 4).

[0031] When the headlamp control device 22 receives the aiming test NG information and the difference information from the irradiation position detection device 30, it instructs the aiming unit 23 to perform the aiming operation of the vehicle headlamp 21 again based on the difference information (S103). At this time, it instructs the aiming operation of the vehicle headlamp 21 to move the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern shown in FIG. 5 toward the upper right toward the target range by simultaneously driving the vertical aiming actuator 23A and the horizontal aiming actuator 23B, or by driving one of the vertical aiming actuator 23A and the horizontal aiming actuator 23B first and then the other. When the headlamp control device 22 receives the aiming test OK information from the irradiation position detection device 30, it writes the aiming adjustment value used in the aiming operation performed in S102 to the storage medium 25 (S108). When writing of the aiming adjustment value to the storage medium 25 is completed, the headlamp control device 22 transmits a completion signal FS to the irradiation position detection device 30, indicating that writing is complete (S109). Next, the headlamp control device 22 prohibits writing of the aiming adjustment value to the storage medium 25 and driving of the drive motor for the adjuster screw 213 (S110), and ends the aiming operation when the state in which writing to the storage medium 25 is permitted and the state in which driving of the drive motor for the adjuster screw 213 is permitted ends (S111). Thereafter, the ignition power supply control unit 11A turns off the ignition power supply, or the accessory power supply control unit 11B turns off the accessory power supply (S112), thereby ending the aiming test.

[0032] In this way, in this embodiment, the aiming adjustment of the vehicle headlamp can be started and ended automatically, thereby reducing the workload of the aiming adjustment.

[0033] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it goes without saying that the technical scope of the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited by the description of the present embodiments. The present embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications of the embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims. The technical scope of the present disclosure should be determined based on the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

[0034] For example, the vehicle headlamp 21 may have the configuration shown in Fig. 7 instead of the configuration shown in Fig. 3. The vehicle headlamp 21' shown in Fig. 7 does not use an aiming screw and includes a lamp body 211 and an outer lens 212 attached so as to cover the opening of the lamp body 211. The lamp chamber formed by the lamp body 211 and the outer lens 212 contains a light source unit LU, a swivel unit 223, and a leveling unit 224.

[0035] The swivel unit 223 rotates the light source unit LU and the leveling unit 224 about a swivel axis L1 extending in the vertical direction relative to the lamp body 211. The leveling unit 224 supports the light source unit LU so that it can rotate about a leveling axis L2 extending in the left-right direction relative to the swivel unit 223. The swivel unit 223 and the leveling unit 224 are each configured to be driven by a drive motor (not shown). During aiming adjustment, the swivel unit 223 is driven to adjust the irradiation direction of the light source unit LU in the vertical direction, and the leveling unit 224 is driven to adjust the irradiation direction of the light source unit LU in the left-right direction.

[0036] This application is based on Japanese patent applications filed on March 18, 2024 (Patent Application No. 2024-042578) and Japanese patent applications filed on March 18, 2024 (Patent Application No. 2024-042585), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A control device for a vehicle headlamp, which is mounted on a vehicle and has an aiming unit that displaces the irradiation direction of the light of the vehicle headlamp, wherein the control device is capable of communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp, and is capable of receiving a position detection signal that indicates that the vehicle is located at a predetermined position with respect to the irradiation position detection device and a light irradiation on detection signal that indicates that the light irradiation of the vehicle headlamp is on, and controls the aiming operation of the aiming unit, and when the control device and the irradiation position detection device are capable of communicating, and the control device has received the position detection signal for a predetermined period of time or more and the light irradiation on detection signal, the control device starts the aiming operation of the aiming unit.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the light irradiation-on detection signal is an ignition-on detection signal indicating that an ignition switch of the vehicle is in an on state.

3. A control device as described in claim 1, wherein when the control device starts the aiming operation of the aiming unit, the control device allows the aiming adjustment value of the aiming unit to be written to a storage medium or allows the driving of a drive motor for an adjuster screw provided in the aiming unit.

4. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the storage medium is disposed in the control device or the aiming unit.

5. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation position detection device is a test device for the light distribution pattern or a camera sensor.

6. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device receives difference information between the current position of the elbow point of the low beam cut line of the light distribution pattern and a target range from the irradiation position detection device.

7. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is capable of communicating with the irradiation position detection device via on-board communication connected by a wire or via wireless communication.

8. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time is one second or more.

9. A control program for a vehicle headlamp mounted on a vehicle, comprising: an aiming step of causing the vehicle headlamp to change the irradiation direction of light from the vehicle headlamp; a communication step of communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp; a first receiving step of receiving a position detection signal indicating that the vehicle is located at a predetermined position; and a second receiving step of receiving a light irradiation-on signal indicating that the vehicle headlamp is on, wherein the control program starts the aiming step if the vehicle is in a state where it can communicate with the irradiation position detection device in the communication step, has received the position detection signal for a predetermined period of time or more in the first receiving step, and has received the light irradiation-on signal in the second receiving step.

10. A vehicle headlamp equipped with a control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

11. A control device for a vehicle headlamp that is mounted on a vehicle and has an aiming unit that displaces the irradiation direction of light from the vehicle headlamp, wherein the control device is capable of communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects the irradiation position of a light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp, and during the aiming operation of the vehicle headlamp, when the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern is within a target range and the aiming adjustment value of the aiming unit has been written to a storage medium, the control device terminates the aiming operation.

12. The control device according to claim 11, wherein the control device is capable of moving the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern in a diagonal direction by simultaneously driving an up / down aiming actuator and a left / right aiming actuator provided in the vehicle headlamp.

13. The control device described in claim 12, wherein the control device moves the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern in an upper right direction toward the target range by simultaneously driving the up / down aiming actuator and the left / right aiming actuator, starting from the elbow point of the low beam cut line of the light distribution pattern located at the lower left of the light irradiation range.

14. The control device described in claim 12, wherein the control device drives one of the up / down aiming actuator and the left / right aiming actuator starting from the elbow point of the low beam cut line of the light distribution pattern located at the lower left of the light irradiation range, and then drives the other of the up / down aiming actuator and the left / right aiming actuator, thereby moving the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern in an upper right direction toward within the target range.

15. A control program for a vehicle headlamp mounted on a vehicle, comprising: an aiming step for causing the vehicle headlamp to displace the irradiation direction of light from the vehicle headlamp; a communication step for communicating with an irradiation position detection device that detects the irradiation position of a light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp; and, when the irradiation position of the light distribution pattern is within a target range in the aiming step, a completion signal indicating that writing of the aiming adjustment value of the aiming unit to a storage medium has been completed is sent to the irradiation position detection device, and the state in which writing to the storage medium is permitted has ended, the control program terminates the aiming step.

16. A vehicle headlamp equipped with a control device according to any one of claims 11 to 14.

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