JP6274767B2 - Light distribution control device for vehicle headlamp - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a headlamp for a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp that performs illumination with a required light distribution pattern using a plurality of light sources.

  2. Description of the Related Art As automobile headlamps (headlamps), those using a semiconductor light emitting element such as an LED (light emitting diode) as a light source are provided. In particular, it is possible to obtain a light distribution that enhances the lighting effect of the front area of the host vehicle while preventing dazzling with respect to a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a front vehicle) existing in the front area of the host vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle. As one of the methods, ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) light distribution control has been proposed. In order to realize this ADB light distribution control, a headlamp using a plurality of LEDs as light sources has been proposed. In this headlamp, a plurality of LEDs illuminate different areas, and these illuminated areas (hereinafter referred to as illumination areas) are combined to form an ADB light distribution pattern. In addition, by selectively turning off or dimming the illumination area where the vehicle ahead is present, the front vehicle is prevented from being dazzled, and the front visibility is ensured by the illuminated illumination area.

  In Patent Document 1, a plurality of LEDs are arranged as light sources in the left and right headlamps, and each headlamp constitutes a plurality of illumination areas arranged in the horizontal direction (left-right direction) by these plurality of LEDs. A predetermined light distribution pattern is configured by combining a plurality of illumination areas. Then, when a front vehicle is detected, by changing the LED that is turned on or off in accordance with the movement of the front vehicle in each headlamp, the illumination area where the front vehicle exists can be changed even when the front vehicle moves. The visibility of the front area in the host vehicle is enhanced by illuminating the area in which the front vehicle does not exist, while preventing the dazzling of the front vehicle by blocking the light.

JP 2013-54993 A

  The technique of Patent Document 1 is a technique for suppressing a sudden change in the amount of light in the illumination area in order to prevent a sense of incongruity when switching the illumination area between the light shielding state and the illumination state. In this case, the light is illuminated at a predetermined light intensity, that is, a constant light intensity. Therefore, when the light intensity of each illumination area is high, even if the illumination area where the preceding vehicle exists is set in a light-shielded state, a part of the light in the adjacent illumination area in the illuminated state leaks into the preceding vehicle. May be dazzling. In particular, when the luminous intensity of the illumination area is increased, the oncoming vehicle is more easily dazzled. Therefore, the illumination area to be shielded must be widened with a margin, and the visibility of the front area of the host vehicle is reduced. On the other hand, when the luminous intensity of each illumination area is set low, it is effective for preventing dazzling with respect to the preceding vehicle, but the luminous intensity of the entire light distribution pattern including the illuminated area in the illuminated state is reduced, and forward visibility is reduced. It will decline. In particular, when the light intensity of the illumination area is lowered, the light intensity of the illumination area is lowered more than necessary, even though the tolerance of the light intensity causing the dazzle is high with respect to the preceding vehicle. The visibility of the front area of the will be reduced.

  The objective of this invention is providing the light distribution control apparatus of the headlamp for vehicles which improved the visibility of the front area, while preventing the dazzling with respect to a front vehicle.

The light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp according to the present invention includes a headlamp that illuminates with a desired light distribution pattern by arranging a plurality of illumination areas in the left-right direction, and a forward vehicle detection unit that detects a forward vehicle. And a light distribution control means for selectively reducing or increasing the light intensity of the plurality of illumination areas corresponding to the detected front vehicle, and the light distribution control means includes a left and right end position of the front vehicle. The boundary position of the plurality of illumination areas is compared to detect an overlap between the preceding vehicle and the illumination area, the luminous intensity of the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is reduced, and the boundary between the illumination areas adjacent to the reduced area When the difference between the position and the left and right end positions of the preceding vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the luminous intensity of the adjacent illumination area is increased. Alternatively, the light distribution control means reduces the luminous intensity of the adjacent illumination area when the difference between the boundary position of the illumination area adjacent to the area where the luminous intensity is reduced and the left and right end positions of the preceding vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value.

The light distribution control means in the present invention can be configured as the following form. The left and right end positions of the front vehicle are a left end position and a right end position obtained by adding a necessary margin to the detected left position and right position of the front vehicle, respectively. The light distribution control means detects whether the preceding vehicle is a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle, makes each boundary position of the plurality of illumination areas different between the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle, and sandwiches the boundary position between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle. The region to be set is set narrower than the region sandwiched by the boundary position in the oncoming vehicle. Further, when the light intensity of some illumination areas is lowered, control is performed to increase the light intensity of other illumination areas within the range of the rated electricity quantity based on the total amount of heat generation .

According to the present invention, when the light intensity of the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is reduced, the adjacent area is adjacent when the difference between the boundary position of the illumination area adjacent to the reduced area and the left and right end positions of the preceding vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. Since the luminous intensity of the illumination area is increased, it is possible to improve the visibility of the front area of the host vehicle while reliably preventing the dazzling of the preceding vehicle. Alternatively, when the difference between the boundary position of the illumination area adjacent to the reduced area and the left and right end positions of the preceding vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value, the luminous intensity of the adjacent illumination area is reduced, so that glare with respect to the preceding vehicle is surely prevented. To do.

The schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of a headlamp provided with the light distribution control apparatus of this invention. Each light distribution pattern figure of a low beam, a high beam, and ADB. The conceptual structure and ADB light distribution pattern figure of an ADB lamp unit. The figure which shows the relationship between the luminous intensity distribution characteristic of LED in an illumination area | region, and the boundary position of an illumination area | region. The figure which shows an example of the ADB light distribution pattern in an oncoming vehicle and a preceding vehicle. The figure of the light distribution pattern and LED array which show an example of the luminous intensity control of the illumination area | region when a light-shielding area | region is wide. The figure of the light distribution pattern and LED array which show an example of the luminous intensity control of the illumination area | region when a light-shielding area | region is narrow. Diagram of light distribution pattern and LED array showing an example of selectively controlling the luminous intensity of the illumination area The figure of the light distribution pattern and LED array which show an example of the luminous intensity control of the illumination area in a branched path.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of an automobile headlamp to which the present invention is applied. The left head lamp L-HL and the right head lamp R-HL disposed on the left and right of the front part of the body of the automobile have substantially the same configuration, and a low beam lamp unit LoL, a high beam lamp unit HiL, and an ADB lamp unit AL are included in the lamp housing 1. Is arranged. Although the details of the low beam lamp unit LoL and the high beam lamp unit HiL are omitted, each lamp unit is configured as a lamp unit using an LED (light emitting diode) as a light source, and when the vehicle is lit (emitted), Is irradiated with a low beam light distribution pattern PLo shown in FIG. 2A and a high beam light distribution pattern PHi shown in FIG. 2B.

  The ADB lamp unit AL includes an irradiation lens 22 and an LED array package 23 in a unit housing 21 as shown in a schematic plan configuration of the ADB lamp unit AL in FIG. The LED array package 23 is mounted on the base substrate 230 in a state where a plurality of, here, eight one-chip LEDs (light emitting diodes) 231 to 238 are arranged in a row in the horizontal direction. These LEDs 231 to 238 are configured such that light emission / extinction and emission light intensity can be individually changed by a light emission circuit (not shown).

  The light emitted from the LEDs 231 to 238 is irradiated with an ADB light distribution pattern on the front area of the host vehicle by the irradiation lens 22. The upper part of FIG. 3 is a light distribution pattern diagram of the ADB light distribution pattern. Lights from the LEDs 231 to 238 illuminate predetermined illumination areas A1 to A8, respectively, and these illumination areas A1 to A8 are adjacent to each other. A part of the area to be overlapped overlaps to form an ADB light distribution pattern PADB that is elongated in the horizontal direction (left-right direction). As shown in FIG. 2C, the ADB light distribution pattern PADB is illuminated by each of the eight LEDs 231 to 238 in the region above the cut-off line of the low beam light distribution pattern PLo shown in FIG. The light distribution pattern in which the regions A1 to A8 are arranged in the horizontal direction is obtained.

As shown in FIG. 1, a master lamp ECU 2 is disposed in the left head lamp L-HL, and a slave lamp ECU 3 is disposed in the right head lamp R-HL. The master lamp ECU 2 turns on the low beam lamp unit LoL, the high beam lamp unit HiL, and the ADB lamp unit AL of the left headlamp L-HL based on various control signals input through a CAN (Controller Area Network) line 100 of the automobile. A lighting control signal for controlling the lamp unit is generated, and the lamp units LoL, HiL, AL are controlled based on the lighting control signal. The slave lamp ECU 3 is a separate line from the master lamp ECU 2, here LIN (Local
The lighting of the low beam lamp unit LoL and the high beam lamp unit HiL of the right headlamp R-HL is controlled based on the lighting control signal input through the Interconnect Network) line 201. On the other hand, the ADB lamp unit AL of the right headlamp R-HL is connected to the master lamp ECU3 of the left headlamp L-HL via a LIN line 200, and the ADB lamp unit of the left headlamp L-HL is connected by the master lamp ECU2. Lighting is controlled simultaneously with AL.

  A vehicle ECU 4 is connected to the CAN line 100 to which the master lamp ECU 2 is connected. The vehicle ECU 4 generates a lighting control signal for controlling lighting of the lamp units of the headlamps L-HL and R-HL based on a lighting signal from a lamp switch in a driver's seat of an automobile (not shown). Output to the CAN line 100. In addition, an image pickup device 5 that is arranged on a part of the vehicle, here an upper part of the front window of the vehicle and picks up an area in front of the vehicle is connected to the CAN line 100, and an image signal picked up by the image pickup device 5 Is output to the CAN line 100, the vehicle ECU 4 detects the forward vehicle existing in the front area of the automobile based on the image signal, and outputs the detected information to the CAN line 100.

  In the headlamp having this configuration, when the high-beam light distribution control or the low-beam light distribution control is set by switching of a switch or the like by the driver, the high-lamp lamp unit HiL and the low-beam lamp unit LoL of the left headlamp L-HL by the master lamp ECU 2. Is controlled to light up. At the same time, in the right headlamp R-HL, the high beam lamp unit HiL and the low beam lamp unit LoL are controlled to be turned on by the slave lamp ECU3 that has received a signal from the master lamp ECU2. As a result, illumination is performed with the low beam distribution pattern PLo and the high beam distribution pattern PHi shown in FIGS.

  On the other hand, when the driver sets the ADB light distribution control, the vehicle ECU 4 detects the forward vehicle existing in the front area of the automobile based on the image signal captured by the imaging device 5, and transmits the vehicle information to the CAN line 100. Output. The master lamp ECU 2 provided in the left headlamp L-HL obtains vehicle information of the preceding vehicle through the CAN line 100, performs a required calculation based on this vehicle information, and determines the type of the preceding vehicle, here the preceding vehicle. Whether the vehicle is an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle, the vehicle position of the preceding vehicle is further detected, and an ADB lighting control signal is generated based on the detection result. Then, lighting of each ADB lamp unit AL of each of the left and right headlamps L-HL and R-HL is controlled by the generated ADB lighting control signal.

  At this time, when the preceding vehicle is not detected, all the eight LEDs 231 to 238 of the ADB lamp unit AL are turned on. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2C, an ADB light distribution pattern PADB in which eight illumination regions A1 to A8 are arranged over the entire left and right regions above the cut-off line of the low beam light distribution pattern PLo is obtained. This ADB lighting control is performed by the master lamp ECU 2 so that the ADB lamp units AL of the left and right headlamps are simultaneously turned on. Therefore, the ADB lamp units of the left and right headlamps will be described together without distinguishing them.

  On the other hand, when a forward vehicle is detected, the master lamp ECU 2 detects whether the forward vehicle detected based on the vehicle information of the forward vehicle input from the CAN line 100 is an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle. To do. Since various methods have already been proposed for detecting the oncoming vehicle and the preceding vehicle, a detailed description thereof will be omitted here. And after detecting an oncoming vehicle and a preceding vehicle, the boundary position determination of an illumination area is performed. That is, the left end boundary position and the right end boundary position of each of the eight illumination areas are set. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the boundary position of the illumination area. In FIG. 4A, the horizontal axis indicates the horizontal position of the illumination area, and the vertical axis indicates the luminous intensity (illuminance: cd) when the illumination area is illuminated. Distribution. Each illumination area An to An + 3 (in this embodiment, n is an integer of 1 to 5) is illuminated by the respective LED, and in each illumination area An to An + 3, the light emission characteristics of each LED, the irradiation lens 28, and the like The irradiation optical system has a mountain-shaped luminous intensity distribution characteristic. When the dazzling allowable light level determined by law is applied to the light intensity distribution characteristic, a position where the dazzling allowable light level of the preceding vehicle intersects at a level of 1750 cd is obtained as the preceding vehicle boundary position Bf, and the dazzling allowable light level of 625 cd for the oncoming vehicle is obtained. Is obtained as the oncoming vehicle boundary position Bo.

  Therefore, the ADB light distribution pattern PADBf constituted by these preceding vehicle boundary positions Bf is as shown in FIG. 4B, and when viewed for one illumination area, the preceding vehicle boundary position Bf in the illumination area. If it is a region with a lower light intensity outside, dazzling will not occur even if the oncoming vehicle is irradiated with light. Similarly, the ADB light distribution pattern PADBo composed of the oncoming vehicle boundary position Bo is as shown in FIG. 4C. When viewed from one illumination area, the ADB light distribution pattern PADBo is closer to the oncoming vehicle boundary position Bo. However, dazzling does not occur even if the oncoming vehicle is irradiated with light in the outer low-luminance region. Thus, in the case of the oncoming vehicle boundary position Bo, the ADB light distribution pattern PADBo is wide where the adjacent illumination areas overlap each other. In the case of the preceding vehicle boundary position Bf, there is almost no area where adjacent illumination areas overlap each other, or the overlapping area is a narrow ADB light distribution pattern PADBf. That is, since the allowable value of the light intensity in the preceding vehicle is higher than that of the oncoming vehicle, the region where no dazzling occurs in the preceding vehicle is wider than the illumination region of the oncoming vehicle.

  The oncoming vehicle boundary position Bo and the preceding vehicle boundary position Bf are stored in the master lamp ECU 2 after being preset for each of the illumination areas An to An + 3, that is, the illumination areas A1 to A8 in this embodiment. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5A, the master lamp ECU 2 sets a right end position RP and a left end position LP obtained by adding a required margin to the left and right of the detected forward vehicle CARo. This margin includes the vehicle mounting position error of the imaging device 5 for detecting the front vehicle CAR, the calculation error when the vehicle ECU 4 or the master lamp ECU 2 detects the vehicle position, the headlamp, particularly the lamp light of the ADB lamp unit AL. It is set based on various errors such as the setting error of the illumination area due to the setting error of the axis, and in order to prevent dazzling the front vehicle when ADB light distribution control is performed by these errors It is set as a necessary margin.

  Then, the master lamp ECU 2 employs either the oncoming vehicle ADB light distribution pattern PADBo or the preceding vehicle ADB light distribution pattern PADBf as the ADB light distribution pattern based on whether the detected preceding vehicle is an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle. And the left end position LP and the right end position RP of the preceding vehicle are compared with the respective boundary positions Bo or Bf of the eight illumination areas A1 to A8, in other words, the illumination area to which the left end position LP and the right end position RP belong, in other words The lighting area to which the vehicle ahead belongs is detected. Then, the LED corresponding to the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is turned off. In FIG. 5A, since the preceding vehicle is an oncoming vehicle CARo, the left end position LP and the right end position RP of the oncoming vehicle CARo are compared with the oncoming vehicle boundary position Bo of the illumination areas An to An + 3. The illumination areas An + 1 and An + 2 to which it belongs are detected, and the LEDs corresponding to these illumination areas An + 1 and An + 2 are turned off. As a result, the ADB light distribution pattern PADBo is light-distributed to the ADB light distribution pattern in which the illumination areas An + 1 and An + 2 are light-shielding areas and the other illumination areas are turned on.

  In FIG. 5B, since the preceding vehicle is the preceding vehicle CARf, the left end position LP and the right end position RP of the oncoming vehicle CARf are compared with the preceding vehicle boundary position Bf of each of the illumination areas An to An + 3. Are detected, and the LEDs corresponding to these illumination areas An + 1 and An + 2 are turned off. As a result, the ADB light distribution pattern PADBf is light-distributed to the ADB light distribution pattern in which the illumination areas An + 1 and An + 2 are light-shielding areas and the other illumination areas are turned on.

  As can be seen by comparing (a) and (b) of FIG. 5, the light shielding area in the oncoming car CARo is narrower than the light shielding area in the preceding car CARf. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5A, even when the boundary position Bo between the illumination areas An and An + 3 on both sides approaches both sides of the oncoming car CARo, the light intensity at the boundary position Bo is low because it is 625 cd. There is no danger of dazzling the car CARo. On the other hand, the illumination areas An and An + 3 on both sides can illuminate areas close to both sides of the oncoming car CARo, and the visibility of the front area of the host vehicle is ensured. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the light shielding area in the preceding car CARf is wide, so that it is difficult to dazzle the preceding car CARf even if the light intensity at the boundary position Bf between the illumination areas An and An + 3 on both sides is high at 1750 cd. Become. Further, since the luminous intensity of the boundary position Bf between the illumination areas An and An + 3 on both sides is high in this way, the visibility of the front area of the host vehicle can be enhanced even if the light shielding area is wide.

  In this embodiment, the boundary position of the illumination area is set to two different positions, Bo and Bf, corresponding to the oncoming vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and the detected front vehicle is set to be either the oncoming vehicle or the preceding vehicle. Although it is set to either Bo or Bf, the boundary position may be set to a different number of positions. For example, two or more positions are set as boundary positions with respect to the oncoming vehicle, and one of these two or more boundary positions is set in response to a difference in the distance from the own vehicle to the oncoming vehicle or a difference in the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. May be selected and set. By doing in this way, more accurate light distribution control is realizable. The same applies to the preceding vehicle. Furthermore, the boundary position of the illumination area may be set to a different position in consideration of the difference in the type of vehicle such as a large vehicle or a motorcycle.

  Further, when the LEDs in some illumination areas are turned off and put into a light-shielding state, the amount of electricity (electric energy amount) supplied to the turned-off LEDs may be supplied to other LEDs. That is, in the LED array package 23 shown in FIG. 3, in order to regulate the amount of heat generated by the LEDs 231 to 238 and at the same time to regulate the power consumption, the rated amount of electricity supplied to the entire LED array package 23 is limited. ing. Therefore, the current supplied to each LED cannot be increased when all the LEDs 231 to 238 emit light, but when the power supply to some LEDs is stopped, the LED is within the range of the rated electricity amount. It is possible to supply the current supplied to the other LEDs to other LEDs. By utilizing this fact, it is possible to reliably prevent dazzling with respect to the preceding vehicle or improve the visibility in the host vehicle when some of the illumination areas are in a light-shielded state.

  For example, in the above embodiment, depending on the positional relationship between the preceding vehicle and the illumination region, the light shielding regions formed on both sides of the preceding vehicle may be unnecessarily wide. In the example of FIG. 6A, the four illumination areas An + 1 to An + 4 are turned off, and the left and right wide areas with respect to the preceding vehicle CAR are light shielding areas. In such a case, the master lamp ECU 2 compares the front vehicle and the illumination area, and the difference between the left and right end positions LP and RP of the front vehicle CAR and the boundary position Bo of the illumination area is greater than a predetermined value, for example, left and right of the illumination area When it is larger than about 1/3 of the width in the direction, the light emission intensity of the LEDs in the illumination areas An and An + 5 adjacent to the shielded illumination areas An + 1 to An + 4 is controlled to increase. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6B, the light intensity distribution of the illumination areas An and An + 5 on both sides sandwiching the shielded illumination areas An + 1 to An + 4 is expanded, and these illumination areas are widened to the left and right. The substantial light shielding area is narrowed within a range in which the front vehicle CAR is not dazzled, and the visibility of the front area of the host vehicle can be improved.

  On the other hand, in some cases, the light shielding regions formed on both sides of the preceding vehicle may become as narrow as the margin described above. In the example of FIG. 7A, the two illumination areas An + 2 and An + 3 are turned off to be light-shielding areas, and the adjacent illumination areas An + 1 and An + 4 are close to the left and right of the front vehicle CAR. Therefore, when the forward vehicle CAR moves left and right, this may cause dazzling due to the illumination areas An + 2 and An + 3. When the master lamp ECU 2 compares the preceding vehicle and the illumination area, the difference between the left and right end positions LP and RP of the preceding vehicle CAR and the boundary position Bo between the illumination areas An + 1 and An + 4 is equal to or less than the predetermined value, that is, the illumination area. When it is smaller than about 1/3 of the width in the left-right direction, control is performed so as to reduce the luminous intensity of the LEDs in the illumination areas An + 1 and An + 4 adjacent to the illumination areas An + 2 and An + 3 that are shielded from light. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7B, the light intensity distributions of the illumination areas An + 1 and An + 4 on both sides sandwiching the illumination areas An + 2 and An + 3 to be shielded are reduced, and these illumination areas are reduced to the left and right. The substantial light shielding area is widened, and dazzling with respect to the vehicle ahead can be surely prevented.

  In this way, when some LEDs are turned off, increasing the current of other LEDs within the rated electric quantity range to increase the luminous intensity can be appropriately controlled according to the road conditions. it can. For example, when the vehicle ahead is not present and the vehicle is traveling on a narrow road, as shown in FIG. 8A, among the LEDs 231 to 238 that emit light by the ADB light distribution control, The current of the four LEDs 233 to 236 on the center side is increased. At this time, the luminous intensity of the other LEDs 231, 232, 237, and 238 is reduced, or all or some of these LEDs are turned off. Thereby, the luminous intensity of the four illumination areas A3 to A6 on the center side is increased, and an ADB light distribution pattern in which the illumination intensity of the straight traveling area is increased can be obtained, thereby improving the visibility of the straight traveling destination.

  Alternatively, on a road with many bicycles and pedestrians such as in the vicinity of an urban area, the current of the two LEDs 231, 232, 237, and 238 at the left and right ends is slightly increased as shown in FIG. Increase. At this time, the brightness of the LEDs 233 to 236 closer to the center is reduced, or all or some of the other LEDs are turned off. Thereby, the ADB light distribution pattern which raised the illumination intensity of illumination area A1, A2, A7, A8 of the both sides of a road can be obtained, and the visibility of the pedestrian or the road shoulder area of a road is improved. It goes without saying that the luminous intensity control of each LED is performed within the range of the rated electricity quantity of the LED array package 23 in both cases of FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b).

  Here, although explanation with reference to a figure is abbreviate | omitted, when increasing the luminous intensity of LED, it is preferable to carry out slowly in time and to carry out rapidly when reducing luminous intensity. The same applies when the LED is blinking. By doing in this way, the uncomfortable feeling by the front area of the own vehicle becoming bright rapidly can be prevented. When the lights are turned off, even if a part of the illumination area suddenly becomes dark, there is little sense of incongruity. Rather, it is effective in preventing the occurrence of dazzling due to the delay in turning off the lights.

  Further, as a form in which the LEDs 231 to 238 of the LED array package 23 are selectively lit with a high luminous intensity within the range of the rated current amount, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the host vehicle approaches the branch road and is directed to the branch road. When changing the course, the luminous intensity of the illumination area on the branch road side may be increased. In this example, when the vehicle is traveling on the main road, the lighting areas A4 to A6 in the straight traveling direction are turned on, and the other lighting areas A1, A2, A7, and A8 are turned off, and the course is changed. When reaching the branch road, the luminous intensity of the two illumination areas A1 and A2 on the branch path side is periodically increased and decreased, for example, at a cycle of about 4 kHz, so as to blink. As a result, the intensity of the illumination area on the left front side of the host vehicle is periodically changed, and it is possible to alert the other vehicle to change the course and to recognize the course change. become. In this case, it is good also as a form close | similar to a blinking state by performing the increase and reduction of the luminous intensity of the said illumination area periodically. In this form, when turning left or right at an intersection in a city area, change the light intensity of the lighting area on the right / left turn side with a light intensity that does not dazzle other cars, or blink, so be careful about pedestrians and bicycles Arouses and can increase safety.

  It should be noted that the light intensity of such illumination areas may be selectively increased or decreased or blinked even when the light shielding area is not formed in the ADB light distribution control, that is, when some illumination areas are not turned off. . In this case, a low illumination area that contributes to illumination may be selected and dimmed. In addition, the form in which the illumination area is selected and the luminous intensity is periodically changed or blinked may be performed by a driver's switch operation, or the captured image obtained from the imaging device or the road information from the navigation device. Based on this, the control may be performed by the master lamp ECU. Depending on the situation, the voice function of the navigation device may be used to alert the user by voice. In particular, when changing to a branch road or turning left or right at an intersection, the lighting area blinks visually to alert the user to change the course, and at the same time, the voice is used together to audibly alert the user to change the course. It becomes possible to make it occur, and it becomes more effective for safe driving.

  In this embodiment, an example is shown in which an ADB light distribution pattern is formed by forming eight illumination regions with eight LEDs. However, the present invention is not limited to this ADB light distribution pattern. The number and the pattern shape of each illumination area can be arbitrarily set. In addition, the present invention is not limited to a headlamp that performs ADB light distribution control, and includes a plurality of light sources, and is configured to perform illumination with a required light distribution pattern by combining illumination areas corresponding to the respective light sources. In the case of a headlamp, a part of the plurality of light sources may be turned off, the luminous intensity of other part of the light sources may be increased, or the light sources may be blinked. Further, the dimming of the illumination area in the present invention is to reduce the luminous intensity, but it goes without saying that the luminous intensity is 0, that is, includes a form of extinction.

  The present invention can be applied to a light distribution control device for a headlamp that includes a plurality of light sources and performs illumination with a required light distribution pattern by combining a plurality of illumination areas corresponding to the respective light sources.

1 lamp housing 2 master lamp ECU (light distribution control means)
3 Slave lamp ECU
4 Vehicle ECU
5 Imaging device 21 Unit housing 22 Irradiation lens 23 LED array package 100 CAN line 200, 201 LIN lines 231 to 238 LED
241 to 248 Unit reflector R-HL Right headlamp L-HL Left headlamp LoL Low beam lamp unit HiL High beam lamp unit AL ADB lamp units A1 to A8, An to An + 5 Illumination area LP (front vehicle) left end position RP (front vehicle) Right edge position LB, RB Left edge boundary position (right area), right edge boundary position

Claims (5)

A headlamp for illuminating with a desired light distribution pattern by arranging a plurality of illumination areas in the left-right direction, a forward vehicle detection means for detecting a forward vehicle, and the multiple illumination areas corresponding to the detected forward vehicle Light distribution control means for selectively reducing or increasing the luminous intensity of the vehicle , the light distribution control means comparing the left and right end positions of the front vehicle with the boundary positions of the plurality of illumination areas, When an overlap with the illumination area is detected, the luminous intensity of the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is reduced, and the difference between the boundary position of the illumination area adjacent to the reduced area and the left and right end positions of the preceding vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value A light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp, wherein the light intensity of the adjacent illumination area is increased . A headlamp for illuminating with a desired light distribution pattern by arranging a plurality of illumination areas in the left-right direction, a forward vehicle detection means for detecting a forward vehicle, and the multiple illumination areas corresponding to the detected forward vehicle Light distribution control means for selectively reducing or increasing the luminous intensity of the vehicle, the light distribution control means comparing the left and right end positions of the front vehicle with the boundary positions of the plurality of illumination areas, The overlap with the illumination area is detected, the luminous intensity of the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is reduced, and the difference between the boundary position of the illumination area adjacent to the area where the luminous intensity is reduced and the left and right end positions of the preceding vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value A light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp characterized by sometimes reducing the luminous intensity of the adjacent illumination area . The left and right end positions of the front vehicle are a left end position and a right end position obtained by adding a required margin to the detected left position and right position of the front vehicle, respectively. Control device. The light distribution control means detects whether the preceding vehicle is a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle, makes each boundary position of the plurality of illumination areas different between the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle, and determines the boundary position in the preceding vehicle. The light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a region sandwiched between the vehicle headlights is set to be narrower than a region sandwiched between boundary positions in an oncoming vehicle . 5. The light distribution control unit according to claim 1, 3, or 4, wherein when the luminous intensity of a part of the illumination areas is reduced , the luminous intensity of the other illumination areas is increased within a range of a rated electric quantity based on a total amount of heat generation . The light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp according to any one of the above.

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