CN115164148A

CN115164148A - Lighting device

Info

Publication number: CN115164148A
Application number: CN202210257112.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 中村优太
Original assignee: Nidec Copal Corp
Current assignee: Nidec Copal Corp
Priority date: 2021-03-19
Filing date: 2022-03-16
Publication date: 2022-10-11
Also published as: JP2022144422A

Abstract

The invention provides a lighting device. The design of the exterior surface of the vehicle interior is integrated, and the illumination area can be effectively illuminated. The lighting device (10) comprises: a front case (12) and a rear case (50) that extend in the Y direction and that have a front edge section (12A) that can be disposed along the exterior surface (S) of a vehicle interior (F); LEDs (31, 32) housed inside the front case (12) and capable of emitting light along optical axes (31A, 32A) inclined in the + X direction with respect to the Y direction; and a reflector (20) which is housed inside the front case (12) and has a reflection surface (25) formed so as to surround the optical axes (31A, 32A) of the LEDs (31, 32). The reflecting surface (25) of the reflector (20) is formed so as to gradually expand outward from the LEDs (31, 32) along the optical axes (31A, 32A). The LEDs (31, 32) are arranged in the Z direction.

Description

Lighting device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an illumination device, and more particularly to an illumination device for illuminating a vehicle interior of an automobile or the like.

Background

In recent years, in order to prevent accidents of automobiles and the like, an illumination device for illuminating a driver and a camera for photographing the driver are provided to monitor the state of the driver. Such an illumination device is generally disposed at a position deviated from the front of a driver's seat in the structure of an automobile. Therefore, the conventional lighting device is configured to: a housing that houses a light source is projected from an exterior surface of a vehicle interior, and the housing is directed toward a driver's seat side, thereby effectively illuminating the driver's seat (see, for example, patent document 1).

On the other hand, there is a demand for embedding such a lighting device in the exterior surface of a vehicle interior to improve the design unity. However, the exterior surface of the vehicle interior often does not face the driver's seat, and if the conventional illumination device is provided along the exterior surface of the vehicle interior, the light source faces a direction different from the driver's seat, and the driver's seat cannot be illuminated effectively.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2019-95541

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the conventional art, and an object thereof is to provide an illumination device capable of efficiently illuminating an illumination region while improving design integrity with an exterior surface of a vehicle interior.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an illumination device capable of efficiently illuminating an illumination region while improving design integrity with an exterior surface of a vehicle interior. The lighting device has: a housing having a front edge portion that can be arranged along an exterior surface of a vehicle interior, the housing extending in a depth direction from the front edge portion; at least one light source housed inside the housing and capable of emitting light along an optical axis that is inclined in a width direction perpendicular to the depth direction with respect to the depth direction; and a reflector which is accommodated in the housing and has a reflection surface formed so as to surround the optical axis of the at least one light source.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a lighting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view showing an example of a portion for housing the lighting device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the lighting device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lighting device shown in fig. 1 cut at the center in the X direction.

Fig. 5 isbase:Sub>A sectional view taken along linebase:Sub>A-base:Sub>A of fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a view of the lighting device shown in fig. 6 as viewed along arrow 90.

Description of the reference symbols

1: an instrument panel; 10: an illumination device; 12: a front housing; 12A: a front edge portion; 14: a visible light cut filter; 15: double-sided adhesive tapes; 20: a reflector; 25: a reflective surface; 30: an LED substrate; 31. 32: an LED;31A, 32A: an optical axis; 40: a connector; 42: a connector substrate; 46: a lead; 50: a rear housing; 60: a housing; d: a driver seat; f: a vehicle cabin; s: appearance surface.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the illumination device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 8. In fig. 1 to 8, the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof is omitted. In fig. 1 to 8, the scale and size of each component may be exaggerated, and some components may be omitted. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "1 st" and "2 nd" are used only to distinguish constituent elements from each other, and do not indicate a specific order or sequence.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a lighting device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, in a Driver Monitoring System (DMS) that monitors a state of a driver of an automobile (a sign of a decrease in attention, drowsiness, or the like), when the driver is photographed by a camera, the driver may be illuminated with light such as infrared light. In the present embodiment, a case where the illumination device 10 is an illumination device used in such a driver monitoring system is described, but the illumination device of the present invention can be used for other applications as well. In the present embodiment, for convenience, the + Y direction in fig. 1 is referred to as "front" or "front", and the-Y direction is referred to as "rear" or "rear".

For example, as shown in fig. 2, the illumination device 10 is embedded in an instrument panel (center cluster) 1 between a driver ' S seat D and a passenger ' S seat P of an automobile, and the illumination device 10 in the present embodiment is disposed (housed) so as to be integrated with an exterior surface S located close to the driver ' S seat D. The driver seat D is irradiated with infrared rays or the like from the lighting device 10, and the driver is photographed by a camera not shown, and the state of the driver is analyzed.

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the lighting device 10, and fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lighting device 10 cut at the center in the X direction. In fig. 4, some elements are omitted or simplified for easy understanding. As shown in fig. 1, 3, and 4, the lighting device 10 includes: a front housing 12 having a substantially circular opening 11 formed in a front thereof; a visible light cut filter 14 disposed in front of the front case 12; a reflector 20 housed in an internal space of the front case 12; an LED substrate 30 mounted on the rear of the reflector 20; a connector board 42 having a connector 40 extending rearward; and a rear case 50 formed with an opening 51 at the front to receive the connector 40. In the present embodiment, the front case 12 and the rear case 50 constitute a housing 60 extending in the Y direction (depth direction) from the front edge portion 12A of the front case 12. The front edge portion 12A of the front case 12 and the visible light cut filter 14 are disposed along the outer surface S of the instrument panel 1.

The visible light cut filter 14 is fixed to the front surface 12B of the front case 12 by a double-sided tape 15 (not shown in fig. 3). In addition, the reflector 20 is fixed in the front case 12 by screws 16. The LED substrate 30 is fixed to the reflector 20 by screws 22. The rear case 50 is fixed to the front case 12 by screws 52.

The LED substrate 30 includes two LEDs (light emitting diodes) 31 and 32, and in the present embodiment, the two

LEDs

31 and 32 are arranged in the Z direction (height direction). Contacts 44 electrically connected to pins 41 (see fig. 4) in the connector 40 are formed on the connector substrate 42, and one end 46A of a lead 46 is connected to each contact 44. The other end 46B of the lead 46 is connected to a contact (not shown) on the LED board 30, and the LED board 30 is electrically connected to the

LEDs

31 and 32.

As shown in fig. 4, the connector 40 is exposed at the rear end surface of the rear housing 50, and a mating connector (not shown) can be inserted into the connector 40 from the rear of the rear housing 50 in the + Y direction. With such a configuration, when the mating connector is inserted into the connector 40, the mating connector can be inserted straight into the connector 40 along the + Y direction (depth direction) without tilting the mating connector. Therefore, a large space is not required for the work of connecting the connectors to each other.

Fig. 5 isbase:Sub>A sectional view taken along linebase:Sub>A-base:Sub>A of fig. 4, fig. 6 isbase:Sub>A sectional view taken along line B-B of fig. 4, fig. 7 isbase:Sub>A sectional view taken along line C-C of fig. 5, and fig. 8 isbase:Sub>A view of the illumination device shown in fig. 6, as viewed along arrow 90, showingbase:Sub>A state in which the visible light cut filter 14 is removed. In fig. 5 to 7, some elements are omitted or simplified for easy understanding. As shown in fig. 5 and 6, the

optical axes

31A, 32A of the

LEDs

31, 32 are inclined at an angle θ in the + X direction (width direction) with respect to the Y direction (depth direction) so that light is directed toward the driver's seat D.

The reflector 20 has a reflecting surface 25 formed so as to surround the

optical axes

31A, 32A of the

LEDs

31, 32. As shown in fig. 4 to 7, the reflecting surface 25 is formed to gradually expand outward from the

LEDs

31 and 32 along the

optical axes

31A and 32A. By forming the reflecting surface 25 in this way, the light from the

LEDs

31 and 32 can be condensed to illuminate the driver's seat D more effectively.

In this way, in the present embodiment, the front edge portion 12A of the front case 12 and the visible light cut filter 14 can be arranged along the external surface S, and the entire housing 60 can be arranged along the Y direction (depth direction) without being inclined. Therefore, when the lighting device 10 is embedded in the instrument panel 1, a large space is not required for the X direction (width direction) and the Z direction (height direction). Further, since light is emitted along the

optical axes

31A and 32A inclined in the + X direction with respect to the Y direction, light can be efficiently irradiated toward the driver seat D (illumination region) not facing the exterior surface S to illuminate. As described above, according to the illumination device 10 of the present embodiment, the driver' S seat D (illumination region) can be illuminated efficiently while improving design integrity with the exterior surface S of the vehicle interior F.

In addition, in the present embodiment, since the two

LEDs

31 and 32 are used, the power of light illuminating the driver's seat D (illumination area) can be increased. Further, since the

LEDs

31 and 32 are arranged in the Z direction (height direction), the lengths of the reflecting surfaces 25 of the reflector 20 at the heights of the

LEDs

31 and 32 can be made substantially the same. That is, the lengths of the reflecting

surfaces

25A and 25B of the reflector 20 at the height of the LED 31 shown in fig. 5 and the lengths of the reflecting

surfaces

25C and 25D of the reflector 20 at the height of the LED 32 shown in fig. 6 can be made substantially the same. Therefore, the light from the

LEDs

31 and 32 can be efficiently condensed by the reflecting surface 25 of the reflector 20 having the same length to illuminate the driver's seat D.

In the above-described embodiment, two

LEDs

31 and 32 are used as the light sources of the illumination device 10, but the number of light sources is not limited to two, and any number of light sources can be used. In addition, the kind of the light source is not limited to the LED.

In the above-described embodiment, the front case 12 and the reflector 20 are provided as separate members, but the front case 12 and the reflector 20 may be integrated by forming the shape of the reflector 20 inside the front case 12 by integral molding or the like, for example.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the illumination device 10 is disposed on the side of the driver's seat D has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lighting device 10 may be disposed above the driver's seat D. The illumination area illuminated by the illumination device 10 is not limited to the driver's seat D, and the illumination device 10 may be configured to illuminate various areas in the vehicle interior according to the purpose. In this case, the terms indicating the positional relationships such as the "depth direction", "width direction", "height direction", "front", "rear", and the like are used in connection with the illustrated embodiment, and if the position and orientation of the lighting device 10 change, the directions indicated by these terms also change accordingly.

As described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an illumination device capable of efficiently illuminating an illumination region while improving design integrity with a design surface of a vehicle interior. The lighting device comprises: a housing having a front edge portion that can be disposed along an exterior surface of a vehicle interior, the housing extending in a depth direction; at least one light source housed inside the housing and capable of emitting light along an optical axis inclined in a width direction perpendicular to the depth direction with respect to the depth direction; and a reflector which is accommodated in the housing and has a reflecting surface formed so as to surround the optical axis of the at least one light source.

According to this configuration, the front edge portion of the housing can be arranged along the exterior surface, and the entire housing can be arranged along the depth direction without being inclined, so that a large space is not required in the width direction and the height direction inside the exterior surface. Further, since light is emitted along the optical axis inclined in the width direction with respect to the depth direction, light can be efficiently irradiated to an illumination region (for example, driver's seat) not facing the appearance surface to illuminate. Therefore, according to the illumination device of the present invention, the illumination region can be efficiently illuminated while improving design integrity with the exterior surface of the vehicle interior.

Preferably, the reflecting surface of the reflector is formed to gradually expand outward from the at least one light source along the optical axis. With this configuration, light from the light source can be condensed to illuminate the illumination region more efficiently.

Preferably, the at least one light source includes a plurality of light sources arranged in a height direction perpendicular to both the depth direction and the width direction. By using a plurality of light sources, the power of light illuminating the illumination region can be increased, and the lengths of the reflecting surfaces of the reflectors at the heights of the respective light sources can be made substantially the same, so that light from the plurality of light sources can be efficiently condensed by using the reflecting surfaces of the reflectors having the same length to illuminate the illumination region.

Preferably, the lighting device further includes a connector into which a mating connector can be inserted in the depth direction. With such a connector, the mating connector can be inserted straight into the connector in the depth direction without being inclined, and therefore, a large space is not required for the work of connecting the connectors to each other.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be implemented in various different forms within the scope of the technical idea thereof.

Claims

1. An illumination device, having:

a housing having a front edge portion that can be disposed along an exterior surface of a vehicle interior, the housing extending in a depth direction from the front edge portion;

at least one light source housed inside the housing and capable of emitting light along an optical axis that is inclined in a width direction perpendicular to the depth direction with respect to the depth direction; and

and a reflector which is housed inside the housing and has a reflection surface formed so as to surround the optical axis of the at least one light source.

2. The lighting device of claim 1,

the reflecting surface of the reflector is formed to gradually expand outward from the at least one light source along the optical axis.

3. The lighting device according to claim 1 or 2,

the at least one light source includes a plurality of light sources arranged in a height direction perpendicular to both the depth direction and the width direction.

4. The lighting device according to claim 1 or 2,

the lighting device further includes a connector into which a mating connector can be inserted in the depth direction.