JP2002050214A - Signal lamp for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a signal lamp for a vehicle which realizes cost reduction by reducing the number of light sources and which can be manufactured in arbitrary shapes. SOLUTION: The signal lamp has a light source 1, a light guide 2 and a projection lens 3. The light guide 2 has an emitting end face 2b having a rough square configuration and is positioned between the light source 1 and the projection lens 3. The light from the light source 1 is roughly collimated by the light guide 2 and enters the projection lens 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle signal light, and more particularly, to a vehicle signal light using an LED, a mini-bulb, or the like as a light source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An LED has an irradiation angle of about 3
Directivity is strong at about 0 degrees. For this reason, a plurality of LEDs are used, and these LEDs are closely arranged to ensure uniform illuminance. However, as the number of LEDs increases, the cost increases and the power consumption also increases.

[0003] Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 12-058925 and 6-187810,
LED with reduced number of LEDs to reduce cost
Lamps and vehicular lamps have been proposed.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular signal light which can be reduced in cost by reducing the number of light sources and which can be formed into an arbitrary lamp shape.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A light signal for a vehicle including a light source, a light guide or a reflector, and a projection lens, wherein the light guide or the reflector is provided between the light source and the projection lens, and the light guide or the reflector is provided. The light emitted from the light source is incident on the projection lens as substantially parallel light.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a light guide or a reflector is provided between the light source and the projection lens, and the light emitted from the light source is converted into substantially parallel light by the light guide or the reflector to the projection lens. When incident, the light distribution of the light emitted from the projection lens becomes less wasteful. Therefore, even when a light source having a small emission angle is used, the light distribution of the light emitted from the projection lens is a light distribution pattern with little waste. Therefore, the number of light sources can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the signal light for a vehicle according to the first aspect, wherein an emission end surface of the light guide or the reflector is substantially rectangular.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the operation of the first aspect, it is possible to efficiently collect light emitted from the light source. For example, when the emission end face is circular, the light distribution is circular, but when the emission end face is substantially rectangular, all of the light emitted from the light source is condensed and the pattern is similar to the emission end face. Will be irradiated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the signal light for a vehicle according to the first or second aspect, wherein the light source is fitted and accommodated in a concave portion formed in the light guide or the reflector.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the function of the first or second aspect, the light source is fitted and accommodated in the concave portion formed in the light guide or the reflector, so that the light source can be easily removed. Emission of emitted light can be eliminated.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vehicle signal lamp according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the light source is an LE.
D.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first to fourth aspects are provided.
In addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 3, even if the light source is an LED having a high directivity, light distribution with less waste can be achieved by the light guide or the reflector and the projection lens.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the vehicle signal lamp according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is unitized, and a plurality of the units are arbitrarily arranged.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a light source, a light guide or a reflector, and a projection lens are unitized, and the units can be freely arranged to obtain an arbitrary lamp shape, thereby improving design.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] <Configuration of Vehicle Signal Light> The vehicle signal light of the present embodiment is
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a light source 1, a light guide 2, and a projection lens 3 are provided, and these are configured as a unit.

[Light Source] As shown in FIG. 1, the light source 1 is mounted on a bottom surface 4a in a light source mounting cover 4. An external terminal 5 for supplying power to the light source 1
Are provided outside the light source mounting cover 4. As the light source 1, for example, an LED having a high directivity, a relatively small mini-bulb, or the like is used.

[Light Guide] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the light guide 2 is a housing 6 fixed to a light source mounting cover 4.
Is mounted in such a manner as to be pressed into a hole 7 formed in the bottom 6a. The light guide 2 has one end face (incidence end face 2a) provided to face the light source 1 and the other end face (emission end face 2b) slightly projecting into the housing 6 from the inner face of the bottom portion 6a. It is provided in.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light guide 2 is formed in a substantially conical shape whose cross-sectional shape gradually increases from the incident end face 2a to the output end face 2b.
The incident end face 2a is formed in a circular shape so as to efficiently pick up light from the light source 1. The light-emitting end face 2b is a substantially rectangular surface in which the upper and lower portions of the light guide 2 are flat surfaces 2c and both sides are arc-shaped. Here, according to the light distribution pattern (rectangular pattern) required as a vehicle signal light,
The shape of the emission end face 2b was substantially rectangular.

The light guide 2 having the above-mentioned shape allows the light emitted from the light source 1 to be incident from the incident end face 2a, makes the incident light into a gradually larger light distribution, and outputs the light from the exit end face 2b to the projection lens 3 described later. I do. The light emitted from the emission end face 2b is emitted by the light guide 2 as substantially parallel light. That is, the light emitted from the light source 1 such as an LED can be efficiently converged into a substantially rectangular light distribution shape.

[Projection Lens] As shown in FIG. 2, the projection lens 3 is attached to a step 8 formed on the distal end side of a housing 6 and is fixed to the housing 6 by a lens holder 9. The lens holder 9 is mounted on the housing 6 with mounting screws 10. Such a projection lens 3
Is a convex lens or an aspheric lens having a fulcrum at a position at a distance f from the emission end face 2b of the light guide 2, as shown in FIG.

<Arrangement and Size Setting of Light Guide and Projection Lens> In unitizing the light source 1, the light guide 2, and the projection lens 3 set on the light source mounting cover 4 and the housing 6 as described above, The arrangement and size of the light guide 2 and the projection lens 3 are determined as follows. An example is shown below.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the signal light distribution standard shape is b2 in length and a2 in width, the outline shape required by the signal light distribution standard is 10
Degrees, left and right 20 degrees. Therefore, a projection screen of 10
Assuming that the distance is a meter, the rectangular shape is as follows: H = 2tan10 ° × 10000 (mm)） 3530 (mm) W = 2tan20 ° × 10000 (mm) ≒ 7280 (mm) Here, the image magnification m when the above f of the projection lens 3 is 25 and the distance S2 from the emission end face 2b to the fulcrum of the projection lens 3 (see FIG. 2) is as follows. S1 is the distance from the fulcrum of the projection lens 3 to the projection screen. fb indicates a distance from the emission end face 2 b of the light guide 2 to the incidence end face 3 a of the projection lens 3.

From m = S1 / S2, m = 10000/25 = 400 (times). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the size of the emission end surface 2b of the light guide 2 is calculated as follows, assuming that the length is b1 and the width is a1.

[0025] Becomes When the margin c is set to 20% for each, Becomes FIG. 4B shows a projected image of the light guide end face with respect to the light distribution standard shape when the allowance c is provided.

<Operation> According to the signal light for a vehicle configured as described above, even when the light source 1 having a strong directivity and a narrow emission angle is used, the light emitted from the light source 1 is substantially controlled by the light guide 2. Since the light is incident on the projection lens 3 as parallel light, a substantially rectangular light distribution pattern is obtained from the projection lens 3. Since such light distribution is obtained, the number of light sources can be reduced. In particular, when an LED having a strong directivity and a narrow emission angle is used as a light source, conventionally, a large number of LEDs had to be used. However, according to the present embodiment, the number of the light sources can be greatly reduced, and cost reduction can be achieved. I can do it.

Further, since the light source 1, the light guide 2, and the projection lens 3 are unitized by the light source mounting cover 4 and the housing 6 as described above, the light source 1, the light guide 2, and the projection lens 3 can be applied to lamps of various shapes. For example, by arranging the unitized vehicle signal lights 11 as shown in FIG. 8, a circular lamp can be obtained. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG.
It is also possible to form an inline-shaped lamp in which the lamps 1 are arranged on a straight line. In particular, even in the case of a vehicular signal light in which a slant is tight, as shown in FIG. The distance between the lens 3 and the outer lens 14 can be kept constant.

In addition, an L-shape as shown in FIG. 11 and a V-shape (inverted V-shape) as shown in FIG. 12 can also be used. In this way, by arbitrarily setting the arrangement of the vehicular signal lights 11, the shape of the lamp can be freely changed, a lamp having a novel shape can be provided, and the design of the lamp itself can be enhanced. Also, regardless of the shape of the lamp, the light distribution pattern does not change because each unit has a square light distribution pattern.

When the vehicular signal light is viewed from the projection lens 3 side, an enlarged image of the emission end face 2b of the light guide 2 is visually recognized, and a lamp with a sense of depth is realized.

By making the exit end face 2b of the light guide 2 a diffusion surface or a fine fisheye lens surface, the uniformity of light distribution and the design can be improved.

[Embodiment 2] The embodiment 2 relates to a light guide 2
Except that the shape of the reflector is different from that of the light guide 2 described above.
The configuration is almost the same as that of the first embodiment. Here, the same parts as those in the first embodiment will not be described, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals.

"Reflector" As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the reflector 12 has a shape obtained by rotating a parabola by 360 degrees, and has a cross-sectional shape which is gradually enlarged from the incident end face 12a to the output end face 12b. It has been. A concave portion 13 for fitting and housing the light source 1 is formed in the incident end face 12a.

<Operation> According to the vehicular signal lamp of the second embodiment, when the light source 1 is fitted into the recess 13, the light source 1 is completely covered completely, and the light emitted from the light source 1 is emitted. All light is condensed on the reflector 12 without leakage. Therefore, an efficient signal light can be obtained. In particular, the reflector 12 of the second embodiment is suitable for a mini-valve having a wide emission angle in order to prevent light leakage.

As described above, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied have been described. However, the present invention can be variously modified without being limited to the above-described embodiments.

For example, in the second embodiment, the concave portion 13 in which the light source 1 is fitted and accommodated is formed in the reflector 12, but the concave portion 13 may be formed in the light guide 2. Even when the concave portion 13 is formed in the light guide 2, the light emitted from the light source 1 can be condensed by the light guide 2 without leakage, as in the second embodiment.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a light guide or a reflector is provided between the light source and the projection lens, and the light emitted from the light source is transmitted through the light guide. When the light is adjusted by the body or the reflector and incident on the projection lens as substantially parallel light, the light distribution of the light emitted from the projection lens becomes less wasteful. For this reason, even if a light source with a small emission angle is used, the light distribution of the light emitted from the projection lens can be made uniform.
Therefore, light distribution with less waste can be obtained, so that the number of light sources can be reduced, and cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the function of the first aspect, the light emitted from the light source can be efficiently collected, and the light distribution can be prevented from being wasted.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect, the light source is fitted and accommodated in the concave portion formed in the light guide or the reflector, so that the light source can be easily removed. There is no leakage of emitted light, and an efficient vehicle signal lamp can be provided.

According to the invention set forth in claim 4, claims 1 to 1 are provided.
In addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of the third aspects, even if the light source is an LED having strong directivity, it is possible to achieve a light distribution without waste by the light guide or the reflector and the projection lens.

According to the invention described in claim 5, claims 1 to 5
In addition to the effect of the invention according to any one of claims 4, a light source,
An arbitrary lamp shape can be obtained by unitizing the light guide, the reflector, and the projection lens and freely arranging the units, and the design can be enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle signal light according to a first embodiment,
(A) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

2A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the light guide of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 (a) is a diagram showing a signal light distribution standard shape,
(B) is a figure which shows the light-guide end surface projection image image with respect to a signal light distribution standard shape.

FIG. 5 shows a vehicle signal light according to a second embodiment.
(A) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

6A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 5, and FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the light guide of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an example in which unitized vehicle signal lights are arbitrarily arranged to form a circular lamp.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example in which unitized vehicle signal lights are arbitrarily arranged to form a linear lamp.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing an example in which unitized vehicle signal lights are arbitrarily arranged to form a substantially L-shaped lamp.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing an example in which unitized vehicle signal lights are arbitrarily arranged to form a substantially rectangular lamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light source 2 Light guide 3 Projection lens 4 Light source mounting cover 6 Housing 12 Reflector

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicular signal light comprising a light source, a light guide or a reflector, and a projection lens, wherein the light guide or the reflector is provided between the light source and the projection lens. A signal light for a vehicle, wherein light emitted from the light source by a light body or a reflector is incident on the projection lens as substantially parallel light. 2. The vehicular signal light according to claim 1, wherein an emission end face of the light guide or the reflector has a substantially rectangular shape. 3. The vehicular signal light according to claim 1, wherein the light source is fitted and accommodated in a recess formed in the light guide or the reflector. 4. The vehicle signal light according to claim 1, wherein the light source is an LED. 5. A signal light for a vehicle, wherein the signal light for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is unitized, and a plurality of the units are arbitrarily arranged.