JP2002337600A - Automatic optical axis adjusting device of head light for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the weight and cost and to improve the optical axis adjusting accuracy by completing a system only with a head light assembly to dispense with a wire harness. SOLUTION: A sensor for detecting inclination data of a car body is constituted by an inclination sensor 9, and loaded with a rod position detecting sensor 6 and an acceleration sensor 8 in a circuit board 12 in an optical axis adjusting actuator 10L (10R) where a rod position detecting circuit 7 and a rod control circuit 5 are formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlight, which automatically detects the degree of inclination of a vehicle body and automatically adjusts the optical axis of the headlight.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a conventional apparatus 100 for automatically adjusting the optical axis of a vehicle headlamp. This optical axis automatic adjustment device 100
Are mounted on the suspension between the front and rear axles of the vehicle body 101 and the vehicle body 101, respectively, and are disposed on the front wheel side vehicle height sensor 50, the rear wheel side vehicle height sensor 51, and the vehicle body 101 side. Acceleration sensor 52, these sensors 50, 51, and 52 and wire harness W1, W
2 and a rod control circuit 53 electrically connected via W3, and the rod control circuit 53 and the wire harness W
4 (W5), and is roughly configured to include an optical axis adjustment actuator 10L (10R) provided on each of the left (right) headlights 2L (2R) electrically connected thereto.

The rod control circuit 53 includes a relative displacement between the axle on the front wheel side and the axle on the rear wheel side and the vehicle body 101 detected by the vehicle height sensors 50 and 51, and a wheel speed pulse detected by the acceleration sensor 52. The inclination of the vehicle body 101 is calculated on the basis of input data of various sensor signals such as the above, and a control signal based on the calculation result is output to drive the left and right optical axis adjusting actuators 10L (10R). The optical axis of the lamp 2L (2R) is adjusted.

The optical axis adjusting actuator 10L (10
R) is a rod (not shown) for tilting the reflector in the lamp chamber by moving forward and backward, a rod position detecting sensor (not shown) for detecting the position of the rod, and rod position data input from the sensor. And a motor (not shown) for moving the rod based on a control signal from a rod control circuit 53. .

[0005] Various sensor signals such as wheel speed pulses detected by the acceleration sensor 52 are used for mode determination such as a stop mode, an acceleration mode, a deceleration mode, and a constant speed mode of the vehicle. For example, when the vehicle speed V is several km / h (for example, 2 [km / h]) or more, the acceleration dV / dt obtained by differentiating the vehicle speed V is set to a predetermined threshold (for example, ± 2 [m / h]). s ² ]), the rod control circuit 53 determines that the mode is the constant speed mode, and it is normally expected that there is no large pitch angle fluctuation. The transmission of the control signal is stopped to remove the pitch angle fluctuation and the actuator 10L
(10R) is prevented from responding.

[0006] A similar technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-2.
No. 96736.

[0007]

However, the conventional automatic optical axis adjusting device 100 has the wire harnesses W1 and W1.
2, W3, W4, and W5 are routed over substantially the entire length of the vehicle body 101, so that the routing is not only complicated and troublesome, but also causes an increase in weight and cost. ing.

Additionally, each of the sensors 50, 51 and 52
And the rod control circuit 53, the element spacing is large, so that there is also a problem that the influence of noise and the like is large, which causes a decrease in control accuracy.

Accordingly, the present invention enables the system to be completed only by the headlamp assembly, thereby reducing the weight and cost by eliminating the need for a wire harness, and improving the optical axis adjustment accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for automatically adjusting the optical axis of a vehicle headlamp, which can also be achieved.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to an optical axis for tilting a reflector of a headlight by driving a headlight and a rod attached to the headlight. A headlight device provided with an adjustment actuator and attached to the left and right sides of the front part of the vehicle body, a rod position detection sensor for detecting the position of the rod, and a current position of the rod based on rod position data input from the sensor And a rod position detection circuit for calculating the vehicle mode data from the acceleration sensor to determine whether or not to transmit a control signal by performing mode determination, and to determine the presence / absence of a control signal transmission, the vehicle body inclination data input from another sensor, and the rod A rod control circuit for calculating a moving distance of the rod from a current position based on the current position data of the rod input from a position detection circuit; An optical axis automatic adjustment device for a vehicle headlamp configured to drive a motor incorporated in the optical axis adjustment actuator by a control signal from a control circuit to move the rod by the moving distance. The other sensor is constituted by an inclination sensor, and is mounted inside at least one of the left and right headlight devices.

For this reason, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the other sensor is constituted by the inclination sensor, the inclination of the vehicle body can be detected with high accuracy.

Further, since the inclination sensor is mounted inside the headlight device, the inclination of the vehicle body can be read by the inclination of the headlight device. The headlight device is located at the tip of the body,
In addition, since the headlight device is provided with a tilt sensor, the tilt of the vehicle body is amplified and read by the headlight device since the vehicle is located at a position where the amount of displacement of the tilt of the vehicle body is large at both ends in the vehicle width direction. Can be.

Further, since the tilt sensor is installed inside the headlight device, the waterproof (watertight) structure provided in the headlight device in advance eliminates the need for a dedicated waterproof (watertight) structure for the tilt sensor. As a result, the structure does not become complicated.

When the tilt sensor is set to only one headlight device, the other headlight device adjusts the optical axis in synchronization with the one headlight device. Is set to each of the headlight devices on both sides, each of the headlight devices on both sides detects an inclination by an inclination sensor installed on each of the headlight devices, and independently adjusts the optical axis.

Further, when the tilt sensors are respectively set for the headlight devices on both sides, the tilt sensors do not detect the relative displacement of the tilt of the left and right headlight devices, but detect the relative displacement amounts of the corresponding headlight devices. Since it detects the absolute amount of tilt, a wire harness for connecting the left and right tilt sensors is not required.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlamp according to the first aspect, wherein the tilt sensor includes the rod position detecting sensor and the acceleration sensor. It is mounted on a circuit board in the optical axis adjusting actuator on which the rod position detecting circuit and the rod control circuit are formed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the inclination sensor, the rod position detecting sensor, the acceleration sensor, the rod position detecting circuit, and the rod control circuit are mounted on a circuit board in the optical axis adjusting actuator. Since it is formed, a wire harness for connecting these elements is not required. Therefore, each headlight device can complete the system individually and independently.

Further, since the elements of the inclination sensor, the rod position detecting sensor, the acceleration sensor, the rod position detecting circuit, and the rod control circuit are provided close to each other, the elements are caused by a large separation distance between the elements. Generation of noise and the like can be suppressed as much as possible.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlamp according to the second aspect, wherein at least three of the inclination sensors are provided close to each other. Features.

Therefore, according to the third aspect of the invention, each of the three inclination sensors detects the inclination of each vertex of the triangular plane, and three-dimensionally detects the inclination of the headlight. be able to.

Further, by providing at least three inclination sensors, differentiation from other sensors can be achieved.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is the same as that of claim 1.
4. The automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 3, wherein the acceleration sensor and the rod position detecting sensor are mostly in the same area along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. Are arranged so as to belong to

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the acceleration sensor and the rod position detecting sensor are disposed so as to be arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, the acceleration sensor is provided with the rod position detecting sensor. Vehicle mode data at the position can be detected.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a vehicle body employing an automatic optical axis adjusting device 1 for a vehicle headlamp as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the automatic optical axis adjusting device 1. The figure is shown.

The automatic optical axis adjusting device 1 includes a headlight 2L (2
R) and the rod 3 attached to the headlight 2L (2R).
The headlamp device is provided with an optical axis adjusting actuator 10L (10R) for tilting the reflector 4 of the headlamp 2L (2R) by driving of the headlamp, and the position of the rod 3 is detected. A rod position detecting sensor 6;
A rod position detection circuit 7 for calculating the current position of the rod 3 based on the rod position data input from the sensor 6 and a mode determination is performed based on vehicle mode data input from the acceleration sensor 8 to determine whether a control signal is transmitted. The rod control circuit 5 which determines the moving distance of the rod 3 from the current position based on the body inclination data input from the other sensors 9 and the current position data of the rod 3 input from the rod position detecting circuit 7. And an optical axis adjusting actuator 10L (10
R) is configured so as to move the rod 3 by the moving distance by driving the motor 11 built in the R).

In the present invention, the other sensor is constituted by an inclination sensor and is mounted inside at least one of the left and right headlight devices. An example in which is installed will be described as an embodiment.

That is, in the present embodiment, the other sensor is constituted by the inclination sensor 9, and the rod position detection circuit 7 and the rod control circuit 5 are formed together with the rod position detection sensor 6 and the acceleration sensor 8. It is mounted on the circuit board 12 in the axis adjustment actuator 10L (10R).

Specifically, the optical axis adjusting actuator 1
0L (10R) is the circuit board 12 as shown in FIG.
Is provided so as to cross a substantially central portion of the actuator casing 13 in a horizontal state with the wide plate surface in the vertical direction, and the circuit board 12 has, as shown in FIG. Position detection sensor 6, acceleration sensor 8, rod position detection circuit 7, and rod control circuit 5
Is arranged. The output shaft of the motor 11 is connected to the rod 3 via an appropriate gear train 17 and disposed in the actuator casing 13 (see FIG. 3A). 4, reference numeral 14 denotes a power connector, and reference numeral 15 denotes a power connector.
Denotes a ground connector, and reference numeral 16 denotes a capacitor.

Then, the optical axis adjusting actuator 10L
In (10R), the motor 11 is driven by a control signal from the rod control circuit 5, and the rod 3 can be driven via the gear train 17, and the driving of the rod 3 causes the reflector 4 to be tilted and a headlight. The optical axis of the lamp 2L (2R) can be adjusted. The rod 3 has a threaded portion 3 a formed at a protruding portion from the actuator casing 13 (see FIG. 3C). The threaded portion 3 a is screwed to a rear leg (not shown) of the reflector 4. By rotating the reflector 4 forward and backward, the reflector 4 can be tilted, and the tilt of the reflector 4 adjusts the optical axis of the headlight 2L (2R).

At this time, the acceleration sensor 8 detects various sensor signals such as wheel speed pulses used for determining the mode of the vehicle, and outputs the signals to the rod control circuit 5. The rod control circuit 5 determines the mode of the vehicle based on the input signal from the acceleration sensor 8. For example, when it is determined that the vehicle is in the constant speed mode, the rod control circuit 5 detects the high-frequency component of vibration during traveling and the pitch angle variation due to unevenness of the road surface. To eliminate this, the transmission of the control signal is stopped so that the motor 11 does not respond.

In this embodiment, the rod position detecting sensor 6 is constituted by a potentiometer. This potentiometer is connected to the gear train 17 and
And an element 6a that is driven in conjunction with this.
The current position of the rod 3 can be detected by detecting the position of the element 6a. At this time, a slide volume type potentiometer can be suitably and accurately implemented.

Further, in the present embodiment, the inclination sensor 9
For example, a sensor of the SPSE series manufactured by Alps is used. The tilt sensor 9 is a box-shaped sensor having four terminals A, B, C, and D as shown in FIG.
The terminals that are turned “ON” are different depending on the inclination directions a, b, c, and d (see FIG. 5A). That is, when the direction a is downward, the inclination sensor 9
Is turned “ON”, and when the direction b is downward, the terminals B and D
N ", the terminals C and D are turned" ON "when the direction c is down, and the terminals A and C are" ON "when the direction d is down.
All the other terminals are turned "OFF" and the inclination can be detected. The tilt sensor 9 is small, can be suitably implemented in spite of the narrow space in the actuator 10L (10R), and can be mounted on the actuator casing 13
And a sufficient service life can be ensured.

The automatic optical axis adjusting device 1 thus configured
According to this, since the inclination sensor 9 is mounted on the circuit board 12 in the optical axis adjusting actuator 10L (10R), the inclination of the vehicle body 101 can be read by the inclination of the headlight 2L (2R). The headlamp 2L (2R) is located at the tip of the vehicle body 101 and at both ends in the vehicle width direction at a position where the amount of displacement of the inclination of the vehicle body 101 becomes large.
By providing the inclination sensor 9 at L (2R), the inclination of the vehicle body 101 can be amplified and read by the inclination sensor 9, and the optical axis adjustment accuracy can be improved.

The right and left inclination sensors 9 and 9 do not detect the relative displacement of the inclination of the left and right headlights 2L and 2R, but measure the absolute amount of the inclination of the corresponding headlight 2L (2R). Since the detection is performed, a wire harness for connecting the left and right inclination sensors 9 and 9 is not required, and the inclination sensor 9, the rod position detection sensor 6, the acceleration sensor 8, the rod position detection circuit 7, and the rod control are not required. The circuit 5 is connected to the circuit board 1 in the optical axis adjusting actuator 10L (10R).
2, the wiring harness connecting these elements is not required, and the system can be completed only by the headlight 2L (2R) assembly.

The components of the tilt sensor 9, the rod position detecting sensor 6, the acceleration sensor 8, the rod position detecting circuit 7, and the rod control circuit 5 are provided close to each other, so that a large Generation of noise and the like due to the separation distance can be suppressed as much as possible, and in this respect, improvement in tilt detection accuracy and accurate optical axis adjustment can be expected.

Preferably, the inclination sensor 9 is provided as shown in FIG.
, At least three are provided close to each other.

According to this configuration, each of the three tilt sensors 9
a, 9b, and 9c can detect the inclination of each apex portion of the triangular plane to detect the inclination of the headlight 2L (2R) three-dimensionally, and thus, the inclination detection accuracy and the optical axis. The adjustment accuracy can be improved.

By providing at least three tilt sensors 9 (tilt sensors 9a, 9b, 9c), differentiation from other sensors (for example, acceleration sensor 8) can be achieved, and as a result, erroneous assembly can be achieved. Can be avoided.

More preferably, as shown in FIG. 4, the acceleration sensor 8 and the rod position detecting sensor 6 are arranged such that most of them belong to the same area R along the front and rear direction of the vehicle body 101. You.

According to this configuration, since the acceleration sensor 8 and the rod position detecting sensor 6 are disposed so as to be arranged in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 101, the acceleration sensor 8 is provided with the rod position detecting sensor 6. Vehicle mode data at the position can be detected. Therefore, the rod position detecting sensor 6 can detect the rod position data under the accurate mode determination of the vehicle at the installation site, and in this regard, the improvement of the optical axis adjustment accuracy can be expected.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the rod control circuit 5 and the rod position detection circuit 7 are configured as independent circuits, but one rod control circuit in which the rod position detection circuit 7 is incorporated in the rod control circuit 5. Of course, it may be configured as a circuit.

The tilt sensor 9 is connected to one headlight 2L.
(Or 2R) can be set only for the device. In this case, the other headlight 2R (or 2L) device adjusts the optical axis in synchronization with the one headlight 2L (or 2R) device.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
Since the other sensors are constituted by inclination sensors, the inclination of the vehicle body can be detected with high accuracy, and the inclination of the vehicle body can be amplified and read, so that the optical axis adjustment accuracy can be improved.

Further, since the tilt sensor does not detect the relative displacement of the inclination of the left and right headlights, but detects the absolute amount of the tilt of the corresponding headlight, the left and right tilt sensors can be used. By eliminating the need for a wire harness to be connected and by installing the tilt sensor inside the headlight device, most of the wire harness is not required, and weight and cost can be reduced.

In addition, since the inclination sensor is installed inside the headlight device, a dedicated waterproof (watertight) for the sensor is provided.
The structure is not required, and the structure is not complicated.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the inclination sensor is mounted on the circuit board in the actuator for adjusting the optical axis, the elements come close to each other, and the generation of noise and the like between the elements is minimized. By being able to suppress, further improvement of the optical axis adjustment accuracy can be achieved, and each headlight device can complete the system independently and individually.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, each of the three inclination sensors detects the inclination of each vertex of the triangular plane, and three-dimensionally detects the inclination of the headlight. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 2, the accuracy of detecting the inclination is improved, and the accuracy of adjusting the optical axis can be further improved.

In addition, each of the three tilt sensors can be differentiated from other sensors, thereby avoiding erroneous assembly and facilitating the assembling work.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the acceleration sensor and the rod position detecting sensor are disposed so as to be arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. The vehicle mode data at the installation position can be detected, so that in addition to the effect of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the rod position detection sensor can accurately detect the vehicle at the installation position. The rod position data can be detected under a proper mode determination, and the optical axis adjustment accuracy can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a relationship between an automatic optical axis adjusting device as one embodiment of the present invention and a vehicle body.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the automatic optical axis adjusting device of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B show an optical axis adjusting actuator included in the automatic optical axis adjusting device of FIG. 1, wherein FIG.
FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line IIa, FIG. 2B is a front view, and FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an arrangement of each element on a circuit board in the optical axis adjusting actuator of FIG. 3;

5A and 5B show a tilt sensor constituting an automatic optical axis adjustment device as one embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 5A is a plan view and FIG.
Is a side view, and (c) is a circuit diagram.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical-axis automatic adjustment apparatus 2L, 2R Headlight (vehicle headlight) 3 Rod 4 Reflector 5 Rod control circuit 6 Rod position detection sensor 7 Rod position detection circuit 8 Acceleration sensor 9, 9a, 9b, 9c Incline Sensor 10L, 10R Actuator (Optical axis adjustment actuator) 11 Motor 12 Circuit board R area (area along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A headlight device, comprising: a headlight, an optical axis adjustment actuator attached to the headlight and tilting a reflector of the headlight by driving a rod, and mounted on both left and right sides of a vehicle body front part; A rod position detection sensor that detects the position of the rod, a rod position detection circuit that calculates the current position of the rod based on rod position data input from the sensor, and vehicle mode data input from an acceleration sensor. A mode determination is performed to determine whether or not a control signal is transmitted, and the current position of the rod is determined based on the body inclination data input from another sensor and the current position data of the rod input from the rod position detection circuit. And a rod control circuit for calculating a moving distance from the optical axis adjustment built-in the optical axis adjusting actuator by a control signal from the rod control circuit. An automatic optical axis adjustment device for a vehicle headlamp configured to move the rod by the moving distance by driving the motor, wherein the other sensor is configured by a tilt sensor, and An automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlight, which is mounted inside at least one of the left and right headlight devices. 2. The automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the tilt sensor includes the rod position detecting circuit, the rod position detecting circuit and the acceleration sensor together with the rod position detecting sensor and the acceleration sensor. An automatic optical axis adjusting device for a vehicle headlamp, which is mounted on a circuit board in the optical axis adjusting actuator forming a rod control circuit. 3. The automatic headlight adjusting device for a vehicle headlight according to claim 2, wherein at least three of said inclination sensors are provided close to each other. Optical axis automatic adjustment device. 4. The automatic optical axis adjustment device for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration sensor and the rod position detection sensor are:
A device for automatically adjusting the optical axis of a vehicle headlamp, wherein most of the two components are arranged in the same area along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body.