JP2003115206A - Vehicular lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular lamp composed by forming a half mirror having uniform film thickness for a wide part of a large lens three-dimensionally curved. SOLUTION: In this vehicular lamp 100, the half mirror 40a is formed on the surface of an inner lens 32 disposed in front of a light source 38 by means of spattering deposition, and half mirrors 40b are also formed on non-effective surfaces 36 on the back face of an outer lens 34 disposed in front of the inner lens by means of spattering deposition.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp (hereinafter simply referred to as a lamp) in which a lens disposed in front of a light source is provided with a thin metal film to provide a half mirror.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-262301 discloses
A lamp has been disclosed that ensures a contrast between when it is lit and when it is not lit. As shown in FIG. 10, this lamp has a large number of ribs 21 parallel to the inner lens 20.
A hot stamp foil A serving as a half mirror is attached to the tips 21a of these ribs 21. Therefore, when the light is not lit, a part of the light transmitted from the outside through the outer lens 22 is reflected to the outside again by the hot stamp foil A, so that the stripe contrast is seen from the outside, and when the light is turned on, the light source 25 emits light. The emitted light is hardly blocked by the hot stamp foil A, and the outer lens 22
Are uniformly emitted from the whole.

In such a half mirror, a half transparent film of a thin metal film such as the above-mentioned hot stamp foil A is stuck on the front surface or the back surface of the lens substrate, or metal is thinly vapor deposited (hereinafter referred to as half vapor deposition). Is formed by

[0004]

Recently, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 10, a half mirror is provided on a narrow strip-shaped portion on the inner lens 20 to obtain a stripe pattern contrast and a lamp. It is required to provide a half mirror in a wide area on the inner lens in order to make the interior of the lamp difficult to see when the lamp is not lit and to give a hard metal image appearance.

However, it is easy to form the half mirror by attaching the above-mentioned half-transmissive film to a flat member, but when attaching the half-transmissive film to a wide portion of a large lens which is curved three-dimensionally. However, it was not easy because the half permeable film was wrinkled. Therefore, in order to provide a half mirror on a large lens that is curved three-dimensionally,
It is conceivable to half-deposit the metal.

Conventionally, resistance heating vapor deposition has generally been performed for vapor deposition of metal as shown in FIG. In the resistance heating vapor deposition, the metal 3 is heated by the electric resistance 2 in the vacuum container 1, and the vaporized metal atoms 5 are deposited on the surface of the substrate 4. In such resistance heating vapor deposition, when the substrate 4 is small, there is no problem, but when the substrate 4 is large, the metal atoms 5 are ejected from the metal 3 in a substantially radial manner, so that as shown in FIG. There is a problem that a thick film portion and a thin film portion 14 are formed, which makes it difficult to obtain a metal film having a uniform film thickness. In addition, this vapor deposition takes about 1 second, which makes it difficult to control the film thickness.

For this reason, a half-transmissive film is attached to a wide portion of a large lens that is curved three-dimensionally, or resistance heating vapor deposition is performed to provide a half mirror having a uniform film thickness. It was difficult.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp in which a half mirror having a uniform film thickness is provided on a wide portion of a large lens which is curved three-dimensionally.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the lamp of the invention according to claim 1, a half mirror is formed by sputtering vapor deposition on a light-transmissive plastic optical member arranged in front of the light source. It is characterized by being provided. As a result, in the sputtering deposition, metal atoms are evenly ejected from the entire surface of the metal plate having the same area as that of the optical member. Can be provided with a half mirror.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the lamp according to the first aspect.
In the invention according to claim 1, in the invention according to claim 1, the half mirror is partially provided in the optical member. As a result, when the lamp is turned on,
It is possible to emit light without loss from a place where the half mirror is not provided, and it is possible to emit considerable light from a place where the half mirror is provided. On the other hand, when the lamp is not lit, only the portion where the half mirror is arranged appears to shine with reflected light, so a striped pattern is visible on the front of the lamp.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the half mirror is provided on a non-effective surface of the optical member (a portion not intended to transmit light emitted from the light source). Is characterized by. With this, when the lamp is turned on, most of the light emitted from the light source can be emitted without loss through the effective surface of the optical member, and the leaked light from the lamp passes through the non-effective surface, and this portion is Glowing vaguely. On the other hand, when the lamp is not lit, the inside of the non-effective surface is difficult to see from the outside.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, 2 or 3, the half mirror is formed of a vapor deposition film of aluminum. As a result, when the lamp is not lit, the aluminum half mirror has a slightly bluish metallic color.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, 2 or 3, the half mirror is formed of a vapor deposition film of chromium. As a result, the chromium vapor deposition film has high corrosion resistance and good adhesion,
By omitting the dehumidifying / drying step, the ultraviolet irradiation step and the plasma treatment step, which were necessary when vapor-depositing aluminum to form a half mirror, the sputtering step can be started immediately after the polycarbonate (PC) molding step. The protective film forming step is also unnecessary. Further, when the lamp is not lit, the chrome half mirror has a slightly blackish metallic color.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line LL in FIG. This lamp 100 relates to a rear combination lamp that is provided with a turn signal lamp 30 and a tail stop lamp 31 in an integrated manner and is provided on both left and right sides of a rear end portion of a vehicle.

In this lamp 100, the turn signal lamp 30 and the reflecting mirror portions 30a of the tail stop lamp 31 are formed in the lamp body 35, and the side of the lamp body 35 extends to the side surface of the vehicle. The front surface of the lamp body 35 is colorless and transparent, and is closed by a three-dimensional outer lens 34 curved to the side of the vehicle.
A colorless and transparent inner lens 32 curved in a three-dimensional shape is fixed to the front surface of the reflecting mirror portion 31a of the tail stop lamp 31 inside the outer lens 34, and inside the outer lens 34 the turn signal lamp 30 of the turn signal lamp 30 is fixed. A colorless and transparent inner lens (not shown) is similarly fixed to the front surface of the reflecting mirror portion 30a. The turn signal lamp 30 is a light source 39 colored in amber.
The tail stop lamp 31 includes a light source 38 colored in red.

The inner lens 32, which is an optical member arranged on the front surface of the tail stop lamp 31, is provided with a half mirror 40a on the entire surface, and the inner lens which is an optical member arranged on the front surface of the turn signal lamp 30. The lens also has a half mirror on the entire surface. On the back surface of the outer lens 34 which is also an optical member,
The half mirror 40b is also formed on the non-effective surface 36 of the lens 34.
Is provided. The non-effective surface of the outer lens 34 is
The turn signal lamp 30 and the tail stop stop lamp 31 do not face the respective reflecting mirror portions 30a, 31a,
That is, it means a portion that does not intend to transmit the light emitted from the light source 38 of the tail stop lamp 31 or the light source 39 of the turn signal lamp 30.

These half mirrors 40a and 40b make it difficult for the interior of the lamp 30 to be seen from the outside when the lamp 30 is not lit, and give a hard metallic image. Meanwhile, the tail stop lamp 31
When turned on, the red light emitted from the light source 38 passes through the half mirror 40a and is emitted to the outside.
From the front of the tail stop lamp 31 to the outer lens 34
The light leaking to the inner side of the light passes through the half mirror 40b, so that the non-effective surface 36 of the outer lens 34 also dimly glows red. Even when the turn signal lamp 30 is turned on, the amber light emitted from the light source 39 similarly passes through the half mirror on the front surface of the turn signal lamp 30 and is emitted to the outside, and also the non-effective surface 36 of the outer lens 34. Makes amber light dimly.

The lamp bodies 35 on both sides of the tail stop lamp 31 are provided with reflex reflectors 42a.
Also, the rear side reflex reflector 42b is fixed. Normally, because of the half mirror 40b provided on the non-effective surface of the outer lens 34, the reflex reflector 42a and the rear side reflex reflector 42 are provided.
Although b is not visible from the outside, when these reflectors 42a and 42b are illuminated by a headlamp or the like, both the incident light and the reflected light pass through the half mirror 40b, so that the direction in which the incident light comes Reflects reflected light.

By the way, in order to provide the half mirrors 40a and 40b in which the metal film is half vapor-deposited with a uniform thickness, on the wide portion of the front surface or the back surface of the large lenses 32 and 34 which are curved three-dimensionally in this way. Performs sputtering deposition instead of conventional resistance heating deposition.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the sputtering deposition means that a cathode 7 having a metal plate (target) 8 to be deposited fixed and a lens substrate 10 are placed in a container 6 in a low-pressure argon gas atmosphere. The fixed anode 9 is arranged, and a voltage is applied between the cathode 7 and the anode 9 to generate a discharge, ionize the argon gas, and cause the argon ions 11 to collide with the metal plate 8 on the cathode 7. The metal atoms 5 jumping out of the metal plate 8 due to the impact are deposited on the surface of the lens substrate 10. In the sputtering deposition, since the metal atoms 5 are uniformly ejected from the entire surface of the metal plate 8 having a large area similar to that of the lens substrate 10, as shown in FIG. Since the vapor deposition can be performed with high thickness at a thickness of 14 and the vapor deposition rate can be slower than that of resistance heating vapor deposition, there is an advantage that the control of the thickness of the metal film is easy and the adhesion of the metal film is good. . Here, when the metal plate 8 is three-dimensionally curved with the same curvature as the lens substrate 10, a metal film having a more uniform thickness can be obtained.

FIG. 4 shows a process diagram for producing a lens by sputtering aluminum deposition. Further, FIG. 6A shows a sectional view of a lens manufactured through the steps shown in FIG. In the process of manufacturing a lens, first, a PC molding process S1 of molding polycarbonate (PC), which is a raw material of a lens, into a lens substrate 10 having a predetermined shape by injection molding or the like is performed. Next, in order to make it easy for the metal film to adhere to the surface of the molded lens substrate 10 and to prevent the metal film from peeling off easily, a dehumidifying and drying step S2 of about 20 minutes at 120 ° C. and an ultraviolet (UV) irradiation step S3 and the plasma processing step S4 are performed, and thereafter, the process proceeds to the sputtering step S5. In the sputtering step S5, as described above, aluminum is half vapor-deposited on the lens substrate 10 at a predetermined electric power by sputtering vapor deposition for about several seconds. Half mirror 40 is formed by half vapor deposition of aluminum on the lens substrate 10.
After forming the film, plasma protection is performed at 800 W for about 18 seconds to form a protective film 4 such as a polymerized film of organic silicon.
In step 6, a protective film forming step S6 for covering the half mirror 40 is performed to complete the lens (see FIG. 5A).

FIG. 5 shows a process diagram for manufacturing a lens by sputtering chromium vapor deposition. Further, FIG. 6B shows a sectional view of a lens manufactured through the steps shown in FIG. Since the chromium vapor deposition film has good corrosion resistance and adhesion,
As shown in FIG. 5, after the lens substrate 10 is first molded from polycarbonate by injection molding or the like in the PC molding process S11, the lens substrate surface is immediately processed without any special treatment, and the sputtering process S12 is immediately performed to remove chromium from the lens. The substrate 10 is deposited by sputtering. Then, when the half mirror 40 is formed on the lens substrate 10 by half vapor deposition of chromium in the sputtering step S12, the lens is completed without covering the half mirror 40 with the protective film (see FIG. 5B).

As described above, when chromium is vapor-deposited, the dehumidifying / drying step S2 required when vapor-depositing aluminum is performed.
Since the ultraviolet irradiation step S3, the plasma processing step S4, and the protective film forming step S6 are unnecessary, the lamp of the present invention can be manufactured more easily at a lower cost in a shorter construction period. In addition, the half-mirror 40 with half vapor deposition of aluminum has a slightly bluish metallic color, whereas the half-mirror 40 with half vapor deposition of chromium has a slightly blackish metallic color. , The color changes subtly depending on the metal, so aluminum, chrome or other metals are used properly according to the preference of the customer.

By the way, sputtering steps S5 and S1
When the power supplied at 2 is larger, the film thickness of the half mirror 40 becomes thicker and its transmittance becomes smaller. Therefore, the power and the vapor deposition time are adjusted to control the film thickness of the half mirror 40. The film thickness of the half mirror 40 is preferably about 10-30 nm, in which case the transmittance is about 5-50% and the reflectance is about 10-70%. In practice, the thinner the half mirror 40 (that is, the higher the transmittance), the greater the variation in the film thickness and the transmittance, and the more easily defective products deviate from the designed film thickness, the more difficult the manufacturing becomes. In consideration of the design viewpoint that if the half mirror 40 is thin, a metallic feeling is lost, the transmittance of the half mirror 40 is 10-30.
% Is particularly desirable.

7 to 9 show another embodiment of the present invention. The position of the half mirror 40 is shown in FIG.
7A, the inner lens 32 is provided on the entire surface but not the outer lens 34, as shown in FIG.
7B, it is provided on the entire back surface of the inner lens 32, but not provided on the outer lens 34, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (C), various embodiments can be obtained such as not being provided on the inner lens 32 but being provided on the entire back surface of the outer lens 34.

When the half mirror 40 is partially provided, a mask member is attached to the inner lens 32 or the outer lens 34 and sputtering vapor deposition is performed, so that the inner lens 32 as shown in FIG. Those which are partially provided on the surface of 32 but not provided on the outer lens 34, as shown in FIG.
2 that is partially provided on the back surface of the outer lens 34, but is not provided on the outer lens 34, as shown in FIG. 8C, that is not provided on the inner lens 32 but is partially provided on the back surface of the outer lens 34. Various embodiments can be obtained.

Of course, the inner lens 32 or the outer lens 34 is used as an optical member for providing the half mirror 40.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be another optical member such as a filter having a light-transmitting property, which is disposed in front of the light source 38.

Further, when the half mirror 40 provided on the inner lens 32 or the outer lens 34 is partially provided, as shown in FIG. 9 (A), the half mirror 40 is provided in a horizontal striped pattern, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 9B, those arranged in a horizontal direction and in the vertical direction at predetermined intervals in a dispersed manner, as shown in FIG. 9C, those arranged in a radial pattern, and from the viewpoint of design. It is possible to obtain various embodiments such as the determined pattern.

When the half mirror 40 is partially provided in this way, when the lamp is turned on, light can be emitted from a place where the half mirror 40 is not provided without loss, so that the required amount of light can be obtained even with a small electric power. Cheap. For this reason, there is no problem even if the film thickness of the half mirror 40 is thicker than that of a normal half mirror so that the half mirror 40 has a perfect mirror surface. Therefore, it is required to strictly define the film thickness of the half mirror 40. Therefore, the lamp can be easily manufactured. On the other hand, when the lamp is not lit, the portion where the half mirror 40 is arranged looks bright due to the reflected light from the half mirror 40, and the portion where the half mirror 40 is not arranged has no reflected light so that the contents can be seen as they are. Therefore, when the lamp is not lit, various patterns can be seen on the front surface of the lamp depending on the arrangement of the half mirror 40. Moreover, if the half mirror 40 is properly arranged, the interior of the lamp is exposed. I can't see it.

By the way, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example,
Although the light bulb is colored in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer lens 34 or the inner lens 32 may be changed to be colored. Of course, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to lamps other than the rear combination lamp. The material of the lenses 32 and 34 is not limited to polycarbonate, and any plastic such as acrylic having high transparency and good moldability and good metal film adhesion can be used. Further, as the metal to be vapor-deposited on the lenses 32 and 34, in addition to aluminum and chromium, any metal that is resistant to rust and has good adhesion to the lens substrate 10 can be used.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the invention of claim 1, the optical member arranged in front of the light source is provided with:
Since the half mirror is provided by sputtering deposition, a lamp having a half mirror with a uniform thickness can be obtained for a wide portion of a large optical member that is curved three-dimensionally. The inside of the can be hidden, and the appearance of a metal-like hard image can be given.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the half mirror is partially provided on the optical member, it is possible to emit light without loss from a place where the half mirror is not provided when the lamp is turned on. , It is easy to obtain the required light quantity even with a small amount of power. On the other hand, when the lamp is not lit, various patterns can be seen on the front surface of the lamp by disposing the half mirror. Further, since the film thickness of the half mirror may be thicker than that of a normal half mirror, the film thickness of the half mirror is not strictly defined, and the lamp of the present invention can be easily manufactured.

According to the invention of claim 3, further, since the half mirror is provided on the non-effective surface of the optical member, the optical member passes through the effective surface of the optical member when the lamp is turned on. , Most of the light emitted from the light source can be emitted without loss, it is easier to obtain the required amount of light with less power, and the leaked light from the lamp passes through the non-effective surface and this part shines vaguely Gives a unique feeling. On the other hand, when the lamp is not lit, the inside of the non-effective surface can be invisible from the outside, and a hard metallic image can be given to this portion.

According to the invention of claim 4, further, since the optical member is provided with a half mirror by vapor-depositing aluminum, the half mirror has a slightly bluish metallic color when the lamp is not lit. Can meet the demands of consumers who prefer bluish metallic color.

According to the invention of claim 5, since chromium is vapor-deposited on the optical member to provide a half mirror, the vapor-deposited chromium film is strong and has good adhesiveness. The step of performing the plasma treatment and the step of performing the plasma treatment can be omitted, and after the lens substrate is molded from polycarbonate, chromium can be immediately sputter-deposited on the lens substrate, and a step of covering with a protective film is not necessary. Therefore, the lamp of the present invention can be manufactured inexpensively in a short construction period. Moreover, since the half mirror has a slightly blackish metallic color when the lamp is not lit, it is possible to meet the demand of a consumer who prefers a blackish metallic color.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line LL in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating sputtering vapor deposition.

FIG. 4 shows a process drawing of sputtering vapor deposition of aluminum on a lens substrate.

FIG. 5 shows a process drawing of sputtering vapor deposition of chromium on a lens substrate.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a lens obtained through the steps shown in FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which a half mirror is partially provided for an optical member arranged in front of a light source.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another embodiment in which a half mirror is also partially provided.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing yet another embodiment in which a half mirror is also partially provided.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a conventional example in which a half mirror is provided for an optical member arranged in front of a light source.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating resistance heating vapor deposition.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 vehicle lighting 30 turn signal lamp 31 Tail stop lamp 32 Inner lens (optical member) 34 Outer lens (optical member) 36 Non-effective surface 40, 40a, 40b Half mirror

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Teruaki Inaba             500 Kitawaki, Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Koito Co., Ltd.             Factory Shizuoka factory F term (reference) 3K080 AA01 AB18 BA01 BB06 BB09                       BB20

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle lamp comprising a light-transmissive plastic optical member disposed in front of a light source and provided with a half mirror by sputtering deposition. 2. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the half mirror is partially provided on the optical member. 3. The vehicular lamp according to claim 2, wherein the half mirror is provided on a non-effective surface of the optical member. 4. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the half mirror is formed of a vapor deposition film of aluminum. 5. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the half mirror is formed of a chromium vapor deposition film.