JP2006076551A - Automatic aiming change system of headlight improving beam pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a novel headlight system capable of eliminating or reducing at least one defect of conventional technology. <P>SOLUTION: This novel headlight system can change aiming of at least a low beam illuminator into the vertical direction based on operation mode of the headlight system to meet the regulatory requirements and can illuminate efficiently and effectively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a headlight system such as an automobile, and more particularly to re-aiming a headlight to achieve a desired operating condition such as a beam pattern when the headlight system is used in different operating modes. ).

  In recent decades, automotive lighting systems have undergone significant changes. Improved lamp technology, design techniques and more stringent regulatory requirements have led to the development of brighter and more focused lighting systems that give vehicle drivers better lighting and safety And at the same time improve driver comfort while reducing glare and other undesirable artifacts that can be given to drivers of other vehicles.

  Modern headlight systems often use high brightness lamps for night driving, using very bright lamps such as multiple lamps and / or halogen lamps and / or high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Gaining strength. In addition to the conventional reflector headlight in which the light source is arranged at the focal point of the parabolic reflector, a projector headlight has also been created. In projector headlights, the light source is located at the focal point of the elliptical reflector. The elliptical reflector can collect the effective light from the light source more efficiently than the parabolic reflector, and one or more focusing lenses are provided in the optical path downstream of the reflector to appropriately match the light to the desired pattern. To burn. In any case, the large amount of light obtained by modern headlight systems allows for a safe night driving experience compared to headlight systems used only a few years ago.

  However, such a recent headlight system has an advantage that a high light intensity can be obtained, but can be caught up with a vehicle approaching a vehicle equipped with the recent headlight system or a vehicle equipped with the recent headlight system. The harmful effects of such intense light on other vehicle drivers have increased considerably, leading not only to discomfort, but also to the driving conditions that are least safe in the worst case. It also becomes.

  Accordingly, various standards bodies specify both the maximum amount of light generated by the headlight system and the beam pattern from which light is emitted by the headlight system. For example, ECE, FMVSS, JIS and other standards bodies run in the beam pattern (intensity and distribution) of the light generated by the headlight system when driving in the low beam (passing beam) mode, and in the high beam (driving beam) mode. Various rules are specified to specify various beam patterns of the headlight system.

Manufacturing an effective headlight system that produces good lighting and meets the standards and restrictions set by standards bodies is labor intensive. The difficulty is further increased when combining the requirements of the vehicle's design appearance with the requirements of cost considerations.
There is a need to provide a headlight system that produces good lighting while meeting relevant legal restrictions.

US Pat. No. 6,183,118 (Toda et al.)

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel headlight system that eliminates or reduces at least one disadvantage of the prior art.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the headlight system on each side is intended to change the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator, the high beam illuminator and the low beam illuminator that can be aimed in the horizontal and vertical directions. In a headlight system having an actuable actuator, when the headlight system is operating in low beam mode, actuate the actuators on each side to align the low beam illuminator aiming to the first vertical aiming target position, and high beam A control that activates the aim of the low beam illuminator to the second vertical aiming target position when both the illuminator and the low beam illuminator are operating and the headlight system is operating in high beam mode. Headlight system having a La means.
The actuator is preferably part of a headlight leveling system that operates to align the aim of the low beam illuminator to the vertical aim target position.

  The present invention provides a headlight system that can adapt to various headlight regulations and can provide effective illumination. According to another aspect of the present invention, a headlight system having a low beam illuminator and a high beam illuminator is provided. The actuator operates to change the aim of the low beam hot spot. The controller activates the actuator to aim the low beam illuminator, the first target when only the low beam illuminator is energized and the headlight system is operating in the low beam mode, the high beam illuminator and the low beam illuminator. Both are energized to match the low beam hot spot with the second target when the headlight system is operating in high beam mode.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows one side (driver side or passenger side) of a modern headlight system 20. The system 20 on each side has a high beam illuminator 24 and a low beam illuminator 28. Each illuminator 24, 28 can be comprised of a reflector and / or one or more lenses and an assembly of light sources such as incandescent bulbs (incandescent bulbs), HID bulbs or halogen bulbs. System 20 is a four-bulb-burn headlight system in which only each high beam illuminator 24 is powered (and thus emitting) when system 20 is in high beam mode. The low beam illuminator 28 is powered when the system 20 operates in both a low beam mode and a high beam mode. In other words, both illuminators 24, 28 operate when the system 20 is in the high beam mode, while only the low beam illuminator 28 operates when the system 20 is in the low beam mode. This is different from a two-bulb-burn headlight system in which only the appropriate one of the high beam illuminator 24 and the low beam illuminator 28 is powered in both modes. ing.

  Each side of the system 20 has an actuator 32 that can be activated to change the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 in response to a signal from the controller 36. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the actuator 32 may comprise a linear DC stepper motor or any other suitable electrical or mechanical means that changes the aim of the low beam illuminator 28 vertically. In general, the actuator 32 mechanically tilts the housing of the low beam illuminator 28 to change its aim, but other techniques such as moving the reflector or lens of the low beam illuminator 28 will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It can also be used.

  As indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 1, based on the mounting structure of the illuminators 24, 28 to the vehicle, the actuator 32 on each side can be used only for aiming the low beam illuminator 28 or both the low beam illuminator 28 and the high beam illuminator 24. Can be changed in the vertical direction.

  The controller 36 of the system 20 can be configured with a microprocessor, microcontroller, PIC or other suitable digital or analog processing device, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, and can include static loads (freight cars and / or passenger cars) and / or To receive input from one or more sensors 40 capable of displaying any position change of the vehicle body relative to the road surface due to dynamic loads (acceleration / deceleration and / or cornering), and to change the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 as required Appropriate control signals are generated in the actuator 32. A signal line indicated by a broken line from the controller 36 is for connection to an actuator 32 on the other side (not shown) of the system 20. An example of a known headlight leveling system is disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above.

  For example, in the ECE standard, when an HID light source is used for the low beam illuminator 28, means for adjusting the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 must be provided. At a minimum, these means can consist of a manual adjuster that allows the driver to manually adjust the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator to compensate for the vehicle's static load. However, even in countries / territories where ECE standards or similar laws and regulations are not applied, it is common to provide an automatic system to improve safety, and therefore a headlight leveling system similar to that shown in FIG. It has become common. Such automated systems have a predetermined vertical aim target position at which the system operates to maintain the aim of the illuminator.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the low beam illuminators 28a, 28b have projector headlight assemblies each with a HID light source. The high beam illuminators 24a and 24b include a projector headlight assembly including a halogen light source. This configuration is a high performance headlight system in that it is intended to produce an illumination that meets or approximates the highest illumination (intensity and distribution) allowed by the appropriate standards body.

  In this particular embodiment, the left two projector assembly reflectors share a common frame with the right two projector assembly reflectors. Thus, when the actuators 32a, 32b change the vertical aim of the respective low beam illuminators 28a, 28b, the vertical aim of the corresponding high beam illuminators 24a, 24b will also change. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, such a configuration is not required by the present invention, and the high beam illuminators 24a, 24b are fixed even when the low beam illuminators 28a, 28b are aimed by the actuators 32a, 32b. It must be possible to maintain a vertical position. Similarly, both the high beam illuminators 24a, 24b and the low beam illuminators 28a, 28b need not be projector assemblies.

  As described above, various standards organizations impose standards on the intensity and distribution (beam pattern) of the headlight system. FIG. 2 shows a beam pattern of a low beam headlight defined by ECE. In FIG. 2, the center of the horizontal (H) axis and the vertical (V) axis is located substantially at the center of the illuminator, and the shaded portion schematically shows a region where the maximum amount of illumination from the low beam illuminator is obtained. Is. The actual shape and testing of the beam pattern is well known to those skilled in the art and need not be described further here.

  As will be appreciated, to prevent dizziness from an approaching vehicle, an acceptable beam pattern causes light to be projected somewhat below the H-axis (about 0.6 °) in the left region of the beam. In the right region of the beam, light can only be projected above the H-axis at a height that gradually increases linearly with distance from the V-axis. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this pattern is reversed in jurisdictions where the vehicle travels on the left side of the road. In any case, this pattern is intended to reduce the occurrence of glare for the driver of an approaching vehicle and at the same time ensure lighting on the side of the road and / or sidewalks.

  One technique often used to make the illuminator beam pattern follow an acceptable pattern is to provide a metal shield in the illuminator's internal optical path to block light from the forbidden area of the beam pattern; Such a technique is used for the low beam illuminator 28 of the system 20.

  FIG. 3A shows a shaded region 100 that is the actual beam pattern achieved and that includes the highest intensity beam pattern region 104. FIG. 3B shows a shaded area 106 that is the beam pattern produced by the high beam illuminator 24 and includes the highest intensity pattern area 108.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the high beam illuminator 24 creates a substantially elliptical beam pattern 106 having a substantially circular high intensity region 108 centered at the intersection of the H axis and the V axis y.

  When the headlight system 20 is a four bulb lighting system and the system 20 operates in high beam mode, the beam pattern of the low beam illuminator 28 and the beam pattern of the high beam illuminator 24 are combined. FIG. 4 shows a combination of the low beam pattern 100 and the high beam pattern 106 achieved without the present invention.

  However, Section 6.3 of ECE Standard # 112 states that the light intensity measured at the intersection of the H-axis and V-axis of the high beam pattern is at least 80% of the maximum intensity found in other areas of the beam pattern. Demands. As will be appreciated, the low beam highest intensity region or hot spot 104 and the high beam highest intensity region or hot spot 108 overlap within region 112. This is not located at the intersection of the H and V axes in the system 20 that does not use the present invention, and is sufficiently bright due to overlap, the 80% standard is not met by this pattern.

  As a conventional technique for dealing with such an excessively bright region, either one or both of the low beam illumination and the high beam illumination are intentionally shifted so as not to illuminate the region below the H axis, or the high beam illuminator 24 is used. There is a technique of providing a metal shield in However, with both of these technologies, a headlight system that can exhibit the highest performance cannot be obtained.

  The dilemma faced by the inventor is that if region 112 is the brightest region, it should be moved to the intersection of the H and V axes. However, if the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 is moved upward in the low beam mode, the illumination will be unacceptably close to or crossing the H axis, which violates the low beam pattern required by the standard. End up. Alternatively, if the vertical aim of the high beam illuminator 24 is moved upward (to prevent the occurrence of the overlap region 108), or the highest intensity region of the low beam illuminator 28 is repositioned downward, the performance of the headlight system is greatly reduced. It will drop to. Also, repositioning the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 while in the low beam mode violates the requirements of the ECE standard, and therefore is not allowed, either up or down.

  The inventor has found that if the vertical aim target position of the low beam illuminator 28 is moved when the headlight system 20 is in the high beam mode, the low beam illuminator 28 can be aimed in the vertical direction to obtain the desired performance. It was decided that it would meet the legal requirements of the low beam pattern.

  Accordingly, the sensor 40i connected to the controller 36 determines whether the headlight system 20 is in the high beam mode or the low beam mode. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, sensor 40i may be an additional signal lead from a high beam / low beam selection system or any other means suitable for determining the mode of operation of headlight system 20. Can be configured. The controller 36 receives the signal from the sensor 40 i and selects one of the two vertical aim target positions of the low beam illuminator 28 based on the display mode of the headlight system 24.

  In the low beam mode, the controller 36 operates the actuator 32 to set the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 to a vertical aim target position that is the height required to achieve the low beam pattern shown in FIG. 3A. In the high beam mode, the controller 36 operates the actuator 32 to establish the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 at a higher vertical aim target position, which is the height required to achieve the high beam pattern shown in FIG. . In this case, the highest intensity region 112 resulting from the overlap between the highest intensity region 104 of the low beam pattern 100 and the highest intensity region 108 of the high beam pattern 106 has a substantially center at the intersection of the H axis and the V axis as desired. However, the performance of the headlight system 20 is enhanced rather than degraded in the high beam mode.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the vertical aim target position of the low beam illuminator 28 in the high beam mode is approximately 0.9 ° higher than the vertical aim target position in the low beam mode. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the vertical aim target position of other embodiments of the headlight system 20 is the applicable regulatory requirements, the actual structure of the high beam illuminator 24 and the low beam illuminator 28, the illuminator (single or Can be varied based on the metal shield used for) and some other parameter. However, as will be readily appreciated, the vertical aim target position of other embodiments can be readily determined empirically as needed.

  The present invention is not limited to a headlight system having two modes of operation. For example, it is also conceivable to use the present invention in a headlight system that further comprises a fog lamp and thus has three modes of operation (high beam, low beam and fog lamp). When the fog lamp is provided with night driving illumination, the reflection from the water droplets in the fog gives the vehicle driver a strong glare, so it is desirable to prevent the light in the near horizontal region from being scattered in the driver's line of sight. . Therefore, many vehicles have fog lamps mounted below the vehicle headlight system and attempt to obtain sufficient lighting with a low risk of glare due to reflections that obstruct the vehicle driver's field of view. In accordance with the present invention, it can be envisaged that the system 20 is configured such that the sensor 40i displays this on the controller 36 when the system 20 is in fog lamp mode in addition to the low beam mode and high beam mode displays. If the system 20 detects that it is in fog lamp mode, the controller 36 can use a lower vertical aim target position than the low beam mode vertical aim target position if approved by the relevant standards body. In this case, the controller 36 actuates the actuator 32 to change the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator 28 downward from the normal vertical aim target position of the low beam pattern, further reducing the possibility of glare due to reflection.

  It can be considered that the present invention is used in a headlight system provided with an integrated fog lamp / driving light that can be changed in the vertical direction by the additional actuator 32. In the operating mode, the integrated fog lamp / driving light vertical aim target position will be higher than the vertical aim target position when the lighting system is in fog lamp mode. The present invention also provides that the low beam illuminator 28 on each side and the high beam illuminator 24 on each side are connected to separate actuators so that the controller 36 can connect each low beam illuminator 28 and high beam illuminator 24 to different vertical aim target positions. It can also be envisaged for use in a headlight system that is configured to refocus. Those skilled in the art will be able to contemplate other modes with other vertical aiming positions that are useful for various situations, but such modes and vertical aiming target positions are within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can also be used to address the delivery of various standards imposed by standards bodies, thus simplifying the structural modification problems faced by headlight system manufacturers. In particular, the controller 36 can program a vertical aim target position that is tailored to meet specific regulations. Such programming can be done when the manufacturer determines the standards that the headlight system to be fitted must conform to, or even if a car with a headlight system is already on sale. can do. Alternatively, the controller 36 can program several sets of vertical aiming target positions so that many regulations and an appropriate set of vertical aiming target positions can be selected as needed.

  The embodiments of the present invention described above are exemplifications of the present invention, and those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention described in the claims.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating one side of a four bulb lit headlight system with an actuator and controller that adjusts the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator to the vertical aim target position. It is a drawing which shows the low beam pattern approved by one standard organization. It is drawing which shows the low beam pattern produced by the low beam illuminator of FIG. It is drawing which shows the high beam pattern produced by the high beam illuminator of FIG. 3B illustrates the high beam pattern of FIG. 3B combined with the low beam pattern of FIG. 3A without the benefit of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a high beam pattern and a low beam pattern combined with the benefit of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

20 Headlight system 24 High beam illuminator 28 Low beam illuminator 32 Actuator 36 Controller 104 High intensity region of low beam 108 Highest intensity region of high beam 112 Overlapping maximum intensity region

Claims (8)

A headlight system, the headlight system on each side
A low beam illuminator that can be aimed horizontally and vertically;
High beam illuminator,
A headlight system having an actuator operable to change the vertical aim of the low beam illuminator;
When the headlight system is operating in low beam mode, actuate the actuators on each side to align the low beam illuminator aiming to the first vertical aim target position, and both the high beam illuminator and low beam illuminator are activated. A headlight system comprising: controller means for operating the low beam illuminator aiming to a second vertical aim target position when the headlight system is operating in a high beam mode.   A third mode of operation with a corresponding third target, and when the controller determines that the headlight system is in the third mode of operation, the controller actuates the low beam illuminator to aim the third vertical aim The headlight system according to claim 1, wherein the headlight system is adjusted to a target position.   The controller is programmed with at least two sets of first and second vertical aim target positions, each set corresponding to specific regulatory requirements, and the controller forms a means for selecting a desired set from at least two sets. The headlight system according to claim 1, wherein:   The headlight system on each side further has a separate illuminator and a separate actuator, the controller has a pair of vertical aim target positions for the separate illuminator, and the controller activates the separate actuator. , Aiming the other illuminator aiming at one vertical aiming target position when the system is operating in the first mode, and the other illuminator aiming when the system is operating in the second mode The headlight system according to claim 1, wherein the headlight system is adjusted to a vertical aiming target position of the headlight.   The headlight system according to claim 1, wherein the low beam illuminator has a parabolic reflector.   2. The headlight system according to claim 1, wherein the low beam illuminator is a projection assembly. Low beam illuminator with low beam hot spot,
A high beam illuminator with a high beam hotspot,
An actuator that operates to change the aim of the low beam hotspot,
A controller that operates the actuator to move the low beam illuminator to aim the low beam hot spot when only the low beam illuminator is energized and the headlight system is operating in the low beam mode. When the headlight system is operating in high beam mode and both the high beam illuminator and the low beam illuminator are energized, move the low beam illuminator to aim the low beam hot spot. Headlight system characterized by matching to the target.   9. The headlight system of claim 8, wherein the high beam hot spot is aimed at a second target when the system is operating in a high beam mode.

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