JP2006202600A - Projector type vehicular headlight unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a projector type vehicular headlight unit aiming at reduction of the weight of a lighting fixture and the number of parts, capable of stably obtaining an excellent light distribution property. <P>SOLUTION: The light source is an LED light source 2. A reflector 1 made of resin material, having a flange part 11 on its front end part, and a reflection face 12 formed into spheroidal face or a free face basing on the spheroidal face. A convex lens 3 made of resin having a cylinder-shaped body 13 at its back end is formed so as to have a lens focus FR coinciding with a second focus F2 of the reflection face 12 by jointing the cylinder-shaped body 13 to the first flange part 11. An unit casing 20 is composed of the reflector 1 and the convex lens 3 jointed to each other. The LED light source 2 is arranged on a first focus F1 of the reflection face so that a light emitting part 2a faces the reflection face 12 of the unit casing 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a projector-type vehicle headlamp unit using a light-emitting element light source, which can form a headlamp by assembling one or a plurality of lamp lamps into a lamp housing.

  FIG. 5 shows this type of projector-type vehicle headlamp 100 (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This headlamp 100 adjusts the light source bulb 2 provided in the vicinity of the first focal point of the reflector 1 and the light beam emitted from the light source bulb 2 and reflected by the reflector 1 into a substantially parallel light beam and forwards the lamp. It is generally configured with a convex lens 3 that emits light.

  Specifically, in the headlamp 100, a shade 4 is provided between the light source bulb 2 and the convex lens 3, and a light distribution pattern having a cut line suitable as a passing beam can be obtained by the shade 4. .

  The light source bulb 2 is mounted with its filament positioned at the first focal point of the reflector 1 and its electrical connection portion fitted into the cylindrical opening 1a. A frame 5 is attached to the open end of the reflector 1, and a convex lens 3 is fixed to the frame 5 and a shade 4 is supported.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the headlamp 100 has a ventilation hole 1b immediately above the cylindrical opening 1a for mounting the light source bulb 2 of the reflector 1, and also has a ventilation hole 1b below. The through holes 1c are respectively provided.

The headlamp 100 has a high temperature around the light source bulb 2 when it is turned on. However, since the heat is radiated by thermal convection generated between the through holes 1b and 1c, the temperature rise around the light source bulb 2 is suppressed. Is done.
A microfilm of Japanese Utility Model No. 4-76322

  However, in the headlamp 100, since the light emitted from the light source bulb 2 has high thermal energy, the convex lens 3 has to be formed of glass, and thus has the problem of increasing the weight of the lamp. ing.

  In the headlamp 100, for example, the reflector 1 is formed of an aluminum vapor deposition plate, resin, or iron plate, the convex lens 3 is formed of glass, and the shade 4 is formed of an aluminum vapor deposition plate or iron plate. The frame 5 is formed of an aluminum vapor deposition plate. In this way, since the headlamp 100 uses different materials for each part, it is necessary to make each part separately and assemble these parts, so the dimensions in the optical axis direction that require accuracy are required. However, there is a problem that the variation in the light distribution performance is increased due to the variation in the assembly (Assy) and the variation in component dimensions.

  In addition, the headlamp 100 has a problem that the number of parts is large, which complicates parts management, increases the number of assembling steps, and leads to high costs.

  Furthermore, since the headlamp 100 is provided with the through holes 1b and 1c, there is a problem that the reflection performance in the vicinity of the center portion of the reflector 1 is lowered, and the illuminance of the hot zone in the center portion of the light distribution pattern is lowered. Also have.

  Accordingly, the present invention can reduce the weight of the lamp and reduce the number of parts, can stably obtain excellent light distribution performance, and can maximize the reflection performance of the reflector to provide a light distribution pattern. An object of the present invention is to provide a projector-type vehicle headlamp unit capable of obtaining sufficient illuminance in the hot zone.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention according to claim 1 is a projector-type vehicle headlamp unit configured to reflect light from a light source by a reflector and then emit the light forward through a convex lens.
The light source is composed of a light emitting element light source composed of a semiconductor type light emitting element,
The reflector is formed of a resin material including a first coupling means at a front end and a reflection surface formed of a free-form surface based on the spheroidal curved surface or the spheroidal curved surface on the inside.
The convex lens includes a second coupling unit at a rear end, and is formed of a resin material having a lens focal point that matches the second focal point of the reflecting surface by coupling of the first and second coupling units.
A unit casing of the headlamp unit is configured by the reflector and a convex lens coupled via the first and second coupling means, and the light emitting element light source has its light emitting portion reflected by the reflection of the unit casing. It is arranged at the first focal position of the reflecting surface so as to face the surface.

  Therefore, in the first aspect of the present invention, the light from the light emitting element light source located at the first focal point of the reflecting surface is emitted toward the reflecting surface of the reflector, and is reflected by the reflecting surface to be the second of the reflecting surface. By reaching the rear convex lens converged in the vicinity of the focal point and passing through the convex lens, the light is adjusted to a parallel light beam and emitted to the front of the vehicle, and a desired light distribution pattern can be produced.

  Here, the light emitting element light source is an LED light source using an LED (light emitting diode), an organic EL element, an organic electroluminescent element, an organic electroluminescent element, an organic electroluminescent phenomenon of an organic material called an organic LED element, or the like. This is a light source using an organic electroluminescent element utilizing the above, and is used as a concept including a surface light emitting element light source having a self-light emitting element in which a light emitting layer made of at least a planar organic material is formed.

  In addition, since the light emitting element light source itself is small, it can save the space required for mounting, and the thermal energy of the emitted light is also smaller than that of the light source with filament, so that the temperature of the lamp chamber is excessively increased. This can be avoided and the convex lens and the reflector can be made of resin.

  In addition, since the convex lens and the reflector are made of resin, they can be formed with a lighter weight and higher dimensional accuracy than those using an iron plate or an aluminum vapor deposition plate.

  Further, since the unit casing is constituted by the reflector and the convex lens coupled through the first and second coupling means, the number of parts can be reduced, and the lens focal point of the convex lens can be reduced by the coupling. By arranging the light emitting element light source at the first focal point of the reflecting surface, the relative position of the optically important convex lens, reflector, and light emitting element light source can be accurately set. can do.

The invention according to claim 2 is the projector-type vehicle headlamp unit according to claim 1,
The reflector is configured by integrally forming a shade having a front end thereof and a vertical surface that is flush with the first coupling means so as to substantially coincide with the second focal point of the reflecting surface. And

  For this reason, in the invention described in claim 2, the light from the light emitting element light source is reflected by the reflecting surface and converges near the second focal point of the reflecting surface, and after the light is partially shielded by the shade, most of the light is a convex lens. By passing through the convex lens, the light is adjusted to a parallel light beam and emitted to the front of the vehicle, so that a desired light distribution pattern can be produced. The light distribution pattern at this time is a passing beam having a cut line similar to the shape of the end face of the shade.

  Further, the joinable range at the time of coupling of the second coupling means on the convex lens side is expanded including the vertical plane of the shade.

The invention described in claim 3 is the projector-type vehicle headlamp unit according to claim 1 or 2,
The second coupling means is composed of a transparent cylindrical body extending rearward of the convex lens, and the convex lens performs a scattering process on the lens surface corresponding to the extended portion of the cylindrical body. It is formed by this.

  For this reason, in invention of Claim 3, the whole cylindrical body extended in the convex lens and the convex lens light-emits by lighting of a light emitting element light source. In addition, the light that is guided to the convex lens and the cylindrical body is scattered at the scattering processed portion of the lens surface to be uniform light emission.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the light emitting element light source itself is small, the reflector can be reduced in size by saving the space required for mounting, and the thermal energy of the emitted light is also reduced by the filament light source. Therefore, an excessive temperature rise in the lamp chamber can be avoided, and the convex lens and the reflector can be made of resin, so that the overall lamp can be made compact and the weight thereof can be reduced.

  In addition, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since it is not necessary to make a ventilation hole in the reflector, it is possible to maximize the reflection performance of the reflecting surface and increase the amount of light emitted through the convex lens. As a result, sufficient illuminance in the hot zone of the light distribution pattern can be obtained, and as a result, the visibility of the traveling lane can be improved.

  According to the invention described in claim 1, since the unit casing is constituted by the reflector and the convex lens coupled to each other, the number of parts is small, parts management is easy, and can be easily assembled. Costs can be reduced.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the convex lens and the reflector are made of resin, the convex lens and the reflector can be formed with higher dimensional accuracy than those using glass, an iron plate, or an aluminum vapor deposition plate, and optical. It is possible to accurately form the relative positions of the convex lens, reflector, and light emitting element light source, which are important in terms of positional relationship, so that a lens having excellent optical quality can be formed with stable quality. it can.

  Further, according to the invention described in claim 2, since the joinable range at the time of coupling of the second coupling means on the convex lens side is expanded including the vertical plane of the shade, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1 Thus, both the reflector and the convex lens can be joined easily and stably, and as a result, the two can be easily joined.

  In addition, according to the invention described in claim 3, since the entire tubular body extended to the convex lens emits light uniformly, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the lamp design is improved. be able to.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Components having the same functions as those disclosed in FIGS. 5 and 6 are described with the same reference numerals.

  FIG. 1 shows a projector-type vehicle headlamp unit 10 as a first embodiment of the present invention. The headlamp unit 10 is generally configured so that the light from the light source 2 is reflected by the reflector 1 and then emitted forward through the convex lens 3.

  At this time, the light source is composed of a light emitting element light source made of a semiconductor type light emitting element, and the LED light source 2 is used in the present embodiment.

  In addition, the reflector 1 is provided with a first coupling means 11 at the front end, and is provided with a reflection surface 12 formed of a spheroidal curved surface or a free curved surface based on the spheroidal curved surface, and is formed of a resin material.

  The convex lens 3 is provided with the second coupling means 13 at the rear end and has a lens focal point FR that matches the second focal point F2 of the reflecting surface 12 by the coupling of the first and second coupling means 11 and 13. It is made of material.

  The unit casing 20 of the headlamp unit 10 is configured by the reflector 1 and the convex lens 3 that are coupled via the first and second coupling means 11 and 13, and the LED light source 2 has its light emitting portion 2a. It is arranged at the first focal point F1 position of the reflecting surface 12 so as to face the reflecting surface 12.

  Specifically, the reflector 1 is formed in a dome shape having an inner surface serving as the reflecting surface 12 by using a resin material, and an annular first flange portion 11 serving as a first coupling means is integrally formed at the front end thereof. The reflective surface 12 can be formed by coating or vapor-depositing a reflective member on the inner side surface. As the resin material at this time, for example, polycarbonate resin or acrylic resin is used.

  Further, preferably, the reflector 1 has the shade 4 having the vertical surface 6a flush with the front end of the reflecting surface 12 and the first flange portion 11 as the second focal point F2 of the reflecting surface 12, as in the present embodiment. It is constituted by being formed so as to be almost matched. The shade 4 has a vertical wall 6 having a vertical surface 6a on the front surface and a horizontal wall 7 extending from the upper end of the vertical wall 6 with a horizontal surface 7a, and has a substantially L-shaped cross section. Has been. The horizontal surface 7a is formed so as to be flush with the optical axis Z of the convex lens 3, and a reflecting member is coated or vapor-deposited and has a reflecting function. The shade 4 is integrally formed with the central portion of the edge portion formed by the vertical surface 6a and the horizontal surface 7a substantially matching the second focal point F2 of the reflecting surface 12.

  In addition, the convex lens 3 is configured by integrally including a transparent cylindrical body 13 serving as a second coupling means extending rearward using a resin material. The 2nd flange part 13a joined to the 1 flange part 11 is formed. The cylindrical body 13 at this time is formed to have a cylindrical portion having an outer shape equivalent to that of the convex lens 3, and the resin material is, for example, a transparent polycarbonate resin or acrylic resin. Excellent acrylic resin is suitable.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the LED light source 2 is fixed to a mounting plate 9 and is sub-assembled, and a screw 8 is attached to a light source fixing portion (not shown) appropriately provided on the rear side of the reflector 1. The light emitting portion 2a is attached to the reflecting surface 12 so as to be opposed to each other. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 14 denotes a lead wire of the LED light source 2.

  The unit casing 20 is constituted by the reflector 1 and the convex lens 3 which are joined by abutting the first and second flange portions 11 and 13a, and the LED light source 2 is attached by attaching the sub-assembly as described above. The light emitting portion 2a is disposed at the first focal point F1 position of the reflecting surface 12 so as to face the reflecting surface 1. The position of the first focal point F1 of the reflecting surface 12 is on the optical axis Z in this embodiment.

  Thus, in the headlamp unit 10, the convex lens 3, the shade 4, and the LED light source 2 are arranged along the optical axis Z in this order from the front, and the reflector 1 has the reflecting surface 12 as the light emitting part 2 a of the LED light source 2. The optical system is configured as a whole with an optical system configured by being arranged to face each other.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the headlamp unit 10 can provide the headlamp A by disposing one or a plurality of lamps in a lamp housing 30 whose front opening is covered with a front glass 31. it can. In the present embodiment, the headlamp A is configured by incorporating ten headlamp units 10.

  In the headlamp unit 10 configured as described above, the light L1 of the LED light source 2 located at the first focal point F1 of the reflecting surface 12 is directed toward the reflecting surface 12 of the reflector 1, as shown in FIG. And is reflected by the reflecting surface 12 and converges in the vicinity of the second focal point F2 of the reflecting surface 12 to reach the convex lens 3 and passes through the convex lens 3 so that it is dimmed into a parallel luminous flux and is forward of the vehicle. The desired light distribution pattern can be produced. At this time, since the shade 4 is set at the position of the second focal point F2 of the reflecting surface 12, a part of the light focused near the second focal point F2 is blocked by the shade 4, and most of the light is By reaching the convex lens 3 and passing through the convex lens 3, a passing beam having a cut line similar to the end face shape of the shade 4 is obtained.

  The light shielded by the shade 4 is reflected by the reflecting function of the horizontal surface 7a, reaches the convex lens 3, and is distributed in front of the lamp. For this reason, the headlamp unit 10 can improve the light utilization efficiency of the optical system.

  Further, since the LED light source 2 is small in itself, it can save the space required for mounting, and the thermal energy of the emitted light is also smaller than that of the light source with filament, so that the excessive temperature rise of the lamp chamber can be prevented. This can be avoided and the convex lens 3 and the reflector 1 can be made of resin.

  Further, since it is not necessary to make a ventilation hole in the reflector 1, the amount of luminous flux emitted through the convex lens 3 can be increased by maximizing the reflection performance of the reflecting surface 12, thereby distributing the light. Sufficient illuminance in the hot zone of the pattern can be obtained, and as a result, the visibility of the traveling lane can be improved.

  Further, since the convex lens 3 and the reflector 1 are made of resin, they are lighter and can be formed with higher dimensional accuracy than those using an iron plate or an aluminum vapor deposition plate.

  Further, since the unit casing 20 is constituted by the reflector 1 and the convex lens 3 which are coupled by abutting the first and second flange portions 11 and 13a, the number of parts can be reduced and the convex lens can be formed by the coupling. 3 and the second focal point F2 of the reflecting surface 12, and the LED light source 2 is arranged at the first focal point F1 of the reflecting surface 12, so that the convex lens 3, which is optically important in positional relationship, The relative positions of the shade 4, the reflector 1, and the LED light source 2 can be set with high accuracy.

  Further, the unit casing 20 can easily finely adjust the length in the optical axis Z direction by interposing, for example, packing between the first flange portion 11 and the second flange portion 13a, As a result, assembly errors and molding errors in the same direction can be absorbed.

  Further, the reflector 1 is formed by integrally forming the shade 4 provided with the front end thereof and the vertical surface 6a that is flush with the first flange portion 11, so that the second flange portion 13a on the convex lens 3 side is formed. The joinable range at the time of joining is expanded including the vertical surface 6a of the shade 4, so that the joining of both the reflector 1 and the convex lens 3 can be performed easily and stably. Can be easily performed.

  The unit casing 20 has a horizontal positioning slot (not shown) in the end surface of the reflector 1 including the vertical surface 6a of the shade 4, and the corresponding second flange portion 13a on the convex lens 3 side. Positioning projections (not shown) are provided and, when combined, the positioning projections are fitted into the positioning long holes to join the flange portions 11 and 13a to each other, and the projections in the long holes Within the range of movement, the flange portions 11 and 13a can be slid relative to each other to perform fine adjustment in the left-right direction perpendicular to the optical axis Z, thereby absorbing assembly errors and molding errors in the same direction. be able to.

  Preferably, the convex lens 3 is formed by applying a scattering process 17 (shown by hatching in FIGS. 1A and 1C) to the lens surface corresponding to the extended portion of the cylindrical body 13. Is done. The scattering process 17 is, for example, a texture process. In the present embodiment, the scattering process 17 has a width corresponding to the thickness of the outer peripheral wall of the cylindrical body 13 and is annularly applied along the outer periphery of the convex lens 3.

  In this configuration, when the LED light source 2 is turned on, the entire convex lens 3 and the transparent cylindrical body 13 extending to the convex lens 3 emit light. In addition, the light guided to the convex lens 3 and the cylindrical body 13 is scattered by the scattering processed portion 17 on the lens surface and becomes uniform light emission, thereby improving the lamp design.

  The outer peripheral portion of the convex lens 3 is a portion where the guided light is dispersed and colored, but the scattering processed portion 17 can prevent the coloring by irregularly reflecting the guided light.

  Moreover, although the LED light source 2 is employ | adopted as a light emitting element light source in embodiment mentioned above, it cannot be overemphasized that a surface light emitting element light source is also employable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a plan view of a projector-type vehicle headlamp unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line Ib-Ib in FIG. FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the II-II line | wire of Fig.1 (a). It is a perspective view of the subassembly body of a LED light source. FIG. 2 is a front view of a headlamp incorporating the projector-type vehicle headlamp unit of FIG. 1. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conventional projector type vehicle headlamp. It is a front view of the reflector applied to the headlamp of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 reflector 2 LED light source (light emitting element light source)
2a Light emitting part (for LED light source)
3 Convex lens 4 Shade 6a Vertical surface 10 Headlamp unit (projector-type vehicle headlamp unit)
11 First flange portion (first coupling means)
12 Reflective surface (of reflector)
13 Cylindrical body (second coupling means)
13a 2nd flange part 17 Scattering processing 20 Unit casing A Headlamp F1 1st focus (of a reflective surface)
F2 Second focal point (on reflective surface)
FR lens focus (for convex lens)
Z optical axis

Claims (3)

A projector-type vehicle headlamp unit configured to reflect light of a light source with a reflector and then emit the light forward through a convex lens,
The light source is composed of a light emitting element light source composed of a semiconductor type light emitting element,
The reflector is formed of a resin material including a first coupling means at a front end and a reflection surface formed of a free-form surface based on the spheroidal curved surface or the spheroidal curved surface on the inside.
The convex lens includes a second coupling unit at a rear end, and is formed of a resin material having a lens focal point that matches the second focal point of the reflecting surface by coupling of the first and second coupling units.
A unit casing of the headlamp unit is configured by the reflector and a convex lens coupled via the first and second coupling means, and the light emitting element light source has its light emitting portion reflected by the reflection of the unit casing. A projector-type vehicle headlamp unit, wherein the projector-type vehicle headlamp unit is disposed at a first focal position of the reflecting surface so as to face the surface. The projector-type vehicle headlamp unit according to claim 1,
The reflector is configured by integrally forming a shade having a front end thereof and a vertical surface that is flush with the first coupling means so as to substantially coincide with the second focal point of the reflecting surface. Projector type vehicle headlamp unit. The projector-type vehicle headlamp unit according to claim 1 or 2,
The second coupling means is composed of a transparent cylindrical body extending rearward of the convex lens, and the convex lens performs a scattering process on the lens surface corresponding to the extended portion of the cylindrical body. A projector-type vehicle headlamp unit characterized by being formed by

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