JP2008243645A - Lamp unit of vehicle headlamp - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle headlamp capable of reducing the number of lamp units to be mounted for reduced footprint of them by enabling switching between condensed light and diffused light of an identical lamp unit. <P>SOLUTION: The lamp unit is provided with a light-emitting element 1 arranged facing a direction nearly orthogonal to the optical axis, a fixed reflecting mirror 2 to reflect the emitted light from the light-emitting element 1 to the front in the optical axis direction, a movable reflecting mirror 3 capable of moving between a position to cut off the light path and a position not to cut off the light path to the fixed reflecting mirror 2, and a gear 4 for moving the movable reflecting mirror 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lamp unit mounted on a vehicle headlamp, which can emit two types of light, diffused light and condensed light, with one unit.

  A vehicular headlamp is equipped with a plurality of lamp units having separate functions for diffused light or condensing light, and each of them is turned on / off to realize diffused light / light condensing (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

For example, in the vehicle headlamp disclosed in Patent Document 1, among the lamp units mounted in three stages, diffused light is achieved by lighting the lower three units, and condensing is achieved by lighting the middle two units. is doing. Conventional vehicle headlamps have the problem that, as described above, diffused light and light collection are realized by separate lamp units, so that there are many necessary lamp units and a large in-vehicle space is required.
JP, 2005-235520, A 3rd page-6th page FIG.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and by making it possible to switch between diffused light and condensed light with the same lamp unit, the number of lamp units to be mounted is reduced and the in-vehicle space is reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular headlamp that can be used.

A lamp unit for a vehicle headlamp according to the present invention includes a light emitting element arranged at a predetermined position on an optical axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis, and light emitted from the light emitting element forward in the optical axis direction. A fixed reflecting mirror that reflects the light to the fixed reflecting mirror, a movable reflecting mirror that can move between a position that blocks the optical path to the fixed reflecting mirror, and a position that does not block, and a driving means for moving the movable reflecting mirror. It is characterized by having.
According to the said structure, both diffused light and condensing can be implement | achieved with one headlamp by the reflecting mirror which has two types of reflective surface shapes, a fixed reflecting mirror and a movable reflecting mirror.

In the present invention, the fixed reflecting mirror has a substantially parabolic reflecting surface.
According to the above configuration, the emitted light from the light source can be effectively advanced forward, but in particular, since it has a parabolic column shape, it is possible to irradiate diffused light that spreads in the horizontal direction.

In the present invention, the movable reflecting mirror rotates with the optical axis as a rotation axis.
According to the above configuration, the area of the movable reflecting mirror disposed in the lamp chamber, that is, the area blocking the front of the fixed reflecting mirror can be changed, so that the degree of diffused light and light collection can be adjusted appropriately. Is possible.

In the present invention, the movable movable mirror that is rotated is constituted by at least two or more fan-shaped reflecting surfaces centered on the optical axis.
According to the above configuration, the movable reflecting mirror can be moved quickly as compared with the case of one large movable reflecting mirror, so that the responsiveness related to switching between diffused light and light collection can be improved. it can.

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicular headlamp 100 includes six lamp units 20 housed in two upper and lower stages in a lamp chamber formed by a lamp body 120 and a transparent transparent cover 140 attached to a front end opening of the lamp body 120. And three lamp units 10 housed in the lower stage.

  2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the interior of the lamp unit 10, FIG. 3A is a front view, FIG. 3B is a side view, and FIG. The lamp unit 10 has a light emitting element 1 disposed at a predetermined position on the optical axis Ax of the fixed reflecting mirror 2 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the light source, and light emitted from the light source for headlamps forward in the optical axis direction. The fixed reflecting mirror 2 that reflects, the movable reflecting mirror 3 that can move to the front position of the fixed reflecting mirror 2, the gear 4 for rotating the movable reflecting mirror 3, and the shaft portion 5 that connects the movable reflecting mirror 3 and the gear 4. When the motor (not shown) that drives the gear 4 is rotated, the movable reflection connected to the shaft portion 5 is provided. The mirror 3 is configured to rotate. In the present embodiment, the movable reflecting mirror 3 rotates clockwise when the movable reflecting mirror 3 is viewed from the gear 4 side. The motor is arranged on the back side of the fixed reflecting mirror 2 so that it cannot be seen from the front of the lamp. The light-emitting element 1 is placed on the lower surface of the shade 7 formed by the fixed reflector 2 and the shade 7, and the emitted light is reflected directly or by the fixed reflector 2 and the shade 7 and travels forward of the lamp unit. To do.

  The fixed reflecting mirror 2 is a reflecting mirror having a parabolic columnar surface, while the movable reflecting mirror 3 is a semicircular or fan-shaped reflecting mirror having a substantially rotating parabolic surface. Accordingly, the fixed reflecting mirror 2 serves as a reflecting mirror for diffused light, and the movable reflecting mirror 3 serves as a reflecting mirror for condensing light. Since the fixed reflecting mirror 2 is a parabolic pillar, the horizontal surface becomes flat, and the movable reflecting mirror 3 can be arranged on the front surface. The movable reflector 3 is normally exposed on the upper side of the shade 7, and when the movable reflector 3 is rotated about the optical axis as a rotation axis, when the movable reflector 3 is viewed from the gear 4 side, the lamp is gradually turned on from the upper right part of the lamp chamber. Entering the room, the area located in front of the fixed reflector 2 is increased.

  FIG. 4 shows the state of the lamp unit when the movable reflecting mirror 3 is rotated by 90 ° from the initial position. (A) is a front view, (b) is a side view, and (c) is a top view. Yes. FIG. 5 shows the state of the lamp unit when the movable reflecting mirror 3 is rotated by 180 ° from the initial position. (A) is a front view, (b) is a side view, and (c) is a top view. Is shown.

  6 to 8 are diagrams showing light distribution patterns at each rotation angle of the movable reflecting mirror 3. The rotation angle is 0 ° (that is, the movable reflector 3 has not entered the lamp chamber at all: FIG. 6), and the rotation angle is 180 ° (that is, all the semicircular fixed reflectors 3 have entered the lamp chamber). The light distribution pattern changes continuously until the state shown in FIG. 8). In particular, FIG. 6 shows a light distribution pattern reflecting the effect of only the fixed reflecting mirror 2, and FIG. 8 shows a light distribution pattern reflecting the maximum effect exerted by the movable reflecting mirror 3. Compared with the light distribution pattern of FIG. 6, the light distribution pattern of FIG. 8 is a pattern in which the light distribution is strongly concentrated in the center. This is because the movable reflecting mirror 3 having an arc-shaped cross section with respect to the horizontal plane is disposed in front of the fixed reflecting mirror 2 in the lamp chamber, so that light emitted backward from the light emitting element 1 is reflected by the movable reflecting mirror 3. This is because the light was condensed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the reflection is performed only by the fixed reflecting mirror 2, the light emitted backward from the light emitting element 1 and reflected by the fixed reflecting mirror 2 spreads in the horizontal direction and proceeds. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, when the movable reflecting mirror 3 is arranged in front of the fixed reflecting mirror 2, the light reflected by the fixed reflecting mirror 2 out of the light emitted backward from the light emitting element 1 is centered. Condensate. That is, as the approach area of the movable reflector 3 into the lamp chamber increases, the light distribution that spreads in the left-right direction gradually concentrates in the center, so that far visibility during high-speed traveling is improved.

  In particular, as the rotation angle increases, the right spreading portion of the light distribution pattern concentrates first in the center. This is because the movable reflecting mirror 3 enters the lamp chamber from the upper right part of the lamp chamber, but if an appropriate rotation angle is selected, only one of the light distribution patterns spreading to the left and right is concentrated in the center. It is shown that adjustment is possible. As a result, when turning to the right, it is possible to reinforce the light distribution to the road shoulder, or to reduce the light distribution to the oncoming vehicle (that is, the right portion of the light distribution pattern) to prevent the driver from dazzling. .

  In addition, the semicircular or fan-shaped movable reflecting mirror 3 having a substantially paraboloid of revolution does not need to be one. FIG. 9 shows a main part of a lamp unit having a movable reflecting mirror divided into two sheets according to the second embodiment, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a side view, (c) is a top view, (D) has shown the front view. As shown in the figure, since each movable reflecting mirror (3a and 3b) is independently rotated, the time required for the rotation is shortened, and the responsiveness related to switching between diffused light and light collection can be improved. it can. In addition, what is necessary is just to use the same drive means as the above for the drive of each movable reflective mirror.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the semicircular movable reflecting mirror 3 is rotated about the line passing through the center thereof (coincident with the optical axis) and arranged in front of the fixed reflecting mirror 2 has been described. However, the method of disposing the movable reflecting mirror 3 in front of the fixed reflecting mirror 2 is not limited to this. As another mode in which the movable reflecting mirror 3 is disposed in front of the fixed reflecting mirror 2, for example, the movable reflecting mirror 3 is rotated about a line Bx orthogonal to the optical axis as a rotation axis, or the movable reflecting mirror 3 is translated up and down. It does not matter if you let them.

The figure which shows the vehicle headlamp which concerns on embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the lamp unit which comprises the vehicle headlamp The figure which shows the lamp unit which comprises the vehicle headlamp The figure which shows the mode of a lamp unit when a movable reflecting mirror rotates 90 degrees from the first position. The figure which shows the mode of a lamp unit when a movable reflecting mirror rotates 180 degrees from the first position. The figure which shows the light distribution pattern of a lamp unit (the rotation angle of a movable reflector = 0 degree) The figure which shows the light distribution pattern of a lamp unit (Rotation angle of a movable reflecting mirror = 90 degrees) The figure which shows the light distribution pattern of a lamp unit (Rotating angle of a movable reflecting mirror = 180 degrees) The figure which shows the lamp unit which has the movable reflecting mirror divided | segmented into 2 sheets

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light source 2 Fixed reflecting mirror 3 Movable reflecting mirror 4 Gear 5 Shaft part 7 Shade 10 Lamp unit

Claims (4)

A light emitting element arranged at a predetermined position on the optical axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis;
A fixed reflecting mirror that reflects light emitted from the light emitting element forward in the optical axis direction;
A movable reflector that is movable between a position that blocks the optical path to the fixed reflector and a position that does not block;
And a driving unit for moving the movable reflecting mirror. A lamp unit for a vehicle headlamp. The lamp unit for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the fixed reflecting mirror has a substantially parabolic reflecting surface. The lamp unit for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the movable reflecting mirror rotates about the optical axis as a rotation axis. 4. The lamp unit for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 3, wherein the rotationally movable movable reflector is composed of at least two fan-shaped reflecting surfaces centered on the optical axis.

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