JP2009029367A - Head lamp control device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head lamp control device for a vehicle capable of reliably preventing any accident by allowing a marker or a white lane on an traveling road to be easily recognized even when a marker detection means is in trouble. <P>SOLUTION: A visible light 110 for applying visible light forward of a vehicle 1, and a UV light 80 for applying ultraviolet ray forward of the vehicle 1 are provided on a head lamp control device 2. In addition, a radar 10 for detecting a marker forward of the vehicle 1 and a camera 20 and a trouble detection means 90 for detecting troubled states of the radar 10 and the camera 20 are provided thereon. The UV light 80 is turnable at least in the vehicle width direction by an actuator 60, and when any trouble of the radar 10 and the camera 20 is detected by the trouble detection means 90, the UV light 80 is controlled by the actuator 60 to apply the visible light to the outside of the application area of the visible light 110. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp control device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a vehicle headlamp control device including a visible light irradiating unit that irradiates visible light toward the front of the vehicle and an ultraviolet light irradiating unit that irradiates ultraviolet light toward the front of the vehicle. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In this vehicle headlight control device, the ultraviolet light reacts with the clothes of the forward pedestrian and clearly raises the forward pedestrian, so the driver can clearly recognize the forward pedestrian. The front pedestrians will not feel any glare even if they receive the light, and it is no longer necessary to increase the amount of visible light in order to clearly see the front pedestrians. There is an effect that it is possible to prevent glare.

By the way, in Patent Document 2, an image pickup means for picking up an image of the front of the vehicle, a display means for displaying an image picked up by the image pickup means at a place visible from the driver's seat, and an image displayed on the display means are controlled. There is disclosed a vehicle display device having a control unit. The vehicle display device includes a traveling environment detection unit that detects a traveling environment in front of the vehicle, and an angle-of-view switching unit that can change a region imaged by the imaging unit, and is detected by the traveling environment detection unit. Accordingly, the area imaged by the imaging unit is switched to the wide angle by the view angle switching unit.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-081860 JP 2000-203335 A

  Supporting driving by applying the technology of Patent Document 2 to the vehicle headlamp control device of Patent Document 1 and widening the irradiation range of the headlamp according to the traveling environment detected by the traveling environment detecting means It is possible to do.

  However, when a target detection means such as a millimeter wave radar corresponding to the above-mentioned traveling environment detection means fails, the irradiation range of the headlamp cannot be controlled, and other vehicle driving support devices are used. There was a problem that safety could not be ensured.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the object of the present invention is to make it easy to recognize a white line of a target or a traveling path and to prevent an accident even when the target detection means fails. There is.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, when the target detection means fails, the ultraviolet light irradiation means irradiates the outside of the irradiation region of the visible light irradiation means.

Specifically, in the first invention, visible light irradiation means for irradiating visible light toward the front of the vehicle,
A vehicle headlamp control device including ultraviolet light irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet light toward the front of the vehicle is an object.

And the vehicle headlamp control device is
Target detection means for detecting a target in front of the vehicle;
A failure detection means for detecting a failure state of the target detection means,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured to be rotatable at least in the vehicle width direction by a rotation mechanism,
When a failure of the target detection means is detected by the failure detection means, the ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured to irradiate the outside of the irradiation region of the visible light irradiation means by a rotating mechanism.

  In other words, if the target detection means fails, the vehicle driving support device that uses the information from the target detection means cannot be used in many cases, and sufficient safety cannot be ensured. Since the light irradiation means is rotated by the rotation mechanism to irradiate the outside of the irradiation area of the visible light irradiation means, where there are many pedestrians and white lines, the target and progress of the pedestrians etc. The white line on the road is reflected by the ultraviolet light and stands out, making it easy to recognize, and accidents are reliably prevented.

In the second invention, in the first invention,
It further comprises gaze detection means for detecting the gaze direction of the driver,
The visible light irradiation means is configured to be rotatable at least in the vehicle width direction by a rotation mechanism,
The visible light irradiation means and the ultraviolet light irradiation means are configured to irradiate along the line-of-sight vector detected by the line-of-sight detection means.

  According to said structure, since visible light and ultraviolet light are irradiated according to a driver | operator's eyes | visual_axis, it becomes easy to recognize the target which moves irregularly like a pedestrian, and an accident is prevented reliably.

In the third invention, in the first or second invention,
The vehicle further comprises vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured to be able to change the irradiation angle in the vehicle width direction by an irradiation angle changing mechanism,
The irradiation angle changing mechanism is configured to set the irradiation angle in the vehicle width direction of the ultraviolet light irradiated by the ultraviolet light irradiation means wider when the vehicle speed is slower than a predetermined speed than when the vehicle speed is faster.

  According to the above configuration, when the vehicle speed is fast, it is necessary to see far away, so the illumination angle is narrowed by the illumination angle changing mechanism so that ultraviolet light is illuminated far away, and when the vehicle speed is slow, it is not necessary to see far away. By illuminating a wide range with an irradiation light by the irradiation angle changing mechanism and illuminating a wide range with ultraviolet light, the target and the white line of the traveling path can be easily recognized by appropriately changing the irradiation range according to the speed.

In a fourth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions,
The vehicle further comprises vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured to be rotatable in the vertical direction by a rotation mechanism,
When the vehicle speed is slower than a predetermined speed, the irradiation angle in the vertical direction of the ultraviolet light irradiated by the ultraviolet light irradiation means is set lower than when the vehicle speed is high.

  According to the above configuration, when the vehicle speed is fast, it is necessary to irradiate far.Therefore, when the vehicle speed is slow, it is not necessary to irradiate far. By doing so, it becomes easy to recognize nearby targets and white lines of the traveling path by appropriately changing the irradiation range according to the speed.

In a fifth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is composed of a high beam unit of a headlamp that constitutes the visible light irradiation means,
When the visible light irradiation means is a low beam, the high beam unit is configured to transmit only the ultraviolet light.

  According to said structure, the space and components which are required compared with the case where an ultraviolet light irradiation means and a visible light irradiation means are provided in a separate position reduce. When the high beam unit is used as the ultraviolet light irradiation means, for example, if a filter that transmits only ultraviolet light is provided, it is possible to use the high beam unit differently from when the high beam is irradiated. In addition, if the visible light irradiating means is composed of a low beam unit of a headlamp and only the ultraviolet light irradiating means can be rotated by a rotating mechanism, the visible light irradiating means is fixed even if the ultraviolet light irradiating means is rotated. Therefore, the visibility is prevented from being deteriorated due to malfunction. On the other hand, when the ultraviolet light irradiating means and the visible light irradiating means are simultaneously rotated, since both are arranged close to each other, it is easy to synchronize their movements.

In a sixth invention, in any one of the first to fifth inventions,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured separately from the headlamp that constitutes the visible light irradiation means.

  According to said structure, since the arrangement space of an ultraviolet light irradiation means can fully be ensured, installation of the rotation mechanism is easy.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when a failure of the target detection unit is detected by the failure detection unit, the ultraviolet light irradiation unit is rotated by the rotation mechanism, and the irradiation region of the visible light irradiation unit is By irradiating the outside, accidents can be reliably prevented by raising the white line of the target and the traveling path in the dark and making it easier to recognize.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, since the visible light irradiation means and the ultraviolet light irradiation means are irradiated along the line-of-sight vector detected by the line-of-sight detection means, it is easy to recognize even a moving target. Can be reliably prevented.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, by making the irradiation angle of the ultraviolet light in the vehicle width direction variable according to the vehicle speed, it is easier to recognize the target and the white line of the traveling path with the ultraviolet light, and further the accident. It can be surely prevented.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the vertical illumination angle of the ultraviolet light is made variable by the illumination angle changing mechanism in accordance with the vehicle speed, thereby making it easy to recognize the white line of the target or the traveling path with the ultraviolet light. Accidents can be prevented more reliably.

  According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the ultraviolet light irradiating means is composed of the high beam unit of the headlamp that constitutes the visible light irradiating means, so that the ultraviolet light that makes it easy to recognize the white line of the target and the traveling path in a small space Irradiation means can be installed.

  According to the sixth aspect of the invention, since the ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured separately from the headlamp that constitutes the visible light irradiation means, a sufficient space for arranging the ultraviolet light irradiation means can be secured, so that the rotation thereof The mechanism can be easily installed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

-System configuration-
FIG. 1A shows a system configuration of a headlight control device 2 for a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1B and 1C show mounting forms of UV light and visible light. In the vicinity of the front grille in the front part of the vehicle, a radar 10 as a target detection means is arranged, and a camera 20 as a target detection means is arranged at the front end of the roof in the passenger compartment. Using the radar 10 and the camera 20, an image ahead of the vehicle, a distance to the target ahead of the vehicle, a shape of the target, a direction of the target, and the like are detected. An eye camera 30 as a line-of-sight detection means is arranged on an instrument panel, a dashboard upper part, and the like in the passenger compartment so as to photograph the driver's eyes in the visible light region and the infrared region. A driver's line-of-sight vector (line-of-sight direction) is detected using an image photographed by the eye camera 30. A vehicle speed sensor 41 as vehicle speed detection means detects the traveling speed of the host vehicle. The yaw rate sensor 40 detects the yaw rate of the host vehicle, and estimates the traveling path of the host vehicle together with the vehicle speed sensor 41. The navigation device 120 performs navigation functions such as displaying the current position of the host vehicle and driving route guidance to the destination. The ECU 50 is a computer that performs various arithmetic processes for driving support.

  The headlamp control device 2 further includes failure detection means 90 that detects failure states of the radar 10 and the camera 20. This failure detection means 90 is used when the radar 10 or the camera 20 does not receive a normal signal from the radar 10 and the camera 20, for example, when there is no signal at all and the same signal is continuously transmitted. It is configured to determine that a failure has occurred.

  UV lights 80 as ultraviolet light irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet light toward the front of the vehicle 1 are arranged on the left and right sides of the front part of the vehicle, respectively, and irradiate the front of the vehicle with ultraviolet light. It is preferable to use ultraviolet light irradiated from the UV light 80 having a wavelength of 315 nm or more. This is because it is classified as UV-A and has little influence on the human body. The headlamp control device 2 includes an actuator 60 as a rotation mechanism. The actuator 60 controls the irradiation direction of the ultraviolet light emitted from the UV light 80 and uses an ultraviolet light vehicle as an irradiation angle changing mechanism. The irradiation angle in the width direction is controlled.

  Visible light lights 110 serving as visible light irradiating means for irradiating visible light toward the front of the vehicle 1 are arranged on the left and right sides of the front portion of the vehicle, and irradiate visible light in front of the vehicle. The actuator 100 is configured to control the irradiation direction of visible light emitted from the visible light 110.

  The visible light 110 and the UV light 80 are configured to irradiate along the line-of-sight vector detected by the eye camera 30. That is, the direction that the driver is looking at is detected by the eye camera 30, and the direction is illuminated by the visible light 110 and the UV light 80. However, the visible light 110 may be configured not to control the irradiation direction when there is an oncoming vehicle or the like ahead. This is because oncoming cars are dazzling.

  Further, when the vehicle speed is slower than the predetermined speed, the irradiation angle in the vehicle width direction of the ultraviolet light irradiated by the UV light 80 is set wider than when the vehicle speed is high. Further, when the vehicle speed is slower than the predetermined speed, the irradiation angle in the vertical direction of the ultraviolet light irradiated by the UV light 80 is set lower than when the vehicle speed is high.

-Mounting form of UV light and visible light-
There are “independent type” and “headlight built-in type” as the mounting form of the UV light 80.

  (1) In the independent type, as shown in FIG. 1B, the UV light 80 is separate from the headlamp 130 having a visible light 110 that irradiates visible light (high beam, low beam) in front of the vehicle. It is configured. Ultraviolet light is emitted from the light source bulb 81 of the UV light 80, and this ultraviolet light is reflected to the front of the vehicle by the movable reflector 82. The actuator 60 controls the irradiation direction of the ultraviolet light by controlling the movable reflector 82 to rotate in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. In the independent type, the space for arranging the UV light 80 can be sufficiently secured, so that the actuator 60 can be easily installed.

  On the other hand, in the headlamp 130, visible light is emitted from the light source bulb 111 of the visible light 110, and this visible light is reflected to the front of the vehicle by the movable reflector 112. The actuator 100 can control the irradiation direction of visible light by controlling the movable reflector 112 to rotate in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

  (2) In the headlight built-in type, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), the UV light 80 is composed of a high beam unit of a headlamp 130. Although not only ultraviolet light but also visible light is emitted from the light source bulb 81, only the ultraviolet light is transmitted through the filter 83 and is irradiated to the front of the vehicle. Further, similarly to the “independent type”, the irradiation direction of the ultraviolet light can be controlled by the actuator 60. Note that the filter 83 functions only when the front of the vehicle is irradiated with ultraviolet light, and does not function when the front of the vehicle is irradiated with visible light (high beam). During the high beam, the filter 83 is stopped to emit visible light including ultraviolet light.

  The visible light 110 is composed of a low beam unit of the headlight 130. The built-in headlight type requires less space than the case where the UV light 80 and the visible light 110 are provided at different positions. When the UV light 80 and the visible light 110 are simultaneously rotated, since both are arranged close to each other, it is easy to synchronize their movements.

-Operation flow-
Next, the operation of the vehicle headlamp control apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, the case where the UV light 80 and the visible light 110 are “independent types” will be described. 3 and 4, U <b> 1 indicates an irradiation area of the UV light 80 at a low speed, and U <b> 2 indicates an irradiation area of the UV light 80 at a high speed. V1 indicates a low beam irradiation area of the visible light 110, and V2 indicates a high beam irradiation area of the visible light 110.

  First, in STEP 01, the failure detection means 90 determines whether the radar 10 and the camera 20 have failed. If there is no failure, the process proceeds to step ST02 where normal control such as light distribution along the conventional lane and following-up vehicle tracking using the data of the radar 10 and the camera 20 is performed. On the other hand, if there is a failure, the process proceeds to ST03, the general irradiation mode is executed, and the process proceeds to step ST04.

  In the general irradiation mode, as shown in FIG. 3, the UV light 80 is rotated outward in the vehicle width direction by the actuator 60 to irradiate the outside of the irradiation region (V1, V2) of the visible light 110 (in U1, U2). Show). In this way, the UV light 80 is rotated by the actuator 60 to irradiate the outside (U1, U2) of the irradiation area of the visible light 110, which often has pedestrians or white lines, and so on. Targets and white lines of traveling paths are reflected in the ultraviolet light, making it easier to recognize and prevent accidents.

  In step ST04, the ECU 50 calculates the driver's line-of-sight vector (see FIG. 3) based on the driver's eye image taken by the eye camera 30, and the process proceeds to step ST05. At this time, by using a low-pass filter, a moving average, or the like as a line-of-sight vector calculation filter, the influence of line-of-sight fluctuations can be reduced.

  In step ST05, the ECU 50 determines whether or not the vehicle speed obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 41 is lower than a predetermined value. When the speed is low, the process proceeds to step ST06, and when it is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step ST07.

  In step ST06, the irradiation angle of the UV light 80 is lowered and widened by the actuator 60 (indicated by U1 in FIGS. 3 and 4), and the process proceeds to step ST08.

  In step ST07, the irradiation angle of the UV light 80 is increased and decreased by the actuator 60 (indicated by U2 in FIGS. 3 and 4), and the process proceeds to step ST08.

  In step ST08, the UV light 80 is distributed along the line-of-sight vector. Thus, since visible light and ultraviolet light are irradiated according to the driver's line of sight, it becomes easy to recognize a target that moves irregularly like a pedestrian, and an accident is reliably prevented. At this time, when there is an oncoming vehicle, the oncoming vehicle does not feel dazzling if the control of the line-of-sight light distribution is stopped.

  In this way, when the vehicle speed is fast, it is necessary to irradiate far away, so when the vehicle speed is slow, there is no need to irradiate far away, so lower the vertical illumination angle. This makes it easier to recognize nearby targets and white lines of traveling paths. Also, when the vehicle speed is fast, it is necessary to see far away, so the irradiation angle is narrowed to illuminate the ultraviolet light far away, and when the vehicle speed is slow, it is not necessary to see far away, so the illumination angle is widened to widen the range. Illuminating with ultraviolet light makes it easier to recognize the target and the white line of the route.

  When the UV light 80 and the visible light 110 are “headlight built-in type”, the UV light 80 and the visible light 110 illuminate the same area when using a high beam.

-Effect of the embodiment-
Therefore, according to the vehicle headlamp control apparatus according to the present embodiment, when the failure detection means 90 detects a failure of the radar 10 and the camera 20, the UV light 80 is rotated by the actuator 60, and the visible light By irradiating the outside of the irradiation area 110, an accident can be reliably prevented by making the white line of the target and the traveling path rise in the dark and make it easy to recognize.

  According to the above embodiment, since the visible light 110 and the UV light 80 are irradiated along the line-of-sight vector detected by the eye camera 30, it is easy to recognize even a moving target, so an accident can be reliably performed. Can be prevented.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the irradiation angle in the vehicle width direction of the ultraviolet light is made variable by the actuator 60 according to the vehicle speed, so that it is easy to recognize the white line of the target and the traveling path when illuminated with the ultraviolet light. Further, it can be surely prevented.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the vertical irradiation angle of the ultraviolet light is made variable according to the vehicle speed, so that it is easy to recognize the white line of the target and the traveling path by illuminating with the ultraviolet light, thereby further preventing the accident. be able to.

  According to the above embodiment, the UV light 80 is configured by the high beam unit of the headlamp 130 that constitutes the visible light 110, so that the UV light 80 that makes it easy to recognize the white line of the target and the traveling path in a small space. Can be installed.

  According to the above-described embodiment, since the UV light 80 is configured separately from the headlamp 130 that constitutes the visible light 110, a sufficient space for the UV light 80 can be secured. It can be done easily.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention may be configured as follows with respect to the above embodiment.

  That is, in the above-described embodiment, the irradiation angle in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction is made variable by the actuator 60 according to the vehicle speed only for ultraviolet light, but the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction for visible light also by the actuator 100 according to the vehicle speed. The irradiation angle may be variably controlled.

  In the above embodiment, the UV light 80 is configured to be rotatable in the vehicle width direction and the vertical direction by the actuator 60, but may be rotatable only in the vehicle width direction.

  In addition, the above embodiment is an essentially preferable illustration, Comprising: It does not intend restrict | limiting the range of this invention, its application thing, or a use.

  As described above, the present invention is useful for a vehicle headlamp control device.

(a) It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the headlamp control apparatus of the vehicle by embodiment of this invention. (b) (c) It is a figure which shows the mounting form of UV light and visible light. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the headlamp control apparatus of the vehicle by embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the example of irradiation of an ultraviolet light and visible light. It is a side view which shows the example of irradiation of an ultraviolet light and visible light.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Headlamp control apparatus 10 Radar (target detection means)
20 Camera (target detection means)
30 Eye camera (Gaze detection means)
41 Vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection means)
50 ECU (Failure detection means)
60 Actuator (turning mechanism, irradiation angle changing mechanism)
80 UV light (ultraviolet light irradiation means)
90 Failure detection means 100 Actuator (rotation mechanism)
110 Visible light (visible light irradiation means)
130 headlight

Claims (6)

Visible light irradiation means for irradiating visible light toward the front of the vehicle;
A vehicle headlamp control device comprising ultraviolet light irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet light toward the front of the vehicle,
Target detection means for detecting a target in front of the vehicle;
A failure detection means for detecting a failure state of the target detection means,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured to be rotatable at least in the vehicle width direction by a rotation mechanism,
When the failure detection unit detects a failure of the target detection unit, the ultraviolet light irradiation unit is configured to irradiate the outside of the irradiation region of the visible light irradiation unit by a rotation mechanism. A vehicle headlamp control device. In the vehicle headlamp control device according to claim 1,
It further comprises gaze detection means for detecting the gaze direction of the driver,
The visible light irradiation means is configured to be rotatable at least in the vehicle width direction by a rotation mechanism,
The vehicle headlamp control device, wherein the visible light irradiation unit and the ultraviolet light irradiation unit are configured to irradiate along a line-of-sight vector detected by the line-of-sight detection unit. The vehicle headlamp control device according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle further comprises vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured to be able to change the irradiation angle in the vehicle width direction by an irradiation angle changing mechanism,
The irradiation angle changing mechanism is configured to set a wider irradiation angle in the vehicle width direction of the ultraviolet light irradiated by the ultraviolet light irradiation means than when the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined speed. A vehicle headlamp control device. In the vehicle headlamp control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The vehicle further comprises vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is configured to be rotatable in the vertical direction by a rotation mechanism,
When the vehicle speed is slower than a predetermined speed, the vehicle headlight is configured so that the irradiation angle in the vertical direction of the ultraviolet light irradiated by the ultraviolet light irradiation means is set lower than when the vehicle speed is high. Light control device. In the vehicle headlamp control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The ultraviolet light irradiation means is composed of a high beam unit of a headlamp that constitutes the visible light irradiation means,
When the visible light irradiation means is a low beam, the vehicle headlamp control apparatus is configured to irradiate only the ultraviolet light from the high beam unit. In the vehicle headlamp control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The vehicle headlamp control device according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet light irradiation unit is configured separately from a headlamp that constitutes the visible light irradiation unit.

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