JP2012064533A - Lamp fitting for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To incorporate a plane-emission light guide plate without the need of surface processing for emission into an outer cover for a lamp fitting for a vehicle.SOLUTION: The lamp fitting for a vehicle 10 is provided with a lamp body 12, an outer cover 14 arranged so as to cover a front surface of the lamp body 12, and a light source 20 arranged in a lighting chamber 25 zoned by the lamp body and the outer cover, plane-emission light guide plates 16, 18 consisting of transparent resin with light scattering bodies dispersed inside and making light led inside scattered on the surface, and side-surface light sources 27 to 29 arranged so as the light to enter inside the plane-emission light guide plates 16, 18. The plane-emission light guide plates 16, 18 are incorporated into an outer peripheral part of the outer cover 14.

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of an outer cover used for a vehicular lamp.

  A light guide member formed of a resin material is used for light distribution formation in a vehicular lamp. For example, in Patent Document 1, in a vehicular lamp provided with an extension with which a light guide member is engaged, LED light incident from the end face of the light guide member is converted into a cylindrical shape provided on the front side of the light guide member. From the step, it is described that the light is emitted as diffused light for forming the light distribution of the clearance lamp.

JP 2009-146722 A

  Like the technique described in Patent Document 1, a conventional light guide member needs to have grooves, steps, and the like on the surface for emitting visible light incident from the end face to the outside of the member. Such a groove or step has a problem that it is difficult to transmit light in the surface direction particularly when a light guide member is incorporated in the outer cover. In addition, there is a problem that grooves and steps impair aesthetics, and the degree of freedom in design is limited.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, The objective is to provide the vehicle lamp using the outer cover in which the light guide member which does not need surface processing for an emission was incorporated.

  A vehicular lamp according to an aspect of the present invention includes an outer cover disposed so as to cover a front surface of a lamp body, a first light source disposed in a lamp chamber defined by the lamp body and the outer cover, A surface light-emitting light-guiding plate made of a transparent resin having a light-scattering body dispersed therein that scatters light guided to the surface to the surface, and a second light source disposed so that light enters the surface light-emitting light-guiding plate The surface-emitting light guide plate is incorporated in at least a part of the outer cover.

  According to this aspect, the surface light guide plate is incorporated in the outer cover, and the light source is provided separately from the main beam so as to emit light, so that the appearance is not significantly different from that of the conventional vehicle headlamp, so that a plurality of functions can be handled. It becomes possible to incorporate the lamp into one lamp.

  The surface-emitting light guide plate may constitute an outer peripheral portion of the outer cover, and the second light source may be disposed so that light enters from an end surface of the surface-emitting light guide plate.

  The surface-emitting light guide plate may be laminated over substantially the entire area of the outer cover. According to this, when the surface emitting light guide plate is not caused to emit light, the light from the first light source behind the outer cover is transmitted to function as a normal main beam, and when the surface emitting light guide plate is caused to emit light, for example, Can be used as day lamp or clearance lamp.

  The surface-emitting light guide plate may be laminated so as to overlap at least part of a region through which light from the first light source is transmitted on the outer cover.

  The area where the light emitted from the first light source passes through the outer cover and the area where the light emitted from the second light source emits light by the surface-emitting light guide plate correspond to the functions of different types of lamps. It may be configured to.

  According to the present invention, by incorporating a surface light-emitting light guide plate that does not require surface processing for emission into the outer cover of a vehicular lamp, the light emission range can be expanded while improving the aesthetic appearance.

(A) is a schematic front view of the vehicle lamp which concerns on Embodiment 1, (b) is a schematic sectional drawing. (A) is a front view of the front cover of the vehicle lamp with which the tail lamp and stop lamp which concern on Embodiment 2 were integrated, (b) is a fragmentary sectional view of a front cover. (A) is a front view of the vehicle lamp which concerns on Embodiment 3, (b) is sectional drawing of an outer cover, (c) is a figure which shows the mode of the vehicle lamp at nighttime. (A) is a schematic front view of the vehicle lamp which concerns on Embodiment 4, (b) is a schematic sectional drawing. FIG. 10 is a front view of an outer cover of a vehicular lamp according to a fifth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outer cover of the vehicle lamp which concerns on Embodiment 6. FIG.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1A is a schematic front view of a vehicular lamp 10 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vehicular lamp 10. FIG. 1B shows a cross section cut by a vertical plane including the optical axis of the projection light source unit of the vehicular lamp 10.

  The vehicular lamp 10 has a lamp chamber 25 formed by a lamp body 12 having an opening in the front direction of the vehicle and an outer cover 14 covering the opening of the lamp body 12. In the lamp chamber 25, a projection light source unit for forming a low beam and a reflective light source unit for forming a high beam are arranged. As shown in FIG. 1B, the projection light source unit 21 includes a light source 20, a housing 22 having a reflector on the inner wall, and a projection lens 24. In the front view of FIG. 1A, the projection lens 24 of the projection light source unit and the light source 26 of the reflection light source unit can be seen through the transparent outer cover 14. The light sources 20 and 26 include, for example, incandescent bulbs, halogen lamps, discharge bulbs, LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), and the like.

  The outer cover 14 includes a transparent resin portion 15 and surface-emitting light guide plates 16 and 18 made of a transparent resin in which a scattering material is dispersed. The transparent resin portion and the surface light-emitting light guide plate are preferably integrally formed by extrusion molding or the like, but may be bonded after being separately molded.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the surface light-emitting light guide plate 16 extends to the upper outer edge of the outer cover 14, and the end surface is exposed at the upper right part and the lower left part of the outer cover 14. The surface-emitting light guide plate 18 extends to the lower outer edge of the outer cover 14, and its end surface is exposed at the lower right portion of the outer cover 14. Side light sources 27, 28, and 29 made of one or a plurality of LEDs are disposed on the upper right portion, the lower left portion, and the lower right portion of the outer cover 14 so as to face the end surfaces. In addition, the side light sources 27 to 29 may be installed so as to form a recess or a hole in the end face of each surface emitting light guide plate and insert the LED therein.

  The surface emitting light guide plate emits light by a so-called “edge light system”. That is, the light incident on the inside of the light guide plate from the end surface of the surface emitting light guide plate propagates inside the light guide while repeating internal reflection. The scattering agent dispersed inside the surface-emitting light guide plate scatters the propagated light and emits it toward the surface. As a result, it appears that light is emitted from the entire surface of the light guide plate. On the other hand, the surface light-emitting light guide plate transmits light incident in a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface without being scattered.

  In each surface of the surface-emitting light-guiding plate, two opposing surfaces having the widest area are referred to as “surfaces” in this specification, and the other surfaces are referred to as “end surfaces”. In addition, the “plate shape” includes a curved shape such as an outer cover or an extension member of a vehicular lamp, a flat shape, and an elongated rod shape.

  The surface-emitting light guide plate described above is composed of a thermoplastic resin sheet in which a light scattering agent is dispersed in a base material. Or a surface emitting light-guide plate may be comprised as a laminated structure of the base material layer with a low light-scattering agent density | concentration, and the coating film layer with a high light-scattering agent density | concentration. The material of the base material is a resin having a light transmission property in which light guided from the end surface to the base material is propagated while repeating internal reflection. For example, a thermoplastic resin such as a methacrylic resin, a polycarbonate resin, or a styrene resin is used. Is available. The light scattering agent dispersed in the substrate has a role of scattering the light propagating through the inside and emitting it in the surface direction. The light scattering agent is composed of, for example, inorganic fine particles such as alumina or organic fine particles, but is not limited thereto. The average particle diameter of the light scattering agent is, for example, about 0.5 μm, but the shape is not particularly limited as long as it is uniformly dispersed in the resin.

  The light guide member itself that propagates while reflecting the light incident on the inside has been conventionally used as a part of a vehicular lamp. However, in the conventional light guide member, in order to emit the light propagating through the light guide member to the outside, it is necessary to carve a light diffusion shape such as fine grooves, steps, wrinkles, and dot printing in the emission region. there were.

  However, since such a shape also scatters light from the outside of the light guide member, the amount of light from a low beam light source, a high beam light source, or the like is reduced. Therefore, in the conventional vehicle lamp, the light guide member can be used only in a very small area such as the outer cover and the extension so as not to disturb the light from the low beam light source.

  The surface-emitting light guide plate used in this embodiment has the property that the light guide plate itself scatters light, so there is no need to form steps or grooves on the surface of the light guide plate or to arrange a reflective film. . Therefore, since the light from the light source on the back surface can be transmitted without being disturbed, the light amount of the light source for the low beam or the light source for the high beam is hardly reduced even when used in a wide range of the outer cover of the vehicular lamp. Therefore, various functions can be imparted to the light emission of the surface light-emitting light guide plate. In addition, since the cover having a smooth surface can be used, the degree of freedom in designing the vehicular lamp is improved.

  Examples of the surface-emitting light guide plate as described above are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2006-179454 and 2007-273309.

  In Fig.1 (a), when the side light sources 27-29 are not lit, a surface emitting light-guide plate is transparent resin. Therefore, the light in the normal direction of the surface, that is, the light from the low beam light source and the high beam light source behind the outer cover 14 is transmitted without being diffused and irradiated to the front of the vehicle.

  At daytime, the vehicular lamp 10 causes the surface light-emitting light-guiding plate 16 located above the outer cover to emit light and use it as a day lamp (DRL: Daytime Running Lamp) or a clearance lamp. For this reason, each of the side light sources 27 and 28 uses a white light LED. On the other hand, the surface light-emitting light guide plate 18 located at the lower part of the outer cover is used as a turn signal lamp. For this reason, the side light source 29 uses an orange LED.

  At night, the vehicular lamp 10 uses the surface-emitting light guide plate 16 as a clearance lamp, while using the lower surface-emitting light guide plate 18 as a turn signal lamp.

  As described above, according to the vehicular lamp of the first embodiment, the surface light guide plate is incorporated in the outer cover and the light source is provided separately from the main beam so that the light is emitted. A lamp corresponding to a plurality of functions can be incorporated into one lamp without greatly changing the.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 2A is a front view of the front cover 30 of the vehicular lamp in which the tail lamp and the stop lamp are integrated, and FIG. 2B is a partial cross-sectional view of the front cover 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the surface light-emitting light guide plate 34 is formed so as to make a round around the outer edge of the red transparent resin 32. That is, at the outer edge portion of the front cover 30, the surface emitting light guide plate 34 is disposed behind the transparent resin 32, and the other portions are only the transparent resin 32. A first light source (not shown) for a stop lamp is disposed behind the transparent resin 32.

  An inclined portion 34a having an inclination of about 45 degrees with respect to the surface is formed at the contact point between the surface emitting light guide plate 34 and the transparent resin 32, and an LED for the surface emitting light guide plate 34 is provided at a position facing the inclined portion 34a. A light source 38 is arranged. The inclined portion 34a has a role of totally reflecting the light from the LED light source and guiding the light into the surface emitting light guide plate 34. For this reason, the angle of the inclined portion 34 a may be set to an angle other than 45 degrees according to the position of the LED light source 38. The seal foot 36 is a portion that functions as a seal with the outside when the front cover 30 is fitted to the housing.

  With the above configuration, the light from the first light source transmits the red transparent resin 32 and causes the region of the transparent resin 32 to function as a stop lamp, while the light from the second light source 38 is transmitted by the surface emitting light guide plate 34. It is scattered and the area | region of the surface emitting light-guide plate 34 can function as a tail lamp, for example. On the contrary, the transparent resin region may function as a tail lamp and the surface light-emitting light guide plate region may function as a stop lamp.

  In this way, by forming the surface light-emitting light guide plate and the transparent resin in a laminated manner and inclining the boundary between them, the degree of freedom of the arrangement of the light source that makes the light incident on the surface light-emitting light guide plate can be increased.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 3A is a front view of the vehicular lamp 40 according to the third embodiment, and shows how the projection lens 49 of the low beam light source unit and the light source 50 of the high beam light source unit can be seen through the outer cover 46. Has been.

  FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the outer cover 46 taken along the line AA. As shown in the figure, in the outer cover 46, the transparent resin 42 and the surface light-emitting light guide plate 44 are laminated over almost the entire region except for the outer edge portion of the cover. For example, light is incident on the surface light-emitting light guide plate 44 by an LED light source 48 disposed so as to face the end surface.

  The vehicular lamp 40 does not cause the surface light-emitting light guide plate 44 to emit light at night, and turns on the low beam light source or the high beam light source behind the cover. In this case, since the surface light-emitting light guide plate 44 is transparent, it can transmit the light from the light source as it is, and can be used in the same manner as an ordinary outer cover made of only resin. In contrast, during the daytime, the surface light-emitting light guide plate 44 emits light and is used as a day lamp or a clearance lamp. At this time, the vehicle lamp 40 is observed to emit light from almost the entire area of the outer cover 46 as shown in FIG.

  In this way, by allowing light to enter from the end face of the light guide plate during the daytime, it is possible to make the interior of the lamp chamber invisible from the front of the vehicle. This eliminates the need for an extension or the like for hiding the structure of the light source unit during the daytime, thereby simplifying the structure and assembly of the vehicular lamp. Furthermore, since the entire area of the outer cover emits light as a day lamp or a clearance lamp, the entire cover can be used effectively as a light emitting area, and the appearance can be made novel.

  A plurality of types of light emission colors of the LEDs arranged on the end face of the surface light-emitting light guide plate may be provided so that the driver can select the light emission color. Moreover, you may adjust the quantity of the light which injects into a surface emitting light-guide plate by changing the number of LED lighted by daytime and nighttime. For example, all the LEDs emit light during the daytime and function as a day lamp, and the lamp chamber is concealed. At night, the number of LED lights is reduced so that only the periphery of the outer cover emits light and functions as a clearance lamp. You may let them.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
FIG. 4A is a schematic front view of a vehicle lamp 60 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vehicle lamp 60. FIG. 4B shows a cross section cut by a vertical plane including the optical axis of the projection light source unit of the vehicular lamp 10.

  Unlike the third embodiment shown in FIG. 3, in the vehicular lamp 60 according to the fourth embodiment, the transparent resin 62 and the surface light-emitting light guide plate 64 are laminated in a partial region of the outer cover 66. The area | region of the surface emitting light-guide plate 64 is an area | region with the oblique line in Fig.4 (a). This region also overlaps with a region through which light from the low beam light source is transmitted. Light to the surface light-emitting light guide plate 64 is supplied from, for example, an LED light source disposed opposite to the inclined surface at the boundary with the transparent resin as shown in FIG. The surface emitting light guide plate 64 has a function as a clearance lamp, for example.

  In this configuration, the vehicle lamp 60 scatters light from the LED light source by the surface light-emitting light guide plate 64 and functions as a clearance lamp or a day lamp during the daytime when the low beam light source unit is not turned on. At night, in addition to the light emission from the surface light-emitting light guide plate 64, the low-beam light source unit is turned on. Light from the low beam light source unit passes through the transparent resin 62 and is irradiated forward. As described above, the outer cover of the headlamp can have a plurality of functions without impairing the function as a normal headlamp.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
FIG. 5 is a front view of the outer cover 70 of the vehicular lamp according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the outer cover 70, the surface light-emitting light guide plate 74 is laminated and disposed in a part of the transparent resin 72 (the left end in FIG. 5). Then, light is incident from the LED light source 76 disposed so as to face the end surface of the surface light-emitting light guide plate 74, and the surface light-emitting light guide plate 74 is illuminated.

  In conventional vehicle headlamps, the light from the light source reaches only a limited range in front of the reflector, so a step for improving the visibility from the side is formed on a part of the outer cover surface. The diffusion angle was enlarged. However, this step formed in the front part of the vehicle is detrimental to aesthetics.

  On the other hand, in the outer cover shown in FIG. 5, the surface light-emitting light guide plate 74 is laminated and formed in the region where the conventional steps are provided. By making the surface light-emitting light-guiding plate 74 emit light with the light from the LED light source 76, the lateral visibility of the light can be enhanced. Therefore, it is not necessary to form a step or the like on the outer cover, and the aesthetic appearance of the vehicle front can be improved.

Embodiment 6 FIG.
FIG. 6 shows an outer cover 80 of a vehicular lamp according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. The outer cover 80 has a configuration in which a surface-emitting light guide plate 84 extending in a strip shape is disposed on the back surface of the plate-like transparent resin 82. The transparent resin and the surface light-emitting light guide plate may be integrally formed, or the surface light-emitting light guide plate may be bonded to the back surface of the transparent resin.

  The outer cover 80 is used, for example, as a headlamp cover. White light is incident from the LED 86 disposed on the end face of the surface light-emitting light guide plate, and the surface light-emitting light guide plate 84 functions as a clearance lamp. Since the entire surface of the outer cover is transparent when the LED is not lit, light from a low beam light source or the like disposed behind the cover is transmitted as it is.

  In general, since the light of an LED has a strong directivity, the light guided by the light guide member shines strongly in one direction, but there is a problem that the light is hardly seen when observed from other directions. In the surface light-emitting light guide plate used in the present invention, the surface itself of the light guide plate appears to shine by scattering the internal light with the scattering agent, so that observation is possible from any direction. Therefore, when a band-shaped surface light-emitting light guide plate is arranged as shown in FIG. 6 and light is emitted as a clearance lamp, light from a small number of LEDs incident from the end surface is emitted in a band shape. A high lamp can be realized.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the light from the light source behind the outer cover is transmitted forward by incorporating a surface light-emitting light-guiding plate having high transparency and surface light-emitting performance into the outer cover. The area | region of a surface emitting light-guide plate can be light-emitted with the light from a light source. By using the light emitted by the light guide plate as various lamp functions, it becomes possible to design a vehicular lamp having a novel design that has not been conventionally available. Moreover, since a process such as a groove or a step becomes unnecessary by using the surface emitting light guide plate, the manufacturing process is simplified and the aesthetic appearance of the outer cover can be improved.

  The outer cover in which the surface-emitting light guide plate described in the above embodiment is incorporated can be applied to lamps in various parts of the vehicle. In this case, various functions can be given to light emission of the surface light-emitting light guide plate according to the type of the lamp. Specifically, the light emitting region of the surface light emitting light guide plate can be used as a clearance lamp, a day lamp, a turn lamp, a tail lamp stop lamp, or the like. Further, it is desirable that the surface light-emitting light guide plate is colored according to the function of light emission. For example, the clearance lamp is colorless and transparent, the stop lamp is red and transparent, and the turn signal lamp is orange and transparent. Alternatively, the emission color of the light source may be changed according to the function of light emission.

  In the embodiment, the LED is used as the light source of the surface-emitting light guide plate, but other light sources such as an incandescent bulb, a halogen lamp, and a discharge bulb may be used. Further, instead of disposing the light source so as to face the end surface of the surface light-emitting light guide plate, a recess or a hole may be formed in the end surface of the surface light-emitting light guide plate and the light source may be inserted therein.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle lamps 14, 30, 40, 60, 70, 80 Outer cover, 15, 32, 42, 62, 72, 82 Transparent resin, 16, 18, 34, 44, 64, 74, 84 Surface emitting light guide plate 27, 28, 29 LED, 38, 46, 86 Light source.

Claims (5)

An outer cover arranged to cover the front of the lamp body;
A first light source disposed in a lamp chamber defined by the lamp body and the outer cover;
A surface-emitting light-guiding plate that is made of a transparent resin in which a light scatterer is dispersed and that scatters the light guided to the inside to the surface;
A second light source arranged to make light incident inside the surface-emitting light guide plate;
With
The vehicular lamp, wherein the surface-emitting light guide plate is incorporated in at least a part of the outer cover. The surface-emitting light guide plate constitutes the outer periphery of the outer cover,
2. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the second light source is disposed so that light enters from an end surface of the surface-emitting light guide plate.   The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the surface-emitting light guide plate is laminated and disposed over substantially the entire area of the outer cover.   2. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the surface-emitting light-guiding plate is laminated and disposed on the outer cover so as to overlap at least a part of a region through which light from the first light source is transmitted. .   The region where the light emitted from the first light source passes through the outer cover and the region where the light emitted from the second light source is scattered by the surface-emitting light guide plate are different functions of the lamp. The vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the vehicular lamp is configured to correspond thereto.

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