JP2014019347A - Lamp control device of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure fail-safe of lamp control by enabling transmission of control signals even in the event of a fault in a control line for connecting a plurality of lamp ECUs.SOLUTION: A Lamp control device of a vehicle comprises: at least two lamps LHL and RHL; and a master ECU 100 and a slave ECU 200 arranged on the lamps LHL and RHL, respectively. These lamp ECUs are connected through a plurality of control lines L1 and L2 to transmit lamp control signals from the master ECU 100 to the slave ECU 200. Further the lamp control device: comprises a line monitoring and setting means 105 that monitors the control lines L1 and L2; and when a fault occurs in the control line 1 allocated with control signals of high importance, allocates the control signals of high importance to the normal control line L2 by switching from the L1 to the L2.

Description

  The present invention relates to a lamp control device for performing various controls such as lighting / extinguishing of a plurality of lamps arranged in a vehicle such as an automobile, and a light distribution, and more particularly to a lamp control device that enables fail-safe when a failure occurs. Is.

  In recent vehicles, particularly automobiles, dedicated electronic circuit units (hereinafter referred to as lamp ECUs) are provided to perform various lamp controls such as turning on / off the headlamp, light distribution, and lamp irradiation direction. This lamp ECU executes lamp control based on switch signals sequentially output from the switches and sensors provided on the vehicle as the vehicle travels, and various detection signals such as vehicle speed and steering angle, and It is possible to control the lighting state suitable for the above. The lamp ECUs are provided corresponding to the individual lamps. For example, if the lamp ECUs provided on the left and right headlamps operate independently, there may be a difference in lamp control between the left and right headlamps. Absent. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, the lamp ECU disposed on one of the headlamps provided on the left and right of the automobile is configured as a master ECU, and the lamp ECU disposed on the other headlamp is configured as a slave ECU. Based on the control signal obtained by performing the main processing, one of the lamps on its own side is controlled, and at the same time, the obtained control signal is transmitted to the slave ECU, and the slave ECU based on the transmitted control signal. Techniques for controlling the other lamp have been proposed. In this way, by transmitting the control signal from the master ECU provided in one headlamp to the slave ECU, it is possible to integrally control the left and right headlamps based on the same control signal.

JP 2000-247178 A

In the lamp control apparatus adopting the master / slave system as in Patent Document 1, transmission of control signals between the master and slave lamp ECUs is performed by LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication. The ECU is connected by a control line (harness) configured as a LIN line. And a plurality of lamp controls, for example, lighting state control for controlling turning on / off of the headlamp, light distribution control for controlling light distribution such as low beam and high beam, swivel control for controlling deflection of the lamp optical axis horizontally and horizontally, lamp light In a lamp control device that performs leveling control and the like that controls the deflection of the shaft in the vertical vertical direction, both lamp ECUs are connected by two control lines in order to transmit these control signals, and one is a control line dedicated to swivel control. The other line is configured as a control line for lighting state control and leveling control. This is because swivel control is frequently performed as the vehicle travels, and the transmission capacity per hour of the swivel control signal is large, so one control line is dedicated for swivel control with a large transmission capacity. is there. On the other hand, since lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control are less frequently controlled and the transmission capacity of these control signals per hour is small, lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control are performed using another control line. Like to do.

  However, if a plurality of control signals for lamp control are assigned to the two control lines in this way, failure of the lamp control will not be ensured when a failure such as disconnection or ground fault occurs in the control line. Problems arise. When a trouble occurs in the control line for swivel control, swivel control is not performed. At that time, if the lamp optical axis is fixed at a predetermined position, there is little problem in the future. On the other hand, when a failure occurs in another control line, leveling control is not particularly problematic if it is fixed at a predetermined position as in swivel control, but lighting control and light distribution control, especially lighting control, are not. If this is not done, there will be a situation where the lamp cannot be turned on, which will cause a very important problem in terms of safe driving.

  An object of the present invention is a vehicle capable of ensuring a fail-safe by enabling transmission of a control signal for lamp control required for safe driving even when a failure occurs in a control line connecting a plurality of lamp ECUs. The lamp control device is provided.

The present invention comprises at least two lamps and lamp control means provided for each lamp, and these lamp control means are connected by a plurality of control lines, and one lamp control means is connected via the control lines. A vehicle lamp control device that transmits a lamp control signal to another lamp control means, and monitors a control line, and when an abnormality occurs in a control line to which a lamp control signal having a high importance is assigned, It is characterized by comprising line monitoring / setting means for switching and assigning the lamp control signal having high importance to a normal control line. This line monitoring / setting unit is configured to stop or suppress lamp control with low importance assigned to a control line in which an abnormality has occurred.

  Specifically, the present invention includes two headlamps disposed in a vehicle, master lamp control means provided in one headlamp, and slave lamp control means provided in the other headlamp, A vehicle lamp control device that connects these lamp control means via a first and second control line and transmits a lamp control signal from the master lamp control means to the slave lamp control means via the control line. 1 and the second control line are monitored, and when an abnormality occurs in the first control line to which the lighting control signal for controlling lighting / extinguishing of the headlamp is abnormal, the lighting control signal is set to normal. Line monitoring / setting means for switching and assigning to the second control line is provided.

  The line monitoring / setting means assigns a swivel control signal for deflection control of the lamp optical axis to the left and right to the second control line, and when the lighting control signal is assigned to the second control line, the swivel control signal The transmission is stopped or the transmission capacity is reduced. Furthermore, the line monitoring / setting unit is configured to assign at least one of a light distribution control signal and a leveling control signal to the first control line in addition to the lighting control signal.

  According to the present invention, when it is determined that the control line to which the lamp control with high importance in the safe driving of the vehicle is assigned is abnormal, the lamp control assigned to another normal control line is stopped or suppressed. The lamp control having a high importance is assigned to the normal control line. Accordingly, it is possible to ensure that a lamp control control signal having a high degree of importance is transmitted from one lamp control means to another lamp control means using a normal control line, and it is possible to realize lamp control that ensures fail-safety.

  That is, when the present invention is applied to two headlamps provided in a vehicle, the master lamp control means provided in one headlamp and the slave lamp control means provided in the other headlamp The first and second control lines are connected, the first and second control lines are monitored, and a lighting control signal for controlling lighting / extinguishing of the head lamp having high importance in lamp control is assigned. When an abnormality occurs in the first control line, the lighting control signal is switched and assigned to the normal second control line, so that it is possible to ensure lighting control that maintains at least two headlamp lighting states. In addition, lamp control with fail-safe can be realized.

The conceptual block diagram of embodiment of this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of a headlamp. The flowchart of lamp control. The transmission timing diagram of the control signal between master ECU and slave ECU used as the reference | standard in lamp control. The transmission timing figure at the time of abnormality of a 1st control line. The transmission timing figure in the abnormality in the different time of a 1st control line. The transmission timing figure in a different form at the time of abnormality of a 1st control line.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a lighting control for turning on and off the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL of an automobile, a light distribution control for controlling a lamp light distribution by switching between a high beam light distribution and a low beam light distribution, and lamp light. It is a conceptual block diagram of an embodiment applied to a lamp control device that performs swivel control for deflecting the axis horizontally and horizontally and leveling control for deflecting the lamp optical axis vertically. A right headlamp RHL and a left headlamp LHL are disposed on the left and right of the front portion of the automobile that do not appear in FIG. 1, a left lamp ECU 100 is disposed on the left headlamp LHL, and a right headlamp RHL includes a right headlamp RHL. A lamp ECU 200 is provided. Each of the left and right lamp ECUs 100 and 200 can control a light source, a variable shade, a swivel mechanism, and a leveling mechanism of a lamp unit provided in each of the headlamps LHL and RHL, as will be described later. In this embodiment, the left lamp ECU 100 provided in one headlamp, here the left lamp LHL, is configured as a master ECU, and the right lamp ECU 200 provided in the other right headlamp RHL is configured as a slave ECU. ing.

The master ECU 100 is connected to a CAN line L0 via a built-in CAN (Controller Area Network) interface 107. The CAN line L0 is connected to various switches SW and various sensors SS provided in the automobile, and further to a vehicle ECU that performs overall control of the automobile although not shown in FIG. The master ECU 100 and the slave ECU 200 are connected to each other by first and second control lines L1 and L2 via LIN interfaces 106 and 206 provided respectively. The first and second control lines L1 and L2 are configured as LIN lines, and a control signal can be transmitted between the master ECU 100 and the slave ECU 200.

  The description of the various switches SW connected to the CAN line L0 is omitted. For example, an ignition switch, a lamp lighting switch for turning on / off the headlamp, and the light distribution of the headlamp are low beam distribution and high beam distribution. A dimmer switch for switching to is provided. Although explanation about various sensors SS is also omitted, for example, another vehicle detection sensor for detecting another vehicle or the like based on an image captured by the imaging camera CAM, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of the host vehicle, and the steering direction of the host vehicle. And a vehicle height sensor for detecting the vehicle height before and after the host vehicle and detecting the tilt angle of the host vehicle, that is, the pitch angle. These switching signals of the various switches SW and detection signals of the various sensors SS are respectively input to the vehicle ECU (not shown) through the CAN line L0, where predetermined processing is performed to generate a primary lamp control signal. The generated first ramp product signal is input to the master ECU 100 through the CAN line L0.

The left and right headlamps LHL and RHL have the same configuration except that the left and right headlamps are symmetrical. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the left head lamp LHL. A container-shaped lamp body 11 having an open front surface, and a translucent front cover 12 attached to the front opening of the lamp body 11 are shown. A lamp housing 1 is configured, and a projector-type lamp unit 2 is housed in the lamp housing 1. In the lamp unit 2, an LED 22 as a light source is mounted on a lamp base 21, and a reflector 23 composed of a part of a spheroid is disposed so as to cover the LED 22. An irradiation lens 24 is supported on the front end portion of the lamp base 21, and the variable shade 3 is disposed between the irradiation lens 24 and the reflector 23.

In the lamp unit 2, the light emitted when the LED 22 emits light is reflected forward by the reflector 23, and the reflected light reflected by the reflector 23 or the light emitted directly from the LED 22 is lamped by the irradiation lens 24. Irradiate toward the front of the unit 2. Further, by controlling the variable shade 3, a part of the light emitted from the LED 22 can be shielded, or the light beam incident on the irradiation lens 24 can be controlled without being shielded to switch between the high beam distribution and the low beam distribution. . The variable shade 3 includes a shade body 32 that is tilted in the vertical direction about a fulcrum 31 and a shade actuator 33 such as a solenoid actuator that drives the shade body 32, and the shade body 32 is formed by the shade actuator 33. Advancing and retreating with respect to the optical path of the light emitted from the LED 22, the light is shielded when it advances and a low beam light distribution is obtained, and when it moves backward, it is a high beam light distribution without shading.

  The lamp unit 2 is mounted on a tilt frame 6 that is pivotally supported at a fulcrum 61 so as to tilt in the front-rear direction of the lamp. A leveling mechanism 4 is connected to a part of the tilting frame 6, and when the leveling mechanism 4 is driven, the tilting frame 6 is tilted in the longitudinal direction of the lamp so that the lamp optical axis Lx of the lamp unit 2 is moved in the vertical direction. It is possible to control deflection. Here, the leveling mechanism 4 includes a motor 41 that has a screw rod 42 that rotates and is fixedly supported by the lamp body 11, and a nut 43 that is screwed to the screw rod 42 is attached to the tilt frame 6. By wearing, a known configuration is adopted in which the nut 43 is screwed along with the axial rotation of the screw rod 42 and the tilting frame 6 is tilted together therewith.

The lamp unit 2 is connected to a swivel mechanism 5 that rotates in the horizontal direction. When the swivel mechanism 5 is driven, the lamp optical axis Lx of the lamp unit 2 can be controlled to be deflected in the left-right direction. It is said that. The swivel mechanism 5 has a swivel drive unit 51 supported on the lower surface of the tilting frame 6, and a rotation output shaft 52 of the swivel drive unit 51 is connected to the base 21 of the lamp unit 2. As the rotary output shaft 52 rotates, the lamp unit 2 is deflected in the horizontal direction on the lower surface portion of the tilting frame 6 integrally therewith.

  The master ECU 100 is disposed in the lamp housing 1. The master ECU 100 controls the turning on / off of the LED 22, the light distribution control by the variable shade 3, the leveling control by the leveling mechanism 4, and the swivel. The swivel control by the mechanism 5 is executed. The same applies to the right headlamp RHL. A slave ECU 200 is disposed in the lamp housing 1 of the right headlamp RHL shown in FIG. 1, and the slave ECU 200 operates the lamp unit 2 in the right headlamp RHL. On the other hand, lighting control of the LED 22, light distribution control by the variable shade 3, leveling control by the leveling mechanism 4, and swivel control by the swivel mechanism 5 are executed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the CAN interface 107 and the LIN interface 106, the master ECU 100 includes a lighting control unit 101 for controlling lighting of the LED 22 of the lamp unit 2 of the left headlamp LHL, and a variable shade 3. A light distribution control unit 102 for controlling, a leveling control unit 103 for controlling the leveling mechanism 4, and a swivel control unit 105 for controlling the swivel mechanism 5 are provided. These control units calculate secondary lamp control signals for executing lighting control, light distribution control, leveling control, and swivel control based on the primary lamp control signal input through the CAN line L0. Then, control of the LED 22 of the left headlamp LHL, the variable shade 3, the leveling mechanism 4, and the swivel mechanism 5 is executed based on the calculated second lamp control signals. In the following, what is simply referred to as a control signal is a secondary lamp control signal.

The master ECU 100 includes a line monitoring / setting unit 105. The line monitoring / setting unit 105 monitors the states of the first and second control lines L1 and L2, as will be described later, and outputs a second lamp control signal based on the monitoring result to the two control lines. It is possible to set an assignment as to which of L1 and L2 is used for transmission. Here, monitoring by the line monitoring / setting unit 105 is performed by transmitting a predetermined monitoring signal to the slave ECU 200 through the control lines L1 and L2, and receiving a confirmation signal returned from the slave ECU 200 as will be described later. , L2 is determined to be normal or abnormal. The control signal allocation setting in the line monitoring / setting unit 105 is a lighting control signal or light distribution control signal having a small transmission capacity per time as a reference setting when it is determined that the two control lines L1 and L2 are normal. The leveling control signal is assigned to the first control line L1, and only the swivel control signal having a large transmission capacity per time is assigned to the second control line L2. Further, the line monitoring / setting unit 105 sets importance for each control described above based on the degree of necessity when ensuring safe driving. Here, the lighting control of the headlamp is set to the highest importance, and then the importance is set in the order of light distribution control, leveling control, and swivel control.

  Similarly, the slave ECU 200 includes a lighting control unit 201, a light distribution control unit 202, a leveling control unit 203, and a swivel control unit 204. Here, each of these control units is connected to the first and second control lines from the master ECU 100. The second lamp is configured to execute control of the LED, variable shade, leveling mechanism, and swivel mechanism of the right headlamp RHL based on each secondary control signal transmitted through L1 and L2. The configuration can be simplified as compared with each control unit of the master ECU 100 in that it is not necessary to generate a control signal. The slave ECU 200 also includes a line monitoring unit 205. The line monitoring unit 205 confirms a monitoring signal transmitted from the line monitoring / setting unit 105 of the master ECU 100 through the first and second control lines L1 and L2. Signals are sent back to the line monitoring / setting unit 105 of the master ECU 100 through the first and second control lines L1, L2.

  Lamp control by the master ECU 100 and the slave ECU 200 having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the transmission timing chart of control signals in the first and second control lines L1 and L2 of FIG. This transmission timing diagram is a diagram showing that a signal is transmitted in the arrow direction between the master ECU 100 and the slave ECU 200 on the time axis. When the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on at time t1, the master ECU 100 recognizes this based on the signal input through the CAN line L0, and immediately sends a predetermined monitoring signal from the line monitoring / setting unit 105 to the first control line. The data is transmitted to the slave ECU 200 through L1. The slave ECU 200 receives this monitoring signal in the line monitoring unit 205 and returns a confirmation signal corresponding to the monitoring signal through the first control line L1. The line monitoring / setting unit 105 of the master ECU 100 receives the returned confirmation signal and compares it with the monitoring signal to determine whether or not the first control line L1 is normal (S11). Next, the line monitoring / setting unit 105 transmits a monitoring signal to the slave ECU 200 through the second control line L2, and the second control line L2 is normal based on the confirmation signal returned from the slave ECU 200 through the second control line L2. It is determined whether or not (S12).

  When both the first and second control lines L1 and L2 are normal, the line monitoring / setting unit 105 keeps the first and second control lines L1 and L2 at the reference setting. That is, the assignment is set so that the lighting control signal, the light distribution control signal, and the leveling control signal are transmitted through the first control line L1, and the swivel control signal is transmitted through the second control line L2 (S13).

Accordingly, when the first lighting control signal based on the lamp switch on / off signal is input to the master ECU 100 through the CAN line L0, the lighting control unit 101 is turned on or off. And the LED 22 of the left headlamp LHL is turned on or off based on the second lighting control signal. At the same time, the second lighting control signal is transmitted to the slave ECU 200 via the first control line L1. The lighting control unit 201 of the slave ECU 200 turns on or off the LED of the right headlamp RHL based on the transmitted second lighting control signal (S14).

  The same applies to the light distribution control. When the first light distribution control signal based on the ON / OFF signal of the dimmer switch is input to the master ECU 100 through the CAN line L0, the light distribution control unit 102 performs the second light distribution control. A light control signal is generated, and the variable shade 3 of the left headlamp LHL is controlled based on the light distribution control signal. In this control, the tilt position of the shade body 32 is set by the actuator 33, and a part of the light emitted from the LED 22 is blocked or not blocked so that the light beam distribution or the high beam distribution is controlled. At the same time, the secondary light distribution control signal is transmitted to the slave ECU 200 via the first control line L1, so that the light distribution control unit 202 of the slave ECU 200 controls the variable shade of the right headlamp RHL to distribute the light. Execute control.

Regarding the leveling control, when a primary leveling control signal obtained based on the pitch angle detected from the vehicle height sensor is input to the master ECU 100 through the CAN line L0, the leveling control unit 103 of the master ECU 100 performs the secondary leveling control. A leveling control signal is generated, and the leveling mechanism 4 of the left headlamp LHL is controlled based on the leveling control signal. In this control, the screw rod 42 is rotated by the motor 41, the nut 43 is moved in the front-rear direction, and the tilt angle of the tilt frame 6 is adjusted to control the deflection of the lamp optical axis Lx in the vertical direction, thereby performing leveling control. Run. At the same time, the second leveling control signal is transmitted to the slave ECU 200 via the first control line L1, so that the leveling control unit 203 of the slave ECU 200 executes the leveling control by controlling the leveling mechanism of the right headlamp RHL. (S14).

Further, when the steering angle detected from the steering angle sensor is input to the master ECU 100 through the CAN line L0, the swivel control unit 104 of the master ECU 100 generates a second swivel control signal, and the swivel mechanism of the left headlamp LHL. 5 is controlled. In this control, the swivel drive unit 51 rotates the rotation output shaft 52 to rotate the lamp unit 2 connected to the swivel drive unit 51 in the horizontal direction, and the swivel control is performed by deflecting the lamp optical axis Lx in the left-right direction. Execute. At this time, the swivel control signal obtained is transmitted to the slave ECU 200 via the second control line L2. The swivel control unit 204 of the slave ECU 200 receives the second swivel control signal and controls the swivel mechanism of the right headlamp RHL to execute swivel control (S15).

In each control in each control unit of each ECU 100, 200, particularly in leveling control and swivel control, these are based on the detection signals output from the leveling mechanism and swivel mechanism provided in each headlamp LHL, RHL. Needless to say, it is possible to configure so that the feedback control is performed.

  As described above, when the first and second control lines L1 and L2 are all normal, each control signal is transmitted via the first control line L1 for the lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control. The swivel control is executed by transmitting a swivel control signal via the second control line L2. As can be seen from the transmission timing diagram of FIG. 4, the swivel control is a control that follows the steering change, the control frequency is high on the time axis, and the transmission capacity per time is large. Assigned as a dedicated line for swivel control. On the other hand, lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control are less frequently controlled on the time axis than swivel control, and the transmission capacity per hour is small. Therefore, these control signals are shared by the first control line L1. Assigned to be transmitted. Thereby, lighting control, light distribution control, leveling control, and swivel control can each be suitably executed.

  When it is determined in step S11 that the first control line is normal but the second control line L2 is abnormal in step S12, that is, the second control line L2 is disconnected, grounded, or the like. If the confirmation signal sent back through is not transmitted to the master ECU 100, or even if it is not coincident with the monitoring signal, the swivel control is stopped (S16), and the first and second controls in step S13 are performed. After setting the lines L1 and L2, the lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control by the first control line L1 are continued as they are. The stop of the swivel control may be, for example, fixing the lamp optical axis Lx to the current swivel angle position, or controlling to the preset default swivel angle position. In addition, the stop of the swivel control is performed not only from the right headlamp RHL on the slave ECU 200 side, which cannot transmit the second swivel control signal, in order to obtain the light irradiation consistency of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL. It is also preferable to carry out with respect to the left headlamp LHL on the master ECU 100 side from which the second swivel control signal is obtained. As a result, the swivel control is not performed thereafter, but the lighting control or light distribution control of the left and right headlamps, which is at least required for safe driving, is ensured. Leveling control is also ensured.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S11 that the first control line L1 is abnormal, it is determined in step S21 whether or not the second control line L2 is normal. When it is determined that the second control line L2 is also abnormal, the line monitoring / setting unit 105 outputs an alarm signal (S25). As a result, the driver recognizes that the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL are not normally lamp-controlled, and takes appropriate measures.

When it is determined in step S21 that the second control line L2 is normal, the line monitoring / setting unit 105 performs setting to switch the first control line L1 to the second control line L2 (S22). That is, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 5, when it is determined in the monitoring at time t1 that the first control line L1 is abnormal and the second control line L2 is normal, each of lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control is performed. The control signal is assigned to be transmitted through the second control line L2. At the same time, the line monitoring / setting unit 105 stops transmission of the swivel control signal, and thereafter performs setting for stopping swivel control (S23). In stopping the swivel control, the lamp optical axis Lx is fixed at the current swivel angle position as described above. Alternatively, the lamp optical axis Lx is controlled to a default swivel angle position set in advance. As a result, the swivel control is not performed thereafter, but the lighting control and light distribution control of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL, which are at least required for safe driving, are secured through the normal second control line L2. Leveling control is also ensured (S24).

  As described above, when the first and second control lines L1 and L2 are normal, a swivel control signal having a large transmission capacity per hour in the lamp control is exclusively assigned to the second control line L2, and other transmission capacities are obtained. Small control signals for lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control are assigned to the first control line L1. When the first control line L1 to which lamp control with high importance in safe driving of the vehicle, that is, lighting control for controlling lighting / extinguishing of the left and right headlamps in this embodiment is determined, is determined to be abnormal. The control signal for lighting control is switched to the normal second control line L2. At this time, the control signal of low importance assigned to the second control line L2, in this case, the swivel control signal, stops the subsequent transmission and frees up the second control line L2. Therefore, the second control line L2 is used. Therefore, it does not hinder the transmission of the lighting control signal. Accordingly, it is possible to ensure the transmission of the lighting control signal with high importance using the second control line L2, and it is possible to realize suitable lamp control of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL that ensure fail-safe.

  In this embodiment, the first and second control lines L1 and L2 are regularly monitored by the line monitoring / setting unit 105 and the line monitoring unit 205, and the first monitoring is performed as shown in FIG. The control lines L1 and L2 are similarly monitored at a time t2 when a predetermined time has elapsed from the time t1 at which the control is performed. In the monitoring at time t2, lighting control, light distribution control, leveling control, and swivel control are similarly performed when the control lines L1 and L2 are normal. Further, as shown in the transmission timing diagram of FIG. 6, when an abnormality of the first control line L1 is detected at time t2, the swivel control is stopped at time t2, and each of lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control is stopped. The control signal transmission is switched to the second control line L2, and the subsequent control is performed.

  In the above embodiment, when the first control line L1 to which transmission of the lighting control signal with high importance is assigned is abnormal, the swivel control is stopped and the second control line L2 is opened. It is also possible to perform control so as to reduce the frequency of swivel control instead of completely stopping the control. For example, as shown in the transmission timing diagram of FIG. 7, when an abnormality is detected in the first control line L1 at time t1, lighting control, light distribution control, and leveling control are assigned to the second control line L2. (2) The transmission frequency of the swivel control signal in the control line L2 is reduced compared to the normal time to provide an empty area on the time axis, and the lighting control signal, the light distribution control signal, and the leveling control signal are transmitted using this empty area. ing. In this case, swivel control can be ensured within the minimum necessary range. However, since the control frequency of swivel control is reduced as compared with normal time, control is performed so that swivel control is performed only when necessary for safe driving, for example, when the steering angle is extremely large. What is necessary is just to set a timing.

  In the embodiment, the example of performing the lighting control, the light distribution control, the leveling control, and the swivel control for the left and right headlamps as the lamp control has been described. However, the master ECU transmits each control signal of a plurality of different lamp controls through a plurality of control lines. The lamp control device is not limited to the lamp control described in the embodiment as long as the lamp control device performs the lamp control by transmitting to the slave ECU. That is, according to the present invention, when performing control of a plurality of lamps having different importance levels, when the control line to which the control with the highest importance level is assigned becomes abnormal, the control is assigned to a normal control line. do it. If there is a vacant area in the normal control line, other controls may be assigned in order of higher importance. Further, the number of control lines is not limited to two, and the present invention can be similarly applied to a lamp control device including three or more control lines when each ECU has a control margin.

The lamp that is subject to lamp control according to the present invention is not limited to a headlamp, but can be applied to any vehicle lamp that is required to perform lamp control so that a plurality of lamps are in the same lighting state. .

  The present invention provides a vehicle lamp having a master ECU in one of a plurality of lamps, a slave ECU in another lamp, and a lamp control signal transmitted from the master ECU to the slave ECU to control these lamps. It is possible to adopt.

LHL, RHL Left and right headlamps L0 CAN line L1, L2 LIN line (control line)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lamp housing 2 Lamp unit 3 Variable shade 4 Leveling mechanism 5 Swivel mechanism 100 Master ECU
200 Slave ECU
101, 201 Lighting control unit 102, 202 Light distribution control unit 103, 203 Leveling control unit 104, 204 Swivel control unit 105 Line monitoring / setting unit 205 Line monitoring unit 106, 206 LIN interface 107 CAN interface

Claims (6)

  At least two lamps and lamp control means provided for each lamp, the lamp control means are connected by a plurality of control lines, and one lamp control means to another lamp via these control lines A vehicle lamp control device that transmits a lamp control signal to a control means, and monitors the control line, and when an abnormality occurs in a control line to which a lamp control signal having a high importance is assigned, A vehicle lamp control device comprising line monitoring / setting means for switching and assigning a high-grade lamp control signal to a normal control line.   2. The vehicle lamp control device according to claim 1, wherein the line monitoring / setting unit stops or suppresses lamp control with low importance assigned to a control line in which an abnormality has occurred.   Two headlamps disposed in the vehicle, master lamp control means provided in one headlamp, and slave lamp control means provided in the other headlamp, both the lamp control means being first and A vehicle lamp control device that is connected via a second control line and transmits a lamp control signal from the master lamp control means to the slave lamp control means via these control lines, wherein the first and second control lines are In addition, when an abnormality occurs in the first control line to which the lighting control signal for controlling lighting / extinguishing of the headlamp is assigned, the lighting control signal is switched to the normal second control line. A vehicle lamp control device comprising line monitoring / setting means for allocation.   The line monitoring / setting unit assigns a swivel control signal for deflecting and controlling the lamp optical axis to the second control line, and when the lighting control signal is assigned to the second control line, the swivel control signal is assigned to the second control line. 4. The vehicle lamp control device according to claim 3, wherein the transmission of the control signal is stopped or the transmission capacity thereof is reduced.   5. The vehicle lamp according to claim 4, wherein the line monitoring / setting means assigns at least one of a light distribution control signal and a leveling control signal to the first control line in addition to the lighting control signal. Control device. The master control means is connected to the CAN line of the vehicle, controls the one headlamp based on a secondary lamp control signal generated from a signal input through the CAN line, and 6. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein a second lamp control signal is transmitted to the slave control means through the first and second control lines configured as LIN lines. Lamp control device.

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