JP2015053117A - Vehicular lamp and optical body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the location accuracy between a plurality of optical elements.SOLUTION: A vehicular lamp includes a light source 8b emitting light, and an optical body 9 controlling the light emitted from the light source and having a plurality of optical elements 11, 12. At least parts of outer peripheral portions in the plurality of optical elements are connected to each other. Consequently, since at least parts of the outer peripheral portions in the plurality of optical elements are connected to each other, the location accuracy between the plurality of optical elements is improved.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field of an optical body that controls light emitted from a light source and a vehicular lamp provided with the optical body.

German Patent Application No. 102008056403

  For example, there is a vehicle lamp in which a lamp unit having a light source or the like is arranged inside a lamp outer casing constituted by a cover and a lamp housing.

  Such a lamp unit is provided with a lens, a reflector, and the like that function as an optical body that controls light emitted from the light source. For example, the lens has a function of irradiating the light emitted from the light source toward the outside by controlling it in a predetermined direction, and the reflector reflects the light emitted from the light source toward the lens or the like. It has a function to control.

  Some vehicle lamps as described above are provided with a plurality of optical elements, for example, a plurality of lenses, as an optical body (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the vehicular lamp described in Patent Document 1, a correction lens and a convex lens are provided as two lenses that are optical elements, and these two lenses are arranged apart from each other in the optical axis direction.

  In such a vehicular lamp having a plurality of optical elements, if there is a positional shift between these optical elements, the light emitted from the light source is not properly controlled, and is irradiated to the outside. There is a possibility that the light distribution pattern formed by the light is not formed well. Therefore, high positional accuracy between the optical elements is ensured, and each optical element needs to be arranged at a predetermined design position.

  Therefore, an object of the vehicular lamp and the optical body of the present invention is to overcome the above-described problems and improve the positional accuracy between a plurality of optical elements.

  The vehicular lamp according to the present invention includes a light source that emits light and an optical body that controls the light emitted from the light source and includes a plurality of optical elements, and at least one of outer peripheral portions of the plurality of optical elements. The parts are connected to each other.

  Thereby, an optical body is comprised by connecting at least one part of the outer peripheral parts in a some optical element.

  In the vehicle lamp according to the present invention described above, it is preferable that the optical body is configured by integrally forming the plurality of optical elements and the connecting portion.

  Thereby, the positioning operation between a plurality of optical elements becomes unnecessary.

  In the above-described vehicle lamp according to the present invention, the first lens and the second lens are used as the plurality of optical elements, and the optical axis of the first lens and the optical axis of the second lens coincide with each other. It is desirable that

  Thereby, the light distribution pattern formed by the light irradiated from the optical body is clearly formed.

  In the above-described vehicular lamp according to the present invention, the first lens and the second lens are used as the plurality of optical elements, and the light source is on the synthetic main surface of the first lens and the second lens. It is desirable to be arranged on the center side of the radius of curvature.

  As a result, as with the plano-convex lens of the optical unit that has been used in the past, the light that spreads with respect to the optical axis can be collected and controlled, so it is possible to use the peripheral components of the conventional optical unit and the manufacturing cost. Can be reduced.

  An optical body according to the present invention is an optical body that controls a light emitted from a light source and has a plurality of optical elements, wherein at least some of the outer peripheral portions of the plurality of optical elements are connected to each other. .

  Thereby, at least one part of the outer peripheral parts in a some optical element is connected, and an optical body is comprised.

  According to the present invention, since at least some of the outer peripheral portions of the plurality of optical elements are connected to each other, it is possible to improve the positional accuracy between the plurality of optical elements.

2 to 11 show an embodiment of a vehicular lamp and an optical body according to the present invention, and this figure is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the vehicular lamp. It is a vertical sectional view of an optical body. It is a horizontal sectional view of an optical body. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of another vehicle lamp. It is a horizontal sectional view which shows the state with which the molten resin for shape | molding an optical body was filled inside the metal mold | die. It is a horizontal sectional view showing the state where the molten resin was solidified, the mold was released, and the optical body was molded. It is a schematic diagram which shows the optical path in the vertical plane of an optical body. It is a schematic diagram which shows the optical path in the horizontal surface of an optical body. It is a perspective view which shows two lenses each provided with the connection part. It is a perspective view showing the state where two lenses each provided with a connection part were connected. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example in which the optical axis of one lens was inclined.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing the vehicle lamp and optical body of this invention is demonstrated with reference to an accompanying drawing.

<Schematic configuration of vehicle lamp>
The vehicular lamp 1 is, for example, a vehicular headlamp, and is disposed and attached to both left and right end portions of the front end portion of the vehicle body.

  The vehicular lamp 1 includes a lamp housing 2 having a recess opened forward and a cover 3 that closes the opening of the lamp housing 2 (see FIG. 1). The lamp housing 2 and the cover 3 constitute a lamp outer casing 4, and the inner space of the lamp outer casing 4 is formed as a lamp chamber 5.

  A lamp unit 6 is disposed in the lamp chamber 5. The lamp unit 6 includes a heat sink 7 having a heat radiation function, a light source module 8 disposed on the heat sink 7, and an optical body 9 disposed in front of the light source module 8.

  The light source module 8 has a circuit board 8a disposed on the heat sink 7 and a light source 8b mounted on the circuit board 8a. For example, a light emitting diode (LED) is used as the light source 8b. The light source 8b is not limited to a light emitting diode, and other types such as a laser diode (LD), a discharge lamp, a halogen lamp, and an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) may be used.

  When the light source 8b is driven, heat generated in the circuit board 8a and the light source 8b is transmitted to the heat sink 7, and heat is released from the heat sink 7 to suppress the temperature rise of the light source unit 8. In addition, when a discharge lamp, a halogen lamp, or organic EL is used as the light source 8b, a heat sink is unnecessary.

  The light source 8b is arranged so that light is emitted forward, and the vehicular lamp 1 is light in which light emitted from the light source 8b is directly incident on the optical body 9 and light distribution is controlled from the optical body 9. Is a so-called direct-type vehicle lamp. Note that the vehicular lamp 1 can be configured as a so-called parabolic optical system using a parabolic reflector.

<Configuration of optical body>
The optical body 9 is integrally formed by, for example, injection molding in which a mold described later is filled with a molten resin and the molten resin filled in the mold is cooled and molded (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The optical body 9 is provided as two optical elements, and is formed by integrally forming a first lens 11 and a second lens 12 that are spaced apart from each other and connecting portions 13 and 13 that connect the two. The optical body 9 is disposed in the lamp chamber 5 while being held by a holder (not shown).

  The first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are each formed in a biconvex shape when viewed in a horizontal sectional shape. The optical axis P1 of the first lens 11 and the optical axis P2 of the second lens 12 are coincident (see FIG. 2). The synthetic main surface S of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 is located, for example, between the first lens 11 and the second lens 12, and the light source 8b is located on the center side of the radius of curvature of the synthetic main surface S. Is arranged.

  The connection parts 13 and 13 are provided in the position which connects between the upper end part of the 1st lens 11 and the 2nd lens 12, and the lower end part, respectively.

  As described above, in the optical body 9, the optical axis P <b> 1 of the first lens 11 and the optical axis P <b> 2 of the second lens 12 coincide with each other. The light distribution pattern thus formed is clearly formed, and a good light distribution pattern can be formed.

  However, the optical body 9 may be configured such that the optical axis P1 and the optical axis P2 are parallel but not matched.

  Further, since the light source 8b is disposed on the center side of the radius of curvature of the synthetic main surface S of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12, the light source 8b is the first light source 8b depending on the processing accuracy and assembly accuracy of each part. Even when the lens 11 and the second lens 12 are displaced from the combined focal point, high imaging performance of the optical body 9 can be ensured.

  In the above, the direct-type vehicle lamp 1 is shown as an example. However, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the reflector 10 is disposed above the light source module 8 and the light emitted from the light source 8b. It is also possible to use a so-called projector-type vehicular lamp 1A that is reflected by the reflector 10, enters the optical body 9, and is irradiated with light from the optical body 9.

  In this case, the reflecting surface of the reflector 10 is formed in a substantially elliptic curved surface, the light source 8b is disposed at the rear focal point of the reflector 10, and the front focal point of the reflector 10 is matched with the rear focal point of the second lens 12. .

<Molding of optical body>
The optical body 9 configured as described above is molded in the following manner by the mold 70 having the first mold 50 and the second mold 60 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

  First, the first mold 50 and the second mold 60 are brought into contact with each other to form a cavity 71 in the mold 70, and the cavity 71 is filled with the molten resin 100 (see FIG. 5). The cavity 71 includes a first portion 71a for molding the first lens 11, a second portion 71b for molding the second lens 12, and a third portion for molding the connecting portions 13 and 13, respectively. 71c and 71c (only one third portion 71c is shown in FIG. 5). The 1st part 71a and the 2nd part 71b are connected by the 3rd parts 71c and 71c. The first part 71a and the second part 71b are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction, and the third parts 71c and 71c are located apart from each other in the vertical direction between the first part 71a and the second part 71b. Yes.

  Next, the molten resin 100 is cooled and solidified.

  Subsequently, the first mold 50 and the second mold 60 are separated in the left-right direction, the first lens 71 is formed by the first portion 71a, and the second lens 12 is formed by the second portion 71b. Then, the connecting portions 13 and 13 are formed by the third portions 71c and 71c, respectively, and the optical body 9 is integrally formed (see FIG. 6).

  As described above, the first lens 11, the second lens 12, and the coupling bodies 13, 13 are integrally formed to constitute the optical body 9, so that the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are attached to the holder. It is not necessary to perform the positioning operation of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 at the time of assembling, and the workability can be improved.

  Further, since the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are connected by the connecting bodies 13 and 13 formed integrally, the positional accuracy between the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 is improved. Can be planned.

<Control in optical body>
In the vehicular lamp 1 configured as described above, when light is emitted from the light source 8b, the emitted light enters the optical body 9 from the second lens 12 and is controlled, and the optical body 9 and the lens 3 are controlled. Is transmitted to the outside. At this time, the light incident on the optical body 9 is controlled by being refracted in order on each surface of the second lens 12 and the first lens 11, and parallel light is irradiated from the optical body 9 (FIGS. 7 and 7). 8).

  In the optical body 9, as described above, the connecting portions 13 and 13 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the optical body 9, respectively, and the light incident from the first lens 11 is connected to the connecting portion 13 and 13. 13 (see FIG. 7). Thus, since the light incident on the optical body 9 is not incident on the connecting portions 13 and 13, the light is not reflected or refracted by the connecting portions 13 and 13, and a desired light distribution pattern can be formed. it can.

  However, the optical body 9 may be configured such that the light emitted from the light source 8b is incident on the coupling portions 13 and 13 and the light incident on the coupling portions 13 and 13 is reflected or refracted to be controlled. is there. Moreover, the connection parts 13 and 13 should just have the positioning function of the 1st lens 11 and the 2nd lens 12, and do not need to have the function to fix the optical body 9 in the lamp chamber 5. FIG. The function of fixing the optical body 9 in the lamp chamber 5 may be provided, for example, by a holder that holds the optical body 9.

<Another configuration of the optical body>
In the above, an example in which the first lens 11, the second lens 12, and the connecting portions 13, 13 are integrally formed is shown. For example, the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are separate. The connecting portion may be formed integrally with at least one of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 and the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 may be connected by the connecting portion. Hereinafter, as an example, an example of the optical body 9A in which the connecting portions are integrally formed on both the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 is shown (see FIGS. 9 and 10).

  The optical body 9 </ b> A is integrally formed with connecting portions 14 and 14 projecting rearward from the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the first lens 11. On the rear surface of the connecting portion 14, coupling pins 14 a and 14 a protruding rearward are provided to be separated from each other in the left and right directions.

  The upper and lower ends of the second lens 12 are integrally formed with connecting portions 15 and 15 protruding forward. Coupling holes 15a and 15a opened forward are formed on the rear surface of the connecting portion 15 so as to be separated from each other in the left-right direction.

  The coupling pins 14a, 14a,... Of the coupling portions 14, 14 are fitted into the coupling holes 15a, 15a,. The lens 11 and the second lens 12 are connected.

  In this way, the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are formed separately, and the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are connected by the connecting portions 14, 14, 15, 15. Therefore, since it is not necessary to form the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 integrally, the degree of freedom of the shape of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 can be improved.

  In the above example, the coupling pins 14a and 14a are provided in the coupling portion 14 and the coupling holes 15a and 15a are formed in the coupling portion 15, but conversely, the coupling portion 14 is formed with a coupling hole and coupled. The part 15 may be provided with a coupling pin.

  Further, in the above description, an example in which the connecting portion is integrally provided on both the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 is shown. However, the connecting portion is provided on one of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12. May be provided. In this case, when a coupling pin is provided in the coupling part, it is sufficient that a coupling hole is formed in the first lens 11 or the second lens 12 not provided with the coupling part, and the coupling hole is formed in the coupling part. When formed, the first lens 11 or the second lens 12 that is not provided with a connecting portion may be provided with a coupling pin.

<Summary>
As described above, in the vehicular lamp 1, 1 </ b> A, the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are integrally formed on at least one outer peripheral portion of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12. The optical body 9 (9A) is configured by being connected by the connected connecting portions 13 and 13 (14, 14 or 15, 15).

  Accordingly, since the connecting portions 13 and 13 (14, 14 or 15, 15) are integrally formed on at least one of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12, the first lens 11 and the second lens. 12 position accuracy can be improved.

  In addition, since the optical bodies 9 and 9A are constituted by two lenses of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12, the first lens 11 and the optical body 9 and 9A are compared with the case where the whole is constituted by one lens. The second lens 12 can be thinned, and the optical bodies 9 and 9A can be thinned as a whole. In particular, since the optical bodies 9 and 9A are constituted by two lenses, the number of surfaces on which light is refracted increases from two to four as compared to the case where the optical body is constituted by one lens. The curvature of each surface of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 can be reduced, and the optical bodies 9 and 9A can be made thin as a whole.

  In particular, since the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 can be made thin, the occurrence of sink marks when the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are molded by cooling in injection molding is suppressed. Thus, the molding accuracy of the optical bodies 9 and 9A can be improved.

<Others>
In the optical bodies 9 and 9A, at least one of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 can be formed as a Fresnel lens. By forming at least one of the first lens 11 or the second lens 12 as a Fresnel lens, the optical bodies 9 and 9A can be thinned.

  It is also possible to dispose another lens having a curved surface continuous with the curved surface of the outer peripheral portion of the Fresnel lens on the outer peripheral side of the Fresnel lens. Thereby, it is possible to improve the appearance when the optical bodies 9 and 9A are viewed from the outside.

  Furthermore, at least one of the first lens 11 or the second lens 12 may be colored, and at least one of the first lens 11 or the second lens 12 is a diffractive lens (DOE: Diffractive Optical Element). It may be made.

  Furthermore, an antireflection coating or an antireflection microstructure may be formed on at least one of the lens surfaces of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12.

  In the above description, the optical bodies 9 and 9A having the two lenses of the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 have been described as examples. However, the optical body in the present invention has three or more lenses. Each of these lenses may be connected by a connecting portion.

  Moreover, although the example in which the optical bodies 9 and 9A were formed with the resin material was shown above, the optical body may be formed with glass.

  Furthermore, although an example in which a plurality of lenses are used as the plurality of optical elements has been described above, the optical body in the present invention is not limited to a plurality of optical elements. An optical element other than a lens such as a combination of a lens and a reflector may be used as the element.

  Furthermore, the shapes of the optical bodies 9 and 9A are not limited to the shapes shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and the optical bodies 9 and 9A are shaped so that the direction of light refraction is away from the optical axis. It is also possible to form. Such a configuration is suitable for use in a diffusion region of road surface light distribution and can also be applied to a marker lamp that requires light irradiation over a wide range.

  In the above, an example in which the optical axis P1 of the first lens 11 and the optical axis P2 of the second lens 12 are parallel to each other is shown. However, as shown in FIG. The lens 12 may be tilted with respect to the first lens 11 so that the optical axis P2 of the second lens 12 is tilted with respect to the optical axis P1 of the first lens 11.

  With this configuration, the optical bodies 9 and 9A can be arranged in a state where interference with the structure 50 is avoided when another structure 50 is present. In addition, since the second lens 12 is inclined, it is possible to reduce the size of the vehicle headlamps 1 and 1A in the front-rear direction and improve the degree of design freedom.

  The optical bodies 9 and 9A described above can also be applied as lenses for an optical module of a vehicle marker lamp such as a clearance lamp.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle lamp, 2 ... Lamp housing, 3 ... Cover, 4 ... Lamp outer casing, 6 ... Lamp unit, 8b ... Light source, 9 ... Optical body, 1A ... Vehicle headlamp, 11 ... 1st lens, 12 ... 2nd lens, 13 ... Connection part, 9A ... Optical body, 14 ... Connection part, 15 ... Connection part

Claims (5)

A light source that emits light;
An optical body that controls the light emitted from the light source and has a plurality of optical elements;
A vehicle lamp in which at least a part of outer peripheral portions of the plurality of optical elements are connected to each other. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the optical body is configured by integrally forming the plurality of optical elements. A first lens and a second lens are used as the plurality of optical elements,
The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein an optical axis of the first lens is coincident with an optical axis of the second lens. A first lens and a second lens are used as the plurality of optical elements,
4. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light source is disposed on a center side of a radius of curvature of a synthetic main surface of the first lens and the second lens. 5. An optical body that controls light emitted from a light source and has a plurality of optical elements,
An optical body in which at least some of the outer peripheral portions of the plurality of optical elements are connected to each other.

Images