JP2019142386A - Controller for vehicular lighting fixture - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve turn-on/turn-off timing according to an actual illuminance situation.SOLUTION: A control unit 1 controls turn-on/turn-off of a headlight 2 on the basis of a comparison result between an infrared illuminance LR, which is calculated based on an output signal from an infrared sensor 4, and an illuminance threshold LR, and a comparison result between an illuminance difference (LV-LR) in which a visible light illuminance LV, which is calculated based on an output signal from a visible light sensor 5, is subtracted by the infrared illuminance LR, and an illuminance difference threshold ΔL. The illuminance threshold LRis corrected to an illuminance threshold LRaccording to corrected sunset time and corrected sunrise time in which sunset time and sunrise time are corrected taking a shield around a vehicle into consideration. The corrected sunset time and corrected sunrise time are obtained by correcting theoretical sunset time and theoretical sunrise time on the basis of a fact as to whether or not a GPS signal is actually received at a position of an own vehicle from a receivable GPS satellite which can theoretically receive a GPS signal. Further, the illuminance threshold LRis corrected to an illuminance threshold LRaccording to a weather state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device for a vehicular lamp that controls turning on and off of the vehicular lamp.

  As an example of a control device for a vehicle lamp, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, when a detected illuminance value detected by an illuminance sensor falls below a threshold value, a vehicle lamp such as a headlamp is turned on. There is known a technique in which the threshold value is increased to turn on the headlamps at an early stage when the dead time approaches.

  As another example of a control device for a vehicle lamp, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, a GPS satellite that can theoretically receive a GPS signal at its own vehicle position and a GPS signal that is actually received at its own vehicle position. If the number of GPS satellites is more than a predetermined number, it is determined that not only the GPS signal but also sunlight is blocked by the shielding object, and the theoretical sunset time and sunrise time are calculated. It is known to correct and turn off the headlamps based on the corrected sunset time and sunrise time.

JP 2007-30739 A JP 2009-248930 A

  However, in the vehicular lamp control apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the sunlight is blocked by a shield such as terrain or an artificial building, and the theoretical sunset time is determined from the latitude and longitude. Even when the time is earlier than the sunset time, the threshold value is not changed. Therefore, there is a possibility that the headlamp or the like does not light even in an illuminance situation that requires lighting.

  In addition, in the control device for a vehicle lamp described in Patent Document 2, when the own vehicle passes under a temporary shield such as a tunnel, the above-described number difference at the own vehicle position when traveling a certain distance. Since lighting control for headlamps, etc. is performed based on the determination that there is no change in the time, etc., the time until the headlamps, etc. are turned on becomes longer compared to a vehicle equipped with an illuminance sensor. There is a risk that.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a control device for a vehicular lamp in which the lighting timing is improved according to the actual illuminance situation.

  For this reason, the vehicle lamp control device according to the present invention receives an infrared signal from the first light detection means that outputs an infrared signal corresponding to the intensity of the infrared light in the vehicle, and responds to the intensity of the visible light. A control device for a vehicular lamp configured to input a visible light signal from a second light detection unit that outputs a visible light signal, and an infrared illuminance calculation unit that calculates an infrared illuminance based on the infrared signal; A visible light illuminance calculation unit that calculates visible light illuminance based on a visible light signal, an illuminance difference calculation unit that calculates an illuminance difference between infrared illuminance and visible light illuminance, a comparison result between the infrared illuminance and the first threshold, and an illuminance difference Based on the comparison result with two threshold values, a lighting control unit that turns on and off the vehicular lamp, a memory holding unit that stores and holds orbit information, map information, illuminance threshold value, and illuminance difference threshold value of a plurality of GPS satellites, GPS Defense A vehicle position calculation unit that calculates the current vehicle position based on GPS signals and map information from, and a theoretical time calculation unit that calculates the theoretical sunset time and sunrise time of the current vehicle position; A receivable satellite identification unit that identifies a receivable GPS satellite that can theoretically receive GPS signals at the current vehicle position based on orbit information from a plurality of GPS satellites, and a GPS signal actually received from the receivable GPS satellites. A correction time calculation unit that calculates the correction time by correcting the theoretical sunset time and the sunrise time based on whether or not it has been received, and a threshold correction unit that corrects the illuminance threshold value based on the correction time. I have.

  According to the control device for a vehicular lamp according to the present invention, the turn-on / off timing can be improved according to the actual illuminance situation.

It is a functional block diagram which shows 1st Embodiment of the control apparatus of a vehicle lamp. It is explanatory drawing explaining correction | amendment of theoretical time. It is explanatory drawing explaining the time change of illumination intensity difference, and illumination intensity difference threshold value. It is a flowchart which shows the main routine of a lighting-on / off control process. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st correction subroutine of an illumination intensity threshold value. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd correction | amendment subroutine of an illumination intensity threshold value. It is a flowchart which shows a lighting process subroutine. It is a flowchart which shows a light extinction process subroutine. It is a flowchart which shows a nighttime forced lighting process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the lighting / lighting timing in a tunnel. It is a functional block diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment of the control apparatus of a vehicle lamp. It is explanatory drawing which shows the lighting / lighting timing in a tunnel. It is a flowchart which shows an anti-shielding object forced lighting process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the conventional lighting-off timing in a tunnel.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a control device for a vehicle lamp according to the present invention.

  The control unit 1 is a vehicle lamp control device that is mounted on a vehicle and performs control to automatically turn on and off the headlamp 2 and the vehicle width lamp 3 that are vehicle lamps. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a representative example of a vehicular lamp will be referred to as a headlamp 2. The control unit 1 is electrically connected to the infrared sensor 4, visible light sensor 5, and automatic on / off setting switch 6.

  The infrared sensor 4 is a first light detection unit that receives infrared light and outputs an electrical signal (infrared signal) corresponding to the intensity of the infrared light. The visible light sensor 5 receives visible light and increases the intensity of visible light. It is the 2nd light detection means which outputs the electric signal (visible light signal) according to it. Both the infrared sensor 4 and the visible light sensor 5 are mounted on a vehicle so that light outside the vehicle can be received, and are disposed and fixed near the windshield inside the vehicle, for example.

  The automatic on / off setting switch 6 is a switch configured so that the driver can perform a necessary operation in order to set an automatic on / off mode in which the headlamp 2 is automatically turned on / off by the control unit 1. When the automatic light on / off mode switch 6 is not used to set the automatic light on / off mode, a manual light on / off mode in which the driver manually turns on and off the headlamp 2 is set. The automatic on / off setting switch 6 outputs an automatic on / off setting signal to the control unit 1 when the driver performs an operation of selecting the automatic on / off mode.

  In addition, the control unit 1 has a receiving unit 11 configured to receive GPS signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites 7 orbiting a predetermined earth orbit at a ground altitude of about 20000 km. doing. The GPS signal transmitted from the GPS satellite 7 includes a C / A code for identifying the GPS satellite 7 that transmitted the GPS signal, and a navigation message indicating a position on the predetermined orbit around the GPS satellite 7. ing. The receiving unit 11 of the control unit 1 receives a GPS signal from the GPS satellite 7 and acquires identification information and position information of the GPS satellite 7 based on the GPS signal.

The control unit 1 basically controls turning on and off of the headlamp 2 based on a comparison result between an infrared illuminance LR around the vehicle and an infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ that is one of the first thresholds. For this reason, the control unit 1 includes an infrared illuminance calculation unit 12, an on / off control unit 13, and a memory holding unit 14.

The infrared illuminance calculation unit 12 calculates the infrared illuminance LR based on the signal output from the infrared sensor 4. The on / off control unit 13 basically operates the headlamp based on a comparison result between the infrared illuminance LR calculated by the infrared illuminance calculation unit 12 and the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ read from the storage holding unit 14. 2 is controlled to turn on and off.

Memory holding unit 14, for example, a EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) or a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, stores the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared. The infrared illuminance threshold value LR ₀ stored in the memory holding unit 14 is an upper limit value of the infrared illuminance LR that requires the headlamp 2 to be turned on when the vehicle enters the tunnel. The thresholds LR ₁ and LR ₂ are set to a smaller value.

The infrared illuminance threshold value LR ₀ includes a lighting illuminance threshold value LR _on0 that is a value of the infrared illuminance LR when the headlamp 2 is turned on, and a value of the infrared illuminance LR that is used when the headlamp 2 is turned off. A certain light-off illuminance threshold value LR _off0 can be provided. The lighting illuminance threshold value LR _on0 is set as a value slightly smaller than the lighting illuminance threshold value LR _off0 . This division of illuminance threshold LR ₀ of infrared and for unlit and for the time of lighting, infrared illumination LR points to lower the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared when a common illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared Hunting that repeatedly turns off the light is suppressed. In the case where hunting can be ignored, the infrared illuminance threshold value LR ₀ can be set to a common value for lighting and extinguishing.

In order to promote the automatic lighting of the headlamp 2 from the viewpoint of preventing traffic accidents when the surroundings of the vehicle are in a dim illuminance situation, the control unit 1 uses infrared rays as in the following first correction process and second correction process. An illuminance threshold correction unit 15 that corrects the illuminance threshold LR ₀ is provided. When the illuminance threshold correction unit 15 corrects the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ , the on / off control unit 13 calculates the infrared illuminance LR calculated by the infrared illuminance calculation unit 12 and the corrected illuminance threshold by the illuminance threshold correction unit 15. On / off control of the headlamp 2 is controlled based on the comparison result. When the illuminance threshold correction unit 15 does not correct the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ , the on / off control unit 13 is based on the comparison result between the infrared illuminance LR and the illuminance threshold LR ₀ read from the storage holding unit 14. The lighting of the headlamp 2 is controlled.

As the first correction process, the illuminance threshold correction unit 15 sets the sunset time and the daylight at the position of the vehicle so as to promote the automatic lighting of the headlamp 2 in the dim illuminance situation before the sunset time or after the sunrise time. The infrared illuminance threshold value LR ₀ is corrected according to the time, and the corrected illuminance threshold value LR ₁ is calculated as one of the first threshold values. By the way, even if the theoretical sunset time (hereinafter referred to as “theoretical sunset time”) and theoretical sunrise time (hereinafter referred to as “theoretical sunrise time”) are calculated from the latitude and longitude of the vehicle position, If there are obstructions that continuously block sunlight from the vehicle due to topographical factors such as ridges in urban areas and artificial factors such as structures in urban areas, the actual sunset time is the theoretical sunset time. The actual sunrise time may be later than the theoretical sunrise time. Therefore, the control unit 1 corrects the theoretical sunset time and the theoretical sunrise time (hereinafter may be collectively referred to as “theoretical time”) based on the GPS signal, respectively, and the corrected sunset time (hereinafter “ "Corrected sunset time") and the corrected sunrise time (hereinafter referred to as "corrected sunrise time") are calculated, and the illuminance threshold correction unit 15 calculates the corrected sunset time and corrected sunrise time (hereinafter collectively referred to as " The infrared illuminance threshold value LR ₀ is corrected according to the “correction time”. In order to perform such correction, in addition to the illuminance threshold value correction unit 15, the control unit 1 includes a vehicle position calculation unit 16, a theoretical time calculation unit 17, a receivable satellite specification unit 18, an actual reception satellite specification unit 19, and a correction time calculation. Part 20.

  The own vehicle position calculation unit 16 determines the current own vehicle position (specifically, the longitude) based on the position information of the plurality of GPS satellites 7 acquired by the reception unit 11 and the map information stored in the storage holding unit 14 in advance. And latitude). The theoretical time calculation unit 17 calculates the theoretical time based on the current vehicle position and calendar date calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit 16. The receivable satellite specifying unit 18 is based on the current own vehicle position calculated by the own vehicle position calculating unit 16 and the orbit information stored in advance with respect to the earth orbit around the GPS satellite 7 in the memory holding unit 14. Theoretically, receivable GPS satellites that can receive GPS signals at the current vehicle position are specified. The actual reception satellite specifying unit 19 specifies the actual reception GPS satellite from which the GPS signal is actually received based on the identification information of the GPS satellite 7 acquired by the reception unit 11.

  The correction time calculation unit 20 corrects the theoretical time based on whether or not the GPS signal is actually received from the receivable GPS satellite specified by the receivable satellite specifying unit 18, and calculates the correction time accordingly. Specifically, the correction time calculation unit 20 calculates the number difference between the number of receivable GPS satellites and the number of actual reception GPS satellites, and corrects the theoretical time based on the number difference.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows a reception state of a GPS signal from a GPS satellite in the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2A, the number of receivable GPS satellites is four at 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7d at the position of the own vehicle V on which the control unit 1 is mounted. The number of actual reception GPS satellites from which signals are received is four (7a, 7b, 7c, 7d), and the number difference is zero. When the number difference is zero or a relatively small value in this way, the correction time calculation unit 20 infers that there is no sunbeam shielding around the vehicle V due to topographical factors or artificial factors. To do.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the GPS signals from the GPS satellites 7 a and 7 d are blocked by the shielding object B around the host vehicle V on which the control unit 1 is mounted. The GPS satellites 7b and 7c receive the GPS signal. Therefore, the number of receivable GPS satellites is 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7d, whereas the number of actually received GPS satellites is 2 (7b and 7c), and the difference in number is 2. Yes. In this way, when the number difference becomes a relatively large predetermined value (for example, 2) or more, the correction time calculation unit 20 continuously irradiates sunlight around the vehicle V due to topographical factors or artificial factors. It is presumed that there is an obstructing object, and the theoretical time is corrected according to the difference in the number, thereby calculating the corrected time.

The illuminance threshold correction unit 15 corrects the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ read from the storage holding unit 14 in consideration of the correction time calculated by the correction time calculation unit 20, and calculates the corrected illuminance threshold LR ₁ .

As the second correction process, the illuminance threshold correction unit 15 causes the infrared illuminance threshold LR according to the weather condition estimated at the vehicle position so as to promote the automatic lighting of the headlamp 2 in a dim illuminance situation during bad weather. ₀ corrected, and calculates the illuminance threshold LR ₂ corrected as one of the first threshold value. In order to perform such correction, the control unit 1 includes an illuminance learning unit 21 and a weather estimation unit 22 in addition to the illuminance threshold correction unit 15.

The illuminance learning unit 21 creates learning data of the infrared illuminance LR from the history of the infrared illuminance LR calculated by the infrared illuminance calculation unit 12. The weather estimation unit 22 is based on the reference data relating to the daytime infrared illuminance stored in the memory holding unit 14 and the learning data of the infrared illuminance LR created by the illuminance learning unit 21, and the weather condition at the current vehicle position. Is estimated. The illuminance threshold correction unit 15 corrects the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ based on the weather condition estimated by the weather estimation unit 22 and calculates the corrected illuminance threshold LR ₂ .

In addition, the control unit 1 controls the lighting of the headlamp 2 based on the comparison result between the illuminance thresholds LR ₀ , LR ₁ , LR ₂ and the infrared illuminance LR. Therefore, the lighting of the headlamp 2 is also controlled based on the illuminance difference [LV−LR] between the infrared illuminance LR and the visible light illuminance LV. Thereby, the automatic lighting of the headlamp 2 in the illuminance situation where the surroundings of the vehicle is dim is further promoted, and the probability of occurrence of a traffic accident is reduced.

In order to control lighting / extinguishing of the headlamp 2 based on the illuminance difference [LV−LR] between the infrared illuminance LR and the visible light illuminance LV, the control unit 1 is visible based on the signal output from the visible light sensor 5. It has a visible light illuminance calculator 23 that calculates the light illuminance LV, and an illuminance difference calculator 24 that calculates an illuminance difference [LV−LR] between the infrared illuminance LR and the visible light illuminance LV. The lighting on / off control unit 13 performs the heading based on the illuminance difference [LV−LR] calculated by the illuminance difference calculating unit 24 and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ which is the second threshold stored in the storage holding unit 14. Controls turning on / off of the lamp 2.

Here, FIG. 3 schematically shows a temporal change in the illuminance difference between the visible light illuminance and the infrared illuminance. As shown in FIG. 3, the illuminance difference [LV−LR] between the visible light illuminance LV and the infrared illuminance LR increases from the sunrise time, reaches its maximum during the daytime from the sunrise time to the sunset time, and then sunset It is known to decrease again toward the time. By utilizing such a time variation characteristic of the illuminance difference [LV-LR], the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ is an illuminance that causes no problem even if the headlamp 2 is turned off from the viewpoint of preventing traffic accidents after the sunrise time. The illuminance difference [LV-LR] ₁ value when the situation is reached (recommended turn-off time) and the illuminance situation where it is desirable to turn on the headlamp 2 from the viewpoint of preventing traffic accidents before the sunset time ( Illumination difference [LV-LR] ₂ of the recommended lighting time) is set. For example, the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ can be the maximum value of the illuminance difference [LV1-LR1] ₁ and the illuminance difference [LV2-LR2] ₂ .

The illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ is similar to the illuminance illuminance threshold LR _0, and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL _off0 during extinction, which is the value of the illuminance difference [LV−LR] ₁ when the headlamp 2 is extinguished, Illumination threshold value ΔL _on0 , which is a value of illuminance difference [LV−LR] ₂ when the headlamp 2 is turned on, is provided, and the lighting illuminance threshold value ΔL _on0 is slightly _smaller than the illuminance threshold value ΔL _off0 during lighting. It can be a small value. In this way, by dividing the illuminance difference threshold value ΔL ₀ into those for lighting and for extinguishing, hunting that the illuminance difference [LV−LR] repeats lighting up and down by raising and lowering the common illuminance difference threshold value ΔL ₀ is suppressed. I am doing so.

As described above, the control unit 1 corrects the illuminance threshold value LR _{0 of} infrared rays read from the storage holding unit 14 or the illuminance threshold value LR after correction obtained by correcting the illuminance threshold value LR ₀ by the first correction process and the second correction process described above. _In addition to the comparison result between ₁ and LR ₂ and the infrared illuminance LR, the comparison of the illuminance difference [LV−LR] and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ is also taken into account, thereby controlling the lighting of the headlamp 2. The on / off control process is performed.

Further, the control unit 1 executes the nighttime forced lighting process in parallel with the lighting control process. When the current time is a night time from the theoretical sunset time to the theoretical sunrise time by executing the nighttime forced lighting process, the infrared illuminance LR and the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ or the corrected illuminance threshold Regardless of the comparison result between LR ₁ and LR ₂ , or regardless of the comparison result between the illuminance difference [LV−LR] and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ , the headlamp 2 is forcibly turned on. Thereby, the lighting state of the headlamp 2 at night can be maintained even in a place where the infrared illuminance is increased as in the daytime by artificial lighting or the like.

  Each unit of the control unit 1 will be described as being realized by a computer that operates by reading a program stored in advance in a storage holding unit 14 or a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like different from the storage holding unit 14. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each part of the control unit 1 can be partially or wholly realized by a hardware configuration.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of an on / off control process that is repeatedly executed by the control unit 1 when the power supply to the control unit 1 is started by turning on an ignition switch in the vehicle.

  In step S1 (abbreviated as “S1” in the figure, the same applies hereinafter), the lighting / lighting control unit 13 determines whether or not the automatic lighting / lighting mode is set based on the automatic lighting / lighting setting signal. When the light on / off control unit 13 determines that the automatic light on / off mode is set (YES), the process proceeds to step S2 while it is determined that the automatic light on / off mode is not set. (NO), the on / off control process is terminated without executing the subsequent steps.

In step S <b> 2, the infrared illuminance calculation unit 12 calculates the infrared illuminance LR based on the signal output from the infrared sensor 4. In step S3, performing a first correction process illuminance threshold for correcting the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared based on the GPS signal. In step S4, it executes the second correction processing illuminance threshold for correcting the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared based on the estimated weather conditions. Details of the first correction process and the second correction process of the illuminance threshold will be described later.

In step S5, based on the comparison result of illuminance threshold _LR 1, LR ₂ corrected by the infrared illumination LR and illuminance threshold LR ₀ or steps S3, S4, furthermore, photometric [LV-LR] illuminance difference threshold Based on the comparison result with ΔL ₀ , the lighting process of the headlamp 2 is executed. In step S6, based on the comparison result of illuminance threshold _LR 1, LR ₂ corrected by the infrared illumination LR and illuminance threshold LR ₀ or steps S3, S4, furthermore, photometric [LV-LR] illuminance difference threshold Based on the comparison result with ΔL ₀ , the headlamp 2 is turned off. Details of the lighting process of the headlamp 2 and the extinguishing process of the headlamp 2 will be described later.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a first correction process for the illuminance threshold value, which is a subroutine of the lighting / light-out control process. First correction process illuminance threshold, as described above, and corrects the intensity threshold LR ₀ infrared based on the GPS signal.

  In step S <b> 11, the vehicle position calculation unit 16 determines the current vehicle position (based on the position information of the plurality of GPS satellites 7 acquired by the reception unit 11 and the map information stored in advance in the storage holding unit 14. Longitude and latitude).

  In step S12, the theoretical time calculation unit 17 calculates the theoretical time based on the current vehicle position and calendar date calculated in step S11. The theoretical time can be calculated by a known theoretical formula, but a theoretical time table in which the latitude and longitude are associated with the theoretical time is stored in advance in the storage holding unit 14 and the like, and the theoretical time table is referred to. You may get it at

In step S13, the receivable satellite specifying unit 18 specifies the number N _ideal of receivable GPS satellites based on the current vehicle position calculated in step S11 and the orbit information stored in advance in the storage holding unit 14. . In step S < _b > 14, the actual reception satellite specifying unit 19 specifies the number N _real (≦ N _ideal ) of the actual reception GPS satellites based on the identification information acquired by the reception unit 11.

In step S15, the correction time arithmetic unit 20 determines the number difference between the number N _ideal of receivable GPS satellites and the number N _real actual received GPS satellites (N _ideal -N _real) is to or greater than a predetermined value To do. The predetermined value is a value that can be inferred that there is a shield that continuously blocks sunlight from the vehicle due to topographical factors or artificial factors, and is set in advance by experiments, simulations, etc., and the memory holding unit 14 etc. Stored in When the correction time calculation unit 20 determines that the number difference (N _ideal −N _real ) is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (YES), the process proceeds to step S16, while the number difference (N _ideal −N _real ) If it is determined that ( _real ) is less than the predetermined value (NO), the correction of the theoretical time in step S16 is omitted, and the process proceeds to step S17.

In step S16, the correction time calculation unit 20 corrects the theoretical time based on the number difference (N _ideal −N _real ), thereby calculating the correction time. For example, the correction time calculation unit 20 considers that the existence probability of the obstacle around the vehicle increases as the number difference (N _ideal −N _real ) increases from a predetermined value, and corrects the correction sunset with respect to the theoretical sunset time. It is possible to lengthen the time advance time and to lengthen the advance time of the corrected sunrise time with respect to the theoretical sunrise time.

  In step S17, the illuminance threshold value correction unit 15 sets the corrected sunrise time (step S16) from the predetermined time before the corrected sunset time (or the theoretical sunset time if the theoretical time was not corrected in step S16). If the theoretical time is not corrected in step (b), it is determined whether or not the time is a predetermined time after the theoretical daylighting time. Preferably, the headlamp 2 is lit at a predetermined time from a predetermined time before the corrected sunset time (theoretical sunset time) to a predetermined time after the corrected sunrise time (theoretical sunrise time). It is set to be a dim illuminance situation. Note that the predetermined time can be variably set taking into consideration that the illuminance situation differs depending on at least one of the weather condition and the calendar date. For example, the predetermined time may be set longer as the weather condition gets worse, or the predetermined time in winter may be set longer than in summer.

As a result of step S17, the illuminance threshold correction unit 15 determines that the current time is from a predetermined time before the corrected sunset time (theoretical sunset time) to a predetermined time after the corrected sunrise time (theoretical sunrise time). If it is determined (YES), the process proceeds to step S18. On the other hand, when the illuminance threshold correction unit 15 determines that the current time is not a time from a predetermined time before the corrected sunset time (theoretical sunset time) to a predetermined time after the corrected sunrise time (theoretical sunrise time). the omitted corrected illuminance threshold LR ₀ in (NO), step S18, and ends the first correction process illuminance threshold.

At step S18, illuminance threshold correction unit 15 corrects the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared read from the storage holding unit 14, and calculates the illuminance threshold LR ₁ corrected. It is as follows when the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared setting the lit illumination threshold _{LR on0} and off when the illuminance threshold _{LR OFF0.} That is, the lighting illuminance threshold value LR _on0 is increased and corrected to calculate the corrected lighting illuminance threshold value LR _on1 (> LR _on0 ), and the unlit illuminance threshold value LR _off0 is increased and corrected to be corrected. _off1 (> LR _off0 ) is calculated. Thus, the automatic lighting of the headlamp 2 is promoted in a dim illuminance situation before sunset time or after sunrise time.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the second correction process for the illuminance threshold value, which is a subroutine for the turning on / off control process. As described above, the second correction process of the illuminance threshold is to correct the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ based on the weather condition.

  In step S21, the illuminance learning unit 21 creates learning data of the infrared illuminance LR from the history of the infrared illuminance LR calculated by the infrared illuminance calculation unit 12, as described above. The learning data includes a maximum value, a minimum value, an average value, a change speed, and the like of the infrared illuminance LR.

  In step S22, the weather estimation unit 22 estimates the weather state at the current position of the vehicle based on the learning data created in step S21 and the reference data related to daytime infrared illuminance stored in the storage holding unit 14 in advance. To do. For example, the weather estimation unit 22 determines whether or not the state in which the infrared illuminance LR is small with respect to the reference data at the current time continues for a certain period of time based on the learning data and the reference data, and continues for a certain period of time. If it is determined that the weather condition is present, the weather condition at the current vehicle position is estimated to be a bad weather condition.

In step S23, illuminance threshold correction unit 15 on the basis of the weather conditions that are estimated in step S22, to correct the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared read from the storage holder 14. Specifically, illuminance threshold correction unit 15, when the weather conditions are estimated to be bad weather state at step S22, and increase correct the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared, illuminance threshold LR ₂ after correction calculate. When the illumination illuminance threshold LR _on0 and the illumination illuminance threshold LR _off0 are set in the infrared illumination threshold LR ₀ , the illumination illuminance threshold LR _on0 is increased and corrected, and the illumination illumination threshold LR _on2 (> LR _on0 ) is corrected. and calculates the light-off intensity threshold _{LR OFF0} increase correction off when the illuminance threshold of the corrected _LR off2 _{(> LR off0).} Thereby, the automatic lighting of the headlamp 2 is promoted in a dim illuminance situation in bad weather. On the other hand, illuminance threshold correction unit 15 does not perform the correction of the illuminance threshold LR ₀ infrared if weather conditions in step 22 is estimated not to bad weather conditions.

Note that both the illuminance threshold value LR ₁ after correction by the first correction process and the illuminance threshold value LR ₂ after correction by the second correction process promote the lighting of the headlamp 2 in an illuminance situation where the surroundings of the vehicle are dim. since those that are increased correction, the illuminance threshold LR ₂ corrected by the second correction processing may be set to the same value as the intensity threshold LR ₁ corrected by the first correction process. When the illuminance threshold value for lighting and the illuminance threshold value for turning off are provided in the infrared illuminance threshold values LR ₁ and LR ₂ , the illuminance threshold value for lighting LR _on1 after correction by the first correction process is corrected by the second correction process. of lit set to the same value as the intensity threshold LR _on2, setting the off time illuminance threshold LR _off1 corrected by the first correction processing to the same value as off when the illuminance threshold LR _off2 corrected by the second correction process Can do.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a lighting process that is a subroutine of the lighting on / off control process.

In step S31, the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines the magnitude relationship between the infrared illuminance LR calculated in step S2 and the illuminance threshold. Illuminance threshold value used in step S31 is the illuminance threshold _LR 1, LR ₂ after correction when correcting the illuminance threshold LR ₀ in steps S3, S4, did not correct the illuminance threshold LR ₀ in steps S3, S4 In this case, the illuminance threshold value LR ₀ read from the storage holding unit 14 is obtained. When the illumination illuminance threshold LR _on0 and the illumination illuminance threshold LR _off0 are set in the infrared illumination illuminance threshold LR ₀ , the illumination is _performed after correction by correcting the illumination illuminance threshold LR _on0 and the illumination illuminance threshold LR _off0. illuminance threshold _{LR on1, LR on2} and off when the illuminance threshold _{LR off1,} an _{LR off2.} Then, when the light on / off control unit 13 determines that the infrared illuminance LR is less than the illuminance threshold (LR _0, LR _1, LR ₂ ) (YES), the process proceeds to step S32, while the infrared illuminance LR is When it determines with it being more than the illumination intensity threshold value at the time of lighting (NO), a process is advanced to step S33.

  In step S32, the lighting / extinguishing control unit 13 turns on the headlamp 2 when it is turned off.

  In step S <b> 33, the visible light illuminance calculator 23 calculates the visible light illuminance LV based on the signal output from the visible light sensor 5. In step S34, the illuminance difference calculating unit 24 calculates an illuminance difference [LV−LR] between the visible light illuminance LV and the infrared illuminance LR.

In step S35, the point off the control unit 13 determines the illuminance difference between [LV-LR] The magnitude relation between the illuminance difference threshold [Delta] L _0. Then, when it is determined that the illuminance difference [LV−LR] is less than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ (YES), the lighting / extinguishing control unit 13 proceeds to step S32 and the headlamp 2 is turned off. Turn it on when you are. On the other hand, when it is determined that the illuminance difference [LV−LR] is equal to or greater than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ (NO), the lighting / extinguishing control unit 13 ends the lighting process.

In the lighting process, the first condition that the infrared illuminance LR is less than the illuminance threshold (first threshold) or the illuminance difference [LV−LR] is less than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ (second threshold). The headlamp 2 may be turned on when it is determined that one of the two conditions is satisfied. Therefore, first, when the illuminance difference [LV-LR] is equal to or smaller than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ by comparing the magnitude relationship between the illuminance difference [LV−LR] and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ , the headlamp 2 immediately. May be lit. On the other hand, when the illuminance difference [LV−LR] is larger than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ , the magnitude relationship between the infrared illuminance LR and the lighting illuminance threshold is compared, and when the infrared illuminance LR is less than the lighting illuminance threshold, The headlamp 2 may be turned on.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of an extinguishing process that is a subroutine of the on / off control process.

In step S41, the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines the magnitude relationship between the infrared illuminance LR calculated in step S2 and the illuminance threshold. Illuminance threshold value used in step S41 is the illuminance threshold _LR 1, LR ₂ after correction when correcting the illuminance threshold LR ₀ in steps S3, S4, and corrects the light-off intensity threshold LR ₀ in steps S3, S4 If not, the illumination-time illuminance threshold value LR ₀ read from the memory holding unit 14 is obtained. If the infrared light illuminance LR is determined to be greater than or equal to the light turn-off illuminance threshold (LR _0, LR _1, LR ₂ ) (YES), the lighting on / off control unit 13 proceeds to step S42 while the infrared illuminance LR If it is determined that LR is less than the illumination-time illuminance threshold (NO), steps S42 to S45 are omitted, and the extinguishing process is terminated.

  In step S42, the visible light illuminance LV is calculated as in step S32. In step S43, the illuminance difference [LV-LR] is calculated as in step S33.

If the lighting control unit 13 determines in step S44 that the illuminance difference [LV−LR] is larger than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ (YES), the process proceeds to step S45 while the illuminance difference [LV−LR] ] Is equal to or less than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ (NO), the extinguishing process is terminated.

  In step S45, the lighting / extinguishing control unit 13 turns off the headlamp 2 when it is on. However, the on / off controller 13 does not turn off the headlamp 2 when a nighttime forced lighting flag, which will be described later, has changed to a value indicating that the nighttime forced lighting mode is being executed.

In the light-off process, the condition 2 that the infrared illuminance LR is greater than or equal to the illuminance threshold (first threshold) and the condition that the illuminance difference [LV−LR] is greater than or equal to the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ (second threshold). When it is determined that two conditions are satisfied, the headlamp 2 can be turned off. That is, the headlamp 2 can be turned off when it is determined that neither the first condition nor the second condition is satisfied. Therefore, first, the magnitude difference between the illuminance difference [LV−LR] and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ is compared. When the illuminance difference [LV−LR] is larger than the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ , the infrared illuminance LR and the lighting are turned on. A comparison of the magnitude relationship with the hourly illuminance threshold may be executed.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a nighttime forced lighting process repeatedly executed by the control unit 1 when power supply to the control unit 1 is started by turning on an ignition switch in the vehicle.

  If the light on / off control unit 13 determines in step S51 that the automatic light on / off mode is set (YES), the process proceeds to step S52 while the automatic light on / off mode is determined not to be set. If it is (NO), steps S52 to S55 are omitted and the nighttime forced lighting process is terminated.

  In step S52, the own vehicle position calculation unit 16 is based on the position information of the plurality of GPS satellites 7 acquired by the reception unit 11 and the map information stored in advance in the storage holding unit 14 as in step S11. The current vehicle position (longitude and latitude) is calculated. In step S53, the theoretical time calculation unit 17 calculates the theoretical time based on the current vehicle position and calendar date calculated in step S52, as in step S12.

  In step S54, the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines whether or not the current time is a night time from the theoretical sunset time to the theoretical daylight time based on the theoretical time calculated by the theoretical time calculation unit 17. . Then, when the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines that the current time is a night time (YES), the process proceeds to step S55, whereas when it is determined that the current time is not a night time ( NO), the forced lighting mode in step S55 is not executed, and the forced lighting process at night ends.

In step S55, when the headlamp 2 is turned off, the turn-on / off control unit 13 performs the infrared illuminance LR and the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ or the corrected illuminance thresholds LR ₁ and LR ₂ in the turn-on / off control process. Regardless of the comparison result or the comparison result between the illuminance difference [LV−LR] and the illuminance difference threshold value ΔL ₀ , the nighttime forced lighting mode for forcibly lighting the headlamp 2 is executed. In addition, the lighting on / off control unit 13 changes the nighttime forced lighting flag stored in the memory holding unit 14 to a value indicating that the nighttime forced lighting mode is being executed.

In the control unit 1 as described above, the substantial sunset time is earlier than the theoretical sunset time due to the obstruction of the sun rays caused by topographical factors and artificial factors, and the actual sunrise time is theoretically Considering that the time is later than the sunrise time, the theoretical time is corrected based on the GPS signal, and the corrected time is calculated accordingly. Then, the control unit 1 increases and corrects the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ to the illuminance threshold LR ₁ at a time from a predetermined time before the corrected sunset time to a predetermined time after the corrected sunrise time. Accordingly, the lighting timing can be advanced according to the substantial sunset time, and the light extinguishing timing can be delayed according to the substantial sunrise time. Further, the control unit 1 estimates the weather condition at the vehicle position, and corrects the infrared illuminance threshold value LR ₀ to the illuminance threshold value LR ₂ based on the estimated weather condition. Thereby, the lighting state of the headlamp 2 in the dim illuminance situation at the time of bad weather can be promoted. Therefore, according to the control unit 1, the lighting timing of the headlamp 2 can be improved according to the actual illuminance situation around the vehicle.

In addition to the comparison result between the infrared illuminance LR and the illuminance thresholds LR ₀ , LR ₁ , and LR ₂ , the control unit 1 uses the comparison result between the illuminance difference [LV−LR] and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ based on the comparison result. The lighting / extinguishing of the lighting 2 is controlled. Therefore, when the control unit 1 controls turning on / off of the headlamp 2 based on the comparison result between the infrared illuminance LR and the illuminance thresholds LR ₀ , LR ₁ , LR ₂ , the actual illuminance situation around the vehicle The headlamp 2 can be turned on / off at the appropriate timing. For this reason, it becomes possible to further promote the lighting state of the headlamp 2 in the illuminance situation where the vehicle periphery is dim, and to reduce the probability of occurrence of a traffic accident.

Further, according to the control unit 1, basically, the headlamp 2 is controlled to be turned on and off based on the comparison result between the infrared illuminance LR detected by the infrared sensor 4 and the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ . Therefore, when compared with the conventional technology that controls turning on / off of the headlamp based on the GPS signal without using an infrared sensor, the headlamp is used when the vehicle passes under a temporary shield such as a tunnel. It is possible to improve the lighting on / off timing of 2 according to the actual illuminance situation. The prior art that does not use an infrared sensor is based on the fact that the difference between the number of receivable GPS satellites and the number of actually received GPS satellites does not change when the vehicle V travels a certain distance. This is a lighting on / off control for turning on / off the headlamp. Here, with reference to FIG. 14 showing the prior art not using the infrared sensor and FIG. 10 showing the technique of the present embodiment using the infrared sensor, the lighting timing is compared.

First, FIG. 14 shows the turn-on / off timing when the headlamp is turned on / off by the prior art that does not use an infrared sensor when the host vehicle V passes through the tunnel T as a temporary shield. As shown in FIG. 14 (a), the vehicle V is at close to the entrance of the tunnel T, receivable number of GPS satellites 7a to 7d N _ideal and actual receivable GPS satellites 7a, 7b between the number N _real of The number difference (N _ideal −N _real ) is assumed to be 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 14 (b), when the vehicle V enters the tunnel T, the number difference between the number N _real of the number N _ideal of receivable GPS satellites 7a~7d actual receivable GPS satellites It is assumed that (N _ideal −N _real ) is 4. However, despite the fact that the vehicle V is traveling in the tunnel T (when the infrared sensor is provided, the infrared illuminance LR is less than the illuminance threshold LR ₀ ), FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the headlamp is not lit unless the vehicle difference V (N _ideal −N _real ) is 4 and the vehicle V travels a certain distance. Further, as shown in FIG. 14D, after the own vehicle V passes the exit of the tunnel T, the number N _ideal of the receivable GPS satellites 7a to 7d and the number N _real of the receivable GPS satellites 7a to 7d The headlamp is not turned off unless the vehicle V travels a certain distance while the difference in the number of vehicles (N _ideal -N _real ) remains zero.

On the other hand, FIG. 10 shows that the headlamp 2 is controlled by turning on / off the control unit 1 when the vehicle V carrying the control unit 1 connected to the infrared sensor 4 passes through the tunnel T as a temporary shield. An example of turning on / off timing when turning on / off is shown. When the host vehicle V approaches the entrance of the tunnel T as shown in FIG. 10A, the infrared illuminance LR detected by the output signal from the infrared sensor 4 is turned on as shown in FIG. if not lower than the illuminance threshold LR _0, headlight 2 is not turned on. However, when the vehicle V enters the tunnel T as shown in FIG. 10B and the infrared illuminance LR falls below the illuminance threshold LR ₀ as shown in FIG. Lights up. Then, reach the vicinity of the outlet of the host vehicle V is a tunnel T, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), when the infrared illumination LR as shown in FIG. 10 (d) was the illuminance threshold LR ₀ or more, before The lighting 2 is turned off. Therefore, according to the control unit 1, when the own vehicle V passes under a temporary shield such as a tunnel, the timing for turning on / off the headlamp 2 is compared with the turning on / off control shown in FIG. It can be improved according to the actual illuminance situation.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 11 shows a second embodiment of the control device for a vehicle lamp according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted or simplified.

  In order to further improve the timing of turning on and off when the host vehicle passes under a temporary shield, according to the actual illuminance situation, the control unit 100 is separate from the above-described turning on and off control processing and nighttime forced lighting processing. In parallel with these, the forcible object forced lighting process is further executed. Therefore, the control unit 100 further includes a first region filter unit 25 and a second region filter unit 26 as compared with the control unit 1 (see FIG. 1).

The first area filter unit 25 enables the receivable GPS satellites existing in the predetermined area R based on the own vehicle among the receivable GPS satellites whose number N _ideal is identified by the receivable satellite identification unit 18, The number is specified as an effective number NA _ideal . The predetermined region R can be a space region on the traveling direction side of the own vehicle.

The second region filter unit 26 validates the actual reception GPS satellites existing in the predetermined region R among the actual reception GPS satellites whose number N _real is identified by the actual reception satellite identification unit 19 and validates the number. The number NA _real (≦ NA _ideal ) is specified.

And the lighting / extinguishing control unit 13 performs the difference between the effective number NA _ideal specified by the first region filter unit 25 and the effective number NA _real specified by the second region filter unit 26 as the forcible lighting process for the shielding object. Based on (NA _ideal -NA _real ), the anti-shielding forced lighting mode for forcibly lighting the headlamp 2 is executed.

Specifically, the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines that the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) is a predetermined value for lighting set as the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) when the headlamp 2 is turned on. When it becomes, the anti-shielding forced lighting mode is executed. On the other hand, the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines that the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) is a predetermined value for turning off (<lighting for lighting) set as the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) when the headlamp 2 is turned off. When the predetermined value is reached, the forcible object forcibly lighting mode is not executed. In addition, by providing the predetermined value for lighting and the predetermined value for extinguishing separately, when a common threshold value is set for lighting and extinguishing, the number difference (NA _ideal -NA _real ) is around the common threshold value. Hunting that repeatedly turns on and off is suppressed.

  FIG. 12 shows that the headlamp 2 is turned on by the control unit 100 executing the forcible object forcible lighting process when the vehicle V carrying the control unit 100 passes through the tunnel T as a temporary object. An example of the turn-on / off timing when turning off the light is shown.

As shown in FIG. 12A, when the host vehicle V approaches the entrance of the tunnel T, the effective number NA _ideal of the receivable GPS satellites 7b and 7c existing in the predetermined area R is 2, and the predetermined area Since the effective number NA _{real of} the real reception GPS satellites 7b and 7c existing in R is 2, the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) is zero.

As shown in FIG. 12B, when the host vehicle V enters the tunnel T, the effective number NA _ideal of the receivable GPS satellites 7b, 7c, 7d existing in the predetermined area R is 3, and the predetermined area R Since the effective number NA _real of the actual reception GPS satellites 7b existing in is 1, the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) is 2.

As shown in FIG. 12C, when the host vehicle V approaches the exit of the tunnel T, the effective number NA _ideal of the receivable GPS satellites 7c and 7d existing in the predetermined area R is 2, and the predetermined area Since the effective number NA _real of the actual reception GPS satellites 7d existing in R is 1, the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) is 1.

As shown in FIG. 12 (d), when the host vehicle V exits the tunnel T, the effective number NA _ideal of the receivable GPS satellites 7 c and 7 d existing in the predetermined area R is 2, and the predetermined area R is within the predetermined area R. Since the effective number NA _{real of the} existing real reception GPS satellites 7c and 7d is also 2, the number difference (NA _ideal− NA _real ) is zero.

  In the forcible object forcibly lighting process executed by the control unit 100, in the example of FIG. 12, the headlamp 2 is turned on when the vehicle V enters the tunnel T (see FIG. 12B). While the predetermined value for use is set to 2, the predetermined value for turning off is set to 0 so that the headlamp 2 is turned off when the vehicle V exits the tunnel T (see FIG. 12D). Yes. Although the plurality of GPS satellites 7 are not necessarily located at the positions as in the example of FIG. 12 with respect to the tunnel T, the own vehicle V enters the tunnel T as much as possible based on the orbit information of the plurality of GPS satellites 7. The predetermined value for lighting and the predetermined value for extinguishing are set so that the headlamp 2 is turned on when the vehicle V exits and the headlamp 2 is turned off when the vehicle V exits the tunnel T.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of the forcible object forcibly lighting process repeatedly executed by the control unit 100 when the supply of power to the control unit 100 is started by turning on the ignition switch in the vehicle.

In step S61, the own vehicle position calculation unit 16 calculates the current own vehicle position (longitude and latitude) as in step S11. In step S62, the receivable satellite specifying unit 18 specifies the number N _ideal of receivable GPS satellites as in step S13. In step S63, the actual reception satellite specifying unit 19 specifies the number N _real (≦ N _ideal ) of the actual reception GPS satellites as in step S14.

In step S64, the first area filter unit 25 validates the receivable GPS satellites belonging to the predetermined area R based on the own vehicle among the receivable GPS satellites whose number N _ideal is specified in step S62, The number is identified as the effective number NA _ideal .

In step S65, the second area filter unit 26 validates the actual reception GPS satellites belonging to the predetermined area R based on the own vehicle among the actual reception GPS satellites whose number N _real is specified in step S63, The number is specified as an effective number NA _real (≦ NA _ideal ).

In step S66, the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines whether the number difference (NA _ideal− NA _real ) between the effective number NA _ideal specified in step S64 and the effective number NA _real specified in step S65 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value for lighting. Determine whether or not. Then, when the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines that the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _real ) is equal to or greater than the predetermined value for lighting (YES), the process proceeds to step S68 while the number difference (NA _ideal −NA _{real −} ). If it is determined that (NA _real ) is less than the predetermined value for lighting (NO), the process proceeds to step S67.

In step S67, the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines whether or not the number difference (NA _ideal− NA _real ) between the effective number NA _ideal and the effective number NA _real is larger than a predetermined value for turning off. If the lighting on / off control unit 13 determines that the number difference (NA _ideal -NA _real ) is greater than the predetermined value for turning off (YES), the process proceeds to step S68, while the number difference (NA _ideal -NA _real ) is determined. If it is determined that ( _real ) is equal to or less than the predetermined value for turning off (NO), the forcible object forced lighting process is terminated without executing the forcible object forced lighting mode in step S68.

In step S <b> 68, when the headlamp 2 is turned off, the lighting / lighting-out control unit 13 performs the infrared illuminance LR and the infrared illuminance threshold LR ₀ or the corrected illuminance thresholds LR ₁ and LR ₂ in the lighting / light-out control process. Regardless of the comparison result or the comparison result between the illuminance difference [LV−LR] and the illuminance difference threshold ΔL ₀ , the anti-shielding forced lighting mode for forcibly lighting the headlamp 2 is executed. Further, the lighting / extinguishing control unit 13 changes the anti-shielding forced lighting flag stored in the memory holding unit 14 to a value indicating that the anti-shielding forced lighting mode is being executed.

  In step S45 of the turn-on / off control process, in addition to the nighttime forced lighting flag being set to a value indicating that the nighttime forced lighting mode is being executed, the anti-shielding forced lighting flag is set to forced-on shielding. When set to a value indicating that the mode is being executed, the lighting control unit 13 is configured not to turn off the headlamp 2.

  As described above, the control unit 100 executes the lighting / lighting control processing as in the control unit 1 so that the lighting / lighting timing of the headlamp 2 is set to the dim illuminance state before the sunset time and after the sunrise time and during bad weather. The following effects can be obtained as well.

  That is, according to the control unit 100, by performing the forcible object forcible lighting process, as shown in FIG. Is turned on, and the headlamp 2 is turned off after the vehicle V exits, not before the vehicle T exits the tunnel T. On the other hand, in the control unit 1, by performing the lighting on / off control process, as shown in FIG. 10, the headlamp 2 is turned on after the host vehicle V enters the tunnel T, and the host vehicle V is tunneled. There is a tendency to turn off the headlamp 2 before exiting T. Therefore, even when the illuminance around the vehicle changes suddenly due to a temporary obstruction such as a tunnel T, the driver's vision is changed as compared with the case where the control unit 1 executes the lighting on / off control process. It becomes easy to adapt to the illuminance situation later.

In the first and second embodiments, the control unit 1, 100 is based on the number difference (N _ideal −N _real ) between the number of receivable GPS satellites N _ideal and the number of real received GPS satellites N _real. Although the time is corrected, the following may be used instead. That is, the terrain (altitude) information is stored in the memory holding unit 14 in advance, and based on the terrain (altitude) information at the own vehicle position calculated by the own vehicle position calculation unit 16, the sunlight rays are actually detected at the own vehicle position. It is also possible to correct the theoretical time by determining whether or not it is continuously blocked by the shield. As a result, the correction accuracy can be improved. The theoretical time may be corrected by combining the number difference (N _ideal −N _real ) and the terrain (altitude) information.

In addition, regarding the calculation of the theoretical time, the sunlight rays are incident on the ground surface at the position of the vehicle at a relatively low angle before sunset time and after sunrise time, so the number of receivable GPS satellites N _ideal and actual When the number N _real of received GPS satellites is counted, weighting may be performed according to an angle formed by a straight line connecting the GPS satellite 7 and the vehicle and the ground surface at the vehicle position. For example, in FIG. 2, since the angle formed by the straight line from the own vehicle V to the GPS satellites 7a and 7d and the ground surface at the position of the own vehicle V is relatively small, each number is counted as 2, while the own vehicle V To the GPS satellites 7b, 7c and the ground surface at the position of the vehicle V are relatively large, so the number of each is counted as 0.5. Thereby, since the incident angle of sunlight before the sunset time and after the sunrise time can be taken into consideration, the correction accuracy of the theoretical time can be improved.

  In the first and second embodiments, when a visible light camera is mounted on a vehicle equipped with the control units 1 and 100 as, for example, an image recognition unit in the collision damage reducing apparatus, the visible light camera 5 is used instead of the visible light sensor 5. May be substituted for the visible light illuminance detection means. In this case, the EV (Exposure Value) value of the visible light camera can be used as the visible light illuminance.

  In the first and second embodiments, the control units 1 and 100 estimate the weather condition at the vehicle position based on the learning data of infrared illuminance, but instead of this, the output signal of the visible light sensor 5 The weather condition can be estimated based on the learning data of the visible light illuminance detected from the above. Alternatively, the control unit 1, 100 receives the weather information from an arbitrary information service via wireless communication between the host vehicle and the outside network, so that the weather state at the host vehicle position can be determined based on the weather information. You may make it estimate.

In the first embodiment, the control unit 1 determines that the vehicle is a temporary vehicle such as a tunnel based on the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit 16 and the map information stored in the memory holding unit 14 in advance. When the vehicle is configured so that it can be recognized that the vehicle is passing under the shield, the headlamp 2 is provided between immediately before the vehicle enters the shield and immediately after the vehicle passes through the shield. The illuminance threshold value LR ₀ for infrared rays may be corrected to increase so that is lit. Thereby, the same effect as when the anti-shielding object forced lighting process is executed by the control unit 100 of the second embodiment can be obtained.

In the first and second embodiments, the headlamp 2 has been described as a representative example of a vehicle lamp. However, the term “headlamp 2” is referred to as “vehicle width lamp 3” or “headlamp 2 and vehicle width”. The present invention can also be applied to the lamp 3 ”. When the lighting of the headlamp 2 and the vehicle width lamp 3 is controlled, the timing of turning on and off the respective lamps can be shifted. For example, when the light is turned on, an infrared illuminance threshold is set such that the vehicle width lamp 3 and the headlight 2 are turned on in this order, and when turned off, the headlight 2 and the vehicle width light 3 are turned off in this order. For LR ₀ , LR ₁ , and LR ₂ , the illuminance threshold value of the headlamp 2 and the illuminance threshold value of the vehicle width lamp 3 may be set, respectively.

  In the first and second embodiments, the GPS satellite 7 is used for calculating the position of the vehicle in the control units 1 and 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of navigation satellites include identification information and position information. Any satellite can be used as long as it transmits radio signals over a wide area on the ground.

  The forcible object forcibly lighting process by the control unit 100 according to the second embodiment is not necessarily executed in parallel with the lighting on / off control process and the nighttime forcible lighting process, and can be executed independently.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,100 ... Control unit, 2 ... Headlamp, 3 ... Vehicle width lamp, 4 ... Infrared sensor, 5 ... Visible light sensor, 7 ... GPS satellite, 12 ... Infrared illuminance calculating part, 13 ... Turning on / off control part, 14 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Memory holding part, 15 ... Illuminance threshold value correction part, 16 ... Own vehicle position calculation part, 17 ... theoretical time calculation part, 18 ... receivable satellite specification part, 19 ... real reception satellite specification part, 20 ... correction time calculation part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 ... Weather estimation part, 23 ... Visible light illuminance calculation part, 24 ... Illuminance difference calculation part, 25 ... 1st area | region filter part, 26 ... 2nd area | region filter part, V ... Own vehicle, LR ... Infrared illuminance, LV ... Visible light illuminance , [LV-LR] ... illuminance difference, LR ₀ , LR ₁ , LR ₂ ... infrared illuminance threshold, ΔL ₀ ... illuminance difference threshold, N _ideal ... number of receivable GPS satellites, N _real ... number of actual reception GPS satellites , NA _ideal ... effective number of receivable GPS satellites NA _real ... effective number of the actually-received GPS satellite

Claims (4)

In the vehicle, the visible light is input from the first light detection means for outputting the infrared light signal according to the intensity of the infrared light, and the second light detection means for outputting the visible light signal according to the intensity of the visible light. A control device for a vehicular lamp configured to input a signal,
An infrared illuminance calculator that calculates infrared illuminance based on the infrared signal;
A visible light illuminance calculator that calculates the visible light illuminance based on the visible light signal;
An illuminance difference calculator for calculating an illuminance difference between the infrared illuminance and the visible light illuminance;
Based on the comparison result between the infrared illuminance and the first threshold value and the comparison result between the illuminance difference and the second threshold value, a lighting control unit for turning on and off the vehicle lamp,
A storage holding unit for storing and holding orbit information, map information, the first threshold value and the second threshold value of a plurality of GPS satellites;
A vehicle position calculation unit for calculating the vehicle position based on the GPS signal from the GPS satellite and the map information;
A theoretical time calculation unit for calculating the theoretical sunset time and sunrise time of the vehicle position;
A receivable satellite specifying unit for specifying a receivable GPS satellite capable of theoretically receiving a GPS signal at the vehicle position based on the orbit information from the plurality of GPS satellites;
A correction time calculation unit that calculates a correction time by correcting the theoretical sunset time and sunrise time based on whether or not a GPS signal is actually received from the receivable GPS satellite;
An illuminance threshold value correction unit for correcting the first threshold value based on the correction time;
A vehicle lamp control device comprising:   The lighting on / off control unit determines whether or not two conditions of a first condition that the infrared illuminance is less than the first threshold and a second condition that the illuminance difference is less than the second threshold are satisfied. The vehicle lamp is turned on when it is determined that any one of the conditions is satisfied, and the vehicle lamp is turned off when it is determined that neither condition is satisfied. Control device for vehicular lamp.   The lighting on / off control unit, when the current time is nighttime from the theoretical sunset time to the theoretical sunrise time, and the vehicle lamp is turned off, the infrared illuminance The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vehicle lamp is forcibly lit regardless of a comparison result between the first and second threshold values and a comparison result between the illuminance difference and the second threshold value. Control device.   When the vehicular lamp is extinguished, the lighting / extinguishing control unit, regardless of the comparison result between the infrared illuminance and the first threshold value and the comparison result between the illuminance difference and the second threshold value, Based on the comparison result between the number of receivable GPS satellites and the difference between the number of receivable GPS satellites and the number of GPS satellites that have actually received GPS signals, and the predetermined value, the vehicle lamp is forced The control device for a vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device is turned on.