JP2021020569A - Vehicular lighting device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicular lighting device which attains a uniform quantity of light over an entire light emitting surface while preventing a light source from being visible from the outside.SOLUTION: A lighting device 30 includes: a housing 31 having an opening 32 at the vehicle cabin inner side; a light emitting part 41 which is disposed at the interior of the housing 31 and emits light to a peripheral area; a panel 51 which is disposed so as to cover the opening 32 of the housing 31 and the light emitting part 41 and has characteristics that transmit part of light and reflect part of the light; and a light shielding part 37 which is disposed between the light emitting part 41 and the panel 51 and shields part of the light emitted from the light emitting part 41.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lighting device.

Conventionally, as a vehicle lamp, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. In the vehicle lighting equipment described in Patent Document 1, a reflective film that reflects light from the outside of the lighting chamber is provided on the outer cover so that parts in the lighting chamber such as a light source and an inner lens cannot be seen from the outside. Further, a thin line-shaped light transmitting portion that transmits light from a light source to the outside of the lamp chamber is formed in a part of the reflective film. With such a configuration, when the light source is turned on, the light transmitted through the light transmitting portion forms a light emitting line having a design.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-117960

However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, when the light source is turned on, the light source can be prevented from being seen from the outside, and the light transmitted through the light transmitting portion can form a light emitting line on the surface of the outer cover. It is not possible to make the entire cover emit light uniformly.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and provides a vehicle lighting device capable of obtaining a uniform amount of light over the entire light emitting surface while preventing the light source (light emitting unit) from being seen from the outside. The purpose is.

In order to solve the above problems, the vehicle lighting device disclosed in the present specification includes a housing having an opening on the vehicle interior side, a light emitting unit arranged inside the housing and emitting light to the surroundings, and the like. A panel arranged so as to cover the opening and the light emitting portion of the housing and having a property of transmitting a part of light and reflecting a part of the light is arranged between the light emitting part and the panel. It is characterized by including a light-shielding portion that blocks a part of the light emitted from the light-emitting portion.

In principle, the emitted light emitted from the light emitting unit diffuses in all directions. However, according to the vehicle lighting device having the above configuration, a part of the emitted light is blocked by the light-shielding portion arranged between the light-emitting portion and the panel, so that the emitted light emitted from the light-emitting portion directly reaches the panel. There is no such thing. As a result, it is possible to prevent the light emitting portion from being visually recognized from the vehicle interior side via the panel. Further, the emitted light that is not blocked by the light-shielding portion is repeatedly reflected by the inner surface of the housing and the surface of the panel on the light-emitting portion side, and finally is transmitted through the panel and emitted to the outside. As a result, the light reaches a place in the surface of the panel away from the light emitting portion, so that the entire panel can be illuminated.

In the vehicle lighting device, the housing may have the largest distance from the inner surface of the housing to the panel at the position where the light emitting portion is arranged, and may become smaller as the distance from the light emitting portion is increased.

With such a configuration, the distance from the inner surface of the housing to the panel is relatively long in the vicinity of the light emitting portion, so that the light reflected by the inner surface of the housing is diffused until it reaches the panel. The strength of the is reduced. On the other hand, at a position far from the light emitting portion, the distance from the inner surface of the housing to the panel is relatively short, so that the light reflected on the inner surface of the housing does not diffuse much until it reaches the panel, and the above-mentioned light emission The light intensity does not decrease as much as in the vicinity of the part. Here, the intensity of the light incident on the inner surface of the housing is relatively high in the vicinity of the light emitting portion, whereas the intensity of the light incident on the inner surface of the housing is relatively low in the position far from the light emitting portion. Therefore, with the above configuration, the intensity of the light reaching the panel can be averaged in the vicinity of the light emitting portion and the position far from the light emitting portion, and more uniform light emission can be achieved in the entire panel.

In the vehicle lighting device, the panel may include a decorative film that emits a color or pattern when light is transmitted.

With such a configuration, the light transmitted through the panel is also transmitted through the decorative film when it is emitted to the outside of the vehicle lighting device. Therefore, by forming a desired color or pattern on the decorative film in advance, it is possible to enhance the design when the panel provided with the decorative film emits light.

In the vehicle lighting device, the light-shielding portion may be at least arranged between the position of the occupant's viewpoint and the light-emitting portion.

With such a configuration, since the light-shielding portion exists between the position of the occupant's viewpoint and the light-emitting portion, it is possible to prevent the occupant from directly viewing the light-emitting portion.

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a vehicle lighting device that can obtain a uniform amount of light over the entire light emitting surface (panel) while preventing the light source (light emitting unit) from being seen from the outside.

Diagram showing a vehicle equipped with a lighting device from the viewpoint from the passenger compartment Front view of the lighting device from the vehicle interior side AA sectional view of the lighting device Perspective view of AA cross section Cross-sectional view corresponding to the AA cross section of the lighting device according to the conventional configuration Sectional drawing corresponding to AA cross section of the lighting apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2.

<Embodiment 1>
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. In the present embodiment, the lighting devices (vehicle lighting device, vehicle lighting device) 30 provided on the door trim 20 constituting the vehicle interior surface (vehicle interior surface) of the side door 11 provided in the vehicle will be exemplified. The directions of the arrows FR and RR shown in each figure indicate the front (vehicle traveling direction) and the rear, respectively, and the directions of the arrows IN and OUT are the vehicle interior side (vehicle interior side) and the vehicle interior outside (vehicle interior outside), respectively. ), And the directions of arrows UP and DW indicate upward and downward, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, the side door 11 is provided on the side of the driver's seat of the vehicle. The side doors 11 are provided on both sides (driver's seat side and passenger's seat side) in the vehicle width direction, and have hinge portions 12 on the front side of the vehicle. The side door 11 has a configuration in which the door opening can be opened by rotating outward in the vehicle width direction about the hinge portion 12. A window 13 is provided above the side door 11. In the following description, the configuration on the right side in the vehicle width direction (driver's seat side) will be described, but the same configuration is provided on the left side in the vehicle width direction (passenger seat side).

The door trim 20 constitutes a portion of the side door 11 on the vehicle interior side, and is attached to the door inner panel from the vehicle interior side. As shown in FIG. 1, the door trim 20 is arranged below the window 13 of the vehicle, and includes a lower board 14A, an upper board 14B, and a lighting device 30. An armrest 15 is formed at the upper end of the lower board 14A, and the lighting device 30 is arranged above the armrest 15.

The lighting device 30 is surrounded by a housing 31 having an opening 32 on the vehicle interior side, a leg portion 36 described later, and a light-shielding portion 37, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 which are sectional views taken along the line AA of FIG. A light emitting portion 41 arranged in the region and a panel 51 arranged so as to cover the opening 32 of the housing 31 are provided.

The panel 51 is fitted and fixed to the opening 32 of the housing 31 to form a part of the vehicle interior surface. The peripheral portion of the panel 51 has a shape that overlaps with the opening 32 of the housing 31, and covers the opening 32 without a gap. The panel 51 is made of a synthetic resin such as polycarbonate having high translucency, and the outer surface of the passenger compartment is half-mirrored by a method such as aluminum vapor deposition to form a half-mirror film 52. When the emitted light from the light emitting unit 41 is incident on the half mirror film 52, a part of the emitted light is transmitted to the vehicle interior side, and a part of the emitted light is reflected toward the inside of the housing 31. Although the panel 51 (made of polycarbonate in this embodiment) and the housing 31 (made of ABS resin in this embodiment) are made of different materials, they are both made of thermoplastic resin, and the peripheral portion of the panel 51 and the opening 32 of the housing 31 Is joined to the peripheral edge of the housing by ultrasonic welding.

As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting unit 41 is composed of a light source 42 and a light guide rod 43. The light emitting unit 41 is capable of controlling the lighting state. Specifically, the light source 42 is mainly composed of an LED whose illuminance, light color, etc. can be changed within a certain range, and can be switched on and off, and is relative when lit. It is possible to change the illuminance step by step in the range from bright high illuminance to dark low illuminance. Further, the light source 42 has LED elements whose emission colors are red, green, and blue, respectively, and it is possible to change the light color according to the mixing ratio of each emission color.

The light guide rod 43 is made of a longitudinal light guide material. The light guide material is a synthetic resin material that is substantially transparent and transmits light, and an acrylic resin is used in the present embodiment. The light guide rod 43 is arranged so that one end in the longitudinal direction faces the light source 42, and the light of the light source 42 is incident from the one end. The light guide rod 43 is configured such that the incident light is guided by repeating total internal reflection inside, and a part of the light to be guided is emitted from the outer peripheral surface of the light guide rod 43. ing.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the housing 31 is a generally dish-shaped member having an opening 32 on the vehicle interior side, and is made of a thermoplastic resin such as ABS resin. The housing 31 has a bottom surface portion 33 on the outside of the vehicle interior, and a wall portion 34 erected from the peripheral edge of the bottom surface portion 33 toward the vehicle interior side. A light emitting portion 41 is arranged along the front-rear direction of the housing 31 at substantially the center of the bottom surface portion 33 in the vertical direction, but a rectangular opening long in the front-rear direction is provided in the region of the bottom surface portion 33 that overlaps with the light emitting portion 41. As a result, the bottom opening 35 is formed. The width of the bottom opening 35 in the vertical direction is larger than the diameter R of the light guide rod 43, and the length in the front-rear direction is substantially equal to the length of the light guide rod 43.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, among the rectangular opening edges of the bottom opening 35, elongated rod-shaped legs 36 are erected toward the vehicle interior side from the vicinity of the long side opening edge extending in the front-rear direction. Has been done. A plurality of legs 36 are erected at intervals on the long side opening edge of the bottom opening 35, and the length of each leg 36 is about the same as the diameter R of the light guide rod 43. An elongated rectangular light-shielding portion 37 is arranged at the end of all the legs 36 on the vehicle interior side.

The light-shielding portion 37 is a plate-shaped member having substantially the same shape and size as the bottom surface opening 35, and is supported by all the legs 36 extending from the bottom surface opening 35. The leg portion 36 and the light-shielding portion 37 are integrally molded as a part of the housing 31, and are made of a thermoplastic resin such as ABS resin like the housing 31.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the light emitting portion 41 is arranged in a U-shaped region surrounded by the leg portion 36 and the light shielding portion 37 when viewed from the front-rear direction. In such a configuration, even if the lighting device 30 is viewed from the vehicle interior side, the light emitting unit 41 is blocked by the light shielding unit 37 and is not directly visible.

Further, the inner surface of the housing 31 according to the present embodiment is plated, and a mirror-finished plating layer 38 is formed. As a result, the emitted light of the light emitting unit 41 is prevented from being absorbed by the inner surface of the housing 31, and most of the emitted light can be reflected in the direction of the panel 51.

In the configuration of the lighting device 30 as described above, among the light emitted from the light emitting unit 41, the light emitted in the direction of the panel 51 is blocked by the light shielding unit 37 and does not reach the panel 51 directly. That is, the light that reaches the panel 51 becomes the light that is reflected once or more inside the housing 31. As a result, when the lighting device 30 is observed from the vehicle interior side, it is possible to prevent the light emitting unit 41 from being directly seen through the panel 51, and it is possible to illuminate the entire panel 51 more uniformly.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the bottom surface 33 of the housing 31 and the surface of the panel 51 are not parallel to each other, and the distance between the panel 51 and the bottom surface 33 is in the vicinity of the light emitting unit 41. The structure is the largest and gradually decreases as the distance from the light emitting unit 41 increases.

In such a configuration, the distance from the bottom surface portion 33 to the panel 51 is relatively large in the vicinity of the light emitting portion 41. On the other hand, at a position far from the light emitting portion 41, the distance from the bottom surface portion 33 to the panel 51 is relatively small. Therefore, in this way, the distance of the path from the emission of the emitted light emitted by the light emitting unit 41 to the arrival at the panel 51 can be averaged between the vicinity of the light emitting unit 41 and the far position. As a result, more uniform light emission becomes possible in the plane of the panel 51.

Further, in the configuration according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the panel 51 is provided with a decorative film 53 on the surface on the vehicle interior side thereof. The decorative film 53 is made of a translucent base material such as polycarbonate, and its surface can be preliminarily given a desired pattern or color. When the panel 51 is manufactured by injection molding, the panel 51 and the decorative film 53 are integrally molded by film insert molding in which the decorative film 53 is fixed in a mold and then softened polycarbonate is filled. ..

When the panel 51 having such a configuration is used, the panel 51 provided with the decorative film having a pattern or a color can be made to emit light in the lighting device 30, so that the lighting device 30 having a high design and a good appearance is realized. it can.

Here, the configuration of the conventional lighting device 230 and its problems will be briefly described with reference to FIG. There is no difference in appearance between the conventional lighting device 230 and the lighting device 30 according to the present embodiment when the light emitting units 41 and 241 are not lit, when viewed from the vehicle interior side. The same applies to the fact that a housing, a panel, and a light emitting unit are provided as constituent elements. However, they differ mainly in the following two points, and two problems have arisen due to these points.

The first problem will be described. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional lighting device 230 at a position corresponding to the AA cross section in FIG. The light emitting unit 241 is arranged in the housing 231. When the light emitting unit 241 is lit, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 241 directly reaches the panel 251 and the light emitting unit 241 may be visually recognized from the vehicle interior side. Therefore, by performing a blackout process of forming a light-shielding layer 54 on a part of the panel 251 (the region indicated by B1), the light directly reaching the panel 251 from the light emitting unit 241 is blocked so that the light emitting unit 241 is not directly visible. I was doing it. However, in such a configuration, since the blackout-processed portion of the panel 251 does not emit light, there is a problem that the design area (area indicated by B2) that can be decorated by the decorative film 253 is narrowed accordingly. It was.

Next, the second problem will be described. In the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 5, the light emitting unit 241 is arranged near the upper end in the housing 231. In such a configuration, the panel 251 emits strong light in the vicinity of the light emitting unit 241, that is, in the vicinity of the upper end of the panel 251. Is far away, so the emission intensity is weakened. As a result, there is a problem that uniform light emission cannot be realized in the plane of the panel 251.

On the other hand, as described above, the lighting device 30 according to the present embodiment includes a housing 31 having an opening 32 on the vehicle interior side, a light emitting unit 41 arranged inside the housing 31 and emitting light to the surroundings, and a housing. The panel 51 is arranged so as to cover the opening 32 and the light emitting portion 41 of the 31 and has a property of transmitting a part of the light and reflecting a part of the light, and is arranged between the light emitting portion 41 and the panel 51. The configuration includes a light-shielding unit 37 that blocks a part of the light emitted from the light-emitting unit 41.

In the lighting device 30 having such a configuration, a part of the emitted light emitted by the light emitting unit 41 is blocked by the presence of the light shielding unit 37 arranged between the light emitting unit 41 and the panel 51, and reaches the panel 51 directly. Since it has disappeared, the light emitting unit 41 is not visible from the vehicle interior side. Then, the emitted light that is not blocked by the light-shielding portion 37 is repeatedly reflected by the plating layer 38 inside the housing 31 and the half mirror film 52 of the panel 51, and finally passes through the panel 51 to the vehicle interior side. And exit. As a result, in the plane of the panel 51, the emitted light reaches a position away from the light emitting unit 41, so that the entire panel can be illuminated.

Further, as described above, in the lighting device 230 according to the conventional configuration, a blackout process is performed on a part area B1 of the panel 251 in order to prevent the light emitting unit 241 from being visually recognized, and the light is emitted from that part. Since it is not transparent, there is a problem that the design area B2 becomes narrow. However, in the lighting device 30 according to the present embodiment, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 41 does not directly reach the panel 51 due to the presence of the light emitting unit 37, so that the light emitting unit 41 is not visually recognized from the vehicle interior side. Therefore, the blackout process becomes unnecessary and a wide design area can be secured, so that the first problem described above is solved. Then, the entire panel 51 can be decorated with a decorative film, and the design can be improved to improve the appearance of the lighting device 30.

Further, in the lighting device 30 according to the present embodiment, the housing 31 has a configuration in which the distance from the inner surface of the housing 31 to the panel 51 is the largest at the position where the light emitting unit 41 is arranged, and decreases as the distance from the light emitting unit 41 increases. It has become.

According to the lighting device 30 having such a configuration, the distance from the bottom surface 33 to the panel 51 is relatively long in the vicinity of the light emitting unit 41, so that the light reflected by the bottom surface 33 reaches the panel 51. Diffuses between the lights, reducing the intensity of the light. On the other hand, at a position far from the light emitting portion 41, the distance from the bottom surface portion 33 to the panel 51 is relatively short, so that the light reflected by the bottom surface portion 33 is not so diffused until it reaches the panel 51. The light intensity does not decrease as much as in the case of the vicinity of the light emitting unit 41 described above. Here, if the distance from the light emitting unit 41 is short, the intensity of the light incident on the bottom surface portion 33 is relatively high, and if the distance from the light emitting unit 41 is long, the intensity of the light incident on the bottom surface portion 33 is the light emitting unit. It is relatively low compared to the vicinity of 41.

That is, according to the configuration according to the present embodiment, in the vicinity of the light emitting portion 41, relatively strong light is incident on the bottom surface portion, and the reflected light is diffused until it reaches the relatively distant panel 51. It weakens. On the other hand, at a position far from the light emitting portion 41, relatively weak light is incident on the bottom surface portion, but the reflected light is unlikely to be weakened until it reaches the relatively close panel 51. That is, the intensity of the light reaching the panel can be averaged between the vicinity and the distance of the light emitting portion 41 in the plane of the panel 51, and more uniform light emission can be achieved in the plane of the panel. Thereby, the above-mentioned second problem can be solved.

Further, in the lighting device 30 according to the present embodiment, the panel 51 is configured to include a decorative film 53 that emits colors and patterns when light is transmitted. With such a configuration, the light transmitted through the panel 51 is transmitted through the decorative film 53 when it is emitted from the lighting device 30 toward the vehicle interior side. Therefore, by forming a desired color or pattern on the decorative film 53 in advance, it is possible to improve the design and the appearance when the panel 51 provided with the decorative film 53 emits light.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the lighting device 130 having a partially different configuration from the first embodiment is illustrated. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are used for the same parts as in the first embodiment, and duplicate description of the structure, action and effect will be omitted.

The lighting device 130 according to the present embodiment has a different configuration of the leg portion 136 and the light-shielding portion 137 included in the housing 131 from the above-described first embodiment, and the light-shielding portion 137 is at least the position of the viewpoint of the occupant and the light-emitting unit. It is arranged between 41 and 41. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, when the viewpoint of the occupant is above the light emitting unit 41, the light-shielding unit 137 is arranged above as compared with FIG. 3 according to the first embodiment. Even if the width of the light-shielding portion 137 is small, the width of the light-shielding portion may be smaller than that of the first embodiment as long as the light-emitting portion 41 cannot be seen from the viewpoint of the occupant. Then, the leg portion 136 that supports the light-shielding portion 137 is inclined upward as compared with the case of the first embodiment.

Here, in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, the positional relationship between the viewpoint of the occupant seated in the seat and the lighting device is limited to some extent, and the occupant can use the lighting device arranged at a low position in the passenger compartment, for example, near his / her feet. It is unlikely that he will look up from below. Therefore, in the configuration according to the present embodiment, the light-shielding unit 137 is arranged at least between the assumed position of the occupant's viewpoint and the light-emitting unit 41. This makes it possible to prevent the occupant from visually recognizing the light emitting unit 41.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described by the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not deviating from the gist other than the following. It can be implemented with various changes.

(1) In each of the above-described embodiments, the lighting device arranged on the door trim of the side door of the vehicle has been exemplified, but other lighting devices for vehicles, for example, the wall, ceiling, and feet of the luggage compartment, etc. The present invention can be applied even to the lighting device to be arranged.

(2) In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the light emitting portion is arranged at the center position in the vertical direction in the housing is shown, but the light emitting portion is arranged at any position between the upper end and the lower end in the housing. Even so, the present invention is applicable.

(3) In the above-described second embodiment, the case where the position of the viewpoint of the occupant is located above the lighting device is shown, but even if the position of the viewpoint of the occupant is located below the lighting device, the present invention The invention is applicable. In this case, the light-shielding portion is arranged between the light-emitting portion and the viewpoint of the occupant, that is, below the light-emitting portion.

(4) In each of the above-described embodiments, the shape of the light-shielding portion is plate-shaped, but other shapes, for example, a shape obtained by cutting a cylinder in half in the axial direction or a shape in which two plates are combined in a mountain shape. Even so, the present invention is applicable.

(5) The lighting device illustrated in each of the above embodiments is not limited to the one provided for the vehicle, and may be provided in various vehicles. For example, the above lighting device can be applied to vehicles such as trains and amusement vehicles as ground vehicles, airplanes and helicopters as flight vehicles, and ships and submersibles as marine and underwater vehicles.

30 ... Lighting device, 31 ... Housing, 32 ... Opening, 37 ... Shading part, 41 ... Light emitting part, 51 ... Panel

Claims (4)

A housing with an opening on the inside of the vehicle,
A light emitting part arranged inside the housing and emitting light to the surroundings,
A panel arranged so as to cover the opening and the light emitting portion of the housing and having a property of transmitting a part of light and reflecting a part of light.
A vehicle lighting device including a light-shielding unit arranged between the light-emitting unit and the panel and blocking a part of light emitted from the light-emitting unit. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the distance from the inner surface of the housing to the panel is the largest at the position where the light emitting portion is arranged, and becomes smaller as the distance from the light emitting portion is increased. Lighting device. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the panel includes a decorative film that emits colors and patterns when light is transmitted. The vehicle lighting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the light-shielding portion is arranged at least between the position of the viewpoint of the occupant and the light-emitting portion.

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