JP2561365B2 - High-mount stop lamp control device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle high-mount stop lamp control device for assisting lighting of a brake lamp.

(Prior Art) The high mount stop lamp is attached to the rear part of the vehicle body so that the height of the rear vehicle driver is almost the same as the line of sight of the driver.
It lights in conjunction with the depression of the brake pedal,
Very high rear-end collision prevention effect is recognized on highways.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional device, the vehicle always comes on when the brake pedal is depressed. Therefore, for example, a vehicle approaching from the rear during a temporary stop at night. There was a problem of dazzling the driver.

Here, if the brightness of the high mount stop lamp is lowered in advance, such a problem does not occur, but it is not desirable because the visibility during normal traveling is deteriorated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problem by reducing the brightness of the high mount stop lamp in a specific state.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention, as shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 1, shows a brake switch which is turned on when the brake pedal is depressed, and a vehicle speed value corresponding to zero vehicle speed. A vehicle speed detection circuit that generates a zero vehicle speed signal when the vehicle speed falls below a reference value, a light switch that is turned on when a lamp is lit, and a following vehicle approach detection switch that is turned on when a following vehicle is approaching A specific state determining means for determining a specific state of the vehicle when all of the traveling state detecting means are in an on-operation, and a brightness adjusting means for reducing the brightness of the high mount stop lamp when the vehicle is in the specific state. , Is provided.

(Operation) In the present invention, the high mount stop lamp is turned on with high brightness when the following vehicle is distant at night, while the high mount stop lamp is turned on with low brightness when the following vehicle approaches. Therefore, it is possible to secure both visibility for a driver of a following vehicle distant at night and prevent dazzling of a driver of a following vehicle approaching at night.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

2 to 3 are views showing an embodiment of a control device for a high mount stop lamp according to the present invention.

 First, the configuration will be described.

In FIG. 2, the traveling state detecting means 10 obtains a vehicle speed value based on a vehicle speed pulse signal from a brake switch 11 which is turned on (ON) when a brake pedal (not shown) is depressed, and a vehicle speed pulse signal from the vehicle speed sensor 12. A vehicle speed detection circuit 13 that generates a vehicle speed zero signal when the vehicle speed value falls below a reference value corresponding to almost zero vehicle speed, and a light switch that is turned on when a lamp, such as a small lamp, that is always used at night among the vehicle lamps 14 and a following vehicle approach detection switch that is turned on when the following vehicle is approaching and outputs a following vehicle approach signal (for example, a vehicle body behind obstacle detection device such as an ultrasonic sensor or the brightness of headlights of the following vehicle). A so-called automatic anti-glare mirror device or the like in which the reflectance of the interior mirror changes in accordance with the above; see FIG. 4). The signals (brake-o signal, zero vehicle speed signal and small lamp on signal) are input to the running state determination circuit 15 (running state determination means), and the running state determination circuit 15 receives all of the above signals, that is, When the brake is depressed, the vehicle speed is almost zero (stopped), the small lamp is lit (night), and the following vehicle is approaching, the brightness reduction instruction signal is output to the brightness adjustment circuit 16.

The brightness adjustment circuit 16 (brightness adjustment means) reduces the drive voltage of the high mount stop lamp 17 to 50% of the normal time when the brightness decrease instruction signal is input, and the high mount stop lamp 17 adjusts the brightness when the brake pedal is depressed. Circuit 16
It emits light with a brightness according to the magnitude of the drive voltage from the. Note that BATT in the figure represents the battery voltage.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the operation flow chart of FIG.

First, when the depression of the brake pedal is determined (step S1), the drive voltage of the high mount stop lamp 17 is set to
The lamp is lit at 100% (step S2), then the vehicle speed is determined to be zero (step S3), and at the same time, the lighting of the small lamp and the approaching vehicle are determined (step S4).

If the vehicle speed is zero, the small lamp is lit, and the following vehicle is approaching, the specific state of the vehicle is determined.
In such a specific state, the drive voltage of the high mount stop lamp 17 is reduced by 50% (step S5) to reduce the brightness.

Therefore, it is possible to visually recognize the stopped state without causing a driver of a vehicle approaching from the rear to be dazzled and by turning on the high mount stop lamp 17 by half.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the vehicle is stopped at night, the emission brightness of the high mount stop lamp 17 can be reduced by half, and the effect of preventing dazzling with respect to the vehicle behind can be obtained, and when the following vehicle is distant, The brightness of the high mount stop lamp is maximized (100%), and the effect of being able to secure the visibility of the following vehicle is obtained. That is, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the emission brightness of the high mount stop lamp 17 is, for example, in the period (I) when the vehicle behind is distant even when the vehicle is stopped at the same night. To
On the other hand, the light emission brightness can be reduced to 50%, for example, during the period (II) when the vehicle behind is approaching, and visibility from a distance can be secured while preventing dazzling when approaching.

Further, it is preferable to slightly delay the timing at which the emission brightness is lowered, because the visibility of the vehicle behind the rear vehicle can be secured.

It should be noted that in the above-mentioned embodiment, the emission luminance is set to 100% and 50%.
Although it is defined as a stage, it goes without saying that it is not limited to each stage value.

Further, it is desirable to reduce the brightness continuously as the vehicle behind approaches because the brightness of the high mount stop lamp can be smoothly changed.

(Effect) According to the present invention, when the following vehicle is distant at night, the high-mount stop lamp is turned on with high brightness, and when the following vehicle approaches, the high-mount stop lamp is turned on with low brightness. At the same time, it is possible to secure visibility for the driver of the following vehicle and prevent dazzling of the driver of the following vehicle approaching at night.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 5 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of a control device for a high mount stop lamp according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 is its configuration diagram, FIG. 3 is its operation flow diagram, FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram including the following vehicle approach signal, and FIG. 5 is its timing chart. 10 …… Running state detecting means, 15 …… Running state determining circuit (running state determining means), 16 …… Brightness adjusting circuit (brightness adjusting means), 17 …… High mount stop lamp.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A brake switch which is turned on when a brake pedal is depressed, a vehicle speed detection circuit which generates a vehicle speed zero signal when a vehicle speed value falls below a reference value corresponding to zero vehicle speed, a light switch which is turned on when a lamp is turned on, and A traveling state detection means including a following vehicle approach detection switch that is turned on when a following vehicle is approaching, and a specific state determination for determining a specific state of the vehicle when all of the traveling state detection means are turned on Means and when the vehicle is in a particular state,
A device for controlling a high mount stop lamp, comprising: a brightness adjusting means for reducing the brightness of the high mount stop lamp.