JP3128607B2 - Irradiation range control device for vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the irradiation range of a lighting fixture corresponding to the angle speed of a vehicle during turning and improve visibility during turning. SOLUTION: An irradiation range control device 1 for a vehicle lighting fixture has an angle speed detecting means 2 to detect the angle speed of a vehicle during turning and an angle speed comparing means 3 to compare the angle speed with a reference value and output a signal corresponding to whether the angle speed is in a preset range or not. With the signal from the angle speed comparing means 3, if the angle speed is out of a preset range, the control means 4 enlarges the irradiation range of the lighting fixture 5 mainly to the horizontal direction and, if the angle speed in a preset range, the control means 4 limits the irradiation range of the lighting fixture 5 to a preset range.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp capable of controlling the direction of the irradiation range of the lamp in accordance with the angular velocity at the time of turning the vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a device capable of controlling the extent of the irradiation range of a lamp when turning a vehicle. For example, in a lamp disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-115603, a reflector is fixed. By arranging a reflecting mirror and a movable reflecting mirror and rotating the movable reflecting mirror to change its irradiation direction, the irradiation light from the movable reflecting mirror and the irradiation light from the fixed reflecting mirror are combined, and the irradiation range in the horizontal direction Can be expanded.

Therefore, if the turning angle of the movable reflecting mirror is changed according to the steering angle of the vehicle, the irradiation range of the lamp can be increased as the steering angle of the vehicle increases.

[0004]

However, in the above-described apparatus, since the turning speed of the vehicle is not taken into consideration, the illumination range of the lamp is not always in a range suitable for the turning state of the vehicle. There is a problem that the situation can occur.

For example, even when the vehicle slowly changes direction to the left or right and when the vehicle changes direction quickly to the left or right, the illumination range of the lamp is the same if the steering angle is the same. However, in the former case, it is not necessary to increase the irradiation range so much, whereas in the latter case, it is better to increase the irradiation range to secure a wide viewing angle from the viewpoint of improving visibility. preferable.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to control the width of the illumination range of the lamp in accordance with the angular velocity at the time of turning of the vehicle, to improve the visibility at the time of turning, and to guarantee the safety of running of the vehicle. .

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method of irradiating a vehicular lamp in which the degree of irradiation range of the vehicular lamp is changed in accordance with a change in the turning angle of the vehicle. An angular velocity detecting means for detecting an angular velocity of a turning angle of the vehicle; and an angular velocity comparing means for comparing the angular velocity with a reference value and outputting a signal according to whether or not the angular velocity is within a predetermined range. When the angular velocity is out of the predetermined range according to a signal from the angular velocity comparison means, the irradiation range of the lamp is expanded mainly in the horizontal direction, and when the angular velocity is within the predetermined range, the irradiation range of the lamp is limited to the predetermined range. Control means for controlling the illumination range of the lamp when the angular velocity during turning of the vehicle is high.
The viewing angle is expanded by enlarging the surroundings.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the angular velocity related to the turning angle of the vehicle is detected and compared with a reference value, and the irradiation range of the lamp is expanded or limited to a predetermined range according to the comparison result. be able to.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle lighting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of the present invention. An irradiation range control device 1 comprises an angular velocity detecting means 2, an angular velocity comparing means 3, a control means 4, and a lamp 5.

The angular velocity detecting means 2 detects an angular velocity relating to the turning angle of the vehicle, and a detection signal is sent to an angular velocity comparing means 3 where it is compared with a predetermined reference value.

That is, a signal binarized in accordance with whether or not the level of the detection signal relating to the angular velocity is equal to or higher than the reference value is obtained by the angular velocity comparing means 3 and sent to the control means 4. As for the number of reference values to be set, generally, two reference values indicating the upper and lower limits of a predetermined range, or a plurality of reference values can be set when a hysteresis characteristic is given to the comparison operation.

The set value of the reference value can be the same value when the vehicle makes a left turn and when it makes a right turn. Alternatively, when right-hand traffic is determined, it is preferable that the reference value for the left turn and the reference value for the right turn be different. For example, in the case of left-hand traffic, when the reference value is a constant value irrelevant to the turning direction of the vehicle,
Although the change in the illumination range of the lamp during turning becomes the same between a left turn and a right turn, it is preferable to enlarge the illumination range of the lamp and increase the viewing angle when turning right at an intersection or the like. For this purpose, it is effective to make the reference value at the time of turning right smaller than the reference value at the time of turning left.

A road in which the repetition of a curved road continues, for example, as shown in FIG.
When the vehicle travels, the angular velocity becomes zero or a small value near zero at the point where the vehicle approaches a corner and the turning direction switches, such as points P, P, so that the lamps that have been spread up to that point are irradiated. Since the range is immediately limited to the predetermined range, a problem occurs in visibility as it is. Therefore, in order to avoid such inconvenience, search for an appropriate value for the reference value, or detect the time when the angular velocity is zero or a small value, and irradiate the illumination range of the lamp only when this is longer than a predetermined time. Can be used in a control method that limits the value to a predetermined range.

That is, when traveling on a curved road such as an S-shaped road,
Since the time when the angular velocity is zero or a small value is short, if the time is shorter than the predetermined time, the illumination range of the lamp is not limited to the predetermined range, and the viewing angle changes at the switching point of the turning direction. Will not be done.

The control means 4 receives the signal from the angular velocity comparing means 3 and expands the irradiation range of the lamp 5 mainly in the horizontal direction when the angular velocity exceeds a predetermined range (in some cases, in the vertical direction). When the angular velocity is within a predetermined value, the irradiation range of the lamp 5 is limited to a predetermined range.

The method of controlling the irradiation range of the lamp 5 by the control means 4 can be roughly classified into the following two methods.

1) A method of combining irradiation ranges by a plurality of lamps 2) A method of changing an irradiation range by moving a part of a constituent part of a lamp.

First, in the method 1), for example, two lamps having different irradiation ranges are provided in a vehicle, and as shown in FIG.
The irradiation range may be expanded in the left-right direction by combining the irradiation pattern 7 with the other lamp. That is, when the angular velocity is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, both lamps are turned on to expand the irradiation range, and when the angular velocity is lower than the predetermined value, only the lamp related to the irradiation pattern 6 is turned on and the irradiation range is increased. May be limited to a predetermined range. In FIG. 3, “HH” indicates a horizontal line, and “VV” indicates a vertical line.

According to the method 1), a desired irradiation range can be obtained by selecting some of a plurality of lamps having different irradiation ranges, but the apparatus including the lamps becomes large-scale. Therefore, when it is necessary to simplify the configuration, the method 2) may be used.

That is, a general configuration of a lamp includes a reflecting mirror, a lens, a light source, and sometimes a shade, and as is apparent from the fact that these form an optical system,
By moving any or some of these components, the illumination range of the lamp can be changed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the reflecting mirror 8 is composed of a fixed reflecting mirror 9 and a movable reflecting mirror 10, and the movable reflecting mirror 10 is turned around a light source in a horizontal plane by the control means 4. Thus, the irradiation range can be changed (the irradiation pattern 6 in FIG. 3 corresponds to the pattern by the fixed reflecting mirror 9, and the irradiation pattern 7 corresponds to the pattern by the movable reflecting mirror 10).

As a method of utilizing the movement of the lens, for example, the relative positional relationship between the two lenses can be adjusted, and the degree of diffusion of the irradiation light can be freely controlled by controlling the driving of the lenses. An example of such a lighting device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-37405.

Further, the control means 4 may move a shade provided to block a part of the light of the light source, thereby changing the irradiation range of the lamp.

In addition, by moving only the light source, or moving the reflecting mirror and the light source, the lens and the reflecting mirror, or the lens and the shade together, the direction of the irradiating light is changed left and right and / or up and down. Various embodiments are possible depending on the combination of the optical components of the lamp.

[0026]

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of an irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows an example of a circuit configuration of the angular velocity detection means 2 and the angular velocity comparison means 3 in the irradiation range control apparatus 1 shown in FIG. It shows.

A stable power supply voltage from a constant voltage circuit 12 is supplied to a gyro sensor 11 provided in the vehicle as the angular velocity detecting means 2 described above.
An output signal of the gyro sensor 11, that is, a detection signal indicating the angular velocity at the time of turning the vehicle, is sent to two comparators 13 and 14 corresponding to the angular velocity comparing means 3.

That is, the output terminal of the gyro sensor 11 is grounded via the resistor 15 and is grounded via the resistor 16 and the capacitor 17 connected in parallel to the resistor 15. The voltage is input to the plus input terminal of the comparator 13 and the minus input terminal of the comparator 14.

A reference voltage obtained by dividing the voltage generated by the constant voltage circuit 12 by resistors 18, 19 and 20 is supplied to the minus input terminal of the comparator 13 and the plus input terminal of the comparator 14, respectively. The negative input terminal is connected between the resistors 18 and 19, and the positive input terminal of the comparator 14 is connected between the resistors 19 and 20.

The outputs of these comparators 13 and 14 are supplied to the base of a common-emitter NPN transistor 23 via an OR (sum) circuit composed of diodes 21 and 22.
Output terminal 2 as two output signals via
5, 25 '. That is, the two output signals are sent to the control means 4 as signals for controlling the irradiation ranges of the left and right lamps attached to the vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the above-described circuit. The diagram shown in the upper part shows a temporal change in the voltage detected by the gyro sensor 11 (this is referred to as "Vgy") and comparators 13 and 14. (These are referred to as “Vref1” and “Vref2”, respectively).
(<Vref1). ), And the lower diagram shows the on / off state of the transistor 23 corresponding to the temporal change of the detection voltage Vgy (this is referred to as “Tr (23)”).
It is written. ).

As shown in FIG. 5, the gyro sensor 1
The detection voltage Vgy of 1 is input to comparators 13 and 14 via a filter circuit including a resistor 16 and a capacitor 17, where it is compared with reference voltages Vref1 and Vref2. That is, when Vref2 ≦ Vgy ≦ Vref1, both output signals of the comparators 13 and 14 are L
Since the signal becomes a (low) signal, the transistor 23 is turned off. When Vgy <Vref2, the output signal of the comparator 13 becomes an L signal, and the output signal of the comparator 14 becomes an H (high) signal, turning on the transistor 23. When Vgy> Vref1, the output signal of the comparator 13 is turned off. The output signal becomes the H signal and the output signal of the comparator 14 becomes the L signal, and the transistor 23 is turned on. As described above, when the detection voltage Vgy is within the predetermined range, the transistor 23 is turned off, and the detection voltage Vg
When y deviates from the predetermined range, the transistor 23 is turned on.

Therefore, the illumination range control means 4 of the lamp increases the illumination range during the ON period of the transistor 23,
If the irradiation range is controlled to be limited to a predetermined range in the off period of the transistor 23, the viewing angle is widened when the angular velocity during turning of the vehicle is large.

In FIG. 5, by shifting the levels of the reference voltages Vref1 and Vref2 up and down by setting the resistance values of the voltage dividing resistors 18 and 20, the angular velocity when the transistor 23 is turned on when the vehicle turns left is It is possible to change the setting so that the size becomes different between when turning right and when turning right.This makes it possible to change the switching point of the illumination range of the lamp between wide and narrow according to the difference in turning direction when traveling on a curved road. In addition, appropriate irradiation range control can be performed in accordance with leftward traveling or rightward traveling stipulated by road traffic regulations.

Further, by using the circuit 26 as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to appropriately control the change in the irradiation range of the lamp when the vehicle is traveling on a curved road.

In the figure, the circuit configuration from the gyro sensor 11 to the transistor 23 via the comparators 13 and 14 is the same as the configuration shown in FIG.
The collector of the transistor 23 is connected to the output terminal of the constant voltage circuit 12 via a resistor 27, and is grounded via a resistor 28 and a capacitor 29. The cathode of a diode 30 connected in parallel with the resistor 28 Is connected to the collector, and the anode thereof is connected between the resistor 28 and the capacitor 29.

Then, the terminal voltage of the capacitor 29 is supplied to the base of the common emitter NPN transistor 32 via the resistor 31. The collector of the transistor 32 is connected to the output terminal of the constant voltage circuit 12 via a resistor 33 and to the base of a common emitter NPN transistor 34 provided at the subsequent stage. , 35 ′ to output two output signals from the output terminals 36 and 36 ′, respectively.

Therefore, in this circuit 26, when the transistor 23 is turned on, the charge stored in the capacitor 29 is quickly discharged through the diode 30, so that the transistor 32 is turned off and the transistor 3 is turned off.
4 is turned on. When the transistor 23 is turned off, the capacitor 29 is connected via the resistor 28.
Is performed, the transistor 32 is turned on after a lapse of a predetermined time, so that the transistor 34 is turned off with a time delay from the time when the transistor 23 is turned off.

In this circuit, the change of the transistor 34 from the OFF state to the ON state, that is, the transition from the state where the irradiation range of the lamp is limited to a predetermined range to the state where the irradiation range is expanded, is performed promptly. The change from the on state of the transistor 34 to the off state, that is, the transition from the state where the irradiation range of the lamp is expanded to the state where the irradiation range is limited to a predetermined range involves a time delay.

Therefore, when traveling on a curved road such as an S-shaped road, in which the left-right turning of the vehicle is frequently repeated in a short time, the irradiation range of the lamp is immediately reduced at the place where the turning direction is switched. , The viewing angle required for traveling can be secured.

[0041]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the angular velocity related to the turning angle of the vehicle is detected and compared with a reference value, and according to the comparison result, Since the irradiation range of the lamp can be expanded or limited to a predetermined range, the irradiation range of the lamp can be appropriately controlled according to the turning speed of the vehicle.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the reference value of the angular velocity comparison means is set to a different value when the vehicle turns to the left and when the vehicle turns to the right. When traveling on the left or right side of the road, even when the angular velocity at the time of turning is the same, by changing the time point when the irradiation range of the lamp changes according to the turning direction, the appropriate irradiation range according to the turning direction is changed. Obtainable.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, only when the angular velocity comparing means determines that the time during which the angular velocity is within the predetermined range of zero or in the vicinity thereof is equal to or longer than the predetermined time,
The irradiation range of the lamp is limited to a predetermined range by a signal transmitted from the angular velocity comparison unit to the control unit, so that the irradiation range does not change unnecessarily at the time of changing the turning direction when traveling on a curved road, Driving safety can be guaranteed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining control of an irradiation range when traveling on a curved road.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining expansion of an irradiation range of a lamp.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for describing control of an illumination range of a lamp by a movable reflecting mirror.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment according to the present invention together with FIG. 6, and this figure is a circuit diagram.

FIG. 6 is a graph for explaining the operation.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example in which delay means is added to the circuit of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Irradiation range control device, 2 ... Angular velocity detection means, 3 ... Angular velocity comparison means, 4 ... Control means, 5 ... Lamp

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp, wherein the degree of the irradiation range of the lamp is changed in accordance with a change in the turning angle of the vehicle, the angular speed detecting the angular speed of the turning angle of the vehicle. Detecting means, an angular velocity comparing means for comparing the angular velocity with a reference value and outputting a signal according to whether or not the angular velocity is within a predetermined range; and a case where the angular velocity is out of the predetermined range by a signal from the angular velocity comparing means. the irradiation range of the lamp expanded mainly in the horizontal direction, angular velocity and a control means for limiting the irradiation range of the lamp in a predetermined range if it is within a predetermined range, the lamp when the angular velocity at the time of vehicle turning is greater The irradiation range of
An irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp, wherein a viewing angle is greatly expanded . 2. The irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the reference value of the angular velocity comparing means is different between when the vehicle turns to the left and when the vehicle turns to the right. An irradiation range control device for a vehicular lamp. 3. The irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the angular velocity comparing means determines that the time during which the angular velocity is within a predetermined range of zero or near zero is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. An irradiation range control device for a vehicle lamp, wherein the irradiation range of the lamp is limited to a predetermined range by a signal sent from the angular velocity comparing unit to the control unit only when the operation is performed.