JP3508907B2 - Signal lights for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a signal lamp, such as a tail lamp, for notifying the vehicle condition to the outside. More specifically, the present invention relates to the structure of the signal lamp. , It is intended to further improve the notification effect.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional vehicle signal lamp 90. Basically, a light source 91 such as an incandescent lamp, an inner lens 92 which is a colorless Fresnel lens, and a red color. The outer lens 93 is composed of a plurality of convex lenses 93a, which are formed in the signal light color and have a relatively short focal length, which are called fish-eye lenses, and are combined in a planar shape. If necessary, the outer lens 93 may be covered with a cover lens or the like to match the vehicle body design.

The inner lens 92 is located at the focal point of the light source 91 and makes the light from the light source 91 incident on the outer lens 93 as substantially parallel rays. The outer lens 93 gives an appropriate divergence angle to the parallel rays, and the divergence angle allows confirmation of lighting of the vehicular signal lamp 90 from a wide range, that is, a light distribution characteristic is formed to radiate light to the outside. To do.

When the light source 91 is turned on in the vehicular signal lamp 90 having the above structure, it looks as if the respective convex lenses 93a are emitting light, and overall, the entire surface of the outer lens 93 is entirely illuminated. It looks like a flat plate, which means that even if the individual size or focal length of the convex lens 93a is changed within the range that satisfies the above-mentioned light distribution characteristics, there is a considerable change in the appearance. Absent.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional vehicular signal lamp 90 having the above-described structure, the cover lens or the like can bring out the design characteristic in the state where the vehicle signal lamp 90 is not lit during the daytime. However, when it is turned on at night, it can be recognized only in the flat plate shape in which the outer lens 93 is formed as described above, and it is difficult to express individuality such as vehicle type compared to daytime. However, the problem is that it is mediocre and low in attention.

[0006]

As a concrete means for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention comprises a light source, a reflecting mirror, an inner lens and an outer lens, and the reflecting mirror is composed of the light source. Of the light is reflected in the irradiation direction as substantially parallel light, the inner lens is in the optical path from the reflecting mirror, at least a part of which is a convex lens portion, a concave lens portion, a flat plate portion, or as a lens group in which they are mixed. At least a part of the outer lens is configured,
By providing a vehicular signal lamp characterized by being configured as a hologram optical element having a lens function of enlarging the inner lens, which has a substantially focus on the light source, a stereoscopic effect is given to a marking when it is turned on. To solve the problem.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a vehicular signal lamp 1 according to the present invention (hereinafter abbreviated as signal lamp 1) as a main part, and a reference numeral 2 in the figure denotes a light source such as an incandescent lamp. What is indicated by 3 is a reflecting mirror,
Reference numeral 4 is an inner lens, and reference numeral 5 is an outer lens.

At this time, the reflecting mirror 3 is formed as a paraboloid of revolution having a focus on the light source 2 and reflects the light from the light source 2 in the irradiation direction as substantially parallel light. Then, the inner lens 4 is placed in the parallel light from the reflecting mirror 3. At this time, the inner lens 4 is preferably provided with a lens group 41 according to the present invention, which will be described in detail below, in a central portion, and a fisheye lens 42 similar to the conventional example is provided in other portions. .

At this time, the first function of the lens group 41 is to appropriately diffuse parallel light incident from the reflecting mirror 3 similarly to the fisheye lens 42 provided in the other portion, for example, a tail lamp. The light distribution characteristics of the signal lamp 1 are formed. Therefore, the lens group 41
Is formed so as to be suitable for forming the above-mentioned light distribution characteristics, and is also formed so as to be suitable for the second function of the outer lens 5 described later.

Above, the light source 2, the reflecting mirror 3, and the lens group 4
The configuration and operation of the inner lens 4 having the above-mentioned No. 1 are basically the same as those of the signal lamp of the conventional example as described above, but in the present invention, the above-mentioned light source 2, reflecting mirror 3, inner lens 4 are provided. In addition to this, the outer lens 5 is provided.

At this time, the outer lens 5 is provided with a hologram optical element having a lens function, for example, a Fresnel hologram 6, at least in part.
Further, in the present invention, the position of the focal point of the Fresnel hologram 6 is set to substantially match the position of the light source 2. Further, in the present invention, the outer lens 5 itself is transparent.

Here, when the Fresnel hologram 6 is provided on the outer lens 5, a film-like member on which interference fringes are recorded on the photosensitive material or a transparent resin film is embossed to form fine irregularities to provide a hologram function. The Fresnel hologram 6 made of a film-shaped member having the above-mentioned shape and the outer lens 5 formed as a plain shape by a mold or the like may be separately formed, and both may be integrated by sticking or the like.

Further, in recent years, resin molding technology has been remarkably advanced and high-level molding is also possible. It may be integrally formed at the time of injection molding when forming the lens 5.

Next, the operation and effect of the above structure will be described. If the inner lens 4 is not present, the Fresnel hologram 6 provided on the surface of the outer lens 5 has its focus on the light source 2 as described above. The direct light incident on is emitted as parallel light and does not form an optical image in the vicinity of the signal lamp 1.

However, in reality, as shown in FIG. 2, between the light source 2 and the Fresnel hologram 6, for example, there are lens groups 41 each having a convex lens portion 41a, so that the light from the light source 2 is focused. Once converged at f, pseudo light source M
And then diverging and Fresnel hologram 6
Will be incident on.

As a result, a light image G1 is formed at a position different from where the inner lens 4 is present by the first-order diffracted light that does not impair the light amount of the pseudo light source M. At this time, the light image Gn and the like of the second-order, third-order, and higher-order diffracted lights of the Fresnel hologram 6 have a low brightness but are simultaneously generated.

At this time, although the inner lens 4 is enlarged by the Fresnel hologram 6 in a state in which the inner lens 4 is shining in a plane by the parallel light from the reflecting mirror 3, it seems that the inner lens 4 is slightly advanced, but it is originally installed. Since it is viewed from a position that does not differ so much from the
The inner lens 4 and the optical image G1 and the optical image Gn can be simultaneously viewed by the viewer, and a stereoscopic effect can be obtained on the light emitting surface of the signal lamp 1.

Here, the preferable conditions for obtaining the above-mentioned three-dimensional effect will be described. The focal point f of the convex lens portion 41a constituting the lens group 41 is the Fresnel hologram 6
It is desirable to be within the focal length of, in other words, between the light source 2 and the Fresnel hologram 6 (or the outer lens 5).

This is because the optical image of the pseudo light source M appears as a real image on the front side of the Fresnel hologram 6 outside the focal length, and the stereoscopic effect is impaired. However, in the case where another effect due to the real image appearing on the front side is expected, the focus f is not limited to this, and the focus f may be located outside the focal length of the Fresnel hologram 6.

As is apparent from the above description, the position where the light image G1 is generated is determined by the focal point f of the convex lens portion 41a (or the concave lens portion 41b which will be described later), that is, the position where the pseudo light source M is generated. Will be things. Therefore, by combining the lens groups 41 having different focal lengths, it is possible to generate a stereoscopic effect between the optical images G1.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the previous embodiment, the lens group 41 includes the convex lens portion 4
Although the present invention is not limited to this, the concave lens portion 4 is illustrated as shown in the figure.
It is also possible to freely form the lens 1b, and although not shown, it is also possible to form it by mixing the convex lens portion 41a and the concave lens portion 41b.

Here, when the concave lens portion 41b is formed, the position of the focal point f (pseudo light source M) is generated on the outer lens 5 side in the convex lens portion 41a, whereas it is generated on the light source 2 side in the concave lens portion 41b. Becomes Therefore, when the signal lamp 1 having the same appearance is formed with the same distance L from the Fresnel hologram 6 to the focal point f, the distance from the Fresnel hologram 6 to the inner lens 4 is (L + f) when the convex lens portion 41a is adopted. On the other hand, the concave lens portion 41b has (L−f), which allows the signal lamp 1 to be thin.

FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. In the previous embodiment, the lens group 41 is composed of only the convex lens portion 41a and the concave lens portion 41b, whichever has a focal point. However, in this embodiment, the convex lens portion 41a (or the concave lens portion 41b) having a focus is used.
The lens group 41 is composed of, for example, a flat plate portion 41c having a uniform plate thickness on the entire surface and having no focal point.

By doing so, the pseudo light source M does not occur in the portion formed as the flat plate portion 41c,
Therefore, the light image G1 generated by the pseudo light source M does not occur. This makes it possible to control the presence or absence of the optical image G1 by the configuration of the lens group 41 provided in the inner lens 4.

Therefore, for example, when the lens group 41 is arranged in a matrix in the vertical and horizontal directions, if the convex lens portion 41a or the concave lens portion 41b is arranged in a character shape or a drawing shape and the other portion is formed by the flat plate portion 41c, When the signal lamp 1 is turned on, characters and figures arranged on the surface of the lens group 41 are marked by the optical image G1.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the light source, the reflecting mirror, the inner lens, and the outer lens are formed, and the reflecting mirror reflects the light from the light source as substantially parallel light in the irradiation direction, The inner lens is in the optical path from the reflecting mirror, at least a part of which is a convex lens portion,
It is configured as a concave lens portion, a flat plate portion, or a lens group in which they are mixed, and at least a part of the outer lens is configured as a hologram optical element having a lens function of substantially focusing on the light source and enlarging the inner lens. Since it is a vehicular signal lamp, the function as a vehicular signal lamp is satisfied by the reflecting mirror and the inner lens, and the inner lens is formed in the front-rear direction by the hologram optical element and the inner lens provided in the outer lens. Light images are generated at different positions, which gives a three-dimensional effect to the markings when the vehicular signal lamp is lit, and has an extremely excellent effect in improving designability and attention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an essential part of an embodiment of a vehicular signal lamp according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram shown in a cross-sectional direction taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 ... Vehicle signal light 2 ... Light source 3 ... Reflector 4 ... Inner lens 41: Lens group 41a ... Convex lens part 41b: concave lens part 41c ... flat plate part 42 ... fisheye lens 5 ... Outer lens 6 ... Fresnel hologram M: Pseudo light source G1 ... Optical image by first-order diffraction

Front page continued (72) Inventor Kenichiro Takada 1-chome, Showa-cho, Kariya city, Aichi DENSO CORPORATION (72) Inventor Haruo Teraoka 5-33-8 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Kondo, 2-9-13 Nakameguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Within Stanley Electric Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-9-39653 (JP, A) JP-A-8-216778 (JP, A) JP-A-8-2318 (JP, A) JP-A-6-302203 (JP, A) JP-A-6-160632 (JP, A) JP-A-6-278528 (JP, A) Actual development Sho 63 −105201 (JP, U) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F21S 8/10 B60Q 1/00-1/56

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A light source, a reflecting mirror, an inner lens, and an outer lens, wherein the reflecting mirror reflects the light from the light source as substantially parallel light in the irradiation direction, and the inner lens is in the optical path from the reflecting mirror. And at least a part thereof is configured as a convex lens part, a concave lens part, a flat plate part, or a lens group in which they are mixed, and at least a part of the outer lens has a substantially focus on the light source and the inner lens A vehicular signal lamp, which is configured as a hologram optical element having a magnifying lens action. 2. The focal position of each lens group of the inner lens is located within the focal length of the hologram optical element of the outer lens.
The vehicle signal light described. 3. The hologram optical element according to claim 1, wherein the hologram optical element is a Fresnel hologram.
The vehicle signal light described. 4. The vehicle signal according to claim 1, wherein the Fresnel hologram is in the form of a film, and is integrated with the outer lens by pasting. Light fixture. 5. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the Fresnel hologram is integrally formed by the outer lens forming means when the outer lens is formed. Signal lights.