JP4306416B2 - Vehicle lighting control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle illumination control device, and more particularly, to a vehicle illumination control device that includes an illumination lamp disposed on a vehicle door and is suitable for lighting the illumination lamp when the vehicle door is opened. .

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a vehicle illumination control device including an illumination lamp such as an LED disposed on a vehicle door (for example, see Patent Document 1). This device turns off the illumination lamp when the vehicle door is completely closed, and turns on the illumination lamp to emit light toward the rear of the vehicle when the vehicle door is open. Therefore, according to this device, it is possible to warn the driver or the like of the succeeding vehicle following the own vehicle that the door of the own vehicle has been opened using the illumination lamp.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-75896

  By the way, as the surroundings of the vehicle become darker at night or the like, it becomes difficult for the driver of the succeeding vehicle to visually recognize the opening of the door of the own vehicle, so that the safety of the vehicle traveling on the road decreases. On the other hand, in the above conventional apparatus, the illumination lamp is lit in a constant lighting state regardless of the surrounding conditions of the host vehicle, and the lighting state is not changed. In this respect, in this configuration, particularly when the host vehicle is traveling on a main trunk road with a large amount of traffic or when a following vehicle is approaching the host vehicle, it is effective as a lighting warning indicating the opening of the vehicle door. There may be situations where it is not fully utilized.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and improves the safety of road travel by a vehicle by improving the visibility related to the opening of the own vehicle door with respect to the following vehicle following the own vehicle when the vehicle door is opened at night. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lighting control device with improved performance.

The above object is achieved by a vehicle lighting control device comprising an illumination lamp disposed in the vehicle both doors, an illumination lighting means for lighting the illumination lamp when the vehicle door is opened, the vehicle Brightness / darkness determination means for determining whether or not the surrounding brightness is darker than a predetermined value, and whether or not the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a main trunk road or an urban road with a traffic volume exceeding a predetermined value When the affirmative determination is made by both the road determination means and the light / dark determination means and the road determination means, compared to the case where a negative determination is made by at least one of the light / dark determination means and the road determination means, It is achieved by a vehicle lighting control device comprising lighting state changing means for increasing lighting brightness of the lighting lamp when the lighting lamp is turned on by the lighting lighting means.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, the lighting state of the illumination lamp that is turned on when the vehicle door is opened is changed according to the surrounding environment of the host vehicle. In this regard, if the brightness of the illumination lamp is set to be relatively low during the day and relatively high at night, a lighting display indicating the opening of the vehicle door with respect to the following vehicle is easily recognized when the vehicle door is opened at night. As a result, the visibility of the opening is improved, and the safety of road traveling by the vehicle is improved.

Further, in the present invention, when the vehicle door is opened at night on a main trunk road or a city area where the traffic volume is relatively large, the lighting display indicating the opening of the vehicle door with respect to the following vehicle becomes easy to be recognized. The visibility of the vehicle is improved, and the safety of the road traveling by the vehicle is improved.

In this case, in the above-described vehicle lighting control device, the road discrimination means is configured to discriminate the road based on the map information around the current position of the host vehicle stored in the map database or the image captured by the camera. That's fine.

The above object is also provided in a vehicle lighting control apparatus comprising: an illumination lamp disposed on a vehicle door; and an illumination lighting unit that lights the illumination lamp when the vehicle door is opened. a brightness determination unit configured brightness around the vehicle is determined whether or not the dark than the predetermined, the following vehicle discriminating means for following vehicles following the vehicle is judged whether or not there, before Symbol brightness determination When the affirmative determination is made by both the means and the following vehicle determination means , the illumination lighting means causes the illumination to be compared with the case where a negative determination is made by at least one of the light / dark determination means and the subsequent vehicle determination means It is achieved by a vehicle lighting control device comprising lighting state changing means for increasing the lighting brightness of the lighting lamp when the lamp is turned on .
In the invention of this embodiment, when the following vehicle at night vehicle door in a situation approaching the vehicle is opened, and this the lighting display showing the opening of the vehicle door with respect to the following vehicle is easily recognized, that The visibility of opening is improved, and the safety of road driving by the vehicle is improved.

In this case, in the above-described vehicle lighting control device, the subsequent vehicle determination unit is configured to determine whether the subsequent vehicle is based on traffic jam information supplied from an infrastructure, a captured image by a camera, or light amount information incident on the inner mirror from the rear of the vehicle. It is sufficient to perform the determination.

According to the first and second aspects of the invention, by changing the lighting state of the lighting lamp according to the surrounding environment of the host vehicle, when the vehicle door is opened at night, The visibility of opening can be improved, and thereby the safety of road traveling by the vehicle can be improved.

In particular , when a vehicle door is opened at night on a main trunk road or an urban area where traffic is relatively high, the visibility of the opening of the vehicle door to the following vehicle can be improved. Can be improved.

According to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, when the vehicle door is opened in the situation where the following vehicle approaches the host vehicle at night, the visibility of the opening of the vehicle door with respect to the following vehicle is improved. Thereby, the safety of road driving by the vehicle can be improved.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an in-vehicle system including a vehicle lighting control apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, FIG. 2 shows the figure which showed the arrangement | positioning position in the vehicle of the illumination lamp which the illumination control apparatus 10 for vehicles of a present Example has. As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle system of this embodiment includes an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as a control ECU) 12, and the control ECU 12 controls lighting / extinguishing of the illumination lamp.

  The vehicle illumination control device 10 includes a courtesy lamp 14 as an illumination lamp. The courtesy lamp 14 is disposed, for example, on the inner surface side or the end of each vehicle door 16 of the vehicle. The vehicle door 16 is a swing type door that swings with one end as a fulcrum when opening and closing as shown in FIG. When the corresponding vehicle door 16 is opened, the courtesy lamp 14 brightens the feet of passengers getting on and off, and the function of notifying the driver of the succeeding vehicle approaching the host vehicle from the rear that the vehicle door 16 is opened. have. The courtesy lamp 14 is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that lights in white or red, and is configured such that its lighting luminance can be changed by switching the applied voltage. Each courtesy lamp 14 of each vehicle door 16 is connected to the control ECU 12 and is controlled to be turned on / off by a command from the control ECU 12.

  A courtesy switch 18 provided for each vehicle door 16 is connected to the control ECU 12. The courtesy switch 18 is a switch that is turned off (opened) when the corresponding vehicle door 16 is completely closed, and is turned on (closed) when the vehicle door 16 is opened. The control ECU 12 detects the state of each courtesy switch 18 and detects the open / closed state of all the vehicle doors 16. Then, for each vehicle door 16, the control ECU 12 turns off the corresponding courtesy lamp 14 when the courtesy switch 18 is off, and turns on the corresponding courtesy lamp 14 when the courtesy switch 18 is on. Execute.

  An operation switch 20 and an automatic door actuator 22 provided for each vehicle door 16 are also connected to the control ECU 12. Each operation switch 20 is provided in the vehicle interior, maintains an off state (open state) in a normal state, and is in an on state (closed) to automatically open the corresponding vehicle door 16 when operated by a vehicle occupant. ON / OFF switch to be in a state). The control ECU 12 detects the state of the operation switch 20. When the control ECU 12 determines that the operation switch 20 has been operated based on the state of the operation switch 20, the control ECU 12 drives the automatic door actuator 22 so that the vehicle door 16 corresponding to the operation switch 20 is automatically opened. Command and activate the automatic door function. Each automatic door actuator 22 realizes an automatic door function that shifts the corresponding vehicle door 16 from a closed state to a complete open state in accordance with a command from the control ECU 12.

  The control ECU 12 is further connected to a concite sensor 26, a body ECU 28, and a navigation ECU 30 via a LAN (Local Area Network) 24. The conlight sensor 26 is disposed at the upper part of the instrument panel in the vehicle interior. The conlight sensor 26 is a light receiving sensor that has a sensitivity in the visible region and outputs a signal corresponding to the brightness around the host vehicle, that is, the illuminance. The output signal of the concite sensor 26 is supplied to the body ECU 28. The body ECU 28 detects the brightness around the host vehicle based on the output signal from the lite sensor 26, and determines the surrounding brightness, that is, day and night based on whether the brightness is darker than a predetermined value. Based on the determination result, lighting / extinguishing of the headlight and taillight of the vehicle is controlled. If the body ECU 28 determines that the surrounding area of the host vehicle is relatively dark, the body ECU 28 outputs a signal indicating the state to the control ECU 12. The control ECU 12 determines the brightness around the host vehicle based on the signal supplied from the body ECU 28.

  The navigation ECU 30 is connected to a map database 32 composed of a DVD, CD, hard disk or the like. The map database 32 stores map information on the position (latitude, longitude, etc.) of each point on the road where the vehicle can travel, and it is estimated that the traffic volume is more than a predetermined amount for each road. Information that distinguishes between main roads such as automobile roads, national roads, and prefectural roads, and information that distinguishes roads in urban areas that are pre-determined in certain areas where traffic is estimated to be greater than a predetermined amount Stored. The map database 32 need not be mounted on the vehicle, but may be mounted on a center capable of wireless communication with the vehicle and provide the vehicle with map information stored therein at a predetermined timing.

  The navigation ECU 30 is a GPS receiver that receives a signal (GPS data) from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, and a signal (INS (Inertial Navigation Sensor) data) that corresponds to the traveling direction of the yaw, roll, pitch, etc. of the vehicle Is connected to the gyro sensor. The navigation ECU 30 measures the current position (specifically, latitude, longitude, altitude) of the host vehicle based on the GPS data received by the GPS receiver, and the progress of the host vehicle based on the INS data output by the gyro sensor. The direction is detected, and the detected current position data and the traveling direction data are merged to detect an accurate current position of the host vehicle. Then, the detected current position of the vehicle is displayed in accordance with a designated scale, if necessary, in the surrounding road map read from the map database 32 in the navigation mode of the display monitor provided in the passenger compartment. When displaying on the monitor, it is displayed superimposed on the road map on the image.

  Further, the information stored in the map database 32 is read by a command from the navigation ECU 30. After detecting the current position of the host vehicle, the navigation ECU 30 reads information on roads around the current position from the map database 32 and determines whether the road is a main trunk road or an urban road as described above. When the navigation ECU 30 determines that the road on which the vehicle is currently located is a main trunk road or a city road, the navigation ECU 30 outputs a signal indicating the state to the control ECU 12. Based on the signal supplied from the navigation ECU 30, the control ECU 12 determines whether or not the road located at the current time of the host vehicle is a main trunk road or a city road with a relatively large amount of traffic.

  By the way, when the vehicle door 16 of a stopped vehicle is opened as the road illumination is less and the surroundings of the vehicle become darker, such as at night, the driver of the following vehicle becomes difficult to visually recognize the opening. Sex declines. In this regard, it is possible to notify the driver of the following vehicle that the vehicle door 16 has been opened by lighting the courtesy lamp 14, but at this time, the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 is always independent of the environment around the vehicle. Assuming that the vehicle is maintained in a constant state, particularly on main trunk roads and city roads with relatively large traffic volumes, there may occur a situation in which the effect as a lighting warning indicating the opening of the vehicle door 16 is not sufficiently exhibited. Therefore, the vehicle lighting control device 10 of the present embodiment is characterized in that the lighting luminance when the courtesy lamp 14 is turned on is changed according to the environment around the vehicle in order to suppress the occurrence of such a situation. ing.

  FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by the control ECU 12 in the vehicle lighting control device 10 of this embodiment in order to control the lighting / extinguishing of the courtesy lamp 14 provided for each vehicle door 16. The routine shown in FIG. 3 is a routine that is repeatedly activated every predetermined time. When the routine shown in FIG. 3 is started, first, the process of step 100 is executed.

  In step 100, it is determined for each vehicle door 16 whether the vehicle door 16 is open based on the state of the courtesy switch 18. As a result, when it is determined that the vehicle door 16 is not opened and is completely closed, the current routine is terminated without any further processing. On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle door 16 is open, the process of step 102 is executed next.

  In step 102, whether or not the brightness of the surroundings of the host vehicle detected using the conlight sensor 26 based on the signal from the body ECU 28 is relatively dark, that is, whether it is the present night or the road lighting is It is determined whether or not it is low. As a result, if it is determined that the surroundings are bright in the daytime, the process of step 104 is executed next. On the other hand, when it is determined that the surroundings are dark at night, the process of step 106 is executed next.

  In step 104, a predetermined voltage is applied to the courtesy lamp 14 provided on the vehicle door 16 that is determined to be opened in step 100, so that the courtesy lamp 14 is turned on with normal brightness. Is done. When the process of step 104 is completed, the current routine is terminated.

  In step 106, it is determined whether the road located at the current time of the vehicle is a main trunk road or a city road with a relatively large traffic volume based on information stored in the map database 32 based on a signal from the navigation ECU 30. The As a result, if a negative determination is made, the process of step 104 is performed next, and the courtesy lamp 14 is lit with normal luminance. On the other hand, if a positive determination is made, the process of step 108 is then executed.

  In step 108, a voltage higher than the predetermined voltage by a predetermined value is applied to the courtesy lamp 14 provided on the vehicle door 16 that is determined to be opened in step 100, so that the brightness is higher than normal. Processing to turn on the courtesy lamp 14 is executed. When the processing of step 108 is completed, the current routine is terminated.

  According to the routine shown in FIG. 3, when the vehicle door 16 is opened, the courtesy lamp 14 corresponding to the vehicle door 16 can be turned on. When the lighting brightness at the time of lighting is relatively dark around the vehicle and the traveling road is a main trunk road or an urban road, the surrounding area of the vehicle is relatively bright or the traveling road is neither a main trunk road nor an urban road Can be raised higher than

  In such a configuration, when the vehicle door 16 is opened at night when the surroundings are relatively dark on a main trunk road or a city road with a relatively large traffic volume, the driver of the following vehicle is notified that the vehicle door 16 has been opened. The lighting display for notification becomes easier to recognize than the lighting display with normal luminance. Therefore, according to the vehicle lighting control device 10 of the present embodiment, the visibility of the opening of the host vehicle door 16 from the driver of the succeeding vehicle, which is reduced due to the surroundings becoming dark, This can be improved by increasing the brightness, thereby reducing the effect of a lighting warning indicating the opening of the vehicle door 16 when traveling on a main trunk road or a city road with a relatively large traffic volume at night. It is possible to make full use of it.

  On the other hand, if the lighting of the courtesy lamp 14 is too high when the road lighting is sufficiently secured during the daytime or on a road with a small amount of traffic, the lighting display becomes dazzling for the driver of the following vehicle, and the vehicle There is also a possibility that the visibility of opening of the door 16 is lowered. On the other hand, in the configuration of the above-described embodiment, even if the vehicle door 16 is opened when the surroundings are relatively bright or the traveling road is not a main highway or a city road with a relatively large traffic volume, the courtesy The lighting brightness of the lamp 14 is maintained as usual. For this reason, according to the vehicle lighting control device 10 of the present embodiment, the anti-glare effect relating to the lighting display indicating the opening of the vehicle door 16 is ensured when the road illumination is sufficiently secured or on a road with a small amount of traffic. It is possible to exhibit the effect of the lighting warning sufficiently and sufficiently.

  Thus, according to the system of the present embodiment, lighting at the time of lighting of the courtesy lamp 14 depends on whether or not the condition that the surroundings of the vehicle is relatively dark and the traveling road is a main trunk road or an urban road is satisfied. By changing the brightness, it is possible to maintain and improve safety when the vehicle travels on the road.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the vehicle door 16 is a so-called automatic door and may be automatically opened by the operation of the operation switch 20 without being pressed by the vehicle occupant to the opening side. Since the brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 increases when the automatic door operates during night driving on a relatively large number of main roads and urban roads, the visibility of the opening of the vehicle door 16 from the following vehicle is improved, and the vehicle travels. Maintenance and improvement of safety can be effectively obtained.

  In the first embodiment, the courtesy lamp 14 corresponds to the “illumination lamp” recited in the claims, and the control ECU 12 performs the processing of step 104 or 108 in the routine shown in FIG. The “illumination lighting means” described in the claims by executing the step, the “ambient environment detection means” and the “light / dark discrimination means” described in the claims by executing the processing of step 102 By executing the processing of 106, the “surrounding environment detection means” and the “road discrimination means” described in the claims change the lighting brightness when the courtesy lamp 14 is turned on according to the processing results of steps 102 and 106. By doing so, the “lighting state changing means” described in the claims is realized.

  By the way, in the first embodiment, detection of main trunk roads and city roads having a relatively large traffic volume is performed using a navigation system having a map database 32 in which such information is stored. However, the camera is not limited to this, and a camera for photographing the surroundings is arranged on the vehicle, and the camera is used to photograph road signs, lanes, road signals, etc. for distinguishing automobile-only roads, national roads, prefectural roads, etc. By processing the captured image, it may be detected according to a predetermined rule whether the road on which the vehicle is currently located is a main trunk road or a city road with a relatively large traffic volume. In this case, when the control ECU 12 performs such detection, the “ambient environment detection means” and the “road discrimination means” described in the claims are realized.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 together with FIGS.

  In the first embodiment described above, as the environment around the vehicle, the traffic volume on the traveling road is used together with the brightness around the vehicle. On the other hand, the vehicle lighting control device 50 of the present embodiment uses the presence or absence of the following vehicle instead of the traffic on the traveling road as the environment around the vehicle, and the control ECU 12 in FIG. This is realized by executing the routine shown in FIG. 5 instead of the routine shown.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an in-vehicle system including the vehicle lighting control device 50 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted or simplified. That is, in this embodiment, a VICS (Vehicle Information & Communication System) -ECU 52 is connected to the control ECU 12 through the LAN 24 together with the concrite sensor 26, the body ECU 28, and the navigation ECU 30.

  The VICS-ECU 52 has an antenna that receives various information (VICS information) including traffic jam information transmitted from radio wave beacons, optical beacons, and FM multiplex broadcasts as infrastructure facilities. When receiving the VICS information transmitted from the infrastructure facility with the antenna, the VICS-ECU 52 transfers the VICS information to the navigation ECU 30. When the navigation ECU 30 receives the VICS information transferred from the VICS-ECU 52 and determines that the traffic information is included in the VICS information, the navigation ECU 30 determines whether or not the road where the vehicle is currently located is included in the traffic congestion section. Is determined. When it is determined that the current position is included in the traffic jam section, a signal indicating the state is output to the control ECU 12. The control ECU 12 detects that the current position of the host vehicle is included in the traffic jam section based on a signal supplied from the navigation ECU 30, and determines that there is a subsequent vehicle following the host vehicle.

  A back camera 54 is further connected to the control ECU 12. The back camera 54 is disposed, for example, on a bumper, a back door, or the like at the rear of the vehicle, and captures a predetermined area extending rearward of the vehicle. The captured image captured by the back camera 54 is supplied to the control ECU 12. The control ECU 12 performs image processing on the captured image supplied from the back camera 54, and determines whether there is a subsequent vehicle approaching from the rear of the host vehicle according to a predetermined rule.

  By the way, as described above, the darker the vehicle surroundings, such as at night, the more difficult it is for the driver of the following vehicle to visually recognize the opening when the vehicle door 16 of the preceding vehicle that has stopped is opened. Safety is reduced. In this respect, in this embodiment as well, it is possible to notify the driver of the succeeding vehicle that the vehicle door 16 has been opened by lighting the courtesy lamp 14, but at this time, the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 indicates the following vehicle. Assuming that the vehicle is always maintained in a constant state regardless of the presence or absence of the vehicle, when there is a following vehicle, there may occur a situation where the effect as a lighting warning indicating the opening of the vehicle door 16 is not sufficiently exhibited. Therefore, the vehicle lighting control device 50 according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the lighting brightness when the courtesy lamp 14 is turned on is changed according to the environment around the vehicle in order to suppress the occurrence of such a situation. ing.

  FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by the control ECU 12 in the vehicle lighting control device 50 of the present embodiment in order to control the lighting / extinguishing of the courtesy lamp 14 provided for each vehicle door 16. The routine shown in FIG. 5 is a routine that is repeatedly activated every predetermined time. In the routine shown in FIG. 5, steps for executing the same processing as the routine shown in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted or simplified. That is, when it is determined in step 102 that the surroundings of the vehicle are dark at night, the process of step 120 is executed next.

  In step 120, it is determined whether or not there is a subsequent vehicle approaching from the rear of the host vehicle based on a signal from the navigation ECU 30 or an image captured by the back camera 54. As a result, if a negative determination is made, then in step 104, processing is performed to turn on the courtesy lamp 14 provided on the vehicle door 16 that has been determined to be opened in step 100 with normal brightness. . On the other hand, if an affirmative determination is made, then in step 108, a process of lighting the courtesy lamp 14 provided on the vehicle door 16 determined to be opened in step 100 with higher brightness than normal is performed. Executed.

  According to the routine shown in FIG. 5, when the vehicle door 16 is opened, the courtesy lamp 14 corresponding to the vehicle door 16 can be turned on. The lighting brightness at the time of lighting is relatively dark when the surroundings of the vehicle are relatively dark and there is a succeeding vehicle following the own vehicle, compared to when the surroundings of the vehicle is relatively bright or there is no following vehicle following the own vehicle. Can be raised higher.

  In such a configuration, when the following vehicle approaches at night or the like when the surroundings of the vehicle are relatively dark, the lighting display for notifying the driver of the following vehicle that the vehicle door 16 has been opened is compared with the lighting display with normal luminance. It becomes easy to be recognized. Therefore, according to the vehicle lighting control device 50 of the present embodiment, as with the vehicle lighting control device 10 of the first embodiment, the driver of the succeeding vehicle decreases due to the surroundings becoming dark. The visibility of the opening of the host vehicle door 16 can be improved by increasing the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14, so that a lighting warning indicating the opening of the vehicle door 16 when the following vehicle is approaching at night. It is possible to fully exhibit without reducing the effect of.

  In addition, when sufficient road lighting is ensured in the daytime or the like, if the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 is too high, the lighting display becomes dazzling for the driver of the following vehicle. Furthermore, when there is no following vehicle, it is sufficient that the courtesy lamp 14 only has a function of illuminating the feet of the passengers who get on and off the own vehicle, so it is not necessary to increase the lighting brightness thereof than usual. is there. On the other hand, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 is maintained as usual even when the vehicle door 16 is opened when the surroundings of the vehicle are relatively bright or when there is no following vehicle. . For this reason, according to the vehicle lighting control device 50 of the present embodiment, in the daytime or when there is no following vehicle, the lighting display is performed while ensuring the antiglare effect related to the lighting display indicating the opening of the vehicle door 16. It is possible to avoid unnecessarily high brightness.

  Thus, according to the system of the present embodiment, by changing the lighting brightness when the courtesy lamp 14 is turned on, whether or not the condition that the surroundings of the vehicle is relatively dark and the following vehicle exists is satisfied. It is possible to maintain and improve safety when the vehicle travels on the road. In particular, in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 increases when the automatic door of the vehicle door 16 operates at night when the following vehicle is present. The visibility of the opening of the door 16 is improved, and the maintenance and improvement of the traveling safety of the vehicle can be effectively obtained.

  In the second embodiment, the control ECU 12 executes the process of step 120 in the routine shown in FIG. 5 so that the “ambient environment detecting means” and the “following vehicle determining means” are described in the claims. Is realized.

  By the way, in the said 2nd Example, the detection of whether the following vehicle which follows the own vehicle exists, the traffic information contained in the VICS information received by VICS-ECU52, and the imaging by the back camera 54 Although it is based on both of the images, it may be performed based on only one of them, or may be performed based on information other than those information. Specifically, when there is a following vehicle at night, the light of the headlight of the following vehicle enters the inner mirror of the host vehicle. Therefore, the inner mirror is provided with a light sensor that detects ambient light and a light sensor that detects light from the rear, and detects whether there is a following vehicle from the difference in light intensity between the two light sensors. If the intensity of the vehicle is larger than the intensity of the ambient light by a predetermined value or more, it may be determined that there is a following vehicle. In this case, when the control ECU 12 performs such detection, the “ambient environment detection means” and the “following vehicle determination means” described in the claims are realized.

  By the way, in the said 1st and 2nd Example, the change of the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 is supposed to be implement | achieved by switching the applied voltage to the courtesy lamp 14 consisting of LED, and changing the amount of flowing currents. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the courtesy lamp 14 constituted by two or more lamp portions is provided on the vehicle door 16, and the number of the lamp portions of the courtesy lamp 14 is changed. It is good also as implement | achieving the change of the lighting brightness as the lamp 14 whole.

  In the first and second embodiments, the vehicle door 16 is a swing-type door that swings with one end as a fulcrum when opening and closing, and the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp 14 that is lit when the door is opened is changed. However, the present invention may be applied to a sliding vehicle door that slides when opening and closing, and the lighting brightness of the courtesy lamp that is turned on when the sliding door is opened may be changed.

  In the first and second embodiments, the vehicle door 16 has an automatic door function that automatically opens by the automatic door actuator 22. However, the vehicle occupant does not have an automatic door function and the vehicle occupant is normally open. It may be a door that is simply opened by pressing.

  In the first and second embodiments, the courtesy lamp 14 disposed on the vehicle door 16 that illuminates the feet of the passengers getting on and off the vehicle is used to open the vehicle door 16 to the driver of the following vehicle. In addition to the courtesy lamp 14, the vehicle door 16 can be opened to the driver of the following vehicle, etc., in addition to the courtesy lamp 14. It is good also as arrange | positioning the illumination lamp to notify at the edge part at the time of opening of the vehicle door 16 as much as possible, and changing the lighting brightness of the illumination lamp according to the environment around the own vehicle.

  In the first and second embodiments, the direct conlight sensor 26 is used to detect the brightness around the host vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A map showing the time to distinguish the surrounding light and dark for each season is stored in the storage device in advance, the current date and time are detected using a clock, and the map is referenced from the detected date and time It is good also as detecting the brightness around the own vehicle indirectly.

  In the first and second embodiments, the surrounding environment, the brightness of the surrounding area, the traffic volume on the road, and the presence / absence of the following vehicle are used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the number of road lanes, the speed limit, and the like may be used.

It is a block diagram of a vehicle-mounted system provided with the vehicle lighting control apparatus which is 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure showing the arrangement | positioning position in the vehicle of the illumination lamp which the vehicle lighting control apparatus of a present Example has. It is a flowchart of the control routine performed in the vehicle lighting control apparatus of the present embodiment. It is a block diagram of a vehicle-mounted system provided with the vehicle illumination control apparatus which is 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart of the control routine performed in the vehicle lighting control apparatus of the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10, 50 Vehicle lighting control device 12 Control ECU
14 Courtesy lamp 16 Vehicle door 26 Conlight sensor 28 Body ECU
30 Navigation ECU
52 VICS-ECU
54 Back camera

Claims (4)

An illumination control device for a vehicle, comprising: an illumination lamp disposed on a vehicle door; and an illumination lighting unit that lights the illumination lamp when the vehicle door is opened,
Light / dark discrimination means for determining whether or not the brightness around the host vehicle is darker than a predetermined value;
Road discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the road on which the vehicle travels is a main trunk road or an urban road having a traffic volume exceeding a predetermined amount;
In the case where an affirmative determination is made by both the light / dark discrimination means and the road determination means, the illumination lighting means causes the illumination lighting means to compare with the case where a negative determination is made by at least one of the light / dark discrimination means and the road determination means Lighting state changing means for increasing the lighting brightness of the lighting lamp when the lighting lamp is turned on;
A vehicle lighting control device comprising: The road determining means, the vehicle lighting control device according to claim 1, wherein the discriminating road based on an image captured by the map information or the camera at the current position around the vehicle that are stored in the map database . An illumination control device for a vehicle, comprising: an illumination lamp disposed on a vehicle door; and an illumination lighting unit that lights the illumination lamp when the vehicle door is opened,
A brightness determination unit configured brightness around the vehicle is determined whether or not dark or exceeds a predetermined,
Subsequent vehicle discriminating means for discriminating whether or not there is a subsequent vehicle following the host vehicle;
If a positive determination by both before Symbol brightness determination means and the rear vehicle discriminating means is made, as compared with the case where a negative determination is made by at least one of the light-dark discrimination means and the rear vehicle discriminating means, the illumination lights Lighting state changing means for increasing the lighting brightness of the lighting lamp when the lighting lamp is turned on by the means;
Car dual lighting controller you comprising: a. The following vehicle discrimination means, claim 3, characterized in that the determination of the following vehicle based on the amount information that enters the congestion information supplied from the infrastructure, the captured image by the camera, or from the rear of the vehicle to the rearview mirror The vehicle lighting control device described.

Images