JP4345023B2 - Car ceiling lighting equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automobile ceiling lighting device, and more particularly to a ceiling lighting device arranged along both sides of a vehicle room ceiling.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an automobile ceiling lighting device is generally provided in the vicinity of the center of a vehicle compartment ceiling as a so-called room lamp. In this type of ceiling lighting device, the emitted light spreads over the entire passenger compartment and illuminates the entire passenger compartment.

  And in the conventional ceiling illuminating device, what uses the bulb bulb or the fluorescent lamp as a light source is widely adopted. For this reason, if the housing for accommodating such a light source has a relatively large cross-section in the height direction, the vehicle interior space that protrudes downward from the vehicle interior ceiling is narrowed. In this case, it may be difficult to ensure a sufficient head clearance, which is not preferable. In addition, since the entire passenger compartment is illuminated from the vicinity of the center of the passenger compartment ceiling, it is difficult to ensure sufficient illuminance near the passenger's chest when getting on and off, for example.

  On the other hand, in recent years, lighting devices using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as light sources have become widespread, and since the LEDs themselves are small, the entire lighting device can also be configured to be thin, especially of the type embedded in the ceiling of a passenger compartment. It is preferable as a ceiling lighting device. In addition, since the power consumption of the LED itself is extremely small, it can be expected to greatly contribute to the reduction of the power consumption of the entire automobile.

  Furthermore, lighting devices that use LEDs as light sources have become able to obtain relatively bright illumination as the output of LEDs increases, making it easy to use large-sized and low power consumption lighting devices that use many LEDs. Can be configured.

  By the way, the lighting device using the LED as a light source can have a light emitting surface shape that can be set to a relatively arbitrary value. For example, a large ceiling lighting device that extends in the front-rear direction at the center of the vehicle compartment ceiling has already been put into practical use. ing. Here, in order to illuminate the entire passenger compartment more brightly or to ensure a sufficient head clearance, for example, when a ceiling lighting device extending in the front-rear direction along both side edges of the passenger compartment ceiling is provided, If air-conditioner duct blowout bezels are arranged along both side edges of the room ceiling, a ceiling lighting device must be provided slightly inside the both side edges of the passenger compartment ceiling to avoid interference with the blowout bezel. .

  However, such an arrangement of the ceiling lighting device gives a complicated appearance, and the design of the passenger compartment ceiling is impaired, and the ceiling lighting device is slightly inward from both side edges of the passenger compartment ceiling. In some cases, sufficient head clearance cannot be ensured.

  The present invention has been created in view of the above points, and has a good appearance without impairing the blowout of an air conditioner, and can be disposed on both side edges of a vehicle compartment ceiling. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an automobile ceiling lighting device according to the present invention includes a flat-shaped housing disposed on an upper side of an opening of a roof head lining along a longitudinal direction of a side edge of a vehicle room ceiling of the automobile. A lighting circuit disposed inside the vehicle inside the housing, a plurality of light emitting means arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction adjacent to the vehicle outside of the lighting circuit within the housing, A lens part disposed so as to close the opening provided in the interior, and the lens part is curved upwardly in a concave shape adjacent to a blowout port of an air conditioner duct provided on a side edge of the passenger compartment ceiling. In addition, air is guided so that air from the air-conditioner duct is blown from the outlet to the vehicle interior.

In the automobile ceiling lighting device of the present invention, preferably, the inner surface of the housing is treated as a white diffused surface at least in the vehicle outer region from the light emitting means. Preferably, the lens part is made of a translucent white material, and the lens part is made by sticking Japanese paper on the surface of an acrylic plate. For example, the Japanese paper can be affixed to the surface of the acrylic plate by placing the Japanese paper impregnated with the coating agent on the surface of the acrylic plate and performing thermocompression bonding.
In the automotive ceiling lighting device of the present invention, preferably, the lighting circuit is configured to be able to adjust the light emission intensity of each light emitting means.

  According to the above configuration, each LED is driven by the lighting circuit, and the light emitted from each LED is reflected by the inner surface of the housing and then emitted into the vehicle interior via the lens portion that closes the opening of the housing. . At that time, since the light emitted from the LED is not directly irradiated to the vehicle interior because the opening of the housing is provided near the outside of the vehicle, the vehicle interior is indirectly illuminated by the relatively soft light by the reflected light from each LED. In addition, since the individual LEDs cannot be seen when the ceiling lighting device is viewed from the passenger compartment, the light emission state is almost uniform as a whole.

  Furthermore, since the illumination light is emitted from the both side edges of the passenger compartment ceiling into the passenger compartment, the light will reach the both side edges of the passenger compartment sufficiently, for example, the area around the chest of the passenger when getting on and off becomes brighter. Getting on and off can be performed easily. Moreover, the board | substrate provided with the lighting circuit is horizontally arrange | positioned inside a vehicle by LED inside a housing, It is comprised flatly as a whole, ie, thinly, and it is downward from the ceiling at the time of attaching to a vehicle interior ceiling. The amount of protrusion to the vehicle is greatly reduced, and the head clearance in the passenger compartment is sufficiently ensured.

  Further, warm air or cold air from the air conditioner ducts on both side edges of the vehicle interior ceiling is guided by the curved shape of the lens portion and sent from the air outlet of the air conditioner duct to the vehicle interior. In this case, since the lens portion is curved, the air rectification effect from the air conditioner duct can be exhibited. Therefore, the ceiling lighting device and the air outlet of the air conditioner duct are integrally disposed at both side edges of the vehicle compartment ceiling. This simplifies the configuration of the ceiling lighting device and the air outlet of the air conditioner duct on both side edges of the passenger compartment ceiling, eliminates the air outlet bezel, and improves the appearance.

  When the inner surface of the housing is processed as a white diffusing surface at least outside the LED in the vehicle outer region, the light emitted from the LED is diffused by the white diffusing surface when reflected by the inner surface of the housing. Uniform illumination light can be obtained.

  When the lens part is made of a translucent white material, the light emitted from the LED and reflected by the inner surface of the housing is diffused by the translucent white material when passing through the lens part. A more uniform illumination light can be obtained.

  When the lens unit is configured by sticking Japanese paper to the surface of the acrylic plate, the surface of the lens unit that acts as the light emitting surface of the ceiling lighting device gives a high-class feeling due to the texture of the Japanese paper.

  When the lens part is affixed by placing a Japanese paper impregnated with a coating agent on the surface of the acrylic plate and then heat-pressing it, the Japanese paper is easily and reliably attached to the surface of the acrylic plate. It is held fixed.

  If the lighting circuit is configured to adjust the light emission intensity of each LED, it is possible to increase the light emission intensity of each LED when, for example, the vehicle is stopped or the passenger gets on and off to illuminate the vicinity of the passenger's chest. In addition, during running, the light emission intensity of each LED can be lowered to provide the minimum necessary soft illumination.

  In this way, according to the present invention, there can be obtained an automotive ceiling lighting device that exhibits a good appearance without impairing the blowing of the air conditioner and can be disposed on both side edges of the ceiling of the passenger compartment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.
1 and 2 show the configuration of an embodiment of an automobile ceiling lighting device according to the present invention. In these drawings, the ceiling lighting device 10 includes a housing 11, a lighting circuit 12 and an LED 13 provided in the housing 11, and a lens portion 14 that closes an opening 11 d of the housing 11.

  The housing 11 has a flat and substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape elongated in the longitudinal direction, and is slightly curved along the longitudinal direction of both side edges of the vehicle compartment ceiling of the automobile, and the roof head lining 17 (described later). It arrange | positions above the opening part 17b. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the opening 17 b means a gap space, that is, an opening, which is sandwiched between the outer edge 17 a of the roof head lining 17 and the inner edge 20 a of the rail side garnish 20 inside the vehicle.

  As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the housing 11 includes a plurality of fastening portions 11 a on the vehicle outer side (right side in FIG. 2) and on the inner side. Each fastening portion 11a is fastened by a mounting bolt 16 to a roof panel reinforcement 15a located inside the roof panel 15 of the automobile.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the housing 11 is provided with a plurality of, in the illustrated case, five fitting portions 11b that protrude to the inside of the vehicle (left side in FIG. 2). By fitting clips 18 attached to the inner surface of the roof head lining 17 of the automobile, both side edges of the roof head lining 17 are fixedly held via the housing 11 with respect to the roof panel reinforcement 15a of the automobile. It has become. Here, the outer edge 17a of the roof head lining 17 extends further to the vehicle outer side than the LED 13 in the housing 11, so that direct light from the LED 13 does not enter the vehicle interior.

  The housing 11 is partitioned in the vicinity of the inner end of the vehicle by a partition wall 11c, and a lighting circuit 12 is disposed in the internal space. The lighting circuit 12 is configured on a substrate 12a disposed substantially parallel to the ceiling, and electronic components and the like (not shown) constituting the lighting circuit are mounted on one side or both sides of the substrate 12a.

  In the housing 11, the inner surface (the upper surface and the right side surface in FIG. 2) on the vehicle outer side than the partition wall 11c is configured as a diffuse reflection surface. This diffuse reflection surface can be formed by applying, for example, a white diffuse paint. Further, the housing 11 includes an opening 11d extending along the longitudinal direction on the lower surface of the housing 11 near the vehicle outer side. Here, the opening 11d is for radiating light emitted from each LED 13 into the vehicle interior.

  A plurality of LEDs 13 are arranged in the longitudinal direction adjacent to the vehicle outer side of the partition wall 11c so as to face the vehicle outer side, for example, on a substrate 13a substantially perpendicular to the ceiling. Each LED 13 is driven by the lighting circuit 12 to emit light. At this time, the light emission intensity of each LED 13 can be adjusted by the lighting circuit 12.

  The lens part 14 is comprised from the translucent member, and is attached with respect to the housing 11 so that the opening part 11d of the housing 11 may be closed. Specifically, the lens portion 14 is made of a translucent white material, for example, an acrylic resin plate 14a, and a Japanese paper 14b is attached to the surface (lower surface) thereof.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the lens portion 14 includes a curved portion 14d that is curved upwardly in the vicinity of the outermost edge on the vehicle outer side. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the curved portion 14 d is formed in the air outlet 19 a of the air conditioner duct 19 provided on the vehicle side when the ceiling lighting device 10 is attached to both side edges of the vehicle room ceiling of the automobile. By being adjacent to each other, a curve is formed so as to guide the air from the air outlet 19a of the air conditioner duct 19 into the vehicle interior. Note that the air outlet 19a opens to the back side of the rail side garnish 20 on the vehicle side, and is not directly visible to the passenger in the vehicle interior.

The lens unit 14 described above is manufactured as follows.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, the Japanese paper 14b is brought into contact with the acrylic resin plate 14a, and a coating agent 14c is disposed below the Japanese paper 14b. From this state, as shown in FIG. 4, in a furnace 21 such as an autoclave, the resin is placed on the mold 22 and the silicon sheet 23 is placed on the acrylic resin plate 14a. After the inside of the airtight bag 24 is evacuated, pressure and heat are applied to the furnace 21. The silicon sheet 23 is used to prevent the acrylic resin plate 14 from adhering to the inner surface of the airtight bag 24.

  Thereby, the coating agent 14c melts into the Japanese paper 14b, and the Japanese paper 14b adheres to the acrylic resin plate 14a. Therefore, an adhesive for attaching the Japanese paper 14b to the acrylic resin plate 14a is not necessary. At that time, the acrylic resin plate 14 a is three-dimensionally formed based on the shape of the mold 22 and has a predetermined shape.

  The automobile ceiling lighting device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, and light is emitted from each LED 13 when the lighting circuit 12 drives each LED 13. The light from each LED 13 is reflected and diffused from the partition wall 11 c of the housing 11 on the inner surface outside the vehicle, and is irradiated into the vehicle interior via the lens unit 14. In this case, the lens portion 14 exhibits a light emitting surface extending in the longitudinal direction defined by the outer edge 17 a of the roof head lining 17 and the upper edge of the rail side garnish 20.

  The light emitted from each LED 13 is not directly irradiated into the vehicle interior, but is diffusely reflected by the inner surface of the housing 11 and irradiated into the vehicle interior, so that the elongated indirect illumination extending along both side edges of the ceiling in the vehicle interior. Is done. As a result, ceiling lighting with a relatively novel design can be obtained, and high illuminance can be obtained particularly on both sides of the vehicle.

  Furthermore, when the passenger gets on and off, the lighting circuit 12 drives each LED 13 so as to have a relatively high light emission intensity, so that the area around the chest of the passenger at the time of getting on and off is relatively brightly illuminated. It is possible to get on and off easily. Further, while the vehicle is traveling, the lighting circuit 12 drives each LED 13 to have a relatively low light emission intensity, so that the interior of the traveling vehicle is illuminated with weak indirect illumination and can be used as a so-called illumination. .

  In this case, since the board 12a constituting the lighting circuit 12 is horizontally disposed inside the housing of the LED 13 in the housing 11, the entire housing 11 and the ceiling lighting device 10 can be configured to be thin, and the roof head lining 17 Therefore, a sufficient head clearance is ensured in the vehicle interior. In addition, since the ceiling lighting device 10 guides a part of the lens unit 14 so as to rectify the air blown from the air conditioner duct 19, the conventional air conditioner duct blowing bezel is not required, and the appearance is simple. Can be improved.

  As described above, according to the ceiling lighting device 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to realize a novel indirect illumination that can be arranged on both side edges of the passenger compartment ceiling while exhibiting a good appearance without impairing the blowing of the air conditioner. .

  The present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the ceiling lighting device 10 is simply provided to extend in the longitudinal direction at both side edges of the passenger compartment ceiling, and the installation range in the longitudinal direction is arbitrarily set, and the total length of the ceiling at both side edges of the passenger compartment. It may be arranged over a part of the entire length of the ceiling, for example, only in the range of the rear seat. In the embodiment described above, the lighting circuit 12 arbitrarily adjusts the light emission intensity of each LED. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Obviously, this may be done. Moreover, although the case where LED was used as a light emission means was illustrated, a light bulb bulb etc. may be used instead of LED.

It is a schematic perspective view which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the ceiling illuminating device of the motor vehicle by this invention. It is an expanded sectional view of the horizontal direction of the ceiling illuminating device of FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows one process in the middle of preparation of the lens part in the ceiling illuminating device of FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the other process in the middle of preparation of the lens part in the ceiling illuminating device of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Car ceiling lighting apparatus 11 Housing 11a Fastening part 11b Fitting part 11c Partition 11d Opening 12 Lighting circuit 12a Board | substrate 13 LED
13a Substrate 14 Lens 14a Acrylic resin plate 14b Japanese paper 14c Coating agent 15 Roof panel 15a Roof panel reinforcement 16 Mounting bolt 17 Roof head lining 17a Outer edge 17b Opening 18 Clip 19 Air conditioner duct 19a Outlet 20 Rail side garnish 20a Inner edge 21 Furnace 21 Mold 23 Silicon sheet 24 Sealed bag

Claims (6)

A flat housing disposed on the upper side of the opening of the roof head lining along the longitudinal direction of the side edge of the ceiling of the passenger compartment of the automobile;
A lighting circuit disposed inside the vehicle in the housing;
A plurality of light-emitting means arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction in the housing adjacent to the vehicle outside of the lighting circuit;
A lens portion disposed so as to close an opening provided near the vehicle outer side of the lower surface of the housing,
The lens part is curved upwardly and concavely adjacent to the air outlet of the air conditioner duct provided on the side edge of the ceiling of the passenger compartment, and the air from the air conditioner duct is blown into the vehicle interior from the outlet. A ceiling lighting device for an automobile, characterized by being guided as follows.   2. The automobile ceiling lighting device according to claim 1, wherein an inner surface of the housing is treated as a white diffusion surface at least in a region outside the vehicle from the light emitting means.   The automobile ceiling lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the lens unit is made of a translucent white material.   4. The automobile ceiling lighting device according to claim 3, wherein the lens unit is configured by sticking Japanese paper on a surface of an acrylic plate.   The said Japanese paper is affixed on the surface of the said acrylic board by mounting the Japanese paper which impregnated the coating agent on the surface of the said acrylic board, and carrying out thermocompression bonding. Automotive ceiling lighting device.   The automobile lighting device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the lighting circuit is configured to be able to adjust the light emission intensity of each light emitting means.

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