JP5278209B2 - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp used in a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a vehicular lamp that can improve a design effect when the lamp is turned on.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicular lamp such as a headlamp or a marker lamp used for a vehicle such as an automobile, a semiconductor such as an LED as a light source is provided in a lamp chamber defined by a lamp body and a front lens in order to reduce the size. There has been proposed a lamp including a light source unit (hereinafter, referred to as an LED) and a light source unit having a reflector that guides light emitted from the LED to the front of the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, in order to enhance the design effect at the time of lighting, a light guide plate is provided in the lamp chamber defined by the lamp body and the front lens, on the front side of the sub LED and the sub LED, and in the front-rear direction of the lamp. A vehicular lamp is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  In the vehicular lamp known from Patent Document 2, the light emitted from the sub LED is taken into the light guide plate from the rear end surface side, and the light is guided to the front end surface side while repeatedly reflecting inside the light guide plate. The light is emitted from the front end face of the light guide plate. In addition, when light is repeatedly reflected inside the light guide plate, the light is diffused and viewed from the outside of the lamp as if the entire light guide plate emits light, thereby enhancing the design effect. Is.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-305575. JP 2006-236588 A.

  However, in the vehicle lamp described in Patent Document 2 described above, all of the light emitted from the sub LED is taken into the light guide plate, and the light guide is repeatedly reflected and diffused in the light guide body many times. Since the light is guided to the front end face side, light attenuation occurs, clear light emission cannot be obtained, and the design effect cannot be sufficiently exhibited. Further, the sub LED and the light guide plate are not used as a daytime running lamp.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to be applied to a lamp such as an automotive headlamp or a sign to enhance the design effect when the lamp is turned on. Another object is to provide a vehicular lamp that also functions as a daytime running lamp.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicular lamp according to the present invention includes a semiconductor light-emitting element as a light source and light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting element in the front of the vehicle in a lamp chamber defined by a lamp body and a front lens. A vehicular lamp including a light source unit having a reflector for guiding, a light guide disposed on substantially the extension of the reflector, and a sub-semiconductor light-emitting element disposed on the rear side of the light guide A light source unit that projects light emitted from the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element toward the front of the vehicle, and an outer peripheral part of the convex lens part toward the rear of the lamp. And extending to the outer periphery of the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element, and has a cylindrical light guide that emits light emitted from the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element from the front end surface to the front of the lamp.

  According to this configuration, in the convex lens portion of the light guide in the sub light source unit, the emitted light incident on the convex lens portion from the sub semiconductor light emitting element is converged and projected forward of the vehicle, and can be used as a daytime running lamp. Further, in the convex lens portion, even if the sub semiconductor light emitting element is disposed at a deep position in the vehicle lamp, a part of the light from the sub semiconductor light emitting element is projected forward of the vehicle to obtain a sufficient light distribution. Make it possible. On the other hand, the light guide part in the sub light source unit is a part of the light emitted from the sub semiconductor light emitting element and repeatedly reflected and diffused inside the light guide part. Then, the light is guided to the vicinity of the rear surface of the front lens, and the entire light guide portion appears to emit light. Thereby, in the sub light source unit, the light passing through the convex lens part can be used as daytime running lamp light, and the light from the light guide part can be used as decoration light by expanding the light emitting area. Further, due to the arrangement of the light guide, the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element as the light source is hidden by the light guide so that it cannot be directly seen from the front.

  In the above configuration, the light guide includes a plurality of light guide portions each having the lens portion and the light guide portion, each arranged in a row at an appropriate interval. A configuration in which a plurality of light portions are arranged corresponding to each of the light portions can be employed.

  According to this configuration, a plurality of pseudo-light-guiding light guide portions can be visually recognized in a row, and visibility is improved. In addition, each light guide has a cylindrical shape with a gap between the light guides, so that this gap blocks light leaking from the adjacent light guides and prevents light interference between adjacent light guides. Enables pseudo light emission.

  The said structure WHEREIN: The said light guide can employ | adopt the structure formed integrally with the said reflector.

  According to this configuration, by forming the light guide integrally with the reflector, the vehicle lamp can be made compact and the number of parts can be reduced, and the vehicle lamp can be downsized and the number of work steps can be reduced.

  In the above-described configuration, the plurality of sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements can employ a configuration in which a sub-semiconductor light-emitting element having a white emission color and a sub-semiconductor light-emitting element having a blue emission color are appropriately arranged.

  According to this configuration, by appropriately arranging the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements that emit white light and the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements that emit blue light, the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements can be visually recognized without distinction between day and night, and visibility can be improved.

  The said structure WHEREIN: The said light guide can employ | adopt the structure formed by arrange | positioning in the position where the emitted light from the semiconductor light-emitting element in the said main light source unit injects.

  According to this configuration, even if the sub semiconductor light emitting element of the sub light source unit is not lit, if the semiconductor light emitting element in the main light source unit emits light, the light emitted from the main light source unit is guided to the light guide. The light guide becomes pseudo-light-emitting and contributes to the expansion of the light-emitting area.

  According to the present invention, the daytime running lamp by the light that passes through the convex lens portion on the extension of the reflector and the light that is simulated and emitted by the light guide portion can be simultaneously viewed from the front of the vehicle. In addition, the light guide section emits pseudo light while showing a wide light emission area by reflecting and diffusing light inside the light guide section, so that the decorative effect at the time of lighting the lamp can be improved and the design effect can be enhanced. In addition, since the sub-semiconductor light emitting element, which is a light source, is hidden by the light guide so as not to be directly seen from the front by the arrangement of the light guide, the design effect can be further enhanced. Since the circular light passing through the convex lens portion on the extension of the reflector and the cylindrical pseudo light emission of the light guide portion can be simultaneously viewed from the front of the vehicle, the design effect when the lamp is lit can be enhanced. In addition, the arrangement of the light guide hides the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element, which is a light source, from being directly visible from the front, so that the design effect can be further enhanced.

The front view of the vehicular lamp which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. The BB expanded sectional view in FIG. The C section enlarged view of FIG.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 and 2, the vehicular lamp is exemplified by a fog lamp. In the following description, the left and right direction left side in FIG. 2 is assumed to be the front, the right side is the rear, the up and down direction is the top and bottom, and the direction perpendicular to the paper surface is the left and right.

  In the figure, a fog lamp 1 has a lamp chamber 4 defined by a lamp body 2 and a front lens 3 made of a transparent cover attached to the front opening of the lamp body 2. The main light source unit 5 and the decorative sub light source unit 6 are internally provided. In FIG. 1, the front lens 3 is shown in a virtual state in order to easily show the arrangement state of the components housed in the lamp chamber 4.

  The main light source unit 5 includes two semiconductor light emitting elements 7, a reflector 8, and the like. The semiconductor light emitting element 7 uses, for example, a semiconductor light emitting element (LED in this embodiment) such as LED and EL (organic EL). In this embodiment, a structure in which two semiconductor light emitting elements 7 are provided apart from each other on the left and right sides is disclosed. However, the number of semiconductor light emitting elements 7 may be one or more, and the number is appropriately selected. .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor light emitting element 7 includes a rectangular substrate 9, a minute rectangular semiconductor chip 10 fixed to one surface of the substrate 9, and a hemispherical light transmitting member that covers the semiconductor chip 10. 11. The semiconductor light emitting element 7 is fixed to the lamp body 2 via a bracket 17 so that the light transmission member 11 faces downward. That is, the other surface of the substrate 9 of the semiconductor chip 10 serving as a light emitting element is fixed to the lower surface of the bracket 17.

  The reflector 8 is composed of a light-transmitting resin member or the like, and has a shape in which a front portion and an upper portion are open and other portions are closed. The reflector 8 is provided with a reflecting surface 12 having an aluminum vapor deposition or silver coating on the concave inner surface, and the light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting elements 7 and 7 is reflected by the reflecting surface 12 so as to be of a diffusion type. The light is emitted to the outside (in front of the vehicle) as a light distribution pattern.

  The decorative sub light source unit 6 is provided below the front opening portion of the reflector 8. As shown in FIG. 3, the sub-light source unit 6 includes four sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements 13 mounted on the substrate 18 so as to be separated from each other and arranged in rows in the left-right direction. And a light guide 14 disposed on the front side of the semiconductor light emitting element 13 corresponding to the sub semiconductor light emitting element 13.

  Note that the number of the semiconductor light emitting elements 13 is appropriately selected, and the semiconductor light emitting elements 13 are, for example, semiconductor light emitting elements such as LEDs and EL (organic EL) (LEDs in this embodiment). Further, in this embodiment, the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements 13 that emit white light and the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements 13 that emit blue light are alternately used. If the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element 13 is monochromatic light, depending on the color, the visibility of either daytime or nighttime is inferior. However, the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element 13 that emits white light and the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element that emits blue light. By using 13 alternately, it can be visually recognized without distinction between day and night.

  The light guide 14 is made of the same light-transmitting resin material as the reflector 8, and is extended from the reflector 8 at the lower end side of the front opening portion of the reflector 8 so as to be integrated with the reflector 8. Molded and provided. The light guide body 14 includes a lens plate portion 19 having four convex lens portions 15 formed at appropriate intervals in the left-right direction corresponding to the sub-semiconductor light emitting element 13, and a back surface side of the lens plate portion 19. Four cylindrical light guides 16 extending from the outer peripheral part of each convex lens part 15 toward the outer peripheral part of the sub light emitting element toward the substrate 18 side (the rear side of the lamp), and the light guide The outer wall 21 is formed integrally with the left and right ends of the body 14. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, four light guide portions including the convex lens portion 15 and the light guide portion 16 are integrated by the lens plate portion 19, and adjacent light guide portions are provided. A gap 20 is provided between the portions 16 and 16. Further, the lens plate portion 19 is provided corresponding to a position in the main light source unit 5 where light from the semiconductor light emitting element 7 can be incident, and the sub semiconductor light emitting element 13 of the sub light source unit 6 is turned on. Even if not, if the semiconductor light emitting element 7 in the main light source unit 5 emits light, the light from the main light source unit 5 is incident on the lens plate portion 19 of the light guide 14 to simulate the lens plate portion 19. Luminescence can be obtained.

  Next, the operation of the fog lamp which is a vehicle lamp according to the present invention will be described. First, the semiconductor light emitting element 7 of the main light source unit 5 and the sub semiconductor light emitting element 13 of the sub light source unit 6 are each turned on. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the light L1 emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element 7 of the main light source unit 5 is reflected by the reflecting surface 12 of the reflector 8 toward the front lens 3, and further passes through the front lens 3. It is irradiated outside (in front of the vehicle) and functions as a fog lamp or the like.

  On the other hand, the light L2 emitted from the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element 13 of the sub-light source unit 6 is respectively incident on the convex lens portion 15 and the light guide portion 16 of the light guide 14 as shown in FIGS. The convex lens unit 15 converges the incident light and projects it forward of the vehicle to function as a daytime running lamp. On the other hand, a part of light is incident on the light guide unit 16 from the inside of the cylindrical shape, and this light is repeatedly reflected and diffused. By repeating this process, the light emitting area is expanded to the lens plate unit 19 (near the rear surface of the front lens 3). The entire lens plate portion 19 is guided to show light emission. Thereby, the circular light irradiated through the convex lens portion 15 on the extension of the reflector 8 and the light guided from the light guide portion 16 are simultaneously obtained as pseudo light emission of the lens plate portion 19, and the convex lens portion 15. The light emitted through the light guide can be used as a daytime running lamp, and the light from the light guide 16 can be used for expanding the light emitting area and for decoration.

  As described above, in the fog lamp 1 of this embodiment, when the sub light source unit is turned on, the lens plate that emits light from the light of the daytime running lamp that passes through the convex lens portion 15 and the light that is guided from the light guide portion 16. The pseudo light emission in the part 19 can be obtained on the extension of the reflector 8. Moreover, the light guide section 16 widens the light emitting area by reflecting and diffusing light inside the light guide section 16 and makes the entire lens plate section 19 in a pseudo light emission state, so that the decorativeness when the lamp is lit is improved. The design effect can be enhanced. At the same time, since the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element 13 is hidden so as not to be directly visible from the front by the light guide 14 disposed on the front side of the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element 13, the design effect can be further enhanced.

  In addition, since the plurality of light guide portions 16 that emit pseudo light are visually recognized in a row, visibility and design effects are enhanced. In addition, a clearance 20 is provided between the light guides 16 and 16, and the light leaking from the adjacent light guides 16 is blocked by the clearance 20, thereby eliminating the interference of light between the adjacent light sources. Light emission is possible.

  Further, since the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element 13 having a white emission color and the blue sub-semiconductor light-emitting element 13 are used as the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements, the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements can be viewed without distinction between day and night, and visibility is improved.

  Further, since the lens plate portion 19 of the light guide 14 is provided at a position where the light of the semiconductor light emitting element 7 in the main light source unit 5 is incident, the sub semiconductor light emitting element 13 of the sub light source unit 6 is lit. Even if there is no light, if the semiconductor light emitting element 7 in the main light source unit 5 emits light, the light from the main light source unit 5 enters the lens plate part 19 of the light guide 14 and the light guide part 16 emits pseudo light. This contributes to the expansion of the light emitting area.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention naturally extends to the modified ones.

  Although this invention demonstrated the case where it applied to a fog lamp, it is applicable also as a vehicle lamp of a headlamp or a marker lamp.

1 Fog lamp (vehicle lamp)
2 Lamp body 3 Front lens 4 Lamp chamber 5 Main light source unit 6 Sub light source unit 7 Semiconductor light emitting element 8 Reflector 9 Substrate 10 Semiconductor chip 11 Light transmitting member 12 Reflecting surface 13 Sub semiconductor light emitting element 14 Light guide 15 Convex lens part 16 Light guide Part 17 Bracket 18 Substrate 19 Lens plate part 20 Clearance 21 Leg part

Claims (5)

A vehicular lamp having a light source unit having a semiconductor light emitting element as a light source and a reflector for guiding emitted light from the semiconductor light emitting element to the front of the vehicle in a lamp room defined by a lamp body and a front lens. And
A light source disposed on substantially the extension of the reflector and a sub-light source unit having a sub-semiconductor light emitting element disposed on the rear side of the light guide;
A convex lens part for projecting light emitted from the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element toward the front of the vehicle, and an outer peripheral part of the sub-semiconductor light-emitting element from the outer peripheral part of the convex lens part toward the rear of the lamp. A vehicular lamp characterized by having a cylindrical light guide portion that extends to the front of the lamp from the front end surface thereof.   The light guide body includes a plurality of light guide portions each having the lens portion and the light guide portion, arranged in rows at appropriate intervals, and the sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements are arranged on the light guide portions. 3. A vehicular lamp according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of lamps are arranged correspondingly.   The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light guide is formed integrally with the reflector.   4. The plurality of sub-semiconductor light-emitting elements, wherein a sub-semiconductor light-emitting element whose emission color is white and a sub-semiconductor light-emitting element whose emission color is blue are appropriately arranged. The vehicle lamp as described. The said light guide is arrange | positioned in the position where the emitted light from the semiconductor light-emitting element in the said main light source unit injects, The one in any one of Claim 1, 2, 3, 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Vehicle lamp.

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