JP5366707B2 - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp (for example, a side turn lamp attached to a door mirror device of an automobile).

  The vehicle (automobile) needs to show other traffic (vehicle or pedestrian) to turn right or left or change course by irradiating light. In addition, it is stipulated that the illuminating light does not interfere with other traffic, and the legal standards regarding light color, brightness, etc. (that can be seen from all positions within the specified range). Has been.

  For example, in side turn lamps (direction indicators) provided on both sides of a vehicle, lighting can be confirmed in the daytime from a distance of 30 m, and the irradiation light does not interfere with other traffic. It is supposed to be. That is, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), a plane 15 degrees above the horizontal plane (θ1) and 15 degrees below the horizontal plane O1 including the horizontal line O1 passing through the center of the side turn lamp 200 and perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle ( As shown in FIG. 7 (b), the plane θ1) is a vertical plane O2 parallel to the traveling direction of the vehicle including the center of the side turn lamp 200, and is behind the center of the side turn lamp 200. It can be seen from all positions within a range surrounded by a plane 5 degrees (θ2) outside the side turn lamp 200 and a plane 55 degrees (θ3) further outside the side turn lamp 200. It is said that there is.

  By the way, since the door mirror device provided on both sides of the vehicle is at a moderate height from the road surface, it is easy to see from other traffic such as oncoming vehicles and pedestrians. Focusing on the advantage of this high visibility, there is known a door mirror device with a function of emitting light when the vehicle turns right or left or changes the course, and the applicant has also filed a side turn lamp. (See Patent Document 1).

  As described above, the side turn lamp needs to irradiate the legal region (first region R1) formed obliquely rearward with respect to the front-rear direction of the vehicle with a predetermined amount of light. Recently, from the viewpoint of improving the visibility of other traffic and improving the design of the vehicle, the front portion of the side turn lamp 200 (the second region R2 shown in FIG. 7B in a portion other than the legal region). ) Is desired to emit light (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, a light guide (optical fiber) is disposed over the entire housing of the side turn lamp, and light emitted from a light emitter provided on the vehicle body side is guided by the light guide. It is made incident on the end face part of. As a result, light is emitted from the entire light guide to the regulation region (first region R1) and the other front region (second region R2).

  Here, when the design of the side turn lamp 200 is made novel, the shape thereof may be complicated. As a result, the shape of the light guide becomes complicated accordingly. If an attempt is made to mold a light guide having a complicated shape by injection molding, the time until mold design becomes longer, or the mold cost becomes expensive. Moreover, versatility is low in the molded light guide, and many kinds of light guides must be prepared.

JP 2007-331610 A JP 2008-226755 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and it is an object of the present invention to make the light guide simple even if the shape of the vehicular lamp becomes complicated.

The present invention for solving the above problems is as follows.
A vehicle door mirror device includes a mirror attached to the rear side of the vehicle, a housing that covers the rear surface of the mirror and is disposed on the front side of the vehicle, and an outer surface of the housing on the front side of the vehicle on the vehicle side. A side turn lamp mounted toward the end ,
The side turn lamp is
A light guide body in outer diameter is formed on one Jona bar shape over the entire length,
A light emitter for emitting light to the light guide is provided at a position facing the end surface portion in the axial direction of the light guide,
A lens part formed with a holding part for pressing the light guide to the housing part provided in the housing and holding it unmovable , and
The light incident from the front Symbol emitters on the end face in the axial direction of the light guide, by emitted from the end of the light guide at the side end portion of the housing, and irradiates the rear area of the vehicle, By emitting light from the outer peripheral surface portion of the light guide through the lens portion arranged on the outer surface of the housing, light is also applied to the front region formed in front of the door mirror device with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction. And
The light guide is composed of an optical fiber that is deformable in the axial direction and includes a core that forms an axial center portion, and a clad that is disposed around the core and has a refractive index slightly smaller than the refractive index of the light of the core. In addition, a scattering material for scattering incident light is added to the cladding,
The housing portion of the side turn lamp is arranged in an S-shape when viewed from the front, and the optical fiber is deformed so that its shape matches the shape of the housing portion with its tip facing the rear region of the vehicle. And attached to the accommodating portion in its deformed state,
On the surface of the lens portion curved in an S-shape along the optical fiber, is characterized in Rukoto lens cut portion comprising a number of ridges arranged in a vertical direction is formed.

  A light guide attachment portion for attaching the light guide is provided in the device main body of the door mirror device. And since a light guide is deformable to an axial direction, it can be made to change according to the shape of a light guide attachment part. Thereby, even if the shape of a light guide attachment part is complicated, a light guide can be attached easily. In other words, the shape of the light guide attachment portion can be complicated. As a result, it is not necessary to mold the light guide in accordance with the shape of the light guide attachment portion, and preparation costs such as mold costs can be reduced and the development period can be shortened. Moreover, the design of the vehicle lamp can be improved.

  It is desirable that the bottom surface portion of the light guide attachment portion be capable of reflecting light. Thereby, the light quantity of the light radiate | emitted from the outer peripheral surface part of a light guide can be increased.

  A lens portion for covering the light guide attachment portion from the outside is provided, and a holding means for holding the light guide attached to the light guide attachment portion so as not to move is provided on the lens portion. it can. Thereby, the light guide attached to the light guide attachment portion is held immovable, and the possibility that the light guide is displaced due to vibrations of the traveling vehicle or the like is reduced. And you may provide the light control part (for example, lens cut part) which controls the direction and light quantity of the light to irradiate in this lens part.

  The light guide is formed obliquely rearward at a predetermined angle with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction by emitting light incident from the light emitter from an end surface opposite to the side where the light emitter is disposed. The area can be irradiated with light. Thereby, light can be irradiated to both the front area | region of a vehicle and the diagonally back area | region (regulation area | region) of a vehicle with one light guide.

  And the said light guide is an optical fiber which can light-emit at least an outer peripheral surface part. In order to cause the outer peripheral surface portion to emit light, a scattering material is added to the outer peripheral surface portion of the light guide or an uneven portion is provided.

2 is a perspective view of an automobile C. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a door mirror device 100. FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the state which attaches the optical fiber 3 of 1st Example to the housing 2. FIG. (A) is sectional drawing of the optical fiber 3 of 1st Example, (b) is sectional drawing of the optical fiber 13 of 2nd Example. It is a front view of the optical fiber 17 of 3rd Example. (A) is the front view of the motor vehicle C, (b) is a top view similarly.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. In this specification, the vehicle door mirror device 100 mounted on the door D of the automobile C and the side turn lamp 1 (vehicle lamp) attached to the door mirror device 100 are mainly exemplified, but the present invention is limited to these. However, various modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art are possible without departing from the scope of the claims.

  In the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automobile C, FIG. 2 is a front view of a mirror main body 102, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle door mirror device 100 is mounted on doors D provided on both sides of the automobile C, respectively. The door mirror device 100 includes a mirror base portion 101 attached to the door D, and a mirror main body portion 102 supported by the mirror base portion 101. The mirror main body 102 is mounted toward the rear of the automobile C, and a mirror (not shown) for the driver or passenger to check the rear, a mirror holder (not shown) for holding the mirror, An actuator (not shown) for adjusting the angle of the mirror, a side turn lamp 1 (which is an example of a vehicular lamp) serving as a direction indicator, and a housing 2 (device main body) for housing and protecting them Part) and a mounting base (not shown) for connecting the mirror, the actuator, and the side turn lamp 1 to the housing 2, and the mounting base of the mounting base. Attached to one end, the mirror main body 102 is rotated at a position between the use state and the storage state with respect to the mirror base portion 101. It is causing the electric storage device (not shown) and a formed. The housing 2 has a vessel shape (conical container shape) as a whole, and can be integrally formed of, for example, a plastic material.

  A side turn lamp 1 is attached to a predetermined place in the housing 2 so as to be exposed to the outside. The side turn lamp 1 functions as a direction indicator or the like by blinking or turning on a light guide (for example, the optical fiber 3) constituting the side turn lamp 1, and shows a right or left turn or a course change in other traffic. .

  The side turn lamp 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the housing 2 constituting the door mirror device 100 is provided with an S-shaped groove along a substantially horizontal direction (lateral direction). The groove portion serves as a housing portion 4 (light guide attachment portion) for housing the optical fiber 3 (see FIG. 4), and its inner width is slightly wider than the outer diameter of the optical fiber 3. In order to make the design of the side turn lamp 1 innovative, the housing portion 4 is curved in a substantially S shape in front view. For this reason, the optical fiber 3 is deformed so as to match its own shape with the shape of the accommodating portion 4 and accommodated in the accommodating portion 4 (described later). In the housing 2, a light emitter (LED 5) is disposed at a position facing one end of the housing portion 4 (in the case of the side turn lamp 1 of the present embodiment, the end on the mirror base 101 side). Has been.

  The optical fiber 3 of the present embodiment will be described. The optical fiber 3 has a rod shape with a constant outer diameter over the entire length. It is made of a flexible material and can be easily deformed in the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 5A, the optical fiber 3 is made of, for example, a transparent acrylic resin material, and includes a core 6 constituting an axial center portion and a clad 7 disposed around the core 6. The refractive index of light in the cladding 7 is slightly smaller than the refractive index of light in the core 6. Moreover, a scattering material 8 for scattering incident light is added to the cladding 7. Examples of the scattering material 8 include metal oxide particles such as aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide, and inorganic compound particles such as glass fine powder. The outer diameter of the scattering material 8 is desirably 10 to 100 μm.

  The operation when the scattering material 8 is added to the clad 7 will be described. Since the refractive index of the core 6 is larger than the refractive index of the clad 7, the light enters the end surface portion 3 a on one side of the optical fiber 3 at an incident angle α 1 (light L 1 a indicated by a one-dot chain line), and the boundary between the core 6 and the clad 7. The refraction angle β1 of the light refracted on the surface (refracted light L1b) is larger than the incident angle α1 (α1 <β1). When the refraction angle β1 at this time is smaller than 90 degrees, the refracted light L1b enters the clad 7. And it collides with the scattering material 8 existing in the clad 7 and diffusely reflects, and is emitted from the outer peripheral surface portion of the optical fiber 3 as outgoing light L1c. Thereby, light H2 is irradiated from the outer peripheral surface part of the optical fiber 3 (refer FIG. 2).

  If the incident angle α2 of the incident light L2a (shown by a two-dot chain line) is a critical angle, the refractive angle of the refracted light L2b is 90 degrees, and the refracted light L2b travels along the axial direction of the optical fiber 3. If the incident angle α3 of the incident light L3a (shown by a solid line) is larger than the critical angle (α2), the refracted light L3b is reflected at the boundary surface between the core 6 and the clad 7 (total reflection). And it progresses in the core 6 of the optical fiber 3 while repeating total reflection, and it radiate | emits from the end surface part 3b of the other side. Thereby, light H1 is irradiated from the end surface part 3b of the optical fiber 3 (refer FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the opening of the accommodating portion 4 in which the optical fiber 3 is accommodated is covered with a lens portion 9. The lens portion 9 is formed of, for example, a transparent or translucent thermoplastic resin such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP), or ABS resin, and follows the S-shape of the housing portion 4. S-shaped. The lens portion 9 covers and protects the optical fiber 3 and improves the decorativeness of the side turn lamp 1.

  A lens cut portion 11 for controlling the direction and the amount of light H2 emitted from the outer peripheral surface portion of the optical fiber 3 is provided on the surface side of the lens portion 9. The lens cut portion 11 of this embodiment is composed of a number of protrusions. The light H2 emitted from the outer peripheral surface portion of the optical fiber 3 is refracted by the lens cut portion 11 of the lens portion 9 and is irradiated to the second region R2 as clear light (see FIG. 2).

  A holding portion 12 (holding means) for holding the optical fiber 3 accommodated in the accommodating portion 4 so as not to move is provided on the rear surface side of the lens portion 9. The holding portion 12 has a bottom surface cut into a trapezoidal shape corresponding to the outer diameter of the optical fiber 3, and the cut portion presses the optical fiber 3. Thereby, the optical fiber 3 is held immovably in the accommodating portion 4.

  The operation of the side turn lamp 1 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5A, when the driver of the vehicle operates a switch (not shown) of the side turn lamp 1, the LED 5 emits light. The light emitted from the LED 5 is incident on one end surface portion 3 a (the end surface portion facing the LED 5) of the optical fiber 3. Of this light, light (L3a) incident at an angle (α3) larger than the critical angle (α2) travels through the core 6 while being totally reflected at the boundary surface between the core 6 and the cladding 7, and The light is emitted from the other end surface portion 3b. Thereby, the light H1 is irradiated to the first region R1 (the legal region).

  The light (L1a) incident at an angle (α1) smaller than the critical angle (α2) is refracted at the boundary surface between the core 6 and the cladding 7, enters the cladding 7, and is diffusely reflected by the scattering material 8. The light is emitted from the outer peripheral surface portion of the optical fiber 3. Thereby, light H2 is irradiated to 2nd area | region R2 (front area | region), and the visibility from a pedestrian and another vehicle becomes favorable.

  It is desirable that the bottom surface portion and the inner wall surface portion of the accommodating portion 4 be mirror-finished by performing, for example, vapor deposition, gloss coating or plating. Thereby, the light emitted from the outer peripheral surface portion of the optical fiber 3 directly irradiates the second region R2, and the light emitted from the outer peripheral surface portion of the optical fiber 3 toward the bottom surface portion and the inner wall surface portion of the housing portion 4 is reflected. And since the 2nd field R2 is irradiated, the effect that the light quantity of light H2 increases is produced.

  Next, the optical fiber 13 of the second embodiment will be described. The optical fiber 3 described above has a configuration in which light is emitted from the outer peripheral surface portion thereof by the scattering material 8 added to the clad 7. On the other hand, in the optical fiber 13 shown in FIG. 5B, the outer peripheral surface portion of the core 14 of a rod-shaped resin material (for example, acrylic resin) that can transmit light is roughened, and the uneven portion 15 is provided. Further, the outer peripheral surface of the uneven portion 15 is coated with a clad 16 containing, for example, fluorine. Fluorine has a function of reducing the refractive index.

  Light La incident at an angle larger than the critical angle from one end surface portion 13a of the optical fiber 13 travels in the core 14 of the optical fiber 3 while repeating total reflection at the boundary surface between the core 14 and the clad 16, and the other side. The light exits from the side end face. Further, the light Lb incident at an angle smaller than the critical angle is diffusely reflected by the concavo-convex portion 15 to be emitted as light Lc from the outer peripheral surface portion. In order to make the outer peripheral surface portion of the core 14 rough, the outer peripheral surface portion of the core 14 is subjected to surface treatment (for example, shot blasting), transfer of an uneven surface, cutting, and the like.

  The optical fibers 3 and 13 of the above-described embodiment are one. However, like the optical fiber 17 of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of thin optical fibers may be bundled into a single shape.

  The vehicular lamp according to the present invention can be used as a side turn lamp of an automobile.

1 Side turn lamp (vehicle lamp)
2 Housing (device main unit)
3, 13, 17 Optical fiber (light guide)
3a, 3b End face part 4 Storage part (light guide attachment part)
5 LED (light emitter)
9 Lens part 12 Holding part (holding means)
100 Door mirror device C Automobile (vehicle)
H1, H2 light R1 first region (region formed obliquely backward)
R2 2nd area (front area)

Claims (3)

A vehicle door mirror device includes a mirror attached to the rear side of the vehicle, a housing that covers the rear surface of the mirror and is disposed on the front side of the vehicle, and an outer surface of the housing on the front side of the vehicle on the vehicle side. A side turn lamp mounted toward the end ,
The side turn lamp is
A light guide having an outer diameter formed on one Jona bar shape over the entire length,
A light emitter for emitting light to the light guide is provided at a position facing the end surface portion in the axial direction of the light guide,
A lens part formed with a holding part for pressing the light guide to the housing part provided in the housing and holding it unmovable , and
The light incident from the front Symbol emitters on the end face in the axial direction of the light guide, by emitted from the end of the light guide at the side end portion of the housing, and irradiates the rear area of the vehicle, By emitting light from the outer peripheral surface portion of the light guide through the lens portion arranged on the outer surface of the housing, light is also applied to the front region formed in front of the door mirror device with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction. And
The light guide is composed of an optical fiber that is deformable in the axial direction and includes a core that forms an axial center portion, and a clad that is disposed around the core and has a refractive index slightly smaller than the refractive index of the light of the core. In addition, a scattering material for scattering incident light is added to the cladding,
The housing portion of the side turn lamp is arranged in an S-shape when viewed from the front, and the optical fiber is deformed so that its shape matches the shape of the housing portion with its tip facing the rear region of the vehicle. And attached to the accommodating portion in its deformed state,
A vehicular lamp, wherein a lens cut portion formed of a plurality of protrusions arranged in a vertical direction is formed on a surface of the lens portion curved in an S shape along the optical fiber . 2. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein a surface portion on the light guide body side of the housing portion is capable of reflecting light. Light irradiated from the side end portion of the housing to the rear area of the vehicle, to claim 1 or 2, wherein the irradiating light in the area to be formed obliquely rearward at a predetermined angle to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle The vehicle lamp as described.

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