JP5476263B2 - Car interior lighting system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle interior lighting device that illuminates a vehicle interior.

  A vehicle interior lighting device for illuminating the vehicle interior is provided on the ceiling surface of the vehicle interior. In recent years, with the increase in wagon type vehicles that can accommodate 6 to 8 people with more than 4 people, the number of vehicles equipped with interior lighting devices in the 1st to 3rd rows with driver seats has also increased. There are increasing opportunities for passengers other than the driver to operate the interior lighting device. Generally, a vehicle interior lighting device is provided with a push switch, a slide switch, and the like for turning on and off a light source. However, since these switches are installed on the ceiling or in a place with poor visibility, it is difficult to find them at night and it is necessary to operate the switches by groping.

  Therefore, in order to improve operability, there is a type in which the entire lens surface of the vehicle interior lighting device is used as a push-down surface of the push switch. However, even if the entire lens surface is configured as a push-down surface of a push switch, a seesaw switch or the like having one end of the lens surface as a fulcrum is used, so it is necessary to push down a specific part of the lens surface, and operability is It did not improve much.

  Patent Document 1 proposes a vehicle interior lighting device that improves operability by providing a touch switch on a lens surface. FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of the vehicle interior lighting device 101 in Patent Document 1. The vehicle interior lighting device 101 is provided with sheet-like transparent electrodes 114 and 115 on the light source side surfaces of the illumination lenses 112 and 113 that transmit light from the light source 116 that illuminates the left and right sides of the vehicle interior. When the passenger touches the side, the capacitance of the transparent electrodes 114 and 115 changes, and a switch for turning on and off the light source 116 according to the change is configured. Since the passenger does not directly touch the transparent electrode with this switch, the transparent electrode is hardly deteriorated, and can be a long-life and stable operation switch.

  The housing 102 in FIG. 9 has an outer frame 128 and an inner frame 126 on the left and right, and a substrate 118 on which electrical wiring for the light source 116 is formed is fixed to the inner frame 126. Two light sources 116 are mounted on the substrate 118, and a light source case 124 is placed on each of the light sources 116, and a partition is provided so that the left and right light sources are independent. The conduction bar 122 that electrically connects the substrate 118 and the electrodes 114 and 115 is held by the holder 120. However, since the conducting bar is in contact with the back side of the illumination lens, there is a problem that the conducting bar can be seen through.

  The vehicle interior lighting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is, for example, attached near the driver's seat and can separately illuminate the driver's seat and the passenger seat like a map lamp. Other vehicle interior lighting devices include those that illuminate the occupant's hand in a spot manner and those that can turn on / off the lighting in conjunction with an opening / closing operation of a door or the like. Such a vehicle interior lighting device requires two types of switches such as a switch for individually turning on / off the map lamp and a link / non-link switch for opening / closing the door.

  However, it is necessary to arrange two types of touch switches on the surface of the limited vehicle interior lighting device, and malfunctions may occur due to the area of each touch switch being narrowed. Thus, Patent Document 2 proposes a vehicle interior lighting device provided with two types of touch switches that suppress malfunction of the touch switches.

JP 2007-230450 A JP 2009-255709 A

  In the vehicle interior lighting device described in Patent Document 1 described above, since the conduction bar is in contact with the back side of the illumination lens, the conduction bar that connects the electrode that detects the change in capacitance and the substrate lights the light source. There was a problem in the design that when the light source was turned on even before the light was turned on, the location of the conduction bar became a shadow and became prominent.

  In addition, if the vehicle interior lighting device is to be provided on the ceiling at the rear of the vehicle, the gap between the body and the ceiling cover becomes narrow due to the design shape of the vehicle, and the distance between the lens and the light source must be narrowed. When an incandescent bulb or a halogen lamp is used to illuminate a wide area, there is a problem that the lens becomes hot due to the heat of the light source. In order to avoid such a problem, there are cases where restrictions are imposed on the location where the vehicle is mounted. Furthermore, as shown in Patent Document 2 described above, when the vehicle interior lighting device is provided with two types of switches, a switch for switching on and off by a passenger's operation and a switch for interlocking with a door or the like, Sensor placement becomes a problem.

  Therefore, in the vehicle interior lighting device according to the present invention, there is provided a touch switch type vehicle interior lighting device in which the conduction bar is difficult to see from the passenger and is not felt hot even when touching the lens serving as the touch switch. Objective. Another object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle illumination device in which two types of switches are formed on the same lens by improving the touch switch.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle interior lighting device according to the present invention includes a housing fixed to the ceiling of the vehicle, a first lens fixed to the housing and contactable by a human body, and a light source. A substrate connected to the control unit, a plurality of light sources provided on the substrate and illuminating the interior of the vehicle through at least the first lens, a second lens provided between the first lens and the light source, A transparent electrode corresponding to each light source provided on the lens surface of 2 and a conducting member that conducts the transparent electrode and the substrate, wherein the light source control unit has a capacitance of the transparent electrode and the human body. The light source is turned on / off by reading a change. With such a configuration, it is possible to make the conductive member connected to the second lens difficult to see by the first lens.

  In the vehicle interior lighting device according to the present invention, the second lens provided with an electrode for reading a change in capacitance with the human body is formed in a thin film shape and transmits light having a predetermined wavelength. It is characterized by having a structure in which heat from the light source is difficult to be transmitted by having transparent electrodes on both the front and back surfaces and disposing the second lens on the back side of the first lens. To do. With such a configuration, the vehicle interior lighting device can be thinned.

  In the vehicle interior lighting device according to the present invention, the electrode on the second lens side, which is difficult to be seen from the outside, and the substrate are made conductive, so that the conduction bar is difficult to see from the passenger through the first lens. In addition, the first lens touched by the passenger is not directly received and heated by the light source, and the temperature of the first lens can be prevented from being increased. In addition, the electrodes of the second lens can be formed on both the front and back surfaces, and the detection sensitivity improves as the electrode area increases, and the light source of the light source can be directly touched without touching the first lens. There is an effect that lighting is possible.

It is AA sectional drawing of the vehicle interior lighting apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is BB sectional drawing of the vehicle interior lighting apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle interior lighting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is an assembly drawing of the vehicle interior lighting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is BB sectional drawing which shows the modification of the vehicle interior lighting apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the circuit structure of the vehicle interior lighting apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the vehicle interior lighting device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the vehicle interior lighting device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing explaining the structure of the conventional vehicle interior lighting device.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an AA cross section of the vehicle interior lighting device 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. First, FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 3 (A) shows an outer lens 11 (first lens) that has been subjected to cut glass processing to illuminate a desired place, or a frosted glass process to make it milky white, and an inner lens 12 (first lens) provided with a transparent electrode. 2), and the left and right claws of the inner lens 12 are engaged with the left and right engagement holes of the outer lens 11, and the inner lens 12 is fitted inside the outer lens 11. FIG. 3B shows the appearance of the vehicle interior lighting device 10, and the outer lens 11 is fitted into the housing 16 by engaging the front and rear claws of the outer lens 11 with the engagement holes of the housing 16. Will be included.

  1 includes a housing 16 having a heat radiating hole 19, a substrate 17 having a control circuit, light sources 21 to 23 that illuminate the left, center, and right of the vehicle interior on the substrate 17, and a substrate. A conductive bar 18 extending from the electrode 17 to the electrodes of the inner lens 12, sheet-like transparent electrodes 13 to 15 on both the light source side and the passenger compartment side of the inner lens 12, and a light source that partitions the light sources and holds the conductive bars. And a case. With such a configuration, the vehicle interior lighting device 10 causes the light sources 21 to 23 to respond to changes in the capacitance of the transparent electrodes 13 to 15 when the passenger touches the vehicle interior side of the outer lens 11. Realize the function of a switch to turn on and off.

  One of the characteristic features of the vehicle interior lighting device 10 according to the present invention is that a heat dissipation hole 19 is provided in the housing 16 to increase the heat dissipation effect and reduce the heating of the inner lens 12, as shown in FIG. Thus, the illumination lens is an outer lens 11 (first lens) and an inner lens 12 (second lens) that fits the outer lens 11, and transparent electrodes (13, 14, 15) are provided on both surfaces of the inner lens 12. That is. The transparent electrode provided on the inner lens 12 reflects the infrared rays of the light sources 21 to 23 to reduce the temperature rise of the inner lens 12 itself.

  Further, since an air layer is provided between the inner lens 12 and the outer lens 11, heat from the inner lens 12 is not easily transmitted to the outer lens 11, and as a result, the temperature rise of the outer lens 11 is reduced. Here, the transparent electrode is formed by forming a thin film of conductive material on both surfaces of the lens by printing, painting or sputtering, and is applied by covering with a masking tape or jig to separate each electrode area. Or the area | region without a thin film was created in sputtering.

  Furthermore, another feature is that by providing electrodes on both surfaces of the inner lens 12, the electrode area can be increased and the capacitance can be increased to increase detection sensitivity. It is possible to reduce malfunctions in turning on and off. In addition to detecting that the passenger's finger is in contact with the outer lens, it is also possible to detect the proximity distance of the passenger's finger, which can be turned on and off by the approach of the fingertip and a predetermined motion (motion) It is that. Furthermore, by cutting the electrode surface as the electrode area expands, flexible design such as adjustment of detection characteristics and division of electrodes has become possible.

  FIG. 2 shows a BB cross section of the vehicle interior lighting device according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and includes a conductive bar 18 that contacts the inner lens 12 from the substrate 17, and a light source case 24. The cross section including is shown. The conductive bar 18 is held by the light source case 24 so as to be positioned at the end of the inner lens 12. With this configuration, when the light source 21 is not turned on, the conductive bar 18 connected from the outer lens 11 to the inner lens 12 is not seen through, and when the light source 21 is turned on, the light source case Since the light diffused inside illuminates the vehicle interior through the outer lens 11, the shadow of the conductive bar is difficult to appear.

  FIG. 4 is an assembly diagram of the vehicle interior lighting device according to the first embodiment, and each component will be described in detail. The vehicle interior lighting device 10 has a housing 16 having a heat radiating hole, a substrate 17 having light sources 21 to 23, a light source case 24 holding a conductive bar 18, and an inner lens 12 attached from below in FIG. And an outer lens 11. Next, the assembly procedure will be described.

  First, the light sources 21 to 23 are attached to a substrate having a control circuit. The casing 16 is provided with a corner guide 65 and a fixing claw 62 for positioning the substrate 17. The substrate 17 is fixed to the casing 16 by fitting the substrate 17 into the casing 16 in accordance with the corner guide 65. Is done. The light source case 63 is fixed to the substrate 17 by pressing the light source case 63 into the substrate 17 after positioning the fixing claw 63 of the light source case 24 to fit in the fixing groove 64 of the substrate. Next, after positioning the fixing claw 67 of the outer lens 11 to which the inner lens 12 is attached so as to fit into the fixing groove 66 of the casing 16, the assembly of the vehicle interior lighting device is completed by pushing into the casing 16. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the conductive bar 18 that electrically connects the substrate 17 and the inner lens 12 is conductive when the end face of the conductive bar 18 abuts. Therefore, an embodiment will be described in which the conductive bar 18 is shaped like a leaf spring and is brought into contact with the lens side surface of the inner lens 12 so that the conductive bar 18 is hardly visible from the passenger compartment side.

FIG. 5: has shown the BB cross section and the enlarged view which show the modification of the vehicle interior illuminating device 10 which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The vehicle interior lighting device 10 in FIG. 5 uses a metal plate-like conduction plate 33 instead of the above-described conductor bar. The conductive plate 33 is processed into an L shape and is attached to the inner side surface of the housing. The substrate 17 having the light source 21 is electrically connected to the bottom surface side of the substrate 17 by being placed on the L-shape of the conduction plate 33. Next, when the light source case 33 is fitted onto the substrate 17, the conductive plate 33 is held by the housing 16 and the light source case 24.
When the outer lens 11 fitted with the inner lens 12 is attached to the housing 16, the U-shaped terminal provided at the tip of the conducting plate 33 is fitted into the side surface of the inner lens 12 and the side surface of the outer lens 11, By contacting the side surface of the lens 12, the electrode 13 is electrically connected, and the substrate and the electrode 13 of the inner lens 12 are connected. At this time, the conductive plate 33 is accommodated in a slight gap between the outer side surface of the inner lens 12 and the inner side surface of the outer lens 11, and the conductive plate 33 does not stand out due to the refractive index of the lens.

  FIG. 6 shows a circuit configuration of the vehicle interior lighting system 20 according to the present embodiment, and a system in which the driver's seat side vehicle interior lighting unit 30 and the vehicle interior lighting device 10 that is the rear seat side vehicle interior lighting unit are connected will be described. To do. The driver's seat side vehicle interior lighting unit 30 is connected to the door opening / closing sensor 32 so that the lighting can be turned on according to the opening / closing of the door. The driver's seat side vehicle interior lighting unit 30 has a switch for setting a lighting mode such as always off, always lit, or door opening / closing interlock, and an interface for transmitting the lighting mode to other indoor lighting devices.

  The vehicle interior lighting device 10 in FIG. 6 corresponds to a controller 31 that controls lighting of the light source, a left electrode 13, a center electrode 14, and a right electrode 15 that detect lighting and extinguishing instructions from the passenger, and each electrode. It has the light sources 21, 22, and 23 and the transistor part 34 which lights a light source. The vehicle interior lighting device 10 is connected to a signal line such as a CAN bus for receiving a lighting mode from the driver's seat side indoor lighting unit. With this signal line, each light source can be turned on according to the lighting mode.

  The controller 31 in FIG. 6 can determine the degree of approach of the occupant's fingertip by detecting the capacitance of each electrode at predetermined intervals, and can change the capacitance across a plurality of electrodes. By detecting, it is possible to determine which light source is turned on or off.

  FIG. 7 shows a vehicle interior lighting device 40, an inner lens 42, and an outer lens 41 according to the second embodiment. The vehicle interior lighting device 40 of FIG. 7 implements a mode input function that is set independently of the lighting mode from the driver side vehicle interior lighting unit with the electrode of the inner lens 42. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, in addition to the left electrode 43, the center electrode 44, and the right electrode 45 for causing the inner lens 42 to turn on / off the light source described above, the door interlocking electrode 46 and the extinguishing electrode enabling mode input. 47, the lighting electrode 48, and a plurality of LED indicators are arranged immediately below the inner lens 42 in order to light the plurality of light guide protrusions 49. One of the features of the present embodiment is that the light source can be turned on and the mode can be input by changing the capacitance by dividing the electrode over both surfaces of the inner lens 42 into six.

  FIG. 8 shows a vehicle interior lighting device according to a third embodiment in which the second embodiment is combined with a touch sensor on the outer lens surface, and an inner lens 52 and an outer lens 51. In the vehicle interior lighting device 50 of FIG. 8, for example, the touch sensor 53 divided into a plurality of sections is arranged on the surface of the outer lens 51 and configured as a mode input switch, and the bottom surface of the touch sensor 53 is a conduction bar for touch sensor. 57 is connected to the circuit of the substrate. Further, the mode state is displayed by the LED indicator 58 of the housing 16. By adopting such a configuration, the light source is turned on by a floating electrostatic method with a wide detection range, and the mode input can be operated by a touch sensor. It becomes possible.

  As described above, the vehicle interior lighting device shown in the embodiment of the present invention is arranged on the inner side of the outer lens (first lens), and the electrode of the inner lens (second lens) that is difficult to see from the outer side. By connecting the substrate with the conductive bar, the conductive bar can be made difficult to see from the passenger through the outer lens. In addition, the outer lens (first lens) touched by the passenger is not directly received and heated by the light source, and the temperature of the outer lens (first lens) can be prevented from being increased. Furthermore, the electrodes of the inner lens (second lens) can be formed on the front and back, and the detection sensitivity can be improved as the electrode area increases.

  In this embodiment, the electrode provided on the transparent inner lens is a transparent electrode that reduces the transmission of infrared rays. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an electrode that turns milky white according to the design specifications of the product may be used. Needless to say, the electrode may be bluish with emphasis on design.

  10, 40, 50, 101 Car interior lighting device, 11, 41, 51 Outer lens, 12, 42, 52 Inner lens, 13, 43 Left electrode, 14, 44 Center electrode, 15, 45 Right electrode, 16, 102 housing Body, 17, 118 substrate, 18, 122 conduction bar, 19 heat radiation hole, 20 vehicle interior lighting system, 21, 22, 23, 116 light source, 24, 124 light source case, 30 driver's seat side vehicle interior lighting unit, 31 controller , 32 Door opening / closing sensor, 33 Conducting plate, 34 Transistor portion, 46 Door interlocking electrode, 47 Light-off electrode, 48 Lighting electrode, 49 Light guide protrusion, 53 Touch sensor, 57 Touch sensor conducting bar, 58 LED indicator, 62, 63, 67 Fixed claw, 64, 66 Fixed groove, 65 Corner guide, 112, 113 Illumination lens, 1 14, 115 electrodes, 120 holder, 126 inner frame, 128 outer frame.

Claims (2)

A housing fixed to the ceiling of the vehicle;
A first lens fixed to the housing and contactable by a human body;
A substrate connected to the light source controller;
A plurality of light sources provided on the substrate and illuminating the interior of the vehicle through at least a first lens;
A second lens provided between the first lens and the light source;
A transparent electrode corresponding to each light source provided on the second lens surface;
A conducting member for conducting the transparent electrode and the substrate;
With
A vehicle interior lighting device in which the light source control unit reads a change in electrostatic capacitance between the transparent electrode and a human body to turn on and off the light source. The vehicle interior lighting device according to claim 1,
The second lens provided with an electrode for reading the change in capacitance with the human body is formed in a thin film and has transparent electrodes that transmit light of a predetermined wavelength on both the front and back surfaces. A vehicle interior lighting device having a structure in which heat from the light source is difficult to be transmitted by disposing the second lens on the back side of the first lens.

Images