JP5573284B2 - Vehicle lighting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting device for a vehicle, in particular, a light emitting unit that is attached to a vehicle such as a bicycle and emits light by irradiating the surroundings with power supplied from a power source unit, and controls that supply power from the power source unit to the light emitting unit. The present invention relates to a vehicular illumination device including a control unit that is performed according to the above.

  As a conventional vehicular lighting device, one that switches the irradiation direction of a light emitting unit based on an output from a travel detection unit is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). Specifically, the vehicle speed is detected by a dynamo (generator), etc., and when it is detected that the vehicle is traveling at a high speed (strong driving detection), it is irradiated toward the far side and the vehicle is traveling at a slow speed. Irradiation was directed toward the front side when the light was detected (weak running detection).

  In some cases, a vibration sensor is used as the travel detection unit, and the light emission control of the light emitting unit is performed based on outputs from the travel detection unit and the light / darkness detection unit (see, for example, Patent Document 2 or Patent Document 3). Specifically, when the vehicle is detected by a vibration sensor, it is detected that the surroundings are dark (dark detection) and when the driving is detected, and light is emitted. It was turned off when it was detected that the vehicle was in the state (no-run detection).

JP 2002-274461 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-70585 JP 2000-16363 A

  In the example in which the dynamo is used as the power supply unit in the vehicle lighting device described in Patent Document 1, the dynamo is operated when the vehicle wheel is rotated by traveling, and the generated electric power is supplied to each unit. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the battery life due to standby power, which is a problem in a vehicle lighting device using a battery. In addition, since a dynamo was used as a travel detection unit, the travel detection unit did not consume power during parking.

  However, in the vehicle lighting device described in Patent Document 2 or Patent Document 3, electric power from a power supply unit such as a battery is supplied to each unit such as a travel detection unit and a control unit, so that the vehicle travels even when parked. In order to detect this, standby power was supplied to the travel detection unit and the like. Thus, the power consumption of each component has been reduced to reduce the standby power and extend the battery life. However, there is a limit to reducing the power consumption of each component.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a vehicle lighting system that has a long battery life without deteriorating the mounting performance to a vehicle, which is a problem when using a dynamo, and without degrading the detection performance and the light emission performance. An object is to provide an apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle lighting device according to the present invention is mounted on a bicycle or other vehicle and emits light by supplying power from a power supply unit to illuminate the surroundings, and supplies power from the power supply unit to the light emitting unit. In the vehicular illumination device including a control unit that performs control according to the surrounding conditions, by a detection output of at least one of a travel detection unit that detects the traveling state of the vehicle and a light / darkness detection unit that detects surrounding light and darkness The operation state of at least one of the other detection unit or the control unit is switched , and the power supply to the other is started or stopped by the detection output of at least one of the travel detection unit or the light / dark detection unit It is.

  According to the present invention, the operation state of at least one of the other detection unit or the control unit is detected by the detection output of at least one of the travel detection unit that detects the running state of the vehicle or the brightness / darkness detection unit that detects the brightness of the surroundings. By switching the operation of the travel detection unit, brightness / darkness detection unit, and control unit, which have always been in operation, only when necessary, the standby power of the vehicle lighting device can be kept low and the battery life of the power supply unit can be reduced. Can be greatly extended. In particular, in the vehicular illumination device of the present invention, the illumination unit needs to start emitting light only during night driving, and at least one of the travel detection unit and the light / dark detection unit detects travel or light / dark detection. Since the function can be performed, it is possible to stop the power supply to other than these. Similarly, since it is necessary for the illumination unit to start emitting light only during running at night, it does not travel most of the day. Therefore, the effect of lengthening the battery life by suppressing the standby power by stopping the power supply to each part during the non-traveling time is great.

1 is a block diagram of a vehicle lighting device shown in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. (A) The front view which shows the attachment state to the vehicle of the vehicle illuminating device shown in Embodiment 1 of this invention, (b) The attachment state to the vehicle of the illuminating device for vehicles shown in Embodiment 1 of this invention is shown. Side view The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the illuminating device for vehicles shown in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The block diagram of the illuminating device for vehicles shown in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the illuminating device for vehicles shown in Embodiment 2 of this invention.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light emitting unit that is attached to a vehicle such as a bicycle and emits light when the power of the power supply unit is supplied and irradiates the surroundings, and a control that supplies the power of the power supply unit to the light emitting unit in the surrounding situation. In the vehicular illumination device including a control unit that performs the control, the other detection unit or the control is detected by at least one detection output of a travel detection unit that detects the running state of the vehicle or a light / darkness detection unit that detects surrounding light and darkness. By switching the operating state of at least one of the units and starting or stopping the power supply to the other by the detection output of at least one of the travel detection unit or the light / dark detection unit , the travel detection or light / dark detection When necessary, operate each detection unit and control unit. When not required, stop each detection unit and control unit or switch to power saving mode. It is possible to reduce the standby power can Rukoto. As a result, a vehicular illumination device having a long battery life can be provided. For example, if the light output in the daytime when the detection output of the lightness / darkness detection unit is light detection is 12 hours and the dark time in the nighttime when dark detection is 12 hours, the standby power of the travel detection unit is lower than when the power is constantly supplied. It becomes about 1/2 times. Further, for example, in the case where the vehicle travels only for one hour per day, the standby power of the travel detection unit is about 1/24 times that in the case where power is always supplied. This can provide a vehicular lighting device with a long battery life.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the standby power of the control unit can be kept low by switching the operation state of the control unit according to the detection output of at least one of the travel detection unit and the light / dark detection unit. . In particular, in a vehicular lighting device that starts to emit light only when the travel detection output and the light / dark detection output are specific, it is not necessary to emit the light emitting unit when it is not running or during the daytime, and the operation of the control unit is stopped or the power saving mode It is possible to provide a vehicle lighting device with a long battery life by keeping standby power low.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of each part of the vehicular illumination apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The operation when the vibration sensor according to the first embodiment is used will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a fixing unit 1 holds each component and fixes a vehicle lighting device to a vehicle or the like. The power supply unit 2 supplies power to the light / darkness detection unit 6 and also supplies power to the travel detection unit 3 and the light emitting unit 5 via the control unit 4.

  When power is supplied, the light / darkness detection unit 6 detects the brightness of the lower road surface of the vehicular lighting device. If the brightness is higher than a predetermined value according to the brightness level of the lower road surface, the brightness detection and the ambient brightness are detected. When it is less than the predetermined value, dark detection is performed and the signal is output to the control unit 4. If it is light detection, it will be set as the low power mode which suppresses the electric power supply from the power supply part 2 to the control part 4 or the light-and-darkness detection part 6 low. This is achieved by using a power saving mode that reduces the power consumption of the microcomputer when using a microcomputer, and by supplying power only to the part that determines the light / dark detection output when using a logic circuit.

  When the light / darkness detection output from the light / darkness detection unit 6 is dark detection, the normal mode in which power is normally supplied from the power supply unit 2 to the control unit 4 and the light / darkness detection unit 6 is set. When a microcomputer is used, this is a high-speed mode that does not reduce the power consumption of the microcomputer. When a logic circuit is used, power is supplied to all parts of the control unit 4 and the brightness / darkness detection unit 6. At this time, the control unit 4 supplies power from the power supply unit 2 to the travel detection unit 3.

  The travel detection unit 3 detects vehicle vibration with a vibration sensor and detects travel based on a signal corresponding to the degree of vibration or the frequency of vibration (strong travel detection for detecting that the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or more, and strong travel detection) Detection of weak running detected at a speed slower than the speed to be detected, and no running detection to detect that the vehicle is stopped) and the determination result is output to the control unit 4. Further, the travel detection unit 3 may be configured by an acceleration sensor, a positioning sensor, or the like. In that case, the determination result is output to the control unit 4 by a travel detection output corresponding to the acceleration, position change, or these frequencies. .

  When the travel detection unit 3 is a vibration sensor, the vibration sensor output is read 8 times and if 8 to 5 times “vibration” is detected, strong travel is detected. If 4 to 3 times “vibration” is detected, weak travel detection is performed. If it is “vibration” 0 times, it is determined that no running has been detected. In the case of an acceleration sensor, if the output is 1.5 gal or more, it is determined that strong running is detected, if it is 0.5 gal or more and less than 1.5 gal, weak running is detected, and if it is less than 0.5 gal, it is determined that no running is detected. . In the case of a positioning sensor, a change in position is measured every second. If the displacement distance is 0.5 m or more, strong running detection is detected. If the displacement distance is 0.1 m or more and less than 0.5 m, weak running detection is detected. If there is, it is determined as no-running detection. In the case of frequency, when the peak frequency of the output signal of the vibration sensor or acceleration sensor is 10 Hz or more, strong running detection is detected. When the frequency is more than 10 Hz and less than 10 Hz, weak running detection is detected. If the determination result of the light / dark detection output is dark detection and the determination result of the travel detection output is strong travel detection, the control unit 4 supplies power from the power supply unit 2 to the light emitting unit 5. The light emitting unit 5 emits light when the power from the power supply unit 2 is supplied by the control unit 4 and functions as vehicle lighting.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing an attachment state of the vehicle lighting device shown in Embodiment 1 of the present invention to the vehicle. In FIG. 2, the vehicular illumination device 10 is fixed to the fixed portion 1, and the fixed portion 1 is fixed to the frame 9 of the vehicle. The fixed position is located inside the wheel 12 and in the vicinity of the spoke 11. For this reason, road vibrations are easily transmitted during traveling, and strong traveling detection can be performed reliably by the user balancing the steering wheel operation so that the user does not fall down at the start of traveling.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicular illumination apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Normally, the control unit is in the low power mode with the light off during a daytime when the surroundings are bright. If no darkness is detected in lightness / darkness detection A, lightness / darkness detection A is repeated. As a result, even when the vehicle is in the daytime and brightly lit, the vehicle remains off and prevents current consumption of the power source such as a battery due to unnecessary light emission. When darkness is detected by light / darkness detection A, the control unit becomes a normal mode, and complicated control processing is possible. Thereafter, power is supplied to the travel detection unit, and after performing travel detection A, power to the travel detection unit is stopped. In this way, the power supply to the travel detection unit is started after dark detection, and the power is stopped after the travel detection. Standby power at the detection unit can be minimized. If the running detection output detects no running or weak running, the control unit shifts to the low power mode and performs light / dark detection A. By doing in this way, the consumption current required for the process in a control part can also be suppressed to the minimum. If strong running is detected, the light emitting unit emits light. As a result, strong driving is detected by strong vibration due to unlocking at the start of driving, stand release, or shaking at the start of rowing, and the light emitting unit automatically starts to emit light.

  After light emission, light / dark detection B is performed. If no dark detection is detected, the light emitting unit is turned off. When darkness is detected, power is supplied to the travel detection unit. Thereafter, travel detection B is performed, and the power of the travel detection unit is stopped. As a result, the power supply to the travel detection unit is stopped during the time when the travel detection is unnecessary as in the travel detection A in the light-off state, so that standby power at the travel detection unit can be minimized. If the determination result of the travel detection B is a strong travel detection or a weak travel detection, the process returns to the light / darkness detection B and continues to emit light. If no running is detected in the running detection B, the light emitting unit is turned off. After the light emitting unit is turned off, the control unit shifts to the low power mode and the light / dark detection A is performed. As a result, the current consumption required for processing in the control unit can be minimized as in the light-off state.

  However, the above numerical values are merely examples, and actual determination levels may differ from these numerical values.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of each part of the vehicular illumination apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The operation in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the fixing | fixed part 1 fixes a vehicle illuminating device to a vehicle etc. while holding each structure part. The power supply unit 2 supplies power to the travel detection unit 3 and supplies power to the light emitting unit 5 via the control unit 4. The travel detection unit 3 outputs a travel detection output to the control unit 4 when electric power is supplied. The controller 4 stands by in the low power mode if there is no travel detection output, and operates in the normal mode if there is a travel detection output. When the travel detection unit 3 is a vibration sensor, the vibration sensor output is read 8 times and if 8 to 5 times “vibration” is detected, strong travel is detected. If 4 to 3 times “vibration” is detected, weak travel detection is performed. If it is “vibration” 0 times, it is determined that no running has been detected. In the case of an acceleration sensor, if the output is 1.5 gal or more, it is determined that strong running is detected, if it is 0.5 gal or more and less than 1.5 gal, weak running is detected, and if it is less than 0.5 gal, it is determined that no running is detected. . In the case of a positioning sensor, a change in position is measured every second. If the displacement distance is 0.5 m or more, strong running detection is detected. If the displacement distance is 0.1 m or more and less than 0.5 m, weak running detection is detected. If there is, it is determined as no-running detection. In the case of frequency, when the peak frequency of the output signal of the vibration sensor or acceleration sensor is 10 Hz or more, strong running detection is detected. When the frequency is more than 10 Hz and less than 10 Hz, weak running detection is detected. If the determination result of the travel detection output is strong travel detection, the control unit 4 supplies power from the power source unit 2 to the light emitting unit 5. The light emitting unit 5 emits light when the power from the power supply unit 2 is supplied by the control unit 4 and functions as vehicle lighting.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicular illumination apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Normally, the control unit is in the low power mode with the light off during a daytime when the surroundings are bright. If there is no travel detection output in travel detection C, travel detection C is repeated. As a result, the power consumption of the control unit is kept low because the control unit remains in the low power mode during parking. When a traveling detection output is output at traveling detection C by traveling with the vehicle, the control unit shifts to the normal mode and performs traveling detection D. If the travel detection D determines that there is no travel detection or weak travel detection, the control unit shifts to the low power mode and returns to the travel detection C. As a result, even if weak vibrations occur due to wind or the like during parking, the control unit immediately returns to the low power mode, so that the power consumption of the control unit is kept low. If it is determined that the strong running is detected in the running detection D, the light emitting unit emits light and functions as vehicle illumination.

  After the light emitting unit emits light, travel detection E is performed. If strong running detection or weak running detection is detected in the running detection E, the running detection E is repeated and the light emission state is continued. If no travel is detected in the travel detection E, the light emitting unit is turned off, the control unit is shifted to the low power mode, and the process returns to the travel detection C. Thereby, after parking, the control unit shifts to the low power mode, the power consumption of the control unit is kept low, and the battery life of the power supply unit can be greatly extended.

  The vehicular lighting device according to the present invention suppresses the current consumption by switching each power and operation without impairing the functions of the travel detection unit, the light and darkness detection unit, or the control unit, thereby significantly reducing the battery life of the power supply unit. A lighting device for a vehicle that can be extended, in particular, a light emitting unit that is attached to a vehicle such as a bicycle and emits light by irradiating the surroundings with power supply, and control for supplying the power of the power source to the light emitting unit It is useful as a vehicular illumination device or the like provided with a control unit that performs according to the surrounding situation.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fixed part 2 Power supply part 3 Run detection part 4 Control part 5 Light emission part 6 Brightness / darkness detection part 9 Frame 10 Vehicle lighting device 11 Spoke 12 Wheel

Claims (2)

A light-emitting unit that is attached to a vehicle such as a bicycle and emits light by supplying power from a power supply unit;
In the vehicle lighting device including a control unit that performs control to supply power of the power source unit to the light emitting unit according to the surrounding situation,
The operation state of at least one of the other detection unit or the control unit is switched by the detection output of at least one of the travel detection unit for detecting the running state of the vehicle or the light / darkness detection unit for detecting the brightness of surroundings ,
A vehicular illumination device configured to start or stop power supply to the other by a detection output of at least one of a travel detection unit and a light / dark detection unit . The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the operation state of the control unit is switched by a detection output of at least one of the travel detection unit and the light / dark detection unit.