JP5749238B2 - Lamp control unit for vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp control unit, and more particularly to a vehicular lamp control unit capable of visually turning on / off a plurality of lamps in which LED lamps and incandescent lamps are mixedly mounted. .

  The vehicle is equipped with a plurality of lamp systems for simultaneously turning on / off a plurality of lamps, and it is desirable to visually turn these lamps on and off. Among them, the vehicle turn lamps are arranged at a plurality of positions including the front and the rear of the vehicle on both the left and right sides of the vehicle, respectively. . That is, when turning left, a plurality of turn lamps arranged on the left side of the vehicle are required to blink simultaneously, and when turning right, a plurality of turn lamps arranged on the right side of the vehicle are required to blink simultaneously.

  Also in the field of vehicles, LED lamps have been used instead of incandescent lamps for power saving, and in vehicles where incandescent lamps have been used until then, when replacing the lamp, the incandescent lamp is replaced with the LED lamp. Replacement is performed. As a result, LED lamps and incandescent lamps are mixedly used. However, since the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp have greatly different characteristics of the luminance change at the time of lighting and extinguishing, when the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp are mixed and turned on / off, the luminance change is different from each other. Because of this, it looks very different visually.

  In particular, when LED lamps and incandescent lamps are mixed in turn lamps that repeatedly turn on and off in a short cycle, the lighting and extinguishing timings appear to be visually shifted, giving a strong discomfort to surrounding vehicles. .

  As a prior art for controlling the timing of turning on / off the lamp, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. In Patent Document 1, in a system in which a plurality of sets of in-vehicle LAN networks to which a plurality of electronic control units for synchronously controlling loads are connected via a gateway, a deviation in operation start between loads connected to different in-vehicle LAN networks. A technique for eliminating the problem is disclosed. Here, a configuration is described in which a gateway receives a load operation signal and transmits it between a plurality of sets of in-vehicle LAN networks, thereby synchronously controlling a plurality of loads. As the load, an automobile headlamp, stop lamp, turn signal lamp, and the like are described.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for solving a sense of incongruity caused by turning on the power at the same time as turning on the power and turning off the power instantaneously when the power is turned off in an illumination lamp using an LED lamp as a light source. . Here, the illumination lamp is provided with a power supply control unit that performs PWM control, a timer circuit, and a delay circuit. When the illumination lamp is turned on, the delay circuit increases the luminance with a predetermined slope. When the illumination lamp is turned off, the luminance is increased by the power supply control unit and the timer circuit. The brightness is reduced with a slope of.

JP 2007-161092 A JP 2007-145114 A

  However, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for eliminating a deviation in the start of operation between a plurality of loads (lamps). However, an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp having greatly different luminance change characteristics when turned on and off. When these are mixed, there is a problem that a visual disagreement of lighting and extinguishing timing and a disagreement in luminance change occur, giving a strong discomfort to surrounding vehicles.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2, the luminance change at the time of turning on and off the LED lamp is performed with a predetermined inclination. However, when the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp are mixed, the luminance changes of the two coincide with each other. It cannot be controlled. In addition, even if the lamp controller is configured in advance to match the brightness change of the incandescent lamp with respect to the LED lamp, in order to replace the incandescent lamp with the LED lamp, it is necessary to replace the lamp controller at the same time. Occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp control unit that determines a lamp type of a mounted vehicle lamp and performs dimming control corresponding to the lamp type. And

  In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention is a vehicle lamp control unit that turns on and off in synchronization with two or more lamps mounted on the vehicle. The two or more lamps include an LED lamp or an incandescent lamp, or both an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp, and include a luminance control unit that performs luminance control corresponding to each type of the two or more lamps.

  According to another aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention, when the two or more lamps include both an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp, the brightness control unit is configured so that the brightness of the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp is approximately the same. The LED lamp brightness control is performed so as to match.

  Another aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention is a lamp type in which the lamp is an LED lamp or an incandescent lamp based on an average current measurement value obtained by averaging the measurement values of the current supplied to the lamp. It further comprises lamp determination means for determining

  According to another aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention, when the inrush current is detected from the measured value of the current supplied to the lamp, the lamp is determined as an incandescent lamp, and when the inrush current is not detected, the LED is Lamp determining means for determining a lamp is further provided.

  In another aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention, the vehicle lamp control unit further includes an external input means for inputting the type of each of the two or more lamps, which is an LED lamp or an incandescent lamp.

  Another aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention is characterized in that, when the two or more lamps are all LED lamps or incandescent lamps, the brightness control unit does not perform brightness control of the lamps.

  In another aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention, the brightness control unit outputs a switching signal for controlling a current supplied to the lamp by a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) dimming method, Switching means for turning on / off a current supplied to the lamp by inputting the switching signal from the PWM control means.

  According to another aspect of the vehicle lamp control unit of the present invention, the brightness control unit passes through the CR filter based on a CR filter composed of a capacitor having a predetermined capacity and a resistor having a predetermined resistance value, and the type of the lamp. Switching determination means for determining whether or not to supply current to the lamp, and switching to whether or not to pass the CR filter based on the determination result by the switching determination means, to the lamp And a changeover switch section for supplying current.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle lamp control unit that determines a lamp type of a mounted vehicle lamp and performs dimming control corresponding to the lamp type.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle lamp control unit which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows an example of a brightness | luminance change when an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp are turned on / off. It is a graph which shows an example of the change of the consumption current when an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp are turned on / off. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the switching signal output to a switching means from a PWM control means. It is a graph which shows an example of a brightness | luminance change when the brightness control of an LED lamp is performed by the PWM light control system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the lamp control unit for vehicles which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the structural example of CR filter. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle lamp control unit which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  A vehicle lamp control unit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Each component having the same function is denoted by the same reference numeral for simplification of illustration and description.

(First embodiment)
A vehicle lamp control unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle lamp control unit 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a vehicle lamp control unit 100 is connected between a power supply 10 and a lamp 20 and supplies power from the power supply 10 to the lamp 20 in accordance with an on / off request signal 50 of the lamp 20 input from the host control system 30. ON / OFF.

  When the lamp 20 is an incandescent lamp, the vehicular lamp control unit 100 turns on the power supply from the power supply 10 to the lamp 20 and maintains it only when the on request signal 50 is input from the host control system 30. Good. Similarly, only when an OFF request signal 50 is input from the host control system 30, the vehicular lamp control unit 100 only needs to turn off the power supply from the power supply 10 to the lamp 20 and maintain it.

  On the other hand, when the lamp 20 is an LED lamp, if the power supply is turned on / off only when the request signal 50 is input as in the case of the incandescent lamp, the change in luminance is rapid, so the timing and brightness of the incandescent lamp and on / off Appear different, resulting in a visual discrepancy.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a change in luminance when the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp are turned on / off only when the request signal 50 is input. As shown in the figure, the luminance 52 of the LED lamp changes substantially in accordance with the on / off state of the request signal 50. On the other hand, the brightness 51 of the incandescent lamp shows a rise / fall change behind the on / off of the request signal 50. If the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp are simultaneously turned on / off due to the difference in luminance change as shown in FIG. 2, they appear to be visually different.

  Similar to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 shows changes in current consumption when the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp are simultaneously turned on / off according to the request signal 50. The consumption current 54 of the LED lamp is substantially constant in each of the on state and the off state, and the absolute amount is extremely small. On the other hand, the current consumption 53 of the incandescent lamp flows when a large current (inrush current) flows when it is turned on, and then rapidly decreases to a predetermined current value and stabilizes. The LED lamp and the incandescent lamp also show a great difference in the change in current consumption.

  Therefore, when the lamp 20 is an LED lamp, the vehicle lamp control unit 100 of the present embodiment is configured to perform the brightness control so that the change in brightness substantially matches the incandescent lamp. The vehicle lamp control unit 100 includes a luminance control unit 110 that controls the luminance of the LED lamp, and a lamp determination unit 120 that determines the lamp type of the lamp 20. The brightness control unit 110 receives the determination result of the lamp type from the lamp determination unit 120, and adjusts the current supplied to the lamp 20 when the lamp determination unit 120 determines that the lamp 20 is an LED lamp. Control brightness.

  In the present embodiment, the luminance control of the LED lamp is performed by a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) dimming method, and the luminance control unit 110 performs switching with the PWM control unit 111 in order to perform the luminance control of the PWM dimming method. Means 112. The vehicle lamp control unit 100 of the present embodiment having such a configuration can be configured using a switching element.

  The lamp determination unit 120 determines whether the lamp 20 is an LED lamp or an incandescent lamp, and outputs the determined lamp type to the luminance control unit 110. The LED lamp and the incandescent lamp have greatly different current consumption as shown in FIG. Therefore, the lamp determination unit 120 measures the current consumption when the lamp 20 is turned on / off, and determines the lamp type based on the measured current value. As an example, when an inrush current as shown in FIG. 3 is detected from the measured current consumption when the lamp 20 is turned on, the lamp 20 can be determined as an incandescent lamp. Alternatively, since the absolute amount of consumed current differs greatly between the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp, the type of the lamp 20 can be determined using the current measurement value or the average current measurement value obtained by averaging the current measurement value.

  In the brightness control unit 110, the lamp type input from the lamp determination unit 120 is input to the PWM control unit 111. When the lamp type is an LED lamp, the current supplied to the lamp 20 is controlled by the PWM dimming method. In order to perform luminance control by the PWM dimming method, a switching signal is output from the PWM control unit 111 to the switching unit 112, and the current supplied to the lamp 20 by the switching unit 112 is turned on / off based on the switching signal. .

The PWM control unit 111 outputs a switching signal corresponding to the lamp type to the switching unit 112 based on the lamp type input from the lamp determination unit 120. That is, when the lamp 20 is an incandescent lamp, the PWM control unit 111 outputs an ON switching signal to the switching unit 112 while the lamp 20 is ON, and outputs an OFF switching signal when the lamp 20 is OFF. On the other hand, when the lamp 20 is an LED lamp, the brightness of the LED lamp is controlled by the PWM dimming method. The switching control unit 112 receives a switching signal whose pulse width is adjusted from the PWM control unit 111, and turns on / off the current supplied to the lamp 20 based on the switching signal.

In the configuration of the vehicle lamp control unit 100 of this embodiment shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to pass a current through the lamp 20 so that the lamp determination means 120 can determine the type of the lamp 20. Therefore, when the on request signal 50 is input from the host control system 30, the PWM control unit 111 outputs a signal for turning on the switching unit 112 as the first switching signal. Thereby, a current flows from the power source 10 to the lamp 20, and the lamp determination unit 120 determines the type of the lamp 20 based on the current measurement value at that time.

  The PWM control unit 111 inputs the type of the lamp 20 from the lamp determination unit 120, and continues to output an ON switching signal to the switching unit 112 when the lamp type is an incandescent lamp. On the other hand, when the lamp type input from the lamp determination unit 120 is an LED lamp, the PWM control unit 111 adjusts the pulse width of the switching signal and starts brightness control of the LED lamp by the PWM dimming method.

  When the lamp 20 is turned off, the lamp 20 may be turned off according to the control method selected at that time, that is, the incandescent lamp on / off control method or the LED lamp PWM dimming method. Alternatively, when an OFF request signal is input from the host control system 30, the lamp type may be determined again based on the current measurement value (average current measurement value) at that time.

  When the luminance control by the PWM dimming method is started in the PWM control unit 111, the PWM control unit 111 outputs a switching signal whose pulse width is adjusted at a predetermined cycle to the switching unit 112. The PWM control unit 111 adjusts the pulse width (the time width during which the switch is turned on) of each cycle so that the luminance change of the lamp 20 which is an LED lamp substantially matches the luminance change of the incandescent lamp shown in FIG. . When the switching means 112 receives a switching signal whose pulse width is adjusted from the PWM control means 111, the switching means 112 is turned on only during the pulse width and supplies a current from the power supply 10 to the lamp 20.

  A switching signal output from the PWM control unit 111 to the switching unit 112 is schematically shown in FIG. When the request signal 50 for turning on the lamp 20 is input from the host control system 30, the PWM control unit 111 sets the pulse width of the switching signal 55 so that the luminance at the time of rising of the lamp 20 changes to the same level as the incandescent lamp. Make it longer gradually. Then, in order to align the luminance peak after the rise with the luminance of the incandescent lamp, luminance control is performed even during lighting.

  On the other hand, when the request signal 50 for turning off the lamp 20 is input from the host control system 30, the PWM control unit 111 changes the switching signal 55 so that the luminance at the time of the fall of the lamp 20 changes to the same level as the incandescent lamp. Reduce the pulse width gradually. Thereby, the luminance change at the time of rising when the lamp 20 is turned on, the luminance during lighting, and the luminance change at the time of falling off when the lamp 20 is turned off can be substantially matched with the luminance change of the incandescent lamp. As a result, when the lamp 20 which is an LED lamp is turned on / off simultaneously with another incandescent lamp, a difference in luminance can be prevented from being felt visually.

  In the vehicle lamp control unit 100 of the present embodiment, the luminance change when the luminance control of the lamp 20 which is an LED lamp is performed by the PWM dimming method is shown in FIG. 5 in comparison with the luminance change of the incandescent lamp. In the figure, reference numeral 60 indicates the luminance of the LED lamp (lamp 20) for which luminance control has been performed. It can be seen that the luminance 60 of the LED lamp when the luminance control is performed changes substantially the same as the luminance 51 of the incandescent lamp. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a difference in luminance between the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp from being felt.

  According to the vehicle lamp control unit 100 of the present embodiment, it is possible to automatically determine the lamp type of the vehicle lamp and perform dimming control corresponding to the determined lamp type. As a result, even if the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp are used in combination with the lamps that are turned on / off in synchronization, it is possible to eliminate a temporal shift in visual luminance. In particular, since the vehicle turn lamps are required to blink simultaneously, it is possible to mix LED lamps and incandescent lamps in the turn lamps by applying the vehicle lamp control unit 100 of this embodiment. Become. As a result, the user can use both the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp without being aware of it.

  In the description of the above embodiment, the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp are mixed in the lamps that are turned on / off in synchronization. However, when all the lamps are LED lamps, the brightness control unit is configured as described above. It is not always necessary to perform luminance control on the lamp, and it may be turned on / off immediately when the request signal is turned on / off, as in the case of an incandescent lamp. The same applies to the following embodiments.

(Second Embodiment)
A vehicle lamp control unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle lamp control unit 200 of the present embodiment. The vehicle lamp control unit 200 according to the present embodiment is different from the brightness control unit 110 according to the first embodiment in the configuration of the brightness control unit 210.

  In the present embodiment, instead of the PWM control unit 111 and the switching unit 112 of the first embodiment, the luminance control unit 210 includes a switching determination unit 211, a changeover switch unit 212, and a CR filter 213. The CR filter 213 performs brightness control by an analog dimming method when the lamp 20 is an LED lamp.

  In the present embodiment, the selector switch unit 212 includes two switches 212a (first switch) and 212b (second switch), and each is configured to be switched on or off. The input sides of the first switch 212a and the second switch 212b are both connected to the power supply 10. On the output side, the first switch 212a is directly connected to the lamp determination means 120, and the second switch 212b is connected to the lamp determination means 120 via the CR filter 213.

  The lamp type determined by the lamp determination unit 120 is input to the switching determination unit 211 of the luminance control unit 210. The switching determination unit 211 switches a switching request signal for switching either the first switch 212a or the second switch 212b of the switching switch unit 212 on or off based on the lamp type input from the lamp determination unit 120. To the unit 212.

  A process performed by the vehicle lamp control unit 200 of the present embodiment based on the request signal 50 from the host control system 30 will be described below. A request signal 50 from the host control system 30 is input to the switching determination unit 211. When the switching determination unit 211 receives a request to turn on the lamp 20 as the request signal 50 from the host control system 30, the switching determination unit 211 allows the lamp switching unit 212 to determine the type of the lamp 20 for the first time. A switch request signal for requesting to turn on the switch 212a is output.

  When a switching request signal is output from the switching determination unit 211 to the switching switch unit 212 and the first switch 212a is turned on, current is supplied from the power supply 10 to the lamp 20 via the first switch 212a and the lamp determination unit 120. Is done. The lamp determination unit 120 measures the current value at this time, and determines whether the lamp 20 is an LED lamp or an incandescent lamp based on the measured current value. The determined lamp type is output from the lamp determination unit 120 to the switching determination unit 211.

  The switching determination unit 211 receives the lamp type from the lamp determination unit 120, and when the lamp 20 is an incandescent lamp, does not output a switching request signal to the switching switch unit 212 and maintains the first switch 212a in an on state. . On the other hand, when the lamp 20 is an LED lamp, a switch request signal for switching the first switch 212a to OFF and switching the second switch 212b to ON is output to the selector switch unit 212. Thereby, in the changeover switch unit 212, the first switch 212a is turned off and the second switch 212b is turned on.

  On the other hand, when a request to turn off the lamp 20 is input from the host control system 30, the switch determination unit 211 outputs a switch request signal for turning off both the first switch 212 a and the second switch 212 b to the switch unit 212.

  In the vehicle lamp control unit 200 of the present embodiment, when the lamp 20 is an LED lamp, a current is supplied from the power supply 10 to the lamp 20 through the second switch 212b and the CR filter 213. The CR filter 213 controls the luminance of the lamp 20 that is an LED lamp. Here, a configuration example of the CR filter 213 is shown in FIG. In the CR filter 213, by appropriately selecting the capacitance of the capacitor C and the resistance value of the resistor R, current is supplied to the lamp 20 so that the luminance of the lamp 20 changes similarly to the luminance change of the incandescent lamp shown in FIG. Supplied.

  In the vehicle lamp control unit 200 of the present embodiment as well, in the same way as the vehicle lamp control unit 100 of the first embodiment, even when an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp are used in combination, a visual deviation in visual brightness is eliminated. be able to.

(Third embodiment)
A vehicle lamp control unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle lamp control unit 300 of the present embodiment. The vehicle lamp control unit 300 according to the present embodiment does not include the lamp determination unit 120 included in the vehicle lamp control units 100 and 200 according to the first and second embodiments, but instead includes an external input unit. 330 is provided.

  The lamp determination unit 120 is configured to determine the type of the lamp 20 from the current supplied to the lamp 20, but the external input unit 330 of the present embodiment provides a unit for inputting the lamp type from the outside. ing. As a means for inputting the lamp type from the outside, a switch for manually selecting whether the lamp 20 is an incandescent lamp or an LED lamp can be provided in the external input means 330. Alternatively, the external input means 330 is provided with a connection end for in-vehicle multiplex communication, and the lamp type is input to the luminance control unit 110 of the vehicle lamp control unit 300 mounted on the vehicle from the outside via the in-vehicle multiplex communication. It may be.

  The input of the lamp type from the outside using the external input means 330 can be performed at the time of repair or inspection for replacing the lamp 20. In this case, the operator can input the type of the lamp 20 to the luminance control unit 110 by selecting a switch provided in the external input unit 330. Alternatively, it is also possible to input the type of the lamp 20 from the external system to the luminance control unit 110 by connecting an external vehicle management system or the like to the connection end provided in the external input means 330.

  In the vehicle lamp control unit 300 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the configuration of the luminance control unit 110 is the same as that of the vehicle lamp control unit 100 of the first embodiment, but is not limited thereto. It goes without saying that the luminance control unit 210 having the same configuration as that of the vehicle lamp control unit 200 of the second embodiment can be used.

  The description in the present embodiment shows an example of the vehicle lamp control unit according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this. The detailed configuration and detailed operation of the vehicular lamp control unit in the present embodiment can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Power supply 20 Lamp 30 High-order control system 100, 200, 300 Lamp control unit 110, 210 for vehicles Brightness control part 111 PWM control means 112 Switching means 120 Lamp judgment means 211 Switching judgment means 212 Switching switch part 213 CR filter 330 External input means

Claims (7)

In accordance with an on / off request signal input from the outside , a vehicle lamp control unit for turning on and off in synchronization with two or more lamps mounted on the vehicle,
The two or more lamps include an LED lamp or an incandescent lamp, or both an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp,
Lamp determination means for automatically determining the lamp type of the two or more lamps;
A luminance control unit that performs luminance control corresponding to each type of the two or more lamps determined by the determination unit ;
When the two or more lamps are all LED lamps,
The vehicular lamp control unit , wherein the luminance control unit turns on / off the LED lamp substantially in accordance with the on / off request signal without performing luminance control corresponding to the LED lamp. . When the two or more lamps include both an LED lamp and an incandescent lamp,
2. The vehicle lamp control unit according to claim 1, wherein the brightness control unit performs brightness control of the LED lamp so that the brightness of the LED lamp and the incandescent lamp substantially match each other. The lamp determination unit, the lamp based on the average current measured value of the measured values were averaged current supplied to the lamp to determine the type of LED lamp or an incandescent lamp or lamps
Vehicle lamp control unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. The lamp determination unit determines that an incandescent lamp the lamp inrush current is detected from the measured value of the current supplied to the lamp, it is determined that the LED lamp when the inrush current is not detected
Vehicle lamp control unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. 3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, further comprising: an external input unit that inputs the type of the lamp, which is an LED lamp or an incandescent lamp, from the outside to the luminance control unit. Controller unit. The brightness control unit
PWM control means for outputting a switching signal for controlling the current supplied to the lamp by a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) dimming method;
The switching unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: a switching unit that inputs the switching signal from the PWM control unit and turns on / off a current supplied to the lamp . Lamp control unit for vehicles. The brightness control unit
A CR filter composed of a capacitor having a predetermined capacity and a resistor having a predetermined resistance value;
Switching determination means for determining whether to supply current to the lamp via the CR filter based on the type of the lamp;
A change-over switch unit that switches whether to pass through the CR filter based on a determination result by the switching determination unit and supplies current to the lamp. Item 6. The vehicle lamp control unit according to any one of Items 1 to 5 .

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