JP6260453B2 - Car interior lighting system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle interior lighting device. Specifically, by automatically controlling the color temperature and brightness of the lighting in the passenger compartment based on the time of day, the lighting color and brightness that match the occupant's biological rhythm are provided. It is related with the vehicle interior lighting device which can adjust illumination according to.

Conventionally, lighting and illumination in a vehicle such as a passenger car are not limited to simply turning on and off, and it has been studied to control the brightness and color of the lighting. For example, it has been proposed to control the brightness of illumination according to the brightness and time of the outside light environment (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Patent Document 1 describes a vehicle interior lighting system that can keep the brightness of the interior of the vehicle on the rear seat side constant even when the brightness outside the vehicle changes. Patent Document 2 describes a movable vehicle interior lighting device that performs brightness control in consideration of dark adaptation of an occupant and can always give a constant brightness in the sense of the occupant. Further, it has been proposed to change the brightness and irradiation area of the illumination in the passenger compartment, and to adjust the lighting to an arbitrary color and brightness by a controller mounted on the vehicle.
Moreover, humans have a biological rhythm, and it is said that light has a great influence on this biological rhythm. In order to generate a light environment preferable for the human biological rhythm, there has been proposed an illumination system that adjusts the illuminance of illumination according to a time zone in an office, a house, or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

JP 2010-76519 A JP-A-11-255017 JP 2000-252084 A

  For example, in the interior lighting described in Patent Document 1, the brightness of the rear seat is detected, and the light output of the lighting device is adjusted so that the brightness of the rear seat is within a certain range. . Further, in the vehicle interior illumination described in Patent Document 2, the illuminance inside the vehicle interior, the illumination outside the vehicle, etc. are detected, and the optical axis, illumination, etc. are adjusted so that the brightness is always constant in the sense of the passenger. Yes. However, in these vehicle interior lighting, since the brightness of the lighting is controlled regardless of the human biological rhythm that changes according to the time zone of the day, such as morning, daytime, nighttime, etc., from the viewpoint of biological rhythm, It is hard to say that adequate lighting is provided for passengers. In addition, it is known that not only the illuminance but also the illumination color (color temperature) is closely related in order for a person to feel comfortable. However, in the vehicle interior illumination described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, this illumination color has not been studied.

  Moreover, in the illumination system described in Patent Document 3, the illumination is switched to high illuminance light, medium illuminance light, and low illuminance light according to the time zone in consideration of human biological rhythm. In general, it is said that a person is comfortable with low illuminance when the color temperature is low, and is comfortable with high illuminance when the color temperature is high. An example of creating illumination, medium illumination and low color temperature illumination is shown. However, the indoor environment of the vehicle varies greatly compared to the indoor environment of an office or a house, and since light emitting devices for various purposes are arranged, color temperature and brightness are uniformly set for a plurality of light emitting devices. It is not appropriate to control. Further, in the vehicle interior, not only direct illumination from the light emitter, but also design indirect illumination is often performed using one or a plurality of illumination devices, and the illuminance is affected by peripheral members due to the color temperature. There is. Furthermore, there is a problem that it is troublesome for the occupant to operate it every time to make it the preferred lighting, while the lighting cannot be adjusted according to the physical condition and mood of the occupant only by automatically controlling the lighting. there were.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and by automatically controlling the color temperature and brightness of the lighting in the passenger compartment on the basis of the time of day, the lighting color matched to the biological rhythm of the occupant It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle interior lighting device that can provide brightness and adjust lighting according to the mood and preference of a passenger.

In order to solve the above problem, the vehicle interior lighting device according to claim 1 is provided in a vehicle interior, and includes a light emitting unit including a light source and a driving unit thereof, a clock unit that acquires time information, and the clock unit. Control means for acquiring a current time by means and transmitting a light emission control signal corresponding to a color temperature and brightness set corresponding to a time zone of one day to the light emitting unit , and the driving means comprises: Based on the light emission control signal received from the control means, the light source is driven so as to have the set color temperature and brightness by performing correction corresponding to the location and characteristics of the light emitting unit. The gist.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the light-emitting unit includes a plurality of light sources having different emission colors, and the driving unit has a predetermined driving power measured in advance for each of the light sources. The driving power corrected based on the correspondence between brightness and brightness is supplied to each light source.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, a light guide that is disposed in the vehicle interior and transmits light emitted from the light emitting unit and emits light from a peripheral surface thereof. The gist is to provide.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, a manual adjustment unit that adjusts a color temperature and brightness of light emission by a user's operation is provided. The gist of the invention is to transmit the light emission control signal to the light emitting unit so that the color temperature and brightness of light emission adjusted by the manual adjustment means are obtained.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the color temperature of the color emitted by the light emitting unit is adjusted in three stages: a high color temperature, a medium color temperature, and a low color temperature. The brightness of the light emitting unit can be adjusted in three stages so that the illuminance by light emitted from the light emitting unit or the light guide body is high illuminance, medium illuminance, and low illuminance, and the control Means for transmitting the light emission control signal to the light emitting unit by combining the steps of the color temperature and the illuminance corresponding to each time zone.

According to the vehicle interior lighting device of the present invention, a light emitting unit provided in a vehicle interior and including a light source and a driving unit thereof, a clock unit that acquires time information, a current time is acquired by the clock unit, Control means for transmitting a light emission control signal corresponding to a color temperature and brightness set corresponding to a time zone to the light emitting section , and the driving means receives the light emission control signal received from the control means. In order to drive the light source so as to have the set color temperature and brightness by performing correction corresponding to the location and characteristics of the light emitting unit , the time of day, such as morning, daytime, nighttime, etc. Illumination with color temperature and brightness matching the occupant's biological rhythm, which varies depending on the belt, can be provided in the passenger compartment.
The light emitting unit includes a plurality of light sources having different emission colors, and the driving unit supplies each of the light sources with driving power corrected based on correspondence between predetermined driving power and brightness measured in advance for each light source. In this case, even if the type of the light source is different or there is a variation in the light emission characteristics for each light source (for example, LED element), the difference in characteristics for each light source is corrected by the driving means. There is no need to adjust the characteristics of each light source, and light emission with a color temperature and brightness determined by a light emission control signal sent from the control means can be obtained. As a result, even when a plurality of light emitting units are provided, the light emission color and brightness can be unified by one control means. Further, even if the light emitting unit is replaced, the same emission color and brightness can be obtained, so that maintenance can be facilitated.
A light guide that is disposed in the vehicle interior and propagates the light emitted from the light emitting unit and emits light from the surrounding surface thereof, and the light emitted from the light emitting unit is laid in the vehicle interior. Therefore, it is possible to realize not only direct illumination from the light emitting unit but also design indirect illumination and illumination via the light guide.
A manual adjustment means by operation of the user to adjust the color temperature and brightness of light emission, the control means, the light emitting to the light emitting portion to the color temperature and brightness of the light emitting adjusted by the manual adjustment means When transmitting a control signal , not only the emission color and brightness are automatically controlled according to the time zone, but also the user (occupant) can set or adjust the lighting to a comfortable lighting according to mood and preference. It becomes possible to do.
The color temperature of the color emitted by the light emitting unit can be adjusted in three stages: high color temperature, medium color temperature, and low color temperature, and the brightness of the light emitting unit is emitted from the light emitting unit or the light guide. Can be adjusted in three stages so that the illuminance by the light becomes high illuminance, medium illuminance, and low illuminance, and the control means combines the color temperature and illuminance stages in correspondence with each time zone. When transmitting the light emission control signal to the light emitting unit , it is easy to generate lighting that matches the biological rhythm of the occupant by a simple method that controls the color temperature stage and the illuminance stage determined in advance for each time zone. can do.

The present invention will be further described in the following detailed description with reference to the drawings referred to, with reference to non-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments according to the present invention. Similar parts are shown throughout the several figures.
It is a block diagram showing the structural example of a vehicle interior lighting device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the illumination means in a vehicle. It is a block diagram showing the structural example of a light emission part. It is a figure for demonstrating the control which changes the color temperature and brightness of illumination with the time slot | zone of a day. It is xy chromaticity diagram showing color temperature.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
The items shown here are for illustrative purposes and exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and are the most effective and easy-to-understand explanations of the principles and conceptual features of the present invention. It is stated for the purpose of providing what seems to be. In this respect, it is not intended to illustrate the structural details of the present invention beyond what is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the present invention. It will be clear to those skilled in the art how it is actually implemented.

(Configuration of interior lighting device)
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle interior lighting device according to the present embodiment is provided in the vehicle interior, and is disposed in the vehicle interior, the light emitting unit 1 capable of adjusting the color temperature and brightness of light emission, and the time information. Clock means 2 to be acquired, and control means 3 to acquire the current time by the clock means 2 and to control the light emitting unit 1 so that the color temperature and brightness are set corresponding to the time zone of one day. . Moreover, it can comprise and comprise the light guide 5 which propagates the light which the light emission part 1 emits, and radiates | emits light from the surrounding surface. Furthermore, the manual adjustment means 4 which adjusts the color temperature and brightness of light emission by operation of a user (occupant) can be provided.

  The light emitting unit 1 is a light emitting unit including a light source capable of adjusting the color temperature and brightness of light emission, and can be used for illumination in a vehicle interior, illumination, and the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the interior of the vehicle is provided with lighting such as a room lamp 1a, a foot lamp 1b, a door lamp 1c, etc., as well as a ceiling (1d), a dashboard (1e), and a door (1f). In some cases, illumination for illumination is provided on the steering portion, the seat portion, and the like. The light emitting unit 1 can be used as a light emitting unit for these various types of illumination, and the number of the light emitting units 1 in the present vehicle interior lighting device is not particularly limited and can be 1 or 2 or more.

The interior lighting of the passenger compartment is designed to improve the convenience and comfort of passengers. For example, not only the direct illumination from the light emitting unit 1 but also indirect illumination reflected on the interior material or the like can be used. Moreover, the light guide 5 can be laid in each part of the vehicle interior, and the light guide 5 that emits the light from the peripheral surface thereof can be provided while the light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 is incident and propagated. For example, in FIG. 2, in the illumination of the foot lamp 1b, the ceiling portion 1d, the dashboard portion (1e), and the door portion (1f), the light of each light emitting portion 1b, 1d, 1e, 1f is guided. The light guides 5b, 5d, 5e, and 5f that radiate from the surrounding surface can be provided.
As the light guide 5, light guides of various shapes such as a light guide rod formed in a rod shape using a resin material and a light guide plate formed in a plate shape can be used. Since light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 is incident on one end face of the light guide 5 and can be illuminated by light emitted from the peripheral surface of the light guide 5, illumination having an arbitrary shape is configured. It becomes possible. Furthermore, it is good also as indirect illumination which reflects the light radiated | emitted from the light guide 5 to an interior member.

  The color temperature and brightness of the light emission may be paraphrased as the color temperature and illuminance of the illumination light with reference to the illumination light from the viewpoint of illumination by light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 or the light guide 5. Furthermore, the specific color of “color temperature” is not limited to the original color due to black body radiation, and may be any color.

The type and specific configuration of the light emitting unit 1 are not particularly limited as long as a light source capable of controlling color temperature and brightness is provided. The “brightness” of the light emitting unit 1 can be an arbitrary reference. For example, brightness can be quantified as light flux, luminous intensity, luminance, and the like. Alternatively, the illuminance under certain conditions may be used as a reference.
The light emission part 1 can be provided with 1 or 2 or more in each site | part of a vehicle interior as shown in FIG. When a plurality of light emitting units 1 are provided, the types and configurations thereof may be different. Further, direct illumination can be performed by the light emitted from some of the light emitting units 1, and the light emitted from the other light emitting units 1 can be emitted through the light guide 5.

  As the light emitting unit 1, for example, a white LED or the like whose color temperature can be adjusted within a certain range can be used. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, the light emission part 1 can also be comprised including the some light source 11 and its drive means 12 from which luminescent color differs, respectively. As a specific example, the light sources 11a, 11b, and 11c shown in FIG. 3 can be light sources (for example, LED elements) whose emission colors are red, green, and blue, respectively. When a plurality of light sources 11 having different emission colors are provided as the light emitting unit 1, the color temperature can be changed depending on the mixing ratio of the light sources 11.

The driving means 12 can be configured to drive each light source 11 based on a light emission control signal sent from the control means 3 to instruct the color temperature and brightness. The driving method is not particularly limited, and for example, a PWM (pulse width modulation) method can be adopted. When the PWM signal is used, the driving power of each light source 11 can be controlled by the frequency and the duty ratio.
The drive unit 12 can have a function of correcting the power supplied to each light source 11 so that a desired color temperature and brightness can be obtained depending on the type, structure, characteristics, and the like of the light source to be used.

Further, the characteristics of the light emitting element used as the light source 11 generally vary. In order to reduce this effect, the characteristics of each light emitting element, such as brightness and color temperature when a predetermined driving power (driving signal) is supplied, are measured in advance, and a predetermined driving power (driving) corresponding to the element characteristics is measured. And a correction unit that corrects the light emission to have a certain range of brightness and color temperature. The correction unit may be included in the driving unit 12 or the light source 11. For example, the driving unit 12 may be provided with a correcting unit 121 that corrects the duty ratio of the input PWM signal and supplies the corrected PWM signal to the light emitting element. In addition, an electronic circuit that corrects the driving power of the light emitting element of each light source 11 can be incorporated in each light source 11 as correction means (not shown).
Further, when indirect illumination is performed by light emission of the light emitting unit 1, the illuminance varies depending on surrounding interior members such as the back surface. For this reason, you may make it correct | amend according to the color and reflectance of a reflection member in the correction | amendment means 121 by the site | part by which the light emission part 1 or the light guide 5 is arrange | positioned.

The specific configuration of the driving unit 12 is not particularly limited, and may be realized by either hardware or software. Preferably, it can be configured by providing peripheral circuits such as an input / output interface around a microcontroller (microcomputer) including a CPU, memory (ROM, RAM, etc.), input / output circuits, etc. (not shown). Alternatively, a programmable logic circuit, a gate array, or other logic circuit may be used.
The correction unit 121 can be configured by a conversion table, a conversion circuit, or the like set corresponding to the type of light emitting element, the characteristics of each light emitting element, or the like.

  The clock means 2 is not particularly limited as long as it can acquire the current time. For example, the present time information can be obtained from an external time-measureable means such as GPS.

The control means 3 is configured to acquire the current time by the clock means 2 and to control the light emitting unit 1 so that the color temperature and brightness are set corresponding to the time zone of one day. The color temperature and brightness for each time slot of the day can be determined in advance and stored in the control means 3 in the form of a control table or the like. Further, the control means 3 is based on the color temperature and brightness determined for each time zone, and obtains information that affects the mind and body state of the occupant such as driving duration, vehicle speed, solar illuminance, etc. It may be configured to make changes.
The control means 3 may be realized by either hardware or software, and preferably a microcontroller (microcomputer) including a CPU, a memory (ROM, RAM, etc.), an input / output circuit, etc. (not shown), A peripheral circuit such as an input / output interface can be provided. Alternatively, a programmable logic circuit, a gate array, or other logic circuit may be used. The clock means 2 may be built in this microcontroller or the like.

  The control unit 3 generates a light emission control signal indicating the color temperature and the brightness based on the current time acquired by the clock unit 2 and the information on the color temperature and the brightness set for each time period, and generates a light emitting unit. 1 (drive means 12). The number and format of the light emission control signals are not limited, and may be provided according to the number, type, configuration, and the like of the light emitting units 1. For example, if the light emission control signal is one or a plurality of PWM signals, the color temperature and brightness can be instructed by the duty ratio and frequency.

  As described above, the color temperature and brightness of actual light emission are corrected by the driving unit 12 and the correction unit 121 provided in the light emitting unit 1 according to the type and characteristics of the light source provided in the light emitting unit 1. can do. As a result, even when a plurality of light emitting units 1 having different characteristics are provided in the passenger compartment, the control unit 3 does not need to consider the characteristics of each light emitting unit 1, and the color temperature and brightness determined by the light emission control signal. Therefore, a uniform emission color and brightness can be obtained. Moreover, even if the light emitting unit 1 is replaced, the same emission color and brightness can be obtained, so that the maintenance of the light emitting unit 1 is convenient. Further, even if the interior color or texture of the passenger compartment is changed variously, it is not necessary to change the control means 3, and by using the light emitting unit 1 corresponding to each condition, a unified light emitting color and brightness can be obtained. Can be.

The vehicle interior lighting device includes manual adjustment means 4 that adjusts the color temperature and brightness of light emission by the operation of a user (occupant), and the control means 3 controls the color temperature of light emission adjusted by the manual adjustment means 4. In addition, the light emitting unit 1 can be configured to control the brightness. For example, the control means 3 is configured to generate the light emission control signal based on the light emission color and brightness adjusted by the manual adjustment means 4 instead of the color temperature and brightness set for each time zone. be able to. The control means 3 can also be configured to make adjustments according to the operation by the manual adjustment means 4 with reference to the color temperature and brightness set for each time period. Further, the hue may be adjusted according to the operation.
The specific configuration of the manual adjustment means 4 is not particularly limited. Further, the color temperature and brightness designation method and adjustment range by the user are not particularly limited, and for example, the brightness of each light source 11 of the light emitting unit 1 is selected within a range that can be adjusted by mixing. Can do. Further, the control means 3 may perform control so as to fade out the light emission once when the light emission color is switched.

(Function of interior lighting device)
FIG. 5 is a well-known xy chromaticity diagram defined by the CIE (International Commission on Illumination). In the figure, the line drawn from the right to the left is a black body locus, and the color temperature (unit: K (Kelvin)) is indicated at each point on the line. Since an actual light source is deviated from this black body locus, the color temperature (correlated color temperature) is obtained by a color matching temperature line based on the black body locus.

  The vehicle interior lighting device controls the emission color of the light emitting unit 1 based on the color temperature. In the following, for the sake of simplicity, the color temperature is divided into three stages of a low color temperature (2000 to 4000K), a medium color temperature (4000 to 5000K), and a high color temperature (5000 to 9000K). In addition, the brightness is defined as low illuminance (20 to 40%), medium illuminance (40 to 70%), and high illuminance (70 to 100%), with the maximum brightness generated by the light emitting unit 1 being 100%. This will be described in three stages.

It is said that humans have a biological rhythm that changes according to the time of day, such as morning, daytime, and nighttime. In addition, it is known that not only the illuminance but also the illumination color (color temperature) is closely related in order for a person to feel comfortable. In general, it is said that a person is comfortable with low illuminance when the color temperature is low, and is comfortable with high illuminance when the color temperature is high.
This vehicle interior lighting device is intended to provide illumination that gives a passenger a comfortable feeling in accordance with the human body rhythm in the vehicle interior. For this reason, control is performed based on changing the color temperature and illuminance of the illumination for each time slot of the day by using the light emitting unit 1 capable of adjusting the color temperature and brightness of the light emission.

FIG. 4 shows a basic control example by the vehicle interior lighting device. In this example, the light emission of the light emitting unit 1 is changed so as to change the color temperature and illuminance of the illumination for each time period corresponding to sleep, awakening, activity, returning home, and relaxation. In the figure, examples of changes in human body temperature are shown in an overlapping manner.
In a time zone corresponding to sleep (for example, 0 to 6 o'clock), it is possible to give a feeling of being wrapped by having a very low color temperature and low illuminance.
In a time zone corresponding to the awakening time (for example, 6 to 8 o'clock), it is possible to give a sense of awakening toward the activity by irradiating the illumination with the highest high color temperature and high illuminance for a short time.
In a time zone corresponding to the time of activity (for example, 8 to 18 o'clock), a high-medium color temperature and a high-medium illuminance can provide a sense of concentration.
In a time zone corresponding to the time of returning home (for example, 18:00 to 21:00), it is possible to give a relaxed feeling to heal fatigue by using illumination with a medium color temperature and medium illuminance.
In a time zone corresponding to the time of relaxation (for example, 21-24 o'clock), it is possible to give a more relaxed feeling by using illumination with low color temperature and low illuminance.
The control means 3 can control to switch to a new color temperature and illuminance instantaneously when switching the color temperature and illuminance of the illumination. The control method for switching the color temperature and illuminance is not limited to the above. For example, the color temperature and illuminance before switching are gradually changed over a predetermined time to change to the color temperature and illuminance after switching. Also good. Further, the light emission may be faded out to darken to an arbitrary brightness, and then controlled to change to the color temperature and illuminance after switching.

  As described above, the color temperature of the color emitted by the light emitting unit 1 (or the illumination color by the light emitting unit 1 or the light guide 5) can be adjusted in three stages: high color temperature, medium color temperature, and low color temperature. In the case where the brightness of the light emitting unit 1 can be adjusted in three steps so that the illuminance by the light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 or the light guide 5 becomes high illuminance, medium illuminance, and low illuminance, the control means 3 The light emitting unit 1 can be controlled by a simple method of combining color temperature and illuminance steps corresponding to each time period. The color temperature and illuminance may be further subdivided and controlled, or may be controlled by continuous values.

The emission color is not limited to white (light on the black body locus shown in FIG. 5), and may be other colors. Further, even in other colors, similar to the change in the color temperature of white light, for example, a cold color may be used in a time zone corresponding to sleep at midnight, and a warm color may be used in the daytime. . Even with such a change in hue, the same effect as changing the color temperature of white light can be achieved.
In addition to changing the color temperature according to the time zone according to the biological rhythm, it is based on conditions such as driving and parking, driving at night and driving in the daytime, elapsed time from the start of driving, etc. The lighting color temperature and illuminance can be controlled to change. For example, an effect of suppressing drowsiness during driving can be expected by setting the illumination color (for example, a cold color) to increase the amount of activity.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention depending on the purpose and application. The vehicle interior lighting device is not limited to being mounted on a vehicle, and may be used indoors.

1, 1a to 1f; light emitting unit, 11, 11a to 11c; light source, 12; drive means, 121; correction means,
2; clock means, 3; control means, 4; manual adjustment means, 5, 5b, 5d, 5e, 5f; light guide.

Claims (5)

A light-emitting unit provided in the passenger compartment and including a light source and a driving unit thereof ;
Clock means for obtaining time information;
Control means for acquiring a current time by the clock means and transmitting a light emission control signal corresponding to a color temperature and brightness set corresponding to a time zone of one day to the light emitting unit;
Equipped with a,
The driving means performs correction corresponding to the location and characteristics of the light emitting unit based on the light emission control signal received from the control means so that the light source has the set color temperature and brightness. vehicle interior lighting device, characterized in that the driven. The light emitting unit includes a plurality of light sources having different emission colors,
The vehicle interior lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit supplies driving power corrected based on correspondence between predetermined driving power and brightness measured in advance for each light source to each of the light sources.   The vehicle interior lighting device according to claim 1, further comprising a light guide that is disposed in the vehicle interior and propagates light emitted from the light emitting unit and emits light from a peripheral surface thereof. Manual adjustment means for adjusting the color temperature and brightness of the light emission by the user's operation,
The vehicle interior lighting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the control unit transmits the light emission control signal to the light emitting unit so as to obtain a color temperature and brightness of light emission adjusted by the manual adjustment unit. The color temperature of the color emitted by the light emitting unit can be adjusted in three stages: high color temperature, medium color temperature, and low color temperature,
The brightness of the light emitting unit can be adjusted in three stages so that the illuminance by the light emitted from the light emitting unit or the light guide body is high illuminance, medium illuminance, and low illuminance,
The vehicle interior lighting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the control unit transmits the light emission control signal to the light emitting unit by combining the color temperature and the illuminance stage corresponding to each of the time zones. .

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