JP6985806B2 - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp.

Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle lighting fixture that sequentially lights LED light sources arranged side by side in the width direction of a vehicle from the center side to the side portion of the vehicle by performing sequential control.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-255929

In a vehicle lamp for sequential control, a light emitting surface having a sufficient length along the direction in which the light flows is required in order to visually recognize the light as if it flows. Therefore, in the case of performing sequential control with the vehicle lamp described in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that a sufficient number of light sources are required and the price becomes high.

The present invention has been proposed in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive vehicle lamp that can be sequentially displayed.

The vehicle lighting equipment as one aspect of the present invention comprises three or more LED light sources arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle, a control unit for controlling lighting and extinguishing of the LED light sources, and light from the LED light sources. A light guide body that guides light and emits light to the front or rear of the vehicle is provided, and the light guide body has a substantially triangular shape in a plan view, and an incident portion and a reflecting portion located on each side thereof. A vehicle lamp having an emission surface, the incident portion thereof is arranged so as to face each of the three or more LED light sources, and the light emitted from the LED light source is orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the LED light sources. At least three incident elements, which are first-order parallel light parallel to the direction, are arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and the incident elements are centered on the optical axis of each LED light source facing each of the incident elements. The first incident surface having a rotationally symmetric shape and focusing on the position of each LED light source, and the light emitted from each LED light source from each LED light source as compared with the light incident on the first incident surface. A second incident surface on which light having a large emission angle is incident, and the second incident surface are formed so as to internally reflect the light incident from the second incident surface so as to be the first-order parallel light. It has an outer peripheral reflecting surface, and the reflecting portion has at least three reflecting regions corresponding to each of the incident elements arranged in order along a linear or curved reference line in a plan view, and each of the above-mentioned The reflection region has a reflection shape in which the primary parallel light is internally reflected and reflected toward the emission surface as secondary parallel light, and the emission surface extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle and is reflected in each of the reflection regions. The emission regions corresponding to the respective reflection regions that emit the quadratic parallel light are sequentially provided along the length direction, and the surface length of the emission surface in the plan view is the LED having the surface length of 3 or more in the plan view. The distance between the LED light sources located at both ends of the light source is longer than the distance between the LED light sources, and the control unit executes control to sequentially turn on or turn off the three or more LED light sources along the arrangement direction.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lighting equipment, the surface length of the emission surface is longer than the array length of light sources having a surface length of 3 or more (that is, the distance between the light sources located at both ends). Therefore, even with a small number of light sources, it is possible to form an exit surface having a sufficient surface length, and it is possible to visually recognize the light as if it flows naturally when performing sequential control. That is, it is possible to provide a vehicle lamp for sequential display at a low cost by reducing the number of light sources.

Further, in the vehicle lighting equipment, a plurality of stepped reflecting element surfaces may be formed on the reflecting portion, and the reflecting element surface may be configured to reflect the primary parallel light as the secondary parallel light. ..

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lamp, the reflecting portion is formed with a plurality of (innumerable) reflecting element surfaces that reflect the primary parallel light as the secondary parallel light. As a result, the traveling direction of the secondary parallel light can be set to an arbitrary direction with respect to the traveling direction of the primary parallel light. In addition, the irradiation area of the secondary parallel light can be easily increased with respect to the primary parallel light.

Further, in the vehicle lamp, the reflective portion may be formed along a reference line curved in a plan view.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lighting equipment, since the reflecting portion is formed along a reference line curved in a plan view, the surface length of the portion of the reflecting portion facing each light source can be made different. That is, the surface length of the emission region of the emission surface corresponding to the light from the light source can be made different from each other. As a result, even when the timing of turning on or off the three or more light sources is uniform, it is possible to recognize that the speed at which the light flows has changed. That is, according to this vehicle lamp, various sequential displays are possible.

Further, in the vehicle lamp, the light guide body is formed with a plurality of slits penetrating in the vertical direction and extending in parallel with the primary parallel light, and the slits correspond to the three or more light sources. It may be configured to partition the optical path of parallel light.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lamp, the slit internally reflects the light inclined with respect to the parallel component of the primary parallel light L1. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the primary parallel light emitted from three or more light sources from being mixed. As a result, it is possible to suppress the light emitted from one light source from being emitted from a region other than the emission region of the emission surface corresponding to this light source, and clear sequential display becomes possible.

Further, the vehicle lamp may be configured such that a light-shielding portion is provided between the light sources adjacent to each other.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lighting equipment, the light-shielding portion suppresses the light emitted from the light source that has not been incident on the opposing incident element from being incident on the adjacent incident element. As a result, it is possible to suppress the light emitted from one light source from emitting light in a region other than the corresponding emission region, and a clear sequential display becomes possible.

Further, in the vehicle lighting equipment, at least one of the three or more light sources may be arranged at different positions in the vertical direction as compared with the others.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lighting equipment, it is possible to realize a vehicle lighting equipment capable of various sequential displays such as a sequential display in which light flows in an oblique direction and a sequential display in which light flows in a zigzag pattern.

Further, the vehicle lighting equipment may be configured such that a large number of the three or more light sources are arranged in a row in the vertical direction.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lighting equipment, the emission surface can form a pattern of sequential display in which light is two-dimensionally arranged, and it is possible to realize a vehicle lighting equipment capable of various sequential displays.

Further, the vehicle lighting equipment includes a control unit for controlling the lighting and extinguishing of the light source, and the control unit executes control to sequentially turn on or off the three or more light sources along the arrangement direction. May be.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lighting equipment, it is possible to realize a vehicle lighting equipment capable of sequential display.

Further, in the vehicle lamp, the optical axis of the light source is oriented in a direction different from that of the primary parallel light, and the incident element has an internal reflecting portion that internally reflects the light incident on the inside of the light guide. It may be configured.

According to the above-mentioned vehicle lighting equipment, when the light guide body extends in the vehicle width direction, the light source can be arranged on the upper side or the lower side of the light guide body, and the vehicle lighting equipment having a compact dimension in the vehicle width direction can be provided. realizable.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an inexpensive vehicle lamp that can be sequentially displayed.

A plan view of a vehicle body on which the vehicle lighting equipment of the embodiment is mounted. The plan view of the light fixture for a vehicle of 1st Embodiment. Enlarged view of region III of FIG. Enlarged view of Region IV in FIG. The perspective view of the vehicle lighting fixture of the modification of 1st Embodiment. The plan view of the light fixture for a vehicle of 2nd Embodiment. The plan view of the light fixture for a vehicle of 3rd Embodiment. The plan view of the light fixture for a vehicle of 4th Embodiment. The front view of the light fixture for a vehicle of 4th Embodiment. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X of FIG. The perspective view of the light fixture for a vehicle of 5th Embodiment. FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a vehicle lamp according to a fifth embodiment.

Hereinafter, the vehicle lamp 1 of the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
In addition, in the drawings used in the following explanation, in order to make the features easy to understand, the featured parts may be enlarged for convenience, and the dimensional ratios of each component may not be the same as the actual ones. No.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle 100 equipped with the vehicle lamp 1 of the first embodiment. The vehicle 100 has, for example, four vehicle lamps 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d). The vehicle lamp 1 of the present embodiment is a turn lamp. The vehicle lighting fixture 1 is provided symmetrically on the left and right sides of the front portion 100b and the rear portion 100c of the vehicle 100, respectively. In this specification, the description will be focused on the vehicle lamp 1a located on the left front side of the vehicle 100.
In the present specification, the "front-rear direction" means the front-rear direction of the vehicle 100 on which the vehicle lighting tool 1 is mounted, and the "left-right direction" means the width direction of the vehicle 100. Further, in the present specification, "plan view" or "plan view" is used to mean a state when viewed in the vertical direction (particularly from top to bottom).

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vehicle lamp 1 of the first embodiment. The light guide body 20 is shown in cross section for the sake of clarity in FIG.
The vehicle lamp 1 is a turn lamp that sequentially turns on or off three or more (four in this embodiment) LED light sources (light sources) 15 to sequentially turn them off. The vehicle lighting tool 1 includes a light source unit 10 on which four LED light sources 15 are mounted, and a light guide body 20 that emits light emitted from the LED light source 15 forward (or backward).

<Light source unit>
The light source unit 10 includes a circuit board 11, four LED light sources 15 mounted on the circuit board 11, and a control chip (control unit) 13. The LED light sources 15 are arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The control chip 13 is connected to four LED light sources 15 on the circuit board 11. The control chip 13 controls turning on and off of the four LED light sources 15. The LED light source 15 of the present embodiment is controlled by a control chip 13 mounted on the same circuit board 11 as the LED light source 15, but is connected to a control unit provided outside the board via a cable harness. It may be controlled.

<Light guide body>
The light guide body 20 is made of a transparent resin material such as acrylic. The light guide body 20 has a plate shape extending in a horizontal plane and has a substantially triangular shape in a plan view. The light guide body 20 has an incident portion 21 located on each side of a substantially triangular shape, a reflecting portion 26, and an emitting surface 29.

The incident portion 21 is formed with four incident elements 22 arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The four incident elements 22 are arranged so as to face each of the four LED light sources 15. The four incident elements 22 make the light emitted from the opposing LED light sources the primary parallel light L1 parallel to the direction (left-right direction) orthogonal to the arrangement direction (front-back direction) of the LED light sources. The four incident elements 22 are integrally formed on the surface of the light guide body 20.

FIG. 3 shows the incident element 22 and is an enlarged view of the region III of FIG.
The incident element 22 has a rotationally symmetric shape centered on the optical axis J22. The incident element 22 has an incident surface 23 including a first incident surface 23a and a second incident surface 23b, and an outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 surrounding the incident surface 23.

The first incident surface 23a faces the LED light source 15. The first incident surface 23a is composed of a part of a rotating parabola obtained by rotating a parabola about the optical axis J22. The second incident surface 23b is formed so as to surround the first incident surface 23a. The second incident surface 23b is composed of an annular surface obtained by rotating a straight line inclined with respect to the optical axis J22 around the optical axis J22.

Of the light emitted from the LED light source 15, light having a relatively small emission angle is incident on the first incident surface 23a. The focal point of the first incident surface 23a substantially coincides with the center of the LED light source 15. The first incident surface 23a refracts the incident light so as to be substantially parallel light.
On the other hand, light having a relatively large emission angle among the lights emitted from the LED light source 15 is incident on the second incident surface 23b. The light incident on the lens from the second incident surface 23b is incident on the outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 located so as to surround the incident surface 23. The outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 is composed of a part of a rotating parabola obtained by rotating a parabola about the optical axis J22. The outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 reflects the light from the second incident surface 23b on the inner surface (total reflection) so as to be substantially parallel light.

As shown in FIG. 3, a light-shielding portion 19 is provided between the LED light sources 15 adjacent to each other. The light-shielding portion 19 is fixed to the circuit board 11. The light-shielding portion 19 extends in the thickness direction (that is, the vertical direction) of the light guide body 20 in a triangular cross section. The apex of the light-shielding portion 19 enters the valley portion formed by the adjacent incident element 22, and the side surface of the light-shielding portion 19 faces the outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 of the incident element 22.

The surface of the light-shielding portion 19 is coated with black, which easily absorbs light, to suppress reflection. The light-shielding unit 19 blocks the light emitted from the LED light source 15 that did not enter the opposing incident element 22 and suppresses the light emitted from the adjacent incident element 22.

The reflection unit 26 shown in FIG. 2 reflects the primary parallel light L1 on the inner surface (total reflection) and emits the primary parallel light L2 toward the exit surface 29 as the secondary parallel light L2. In the present embodiment, the primary parallel light L1 and the secondary parallel light L2 are orthogonal to each other.

FIG. 4 shows the reflective portion 26 and is an enlarged view of the region IV of FIG.
The reflecting portion 26 is formed with a plurality of stepped reflecting element surfaces 27a extending in parallel along the thickness direction (that is, the vertical direction) of the light guide body 20. The plurality of (innumerable) reflecting element surfaces 27a reflect the primary parallel light L1 on the inner surface (total reflection) toward the emission surface 29 to obtain the secondary parallel light L2. A reflective film may be formed on the reflective element surface 27a. The secondary parallel light L2 of the present embodiment is orthogonal to the primary parallel light L1. Therefore, the reflecting element surface 27a is arranged so that the incident angle of the primary parallel light L1 is 45 °. A step side surface 27b is provided between the reflecting element surfaces 27a. The step side surface 27b faces a direction in which the primary parallel light L1 is not incident.

The secondary parallel light L2 is emitted only from the reflecting element surface 27a, and is not emitted from the step side surface 27b. Therefore, the secondary parallel light L2 has a striped pattern in the vicinity of the reflecting portion 26. The primary parallel light L1 incident on the reflecting element surface 27a includes light slightly inclined with respect to the parallel component. Therefore, the secondary parallel light L2 gradually becomes uniform light by being sufficiently separated from the reflecting portion 26.

As shown in FIG. 4, a vertex P is provided between the reflecting element surface 27a and the step side surface 27b. In the present specification, the line connecting the plurality of vertices P of the reflection unit 26 is referred to as a reference line P26. In the present embodiment, the reflective portion 26 is formed along a linear reference line P26. The reflecting portion 26 is arranged in a direction in which the primary parallel light L1 is incident at an acute angle with respect to the normal direction of the reference line P26. Therefore, the width H2 of the light of the secondary parallel light L2 reflected by the reflecting unit 26 is wider than the width H1 of the light of the primary parallel light L1. Here, the width of light is the width of an optical path of parallel light in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of light in a plan view.

As shown in FIG. 2, the exit surface 29 is a flat surface extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle. The emission surface 29 extends in a direction orthogonal to the secondary parallel light L2. The emission surface 29 emits the secondary parallel light L2 toward the front (or rear) of the vehicle. Although the exit surface 29 of the present embodiment is a flat surface, it may have a curved surface shape. Further, the emission surface 29 may be formed with a fine prism for directing the emission direction to a predetermined direction.

Hereinafter, the four LED light sources 15 are distinguished from the first LED light source 15A, the second LED light source 15B, the third LED light source 15C, and the fourth LED light source 15D in order from the front side to the rear side of the vehicle. The optical path of the light emitted from each LED light source 15 will be described.
The reflection unit 26 covers four reflection regions (first to fourth reflection regions 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d) that reflect the primary parallel light L1 emitted from the first to fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D, respectively. It is classified. The first to fourth reflection regions 26a to 26d have the same surface length in a plan view.
The emission surface 29 is formed in four emission regions (first to fourth emission regions 29a, 29b, 29c, 29d) that emit the secondary parallel light L2 reflected by the first to fourth reflection regions 26a to 26d. It is classified. The first to fourth emission regions 29a to 29d have the same surface length in a plan view.

<Sequential control>
The control chip 13 of the light source unit 10 executes control to sequentially turn on or turn off the four LED light sources 15 along the arrangement direction. More specifically, the control chip 13 executes any of the following first to third sequential controls.

The first sequential control is a control in which the first, second, third, and fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D are turned off in this order after the first to fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D are turned on at the same time. Is. When the control chip 13 performs the first sequential control, the emission surface 29 gradually darkens in the order of the first, second, third and fourth emission regions 29a to 29d after the entire emission surface 29 emits light at the same time. .. That is, in the vehicle lamp 1, it is possible to realize a light emission pattern that gradually darkens from the center side of the vehicle 100 toward the side portion 100a.

The second sequential control is a control in which the first, second, third, and fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D are turned on in this order, and then the first to fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D are turned off at the same time. Is. When the control chip 13 performs the second sequential control, the emission surface 29 gradually emits light in the order of the first, second, third and fourth emission regions 29a to 29d, and then the entire emission surface 29 is turned off at the same time. .. That is, in the vehicle lamp 1, it is possible to realize a light emission pattern that gradually brightens from the center side of the vehicle 100 toward the side portion 100a and then darkens at the same time.

In the third sequential control, the first, second, third and fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D are turned on in this order, and the first, second, third and fourth LED light sources 15A are delayed. It is a control to turn off ~ 15D in this order. When the control chip 13 performs the second sequential control, the emission surface 29 gradually emits light in the order of the first, second, third, and fourth emission regions 29a to 29d, and the first one is chased. , The second, third and fourth emission regions 29a to 29d gradually darken in this order. That is, in the vehicle lamp 1, it is possible to realize a light emission pattern in which the light gradually increases from the center side of the vehicle 100 toward the side portion 100a and then gradually darkens.

<Action effect>
The vehicle lamp 1 of the present embodiment has a width H2 orthogonal to the traveling direction of the light of the secondary parallel light L2 with respect to a width H1 orthogonal to the traveling direction of the light of the primary parallel light L1 passing through the inside of the light guide body. Becomes wider. That is, the surface length of the emission surface 29 from which light is emitted in a plan view is the plane between the LED light sources (first LED light source 15A and fourth LED light source 15D) located at both ends of the four LED light sources 15. Longer than the distance in sight. Therefore, even with a small number of LED light sources 15, it is possible to form an exit surface 29 having a sufficient surface length. That is, in an inexpensive vehicle lamp 1 having a small number of LED light sources 15, it is possible to realize a sequential display in which light is visually recognized so as to flow naturally.

The vehicle lighting tool 1 of the present embodiment has one light guide body 20 that directs an optical path in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 100 by a reflecting unit 26 with respect to three or more LED light sources. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the number of parts can be reduced and the configuration can be inexpensive as compared with the case where each LED light source 15 has a plurality of reflecting portions.

In the vehicle lamp 1 of the present embodiment, the light emitted from the LED light source 15 in the incident element 22 of the incident portion 21 is the primary parallel light L1. As a result, the four emission regions (first to fourth emission regions 29a to 29d) can be individually emitted according to the emission of the four LED light sources (first to fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D). can.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle lamp 1 of the present embodiment is provided with a light-shielding portion 19 between LED light sources adjacent to each other. The light-shielding unit 19 suppresses the light emitted from the LED light source 15 that did not enter the opposing incident element 22 from entering the adjacent incident element 22. It is possible to suppress the light emitted from one LED light source 15 from emitting light in a region other than the corresponding emission region.

According to the present embodiment, the light emitted from the LED light source 15 is emitted forward (or backward) via the reflecting portion 26. Since the LED light source 15 is not directly observed from the front (or the rear), it is possible to provide a highly-designed vehicle lamp 1 in which the entire light guide body 20 emits light. Further, according to the present embodiment, the light emission pattern can be further decorated by forming minute prisms on dots on the lower surface of the light guide body 20 or the like.

<Modification 1>
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vehicle lamp 1A of the modified example of the first embodiment.
The vehicle lamp 1A of the present modification has a configuration in which the vehicle lamp 1 of the first embodiment is laminated in the vertical direction. The components having the same aspects as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle lamp 1A includes a light source unit 10A on which eight LED light sources 15 are mounted, and two light guides 20 that emit light emitted from the LED light source 15 forward (or backward). In the light source unit 10A, eight LED light sources 15 are arranged in two rows vertically on the circuit board 11A along the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

According to this modification, the exit surface 29A formed by stacking the two light guides 20 has eight emission regions 29Aa, 29Ab, 29Ac, 29Ad, 29Ae corresponding to the eight LED light sources 15. 29Af, 29Ag, 29Ah are formed. The eight emission regions 29Aa to 29Ah are arranged in four rows in the left-right direction and two columns in the vertical direction. According to this modification, a pattern of sequential display in which light is two-dimensionally arranged can be formed on the emission surface 29A. In this modification, an example in which the four LED light sources are arranged in two rows in the vertical direction has been described, but three or more rows may be arranged. Further, in this modification, an example in which two light guide bodies 20 are stacked one above the other has been described, but one light guide body in which these two light guide bodies 20 are integrated may be provided.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the vehicle lamp 101 of the second embodiment. In FIG. 6, the light guide body 120 is shown in cross section for the sake of clarity.
The vehicle lighting fixture 101 of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment mainly in the configuration of the reflecting portion 126 of the light guide body 120. The components having the same aspects as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle lighting fixture 101 includes a light source unit 10 on which four LED light sources 15 are mounted, and a light guide body 120 that emits light emitted from the LED light source 15 forward (or backward). The light guide body 120 has an incident portion 121, a reflecting portion 126, and an emitting surface 129.

Similar to the first embodiment, the incident portion 121 is formed with four incident elements 22. The incident unit 121 uses the light emitted from the four LED light sources 15 in the incident element 22 as the primary parallel light L1.

The reflecting unit 126 internally reflects (totally reflects) the primary parallel light L1 and emits it as the secondary parallel light L2 toward the exit surface 129. Similar to the reflecting portion 26 of the first embodiment, the reflecting portion 126 is formed with innumerable stepped reflecting element surfaces 27a extending in the vertical direction (see FIG. 4). The reflecting portion 126 is formed along a reference line P126 curved in a plan view. Here, the reference line P126 corresponds to the reference line P26 of the reflecting portion 26 of the first embodiment and is a line connecting the apex P of the reflecting element surface 27a and the step side surface 27b (see FIG. 4). The reference line P126 is curved so as to be convex to the rear side.

The reflection unit 126 covers four reflection regions (first to fourth reflection regions 126a, 126b, 126c, 26d) that reflect the primary parallel light L1 emitted from the first to fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D, respectively. It is classified. The reflecting portion 126 is formed along a reference line P126 which is curved so as to be convex to the rear side. Therefore, the surface length of the first reflection region 126a facing the first LED light source 15A is the longest, and the surface lengths of the second, third, and fourth reflection regions 126b, 126c, and 126d are gradually increased in order. Becomes shorter.

Similar to the first embodiment, the emission surface 129 extends in a direction orthogonal to the secondary parallel light L2, and emits the secondary parallel light L2 toward the front (or rear) of the vehicle. The emission surface 129 is formed in four emission regions (first to fourth emission regions 129a, 129b, 129c, 129d) that emit the secondary parallel light L2 reflected by the first to fourth reflection regions 126a to 126d. It is classified. The surface lengths of the first to fourth emission regions 129a to 129d are shortened in this order corresponding to the first to fourth reflection regions 126a to 126d.

Similar to the first embodiment, the vehicle lamp 101 of the present embodiment can realize a light emission pattern that flows from the inside of the vehicle toward the side portion 100a by executing sequential control by the control chip 13. .. The vehicle lamp 101 of the present embodiment can exhibit the same effect as that of the first embodiment.

Further, in the vehicle lamp 101 of the present embodiment, the surface lengths of the first, second, third, and fourth emission regions 129a to 129d are shortened in this order. Therefore, even if the timing at which the four LED light sources 15 are sequentially turned on or off is uniform, the light flow is visually recognized so as to gradually increase from the center side of the vehicle toward the side portion 100a. That is, according to the present embodiment, by forming the reflective portion 126 along the curved reference line P126, the surface lengths of the emission regions 129a to 129d can be freely set, and the speed at which light flows can be changed. Enables a variety of sequential displays.

Further, in the vehicle lamp 101 of the present embodiment, the reflecting portion 126 is formed along a curved reference line P126. Therefore, the brightness of the exit surface 129 gradually increases from the center side of the vehicle 100 toward the side portion 100a. That is, the first, second, third, and fourth emission regions 129a to 129d become brighter in this order.

A translucent outer lens 2 that constitutes the outer shape of the vehicle 100 is arranged on the outside of the vehicle lighting tool 101. The outer lens 2 is gently curved at the boundary between the front portion 100b (or the rear portion 100c) and the side portion 100a of the vehicle. Therefore, when observing the vehicle lamp 101 from the rear of the vehicle, the light is refracted when passing through the outer lens 2 in the vicinity of the side portion 100a, and it tends to be difficult to visually recognize the light. According to the present embodiment, the visibility of the light emitted from the vehicle lamp 101 can be improved by brightening the emission region located in the vicinity of the side portion 100a of the vehicle 100.
Further, in the vehicle lamp 101 of the present embodiment, the brightness of the emission surface 129 gradually changes in the plane, so that when the adjacent LED light sources 15 are turned on, it is difficult to recognize the boundary between the adjacent emission regions. be able to.

The reference line P126 of the present embodiment is curved so as to be convex to the rear side, but may be curved so as to be convex to the front side. That is, the reflecting portion may be curved in a concave shape as a whole. In this case, the vehicle lighting fixture is visually recognized so that the speed of flow from the center side of the vehicle toward the side portion 100a gradually decreases.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the vehicle lamp 201 of the third embodiment. In FIG. 7, the light guide body 220 is shown in cross section for the sake of clarity.
The vehicle lamp 201 of the third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the light guide body 220 is mainly provided with a slit. The components having the same aspects as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle lighting fixture 201 includes a light source unit 10 on which four LED light sources 15 are mounted, and a light guide body 220 that emits light emitted from the LED light source 15 forward (or backward). The light guide body 220 has an incident portion 21, a reflecting portion 26, and an emitting surface 29.

The light guide body 220 is formed with a plurality of slits S that penetrate the light guide body 220 in the thickness direction (that is, in the vertical direction) and extend in parallel with the primary parallel light L1. The light guide 220 partitions the optical path of the primary parallel light L1 corresponding to each of the four LED light sources 15. That is, the slit S is emitted from the optical path of the primary parallel light L1 emitted from one LED light source 15 (for example, the first LED light source 15A) and from another adjacent LED light source 15 (for example, the second LED light source 15B). It is formed between the optical paths of the primary parallel light L1.

Since the slit S totally reflects the light tilted with respect to the parallel component of the primary parallel light L1, it is possible to suppress the mixing of the primary parallel light L1 emitted from the four LED light sources 15. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress the light emitted from one LED light source 15 from emitting light in a region other than the corresponding emission region.

The light reflected by the reflecting unit 26 passes through the inside of the light guide body 220 as the secondary parallel light L2. Since the secondary parallel light L2 passes through the slit S, it is partially reflected and weakened. The secondary parallel light L2 emitted from the first LED light source 15A passes through the three slits S. The secondary parallel light L2 emitted from the second LED light source 15B passes through the two slits S. The secondary parallel light L2 emitted from the third LED light source 15C passes through one slit S. The secondary parallel light L2 emitted from the fourth LED light source 15D does not pass through the slit S. Therefore, the loss due to the slit S of the light emitted from the first to fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D and reaching the emission surface 29 is smaller in the order of the first, second, third, and fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D. Become.

On the other hand, the optical path lengths of the four LED light sources 15 become longer in the order of the first, second, third, and fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D. Therefore, the light loss due to the optical path length increases in the order of the first, second, third, and fourth LED light sources 15A to 15D.

Four emission regions (first to fourth emission regions 29a, 29b, 29c, 29d) corresponding to the first to fourth LED light sources 215A to 215D are formed on the emission surface 29. The brightness of the first to fourth emission regions 29a to 29d becomes substantially uniform by overlapping the loss caused by the number of slits S passing through and the loss caused by the path length. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the non-uniformity of brightness caused by the optical path length of the light emitted from the four LED light sources 15 passing through the light guide body 220 can be reduced by the slit S. ..

As shown in FIG. 7, a broken connection portion Sa is provided in the middle of the slit S in order to sufficiently secure the strength of the light guide body 220. As described above, the slit S has an effect of weakening the light passing through the secondary parallel light L2. On the other hand, since the connecting portion Sa does not weaken the light, the distribution of the amount of light emitted from the emitting surface 29 can be adjusted by adjusting the position of the connecting portion Sa. That is, by appropriately setting the position of the connection portion Sa, the uniformity of light emission of the emission surface 29 can be enhanced or locally brightened.

<Fourth Embodiment>
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the vehicle lamp 301 of the fourth embodiment. FIG. 9 is a front view of the vehicle lighting fixture 301 seen from the front of the vehicle 100. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X of FIG. For the sake of clarity in FIG. 8, the light guide body 320 is partially displayed in cross section.
The vehicle lamp 301 of the fourth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the arrangement of the four LED light sources 315 and the configuration of the light guide body 320 associated therewith. The components having the same aspects as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle lighting fixture 301 includes a light source unit 310 on which four LED light sources 315 are mounted, and a light guide body 320 that emits light emitted from the LED light source 315 forward (or backward). The light guide body 320 has an incident portion 321, a reflecting portion 326, and an emitting surface 329.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the light guide body 320, the incident portion 321 facing the LED light source 315 is formed in a stepped shape. The four incident elements 322 provided in the incident portion 321 are gradually formed at higher positions from the front to the rear of the vehicle. The four incident elements 322 face each other with the LED light source 315. That is, the LED light source 315 is gradually provided at a higher position from the front to the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, of the four LED light sources 315, the first LED light source 315A located at the rearmost position is arranged at the highest position, and the second to fourth LED light sources 315B to 315D arranged toward the front gradually become Placed low.

As shown in FIG. 9, four emission regions (first to fourth emission regions 329a, 329b, 329c, 329d) corresponding to the first to fourth LED light sources 315A to 315D are formed on the emission surface 329. Will be done. Since the heights of the first to fourth LED light sources 315A to 315D are different, the first to fourth emission regions 329a, 329b, 329c, and 329d are arranged at different heights. Therefore, by sequentially controlling the first to fourth LED light sources 315A to 315D, it is possible to realize a sequential display in which light flows in an oblique direction. In this embodiment, the four LED light sources 315 are arranged diagonally along the vehicle front-rear direction and the vertical direction. However, if at least one of the four LED light sources 315 is arranged at a different position in the vertical direction as compared with the others, it is possible to realize a vehicle lamp capable of various sequential displays such as drawing a zigzag pattern. ..

<Fifth Embodiment>
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the vehicle lamp 401 of the fifth embodiment. FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional view of the vehicle lamp 401, showing the incident element 422.
The vehicle lamp 401 of the fifth embodiment is different from the first embodiment mainly in the arrangement of the LED light source 15 and the configuration of the incident element of the light guide body 420. The components having the same aspects as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle lamp 401 is a turn lamp that sequentially turns on or off the LED light source (light source) 15 of 7 to sequentially display the lamp. The vehicle lighting equipment 401 includes a light source unit 410 on which seven LED light sources 15 are mounted, and a light guide body 420 that emits light emitted from the LED light source 15 forward (or backward). The light guide body 420 has an incident portion 421, a reflecting portion 26, and an emitting surface 429.

As shown in FIG. 11, the light source unit 410 includes a circuit board 411, seven LED light sources 15 mounted on the circuit board 411, and a control chip (control unit) 13. In the present embodiment, the direction in which the plate surface of the circuit board 411 extends substantially coincides with the horizontal plane direction. The seven LED light sources 15 are arranged along the front-rear direction with a slight deviation in the left-right direction.

The light emitted from the LED light source 15 is a primary parallel light L1 that is incident on the inside of the light guide body 420 at the incident portion 421 and is parallel to the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction. The primary parallel light L1 is internally reflected by the reflecting unit 26 to be the secondary parallel light L2, and is emitted from the emission surface 429.

Seven incident elements 422 arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle are formed in the incident portion 421. The seven incident elements 422 are arranged so as to face each of the seven LED light sources 15. The seven incident elements 422 refer to the light emitted from the opposing LED light sources as the primary parallel light L1 parallel to the direction (left-right direction) orthogonal to the arrangement direction (front-back direction) of the LED light sources.

As shown in FIG. 12, the incident element 422 has an incident surface 23, an outer peripheral reflecting surface 24, and an inner reflecting portion 425.

The incident surface 23 and the outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 have a rotationally symmetric shape centered on the optical axis J15 passing through the center of the LED light source 15. The incident surface 23 causes the light emitted from the LED light source 15 to enter the inside of the light guide body 420. Further, the incident surface 23 refracts the light emitted from the LED light source 15 having a relatively small emission angle so as to be substantially parallel light. Further, the incident surface 23 refracts the light emitted from the LED light source 15 having a relatively large emission angle and causes the incident surface 23 to be incident on the outer peripheral reflecting surface 24. The outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 reflects the incident light on the inner surface so as to be substantially parallel light. That is, the incident surface 23 and the outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 make the light emitted from the LED light source 15 incident on the inside of the light guide body 420 to be parallel light.

The inner surface reflecting portion 425 is a plane inclined with respect to the optical axis J15 of the LED light source 15. The optical axis J15 of the LED light source 15 passes through the inner surface reflecting portion 425. The inner surface reflecting portion 425 reflects the light which is parallel light on the incident surface 23 and the outer peripheral reflecting surface 24 on the inner surface to obtain the primary parallel light L1 which is parallel in the left-right direction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the optical axis J15 of the LED light source 15 and the primary parallel light L1 face different directions from each other.

As shown in FIG. 11, the exit surface 429 of the present embodiment is a curved surface that extends along the left-right direction of the vehicle and is convex in the exit direction. The emission surface 429 emits the light reflected by the reflecting unit 26 from the primary parallel light L1 to the secondary parallel light L2 toward the front (or rear) of the vehicle.

The light guide body 420 of the present embodiment has a plurality of (seven in this embodiment) divided bodies 430 arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. Each divided body 430 is provided with one incident element 422. Each of the divided bodies 430 is provided with a part of the reflecting portion 26, and by combining the plurality of divided bodies 430, one reflecting portion 26 extending in the vehicle width direction is configured. Further, among the plurality of divided bodies 430, the divided body 430 arranged on the most front side of the vehicle (that is, the light emitting side) is provided with an emission surface 429.

The respective divided bodies 430 come into contact with each other at the boundary surface 435. Each split 430 extends along the width direction of the vehicle. The boundary surface 435 between the plurality of divided bodies 430 is classified into a first boundary surface 431 extending parallel to the primary parallel light L1 and a second boundary surface 432 orthogonal to the primary parallel light L1.

The first boundary surface 431 functions as a slit (corresponding to the slit S of the third embodiment) for partitioning the optical path of the primary parallel light L1 corresponding to the plurality of LED light sources 15. Since the first boundary surface 431 totally reflects the light inclined with respect to the parallel component of the primary parallel light L1, the primary parallel light L1 emitted from each LED light source 15 is suppressed from being mixed. Further, the secondary parallel light L2 passes through the first boundary surface 431. Since the first boundary surface 431 is orthogonal to the second-order parallel light L2, the reflection of the second-order parallel light L2 on the first boundary surface 431 is suppressed.

The primary parallel light L1 passes through the second boundary surface 432. Since the second boundary surface 432 is orthogonal to the first-order parallel light L1, the reflection of the first-order parallel light L1 on the second boundary surface 432 is suppressed.

According to the present embodiment, since the incident element 422 is provided with the internal reflection portion 425, the optical axis J15 of the LED light source 15 can be oriented in a direction different from that of the primary parallel light L1, and the optical axis J15 of the LED light source 15 can be oriented. The direction of can be set freely. Therefore, when the light guide body 420 extends in the vehicle width direction as shown in the present embodiment, the LED light source 15 is arranged on the lower side (or upper side) of the light guide body 420, and the vehicle lighting tool 401 is arranged. The dimensions in the vehicle width direction can be made compact.

Although various embodiments of the present invention and variations thereof have been described above, the configurations and combinations thereof in the respective embodiments and modifications are examples, and the present invention is within the scope of the present invention. Configurations can be added, omitted, replaced and other changes are possible. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.
For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the number of light sources is four or seven is illustrated, but it may be three or more.
Further, in the vehicle lighting equipment of the above-described embodiment, an example in which the light source is arranged on the center side of the vehicle with respect to the light guide body is shown, but the positional relationship between them may be opposite. In this case, by performing the order of turning on or off the three or more light sources from the opposite side, it is possible to perform sequential display in which light flows from the center side to the side side of the vehicle.

1,1A, 101, 201, 301, 401 ... Vehicle lighting equipment, 13 ... Control chip (control unit), 15,315 ... LED light source (light source), 19 ... Shading unit, 20, 120, 220, 320, 420 ... Light guide, 22,322,422 ... Incident element, 26,126,326 ... Reflector, 27a ... Reflector surface, 29,129,329,429 ... Exit surface, 100 ... Vehicle, 425 ... Inner surface reflector, L1 ... primary parallel light, L2 ... secondary parallel light, P26, P126 ... reference line, S ... slit

Claims (9)

Three or more LED light sources arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle,
A control unit that controls the lighting and extinguishing of the LED light source,
A light guide body that guides the light from the LED light source and emits it to the front or the rear of the vehicle is provided.
The light guide has a substantially triangular shape in a plan view, and is a vehicle lamp having an incident portion, a reflecting portion, and an emitting surface located on each side thereof.
The incident portion is arranged so as to face each of the three or more LED light sources, and at least three incident portions are used to make the light emitted from the LED light source a primary parallel light parallel to the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the LED light sources. The elements are arranged along the front-rear direction of the vehicle,
The incident element is
It has a rotationally symmetric shape centered on the optical axis of each LED light source facing each of the incident elements.
A first incident surface focusing on the position of each LED light source,
Of the light emitted from each LED light source, a second incident surface on which light having a larger emission angle than the light incident on the first incident surface is incident.
It has an outer peripheral reflecting surface formed around the second incident surface so as to internally reflect the light incident from the second incident surface so as to be the first-order parallel light.
In the reflection unit, at least three reflection regions corresponding to each of the incident elements are sequentially arranged along a linear or curved reference line in a plan view, and each of the reflection regions emits the primary parallel light. It has a reflective shape that reflects on the inner surface and is reflected toward the emission surface as secondary parallel light.
The emission surface extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle, and is provided with an emission region corresponding to each reflection region that emits the quadratic parallel light reflected by each of the reflection regions in order along the length direction.
The surface length of the emission surface in the plan view is longer than the distance between the LED light sources located at both ends of the three or more LED light sources in the plan view.
The control unit executes control to sequentially turn on or turn off the three or more LED light sources along the arrangement direction.
Vehicle lighting equipment. A large number of the three or more LED light sources are arranged in a row in the vertical direction.
The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 1. At least one of the three or more LED light sources is arranged at a different position in the vertical direction as compared with the other.
The vehicle lamp according to claim 2. The light guide body is formed with a plurality of slits that penetrate in the vertical direction and extend in parallel with the primary parallel light.
The slit partitions an optical path of the primary parallel light corresponding to the three or more LED light sources.
The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A light-shielding portion is provided between the LED light sources adjacent to each other.
The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A plurality of stepped reflecting element surfaces are formed on the reflecting portion.
The reflecting element surface reflects the primary parallel light as the secondary parallel light.
The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The vehicle lamp is a turn lamp that displays sequentially.
The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The control performed by the control unit includes any one of the following first, second and third sequential controls.
The first sequential control is a control in which the three or more LED light sources are turned on at the same time, and then the three or more LED light sources are sequentially turned off in the order of the arrangement direction of the LED light sources.
The second sequential control is a control in which the three or more LED light sources are sequentially turned on in the order of the arrangement direction of the LED light sources, and then the three or more LED light sources are turned off at the same time.
The third sequential control is a control in which the three or more LED light sources are sequentially turned on in the order of the arrangement direction of the LED light sources, and the three or more LED light sources are sequentially turned off in the order of the arrangement direction of the LED light sources with a delay. be,
The vehicle lamp according to claim 7. The reflective portion is formed along a reference line curved in a plan view.
The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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