JP7120037B2 - Vehicle headlight device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp device.

The surrounding environment including the optical axis of the light that illuminates the imaging range of the camera is photographed by the camera, and the fog light is turned on when fog is detected by processing the image including the surrounding environment. Fog detectors based on nighttime images have been conventionally proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-227876 A

However, depending on the state of fog generation, it may be difficult to grasp the driving lane of the vehicle based on the center line, the outside line of the road, or the like, simply by turning on the fog lights.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle headlamp device that enables a driver to accurately grasp the lane of his/her own vehicle even when visibility is poor due to fog or the like.

In order to achieve the above objects, a vehicle headlight device according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a laser light source including red and green semiconductor lasers, and a laser beam emitted from the laser light source. reflecting means for reflecting laser beams of each color; detecting means for detecting surrounding conditions of the vehicle; and a control means for controlling the laser light source and the reflecting means so as to draw a yellow lane line at the lane position of .

According to the first aspect of the invention, when it is determined that the visibility is poor by the detection means for detecting the surrounding conditions of the vehicle , the control means controls the red and green traffic lights based on the previously obtained lane position information on the road. A laser light source including a semiconductor laser and reflecting means for reflecting each color of laser light emitted from the laser light source are controlled to draw a yellow lane at the lane position on the road. Therefore, even if visibility is poor due to fog or the like, the driver can accurately grasp the lane of the vehicle.

As described above, according to the present invention, the driver can accurately grasp the lane of the vehicle even when visibility is poor due to fog or the like.

1 is a front view showing a vehicle equipped with a vehicle headlamp device according to this embodiment; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a vehicle headlamp device according to this embodiment; FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect|action of the vehicle headlamp apparatus which concerns on this embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the arrow UP shown in each drawing is the upward direction of the vehicle, the arrow FR is the forward direction of the vehicle, and the arrow RH is the right direction of the vehicle. Therefore, in the following description, when vertical, front-rear, and left-right directions are indicated without special mention, it indicates up-down in the vertical direction of the vehicle, front-rear in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and left and right in the lateral direction (vehicle width direction) of the vehicle. do.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a vehicle 12 is provided with a pair of left and right headlamp units 14 for securing a field of vision in front of the vehicle 12 . That is, a headlamp unit 14R is arranged at the right front end of the vehicle 12, and a headlamp unit 14L is arranged at the left front end of the vehicle 12. As shown in FIG. The headlamp units 14R and 14L are configured symmetrically in the vehicle width direction.

Therefore, the right headlamp unit 14R will be described below, and the description of the left headlamp unit 14L will be omitted. The right headlamp unit 14R includes a low beam unit 16 arranged outside in the vehicle width direction and a high beam unit 18 arranged inside in the vehicle width direction. The vehicle headlamp device 10 according to the present embodiment includes the high beam unit 18 .

The low beam unit 16 is configured to irradiate a low beam light distribution area (not shown) on the roadway (road surface) in front of the vehicle 12 with visible light. The high beam unit 18 has a normal mode for irradiating a high beam light distribution area (not shown) on the upper side and in front of the low beam light distribution area with visible light, and a roadway outside line SL (see FIG. 3) to be described later. and a drawing mode for drawing the center line CL (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 2, the high beam unit 18 includes a laser light source 20, a biaxial scanning mirror 22 as reflecting means for reflecting the laser light emitted from the laser light source 20, and a laser beam reflected by the biaxial scanning mirror 22. It has a phosphor 24 that transmits light, and a projection lens 26 that transmits the laser light that has passed through the phosphor 24 and irradiates it to the front side of the vehicle. A laser scanning unit 28 is composed of the laser light source 20 and the biaxial scanning mirror 22 .

The laser light source 20 is composed of red, green, and blue semiconductor lasers (LDs: Laser Diodes), and is a light source with high rectilinearity and high brightness. In the following description, when the laser light sources 20 of each color are distinguished, they are distinguished by adding any of the letters "R", "G", and "B" after the number "20".

The biaxial scanning mirror 22 is configured to be rotatable in the left-right direction (horizontal direction) with the vertical direction as the axial direction, and is configured to be rotatable in the vertical direction (vertical direction) with the horizontal direction as the axial direction. . A laser scanning unit 28 composed of the laser light source 20 and the biaxial scanning mirror 22 is electrically connected to a control device 40 (see FIG. 1) as control means.

Therefore, under the control of the control device 40, the biaxial scanning mirror 22 rotates at a high speed of, for example, 20,000 times per second (a known so-called raster scan), whereby the laser beam emitted from the projection lens 26 is The light is planar scanning light (including elongated planar light such as the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL, which will be described later).

The phosphor 24 is a yellow phosphor, and as indicated by the phantom line in FIG. 2, the blue laser light emitted from the blue laser light source 20B and reflected by the biaxial scanning mirror 22 is incident. wavelength is converted into white laser light. That is, the phosphor 24 is configured to function as a white conversion member.

The projection lens 26 has a hemispherical projection on the front side of the vehicle and a flat surface on the rear side of the vehicle. White visible light is emitted to the high beam light distribution area on the front side of the vehicle. The shape of the projection lens 26 is not limited to the illustrated shape.

In addition, a light shielding area (not shown) is formed in the high beam light distribution area by controlling the lighting and extinguishing of the laser light source 20B by the control device 40 at a predetermined timing. A light-shielding area is an area in which a part of the high-beam light distribution area is light-shielded so as not to dazzle an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle.

Also, at one end of the phosphor 24, for example, laser light emitted from the red laser light source 20R and the green laser light source 20G and reflected by the biaxial scanning mirror 22, that is, red and green are combined to form yellow. A transparent panel 25 that transmits laser light (scanning light) is integrally and continuously provided.

Yellow (colored) laser light (scanning light) transmitted through the panel 25 and further transmitted through the projection lens 26 causes the roadway outer line SL and the center line CL as lane lines to be aligned with each other as shown in FIG. It is designed to be drawn following the 12 runs.

In this way, the high beam unit 18 emits white visible light to the high beam distribution area by controlling the lighting and extinguishing of the laser light sources 20R, 20G, and 20B and the angle of the biaxial scanning mirror 22 by the control device 40. A normal mode for irradiation and a drawing mode for drawing the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL with colored (for example, yellow) visible light can be taken simultaneously or selectively.

In addition, the control device 40 is electrically connected to a detection means 30 (see FIG. 1) for detecting surrounding conditions of the vehicle 12 such as a camera 32 and a radar 34 provided on the vehicle 12 . Therefore, based on the information detected by the detection means 30, the control device 40 controls the laser scanning unit 28 of the high beam unit 18 to automatically emit white visible light ( scanning light) is irradiated.

Then, based on the information detected by the detection means 30 (information that visibility is poor due to fog or the like), the control device 40 controls the laser scanning unit 28 of the high beam unit 18, thereby automatically driving the outside of the roadway. Colored (for example, yellow) visible light is projected onto the line SL and the center line CL (a virtual lane is drawn). Control device 40 is also electrically connected to a car navigation system.

In addition, the control device 40 captures (obtains in advance) the lane lines on the road on which the vehicle is traveling (roadway outer line SL and center line CL) with the camera 32 and captures them as image data (obtained in advance), and positional information on the car navigation system ( It has a memory unit 38 (see FIG. 1) that stores lane position information (image data of the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL) to be drawn by linking with the driving point).

The low beam unit 16 is also electrically connected to the controller 40 together with the high beam unit 18 . As a result, the visible light source (not shown) in the low beam unit 16 is turned on and off not only by the driver's switch operation but also by the control of the controller 40 .

That is, when it is determined that the surroundings of the vehicle 12 are dark (for example, in a tunnel or at night) based on the information detected by the detection means 30, the controller 40 automatically controls the low beam unit 16. Visible light is irradiated to the low beam light distribution area.

Next, the operation of the vehicle headlamp device 10 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When the vehicle 12 is running, image data taken by the camera 32 as the detection means 30 is taken into the control device 40 . It should be noted that when the captured image data exceeds a predetermined capacity, the oldest image data are sequentially erased. Then, when the captured image data is white-out, the control device 40 determines that the surroundings of the vehicle 12 are in a dense fog state (the visibility of the driver is poor).

Then, the control device 40 stores (obtained in advance) the lane position information (image data of the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL) linked with the position information (driving point) on the car navigation system stored in the memory unit 38. ) from the memory unit 38 to draw a virtual lane at the lane position based on the lane position information.

Specifically, the control device 40 controls turning on and off of the laser light source 20R and the laser light source 20G that constitute the laser scanning unit 28 of the high beam unit 18 and the rotating operation of the biaxial scanning mirror 22 .

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, colored laser light (yellow due to a combination of red and green) emitted from the laser light sources 20R and 20G and reflected by the biaxial scanning mirror 22 (scanning light) passes through the panel 25 and the projection lens 26 to be drawn as the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL following the running of the vehicle 12 .

Therefore, even if the surroundings of the vehicle 12 are in a dense fog state (even if the visibility of the driver is poor), the driver can accurately grasp the driving lane of the vehicle 12 (self-vehicle) (easily can be recognized) and the vehicle 12 can be driven safely. Moreover, in this embodiment, since the laser light source 20 is used as the light source, the straightness of the light is high, and the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL can be clearly displayed.

Note that, for example, a road traffic information center or the like obtains lane position information (image data of the roadway outer line SL and the center line CL) on the road on which the vehicle is actually traveling from other vehicles including the vehicle 12 (own vehicle). When the lane position information is collected by transmission, the controller 40 is provided with a memory unit 38 for storing the lane position information (image data of the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL). It doesn't have to be.

That is, in that case, the control device 40 calls up the lane position information (image data of the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL linked with the position information on the car navigation system) collected by the road traffic information center or the like. Therefore, it is possible to draw a virtual lane at the lane position based on the lane position information regardless of whether the road has actually been traveled on or not.

The vehicle headlight device 10 according to the present embodiment has been described above with reference to the drawings. The design can be changed as appropriate within the scope not departing from the gist of the above. For example, the color of the laser light that draws the roadway outside line SL and the center line CL is not limited to yellow.

Also, the cause of poor visibility is not limited to fog. Further, the biaxial scanning mirror 22 is not limited to a structure that rotates about the vertical direction and the horizontal direction as the axial direction, and may be configured to rotate about the directions orthogonal to each other. good.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 vehicle headlight device 12 vehicle 20 laser light source 22 biaxial scanning mirror (reflecting means)
30 detection means 40 control device (control means)
CL center line (lane)
SL roadway outside line (lane)

Claims (2)

a laser light source including red and green semiconductor lasers ;
Reflecting means for reflecting each color laser beam emitted from the laser light source;
a detection means for detecting surrounding conditions of the vehicle;
Control the laser light source and the reflecting means so as to draw a yellow lane at the lane position on the road based on previously obtained lane position information on the road when the visibility is determined to be poor by the detecting means. a control means for
A vehicle headlight device comprising: A panel configured to transmit the yellow laser light obtained by combining the red and green laser lights reflected by the reflecting means, and configured to form the lane with the laser light. Item 2. The vehicle headlamp device according to item 1.

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