JP7357426B2 - Vehicle lights - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp. The vehicular lamp is included in a vehicle such as an automobile, for example.

2. Description of the Related Art Automobiles are generally equipped with vehicular lights such as turn signal lamps for notifying the surroundings of a change in the course of the vehicle and stop lamps for notifying vehicles behind the vehicle that the vehicle is braking. A vehicle lamp has a light source that emits light and a light emitting surface that radiates the light from the light source outward. The light emitting surface has a wide shape that is elongated in the horizontal direction along the outer surface of the vehicle body, for example.

The vehicle lamps disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 have a light bulb as a light source, an inner lens, and a light emitting surface. The inner lens is placed between the bulb and the light emitting surface. The inner lens has diffusion lens surfaces (eg, diffusion step, diffusion cut) that diffuse light on each of the front and rear surfaces. The diffusion step is composed of a plurality of minute irregularities. The diffusion step is, for example, a Fresnel step having sawtooth irregularities, a prism step having polyhedral irregularities, or a cylindrical step having cylindrical irregularities. Light from the light source spreads radially and reaches the inner lens. The light is diffused by the diffusion step of the inner lens. This allows the light emitting surface to emit light uniformly.

Utility Model Publication No. 63-39808 Utility Model Publication No. 5-27903 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-180516

However, when the vehicle lamp is viewed from the outside when the light source is not emitting light, the light emitting surface located on the surface of the lamp may not appear uniform. When viewed from the outside, the light emitting surface may be diffused by the diffusing lens surface of the inner lens and may appear uniform in appearance, but may not appear uniformly enough. For example, if the outer shape of the inner lens has an uneven shape that causes a large step, or if there is a light source or board located behind the inner lens, uneven color or black streaks may appear on the light emitting surface of the lamp due to these. There is. Therefore, there has been a desire for a vehicle lamp whose surface can be easily seen uniformly even when the light source is not emitting light.

According to one feature of the present disclosure, a vehicle lamp includes a light source and a lens body that is disposed in front of the light source in a light traveling direction and spreads light from the light source radially. An outer diffusing lens surface is formed on the front surface of the lens body to diffuse light from the lens body. The lens body has a recessed portion extending in a direction intersecting the light emission direction. At least one of the front surface and the rear surface of the recess is provided with an inner diffusion lens surface that diffuses light from the light source toward the outer diffusion lens surface.

Therefore, when viewing the lens body from the outside, objects at the back are seen through the outer diffuser lens surface and the inner diffuser lens surface. In other words, the object on the far side is seen as light that has been diffused twice through the inner diffusion lens surface and the outer diffusion lens surface. Therefore, the surface of the lens body viewed from the outside appears to have uniform or nearly uniform brightness and color. In this way, the surface of the vehicle lamp can be seen uniformly when the light source is not emitting light.

According to another feature of the present disclosure, the lens body is fan-shaped and has a side surface extending in the radial direction, and a reflective portion that reflects light is arranged along the side surface. Therefore, the reflecting portion faces the surface of the lens body (the front surface in the direction of light traveling). Thereby, the reflecting section can reliably and efficiently guide the light from the light source forward. In addition, the line of sight when viewed from the outside is also reflected by the reflective portion, making it easier to make the line of sight path uniform and the appearance of the lens body.

According to another feature of the present disclosure, the lens body includes a bridging portion that bridges the front and rear portions of the recess at a height away from the recess in the thickness direction of the lens body. Therefore, the lens body in the front region of the concave portion and the lens body in the rear region of the concave portion can be integrated by the bridging portion. Moreover, the bridging portion is provided at a height that is away from the concave portion through which light is transmitted. This can prevent the bridging portion from being visible when viewing the lens body from the outside.

According to other features of the disclosure, the light source is an LED. Therefore, light from a light source with a small irradiation angle can be spread uniformly in the radial direction. This allows, for example, a wide light emitting surface to be illuminated uniformly by using an LED with low power consumption.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the rear part of an automobile equipped with a vehicular lamp (lamp) according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view of the vehicle lamp from the rear of the vehicle (front in the direction of light travel). 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inner lens of the vehicle lamp seen from below.

Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1-5. The same reference numbers in the description refer to the same elements with the same function, without redundant description. FIG. 1 shows a vehicle whose forward direction is on the left and in the depth direction. A bumper 2 is provided below the rear of the vehicle 1. The bumper 2 has lamp portions (light fixtures) 3 on both left and right sides. The lamp section 3 includes a backup lamp 4 and a turn signal lamp 5 as vehicle lamps. The backup lamp 4 is turned on when the vehicle 1 is moved backward. The backup lamp 4 can notify the surroundings that the vehicle 1 is retreating. Alternatively, visibility of obstacles behind the vehicle 1 can be improved. Either one of the pair of left and right turn signal lamps 5 can be made to blink. This allows the surroundings to be notified of the change in the course of the vehicle 1. Alternatively, a pair of left and right turn signal lamps 5 may be made to flash at the same time.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lamp section 3 has a housing 6 for mounting a backup lamp 4 and a turn signal lamp 5. The housing 6 is long in the left and right directions when viewed from the rear of the vehicle 1. The backup lamp 4 has a substantially circular light emitting surface 4a when viewed from the rear of the vehicle 1. The turn signal lamp 5 has a generally parallelogram-shaped light emitting surface 5a that is elongated from side to side when viewed from the rear of the vehicle 1, for example. The light emitting surfaces 4a and 5a emit light toward the rear of the vehicle 1.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the housing 6 extends generally in the left-right direction along the outer shape of the bumper 2. The housing 6 is slightly inclined in the forward direction of the vehicle 1 as it approaches the left and right ends of the vehicle 1. The housing 6 has a substantially box-shaped lens housing chamber 6c therein. A window portion 6a that opens in the front-rear direction is provided on the front surface of the lens storage chamber 6c. An outer lens 20 is attached to the front part of the housing 6. The outer lens 20 covers the front surface of the housing 6 together with the backup lamp 4 (see FIG. 1) and the turn signal lamp 5. The outer lens 20 is a plate-like member provided with a substantially constant thickness in the direction in which light travels. The outer lens 20 is integrally molded from transparent resin, glass, or the like. The outer lens 20 may be colorless, or may be colored, for example, red or gray.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the housing 6 has a reflector 9 below the backup lamp 4 and the turn signal lamp 5. The reflector 9 has a reflective surface that scatters and reflects light incident from the outside. The reflective surface of the reflector 9 faces toward the rear of the vehicle 1. The reflector 9 reflects, for example, light emitted toward the vehicle 1 by the illumination of a vehicle following the vehicle 1. The reflector 9 can notify the following vehicle of the position of the vehicle 1 traveling at night, for example.

In the following description, the front-back direction will be defined based on the traveling direction of light emitted by the light-emitting surface 5a. That is, the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and the traveling direction of the light are opposite to each other in this example. The vertical, horizontal, and horizontal directions are defined based on the vehicle 1. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the turn signal lamp 5 has an inner lens 10 and an LED holding part 8. An LED (light source) 7 is attached to the front end of the cylindrical LED holding part 8. The LED 7 emits light forward, and the light is directional and emitted at a small irradiation angle. A fitting part 8a for attaching to the housing 6 is provided at the front part of the LED holding part 8.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the inner lens 10 is housed in the lens housing chamber 6c. The inner lens 10 is made of colorless and transparent resin, glass, or the like. The inner lens 10 is molded from one piece. The inner lens 10 has a flat lens body 10a whose thickness direction is the vertical direction. The thickness of the lens body 10a is approximately constant. The lens body 10a has a fan shape that expands radially from the rear to the front when viewed from above. The rear surface 11 of the lens body 10a stands up substantially vertically. The rear surface 11 has an arcuate shape that is concave toward the inside of the lens body 10a when viewed from above.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the front surface 12 of the lens body 10a stands approximately vertically. The front surface 12 has a convex arc shape facing outward of the lens body 10a when viewed from above. An outer diffusing lens surface 12a is formed over the entire front surface 12. The outer diffusion lens surface 12a is composed of a plurality of minute irregularities called so-called diffusion steps. The plurality of minute convex surfaces of the outer diffusion lens surface 12a have substantially the same size and protrude in a substantially arc shape. The plurality of convex surfaces of the outer diffusion lens surface 12a are bundled at approximately equal intervals in the circumferential direction and the vertical direction of the fan-shaped lens body 10a. Grooves are formed between the plurality of convex surfaces. Therefore, the plurality of grooves that the outer diffusion lens surface 12a has are arranged at approximately equal intervals in the circumferential direction and the vertical direction of the lens body 10a. The outer diffusing lens surface 12a diffuses light incident on the lens body 10a or light exiting from the lens body 10a in various directions.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lens body 10a has side surfaces 13 at both left and right ends. The side surface 13 has a planar shape that stands vertically. The side surfaces 13 extend between the left and right ends of the front surface 12 and the left and right ends of the rear surface 11. A reflecting plate (reflecting section) 21 is arranged along each side surface 13. The surface 21a of the reflection plate 21 is a mirror-like plane. The reflecting plate 21 is adjacent to and parallel to the side surface 13 with its surface 21a facing the lens body 10a. The reflecting plate 21 extends from the rear end of the side surface 13 to near the front end of the side surface 13.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the lens body 10a has a recess 14 that opens downward and is recessed upward. The recess 14 is recessed to a depth that is approximately the same as the thickness of the lens body 10a. The recessed portion 14 extends approximately parallel to the front surface 12 from the left end region to the right end region of the lens body 10a, and in a roughly circular arc shape centered on the LED 7. The recess 14 is formed at a position closer to the front surface 12 than to the rear surface 11. The rear surface 14a and the front surface 14b of the recess 14 stand up substantially perpendicularly. The rear surface 14a and the front surface 14b slightly widen in a tapered manner toward the bottom where the recess 14 opens. The rear surface 14a and the front surface 14b extend substantially parallel to each other. The rear surface 14a is disposed further forward than the front end of the reflector 21, or the front end of at least one reflector 21. The recessed portion 14 has a connecting portion in the front-rear direction in which the lens body 10a is not recessed between the recessed portion 14 and the side surface 13.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the front surface 14b is formed into a smooth arcuate surface with no irregularities. On the other hand, an inner diffusion lens surface 15 is formed over the entire rear surface 14a. The inner diffusion lens surface 15 is composed of a plurality of minute irregularities called so-called diffusion steps. The unevenness of the inner diffusion lens surface 15 is in the form of triangular prisms arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals in the horizontal direction or arc direction. Therefore, the inner diffusing lens surface 15 has a sawtooth shape in plan view. The groove depth of the unevenness of the inner diffusion lens surface 15 is small in the central region of the recess 14 and becomes larger toward the left and right regions of the recess 14. Each minute lens surface that constitutes the inner diffusion lens surface 15 stands vertically. The inner diffusion lens surface 15 diffuses light entering the lens body 10a or light exiting from the lens body 10a in various directions.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the inner lens 10 has a bridging portion 16 disposed above the upper surface of the recess 14. As shown in FIGS. The bridging part 16 covers the entire upper part of the recessed part 14. The bridging portion 16 projects upward from the top of the lens body 10a. The bridging portion 16 bridges the lens body 10a in the rear region from the rear surface 14a and the lens body 10a in the front region from the front surface 14b. The inner lens 10 has an extending portion 17 that extends downward along the front surface 14b of the recessed portion 14.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the opening shape of the window portion 6a is approximately a parallelogram long from side to side, and corresponds to the outer shape of the light emitting surface 5a. At the upper and lower ends of the window portion 6a, a projecting portion 6b that horizontally projects toward the rear (inside the vehicle) is provided. A fitting hole 6d having a circular opening in the front-rear direction is provided on the rear surface of the lens housing chamber 6c.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the LED holding part 8 is attached to the rear part of the lens housing chamber 6c by fitting the fitting part 8a into the fitting hole 6d with a packing (not shown) interposed therebetween. The inner lens 10 is housed in the lens housing chamber 6c and is arranged behind the LED 7 and in front of the outer lens 20. The lens body 10a is arranged at a position where the fan shape emits light with the LED 7 as the center. The front surface 12 is arranged between the upper and lower overhang portions 6b. The upper and lower projecting portions 6b extend to the vicinity of the bridging portion 16 and the extending portion 17. By wrapping the bridging portion 16, the extending portion 17, and each projecting portion 6b to fill the gaps between them, the interior of the turn signal lamp 5 can be constructed so as to be invisible from the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the light emitting surface 5a of the turn signal lamp 5 is viewed from the outside, an object on the back side of the lens body 10a is seen through the outer diffuser lens surface 12a and the inner diffuser lens surface 15. The diffused light passes through the outer diffusion lens surface 12a and the inner diffusion lens surface 15. The light diffused twice by the outer diffuser lens surface 12a and the inner diffuser lens surface 15 appears with uniform brightness in each region of the light emitting surface 5a.

As described above, the turn signal lamp 5 includes the LED 7 and the inner lens 10 including the lens body 10a, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The lens body 10a is arranged in front of the LED 7 in the light traveling direction and spreads the light from the LED 7 radially. An outer diffusion lens surface 12a is formed on the front surface 12 of the lens body 10a to diffuse light from the lens body 10a. The lens body 10a has a recessed portion 14 that is recessed and extends in a direction intersecting the light emission direction. At least one of the front surface 14b and the rear surface 14a of the recess 14 is provided with an inner diffusion lens surface 15 that diffuses the light from the LED 7 toward the outer diffusion lens surface 12a.

Therefore, when the lens body 10a is viewed from the outside, an object on the back side is seen through the outer diffusing lens surface 12a and the inner diffusing lens surface 15. In other words, the object on the far side is seen as light that has been diffused twice through the inner diffusion lens surface 15 and the outer diffusion lens surface 12a. Therefore, the front surface 12 of the lens body 10a viewed from the outside appears to have uniform or nearly uniform brightness and color. In this way, the light emitting surface 5a of the turn signal lamp 5 can be seen uniformly when the LED 7 is not emitting light.

As shown in FIG. 3, the recess 14 extends on an arc line centered on the LED 7. Therefore, the distance to the LED 7 at each location of the recess 14 is approximately the same. As a result, when the lens body 10a is viewed from the outside, the region deeper than the concave portion 14 appears to be generally uniform. In this way, the front surface 12 of the lens body 10a and the light emitting surface 5a of the turn signal lamp 5 can appear in a state with less unevenness, that is, in a more uniform state.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lens body 10a has a bridging portion 16 that bridges the front surface 14b and the rear surface 14a of the recessed portion 14 at a height away from the recessed portion 14 in the thickness direction of the lens body 10a. Therefore, the lens main body 10a in the front region of the recess 14 and the lens main body 10a in the rear region of the recess 14 can be integrated by the bridging portion 16. Moreover, the bridging portion 16 is provided at a height that is apart from the concave portion 14 through which light is transmitted. As a result, when the LED 7 is viewed from the direction perpendicular to the plane of the front surface 12 of the lens body 10a, the LED 7 is viewed through the same cross section from any direction, so it looks more uniform.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light source of the turn signal lamp 5 is an LED 7. Therefore, the light from the LED 7 having a small irradiation angle can be spread uniformly in the radial direction. This makes it possible to uniformly illuminate, for example, the wide light emitting surface 5a by using the LED 7 with low power consumption.

Various changes can be made to the vehicle lamp of this embodiment described above. A turn signal lamp 5 provided at the rear of the vehicle 1 is illustrated as a vehicle lamp. Alternatively, the present invention may be applied to vehicle lamps such as stop lamps, clearance lamps, tail lamps, and turn signal lamps in front of the vehicle. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to vehicle lamps, and may be applied to, for example, ship lamps, outdoor or indoor lighting equipment, and the like. As described above, the lens body 10a has one recess 14 extending in a direction intersecting the radial direction and one row of inner diffusing lens surfaces 15. Instead of this, for example, a plurality of recesses may be arranged in a radial direction of the lens body. Alternatively, a plurality of inner diffusing lens surfaces may be arranged in a plurality of rows in the radial direction of the lens body. The lens main body 10a has a connecting portion in the front-rear direction that is not recessed between the side surface 13 and the recessed portion 14, as described above. Instead of this, for example, the recess 14 may be configured to extend to the side surface 13.

As described above, the inner diffusion lens surface 15 is formed with minute triangular prism-shaped unevenness arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval. Alternatively, the shape of the inner diffusing lens surface may be changed, for example, minute concavities and convexities protruding in an arc shape may be formed in parallel. Alternatively, the unevenness on the inner diffusion lens surface may be formed in parallel at random intervals. As described above, the vehicle lamp 5 includes the LED 7 as a light source. Instead, a light source with a small irradiation angle, such as a HID (high pressure mercury lamp), may be used instead.

1...Vehicle 2...Bumper 3...Lamp part (light fixture)
4...Backup lamp (vehicle light), 4a...light emitting surface 5...turn signal lamp (vehicle light), 5a...light emitting surface 6...housing, 6a...window, 6b...projection, 6c...lens storage chamber, 6d...Fitting hole 7...LED (light source)
8...LED holding part, 8a...fitting part 9...reflector 10...inner lens, 10a...lens body 11...rear surface 12...front surface, 12a...outer diffusion lens surface 13...side surface 14...concavity, 14a...rear surface, 14b...front surface ,
15...Inner diffusion lens surface 16...Bridging portion 17...Extending portion 20...Outer lens 21...Reflecting plate (reflecting part), 21a...Surface

Claims (6)

A vehicle light,
a light source and
a lens body disposed in front of the light source in a light traveling direction to spread the light from the light source radially;
an outer diffusion lens surface formed on the front surface of the lens body to diffuse light from the lens body;
a recess formed in the lens body and extending in a direction intersecting the light emission direction;
an inner diffusing lens surface formed on at least one of the front surface or the rear surface of the recessed portion and diffusing light from the light source toward the outer diffusing lens surface;
In the vehicle lamp, the recessed portion extends on an arcuate line. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1,
In the vehicular lamp, the inner diffusion lens surface is formed on the rear surface of the recess and not on the front surface. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 or 2,
The lens body is fan-shaped and has a side surface extending in a radial direction,
A vehicular lamp in which a reflective part that reflects light is arranged along the side surface. The vehicle lamp according to claim 3 ,
A vehicular lamp, wherein the inner diffusion lens surface is located further forward than the front end of the reflection section. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A vehicular lamp having a bridging portion that bridges the front and rear portions of the recessed portion at a height that is outside the recessed portion in the thickness direction of the lens body. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The light source is a vehicle lamp that is an LED.

Images