JP7482687B2 - Vehicle lighting fixtures - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp.

A vehicle lamp is known in which light from a light source is guided by a light guide and emitted in a forward direction through an inner lens.

JP 2017-92010 A

In the vehicle lamp described in Patent Document 1, for example, depending on the design of the lamp chamber, peripheral components may be arranged on the front side of the inner lens. In this case, when the vehicle lamp is viewed from an inclined direction relative to the front direction, the light emitted from the inner lens may be blocked by the peripheral components and may not be visible.

To address this issue, for example, a prism or the like may be placed on the front side of the inner lens so that the light emitted from the inner lens is not blocked by the surrounding components, and the light is emitted in an inclined direction, bypassing the surrounding components. However, in this case, the prism or other components are visible from the outside, which reduces the appearance.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide a vehicle lamp that can avoid a loss of appearance while ensuring visibility from an inclined direction relative to the front direction.

The vehicle lamp according to the present invention includes a light source that emits light, a light guide that guides the light from the light source to emit a portion of the light in a front direction when mounted on the vehicle and emits a portion of the light to one side in a lateral direction relative to the front direction, an inner lens having a front entrance surface on which the light emitted in the front direction from the light guide is incident, a side entrance surface on which the light emitted to one side in the lateral direction from the light guide is incident, a refractive surface that internally reflects the light incident from the side entrance surface in an inclined direction inclined to the other side opposite to the one side in the lateral direction relative to the front direction, and an exit surface that emits the light incident from the front entrance surface in the front direction and emits the light internally reflected in the inclined direction by the refractive surface in the inclined direction.

The light guide may also have a protrusion protruding from the exit surface in the front direction, and the protrusion may have a side reflection surface that internally reflects a portion of the light to one side in the lateral direction, and a side exit surface that emits a portion of the light that has been internally reflected by the side reflection surface.

The side entrance surface may extend from the front entrance surface toward the rear surface so as to face the side exit surface in the lateral direction.

The refractive surface may also have a curved portion that extends from the end of the side entrance surface on the rear side toward one side in the lateral direction and curves toward the front side.

The refractive surface may also have a flat portion disposed between the front end of the curved portion and the exit surface.

The curved portion may be curved such that the tangent plane is inclined from the front side to the rear side toward the other side in the lateral direction, and the flat portion may be inclined from the connection with the curved portion to the front side toward the other side in the lateral direction.

Furthermore, one side in the lateral direction may be the outside of the vehicle, and the other side in the lateral direction may be the inside of the vehicle.

The present invention makes it possible to avoid deterioration of appearance while ensuring visibility from inclined directions relative to the front direction.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a vehicle according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle lamp according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main portion of FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main portion of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of a vehicle lamp.

Below, an embodiment of a vehicle lamp according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Furthermore, the components in the following embodiments include those that are easily replaceable by a person skilled in the art, or those that are substantially the same.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a vehicle 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 includes a vehicle body 2, a running device 3, and a vehicle lamp 100. The vehicle body 2 has a driver's cab in which a driver sits. The vehicle body 2 is supported by the running device 3. The running device 3 includes wheels 5 on which tires 4 are mounted, a steering device for changing the traveling direction of the vehicle 1, and a brake device for decelerating or stopping the running device 3. The running device 3 is operated by power generated by an engine. The vehicle 1 includes a boarding door 6 provided on the side of the vehicle body 2, and a back door 7 provided on the rear of the vehicle body 2. The boarding door 6 and the back door 7 are each movably supported by the vehicle body 2 via a hinge mechanism.

In the following description, the vehicle 1 is placed on the ground parallel to a horizontal plane, and the terms front, rear, up, down, left, and right are used to describe the relative positions of the various parts with respect to the driver in the cab. The front, rear, up, down, left, and right directions refer to the directions when the vehicle lamp is mounted on the vehicle and is viewed from the driver's seat in the direction of travel of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the up and down direction is parallel to the vertical direction, and the front, rear, and left and right directions are parallel to the horizontal direction.

The up-down direction is a direction perpendicular to a specific plane. The left-right direction is a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the wheels 5 of the vehicle 1 in a straight-ahead state. The front-rear direction is a direction perpendicular to both the up-down direction and the left-right direction. In this embodiment, the outside of the vehicle means a part far from the center in the left-right direction or a direction away from the center, and the inside of the vehicle means a part close to the center in the left-right direction or a direction toward the center.

In this embodiment, the vehicle lamp 100 is provided on each of the left and right sides of the rear of the vehicle body 2. In this embodiment, the vehicle lamp 100 is provided at the rear of the vehicle body 2. Therefore, the rear in the fore-and-aft direction will be described as the front direction of the vehicle lamp 100, the front in the fore-and-aft direction will be described as the rear direction of the vehicle lamp 100, and the left and right in the left-and-right direction will be described as the side directions.

The structure of the vehicle lamp 100 provided on the left rear side of the vehicle body 2 and the structure of the vehicle lamp 100 provided on the right rear side of the vehicle body 2 are symmetrical in the left-right direction and are substantially identical in structure. Below, the vehicle lamp 100 provided on the left rear side of the vehicle body 2 will be mainly described, and the description of the vehicle lamp 100 provided on the right rear side of the vehicle body 2 will be simplified or omitted.

Examples of the vehicle lamp 100 include a turn signal lamp that lights up to indicate to the surroundings the direction in which the vehicle 1 is traveling, a tail lamp that lights up in conjunction with the lighting of the head lamps, a stop lamp that lights up in conjunction with the operation of the brake device, or a combination of these.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment. Figure 2 shows a configuration along a cross section of a plane parallel to a horizontal plane. As shown in Figure 2, the vehicle lamp 100 has a light source 10, a light guide 20, an inner lens 30, an outer lens 40, and a housing 50. The vehicle lamp 100 is arranged in a lamp chamber together with other vehicle lamps 100A having a light source, light guide 20A, inner lens 30A, outer lens 40A, and housing 50A (not shown). Note that the other vehicle lamps 100A do not have to be arranged in the lamp chamber in which the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment is arranged.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the main parts in Figure 2. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the light source 10 is a semiconductor light source such as an LED. The light source 10 has a light-emitting surface 11 that emits light. The light-emitting surface 11 is disposed opposite an incident surface 21 of a light guide 20 described below. When the vehicle lamp 100 is used as a turn signal lamp, the light source 10 emits, for example, orange (amber) light from the light-emitting surface 11.

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the main parts in Figure 3. As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the light guide 20 guides light from the light source 10 and emits it to the front side. The light guide 20 has an incident surface 21, a front side emission surface 22, and a protrusion 23. The incident surface 21 is disposed opposite the light emitting surface 11 of the light source 10, and light from the light emitting surface 11 is incident on the incident surface 21. The front side emission surface 22 emits the light incident from the incident surface 21 in the front direction.

The protrusion 23 is provided on a part of the front side emission surface 22. The protrusion 23 is provided in a state where it protrudes from the front side emission surface 22 to the front side. The protrusion 23 has a side reflection surface 24 and a side emission surface 25.

The side reflective surface 24 internally reflects a portion of the light incident from the incident surface 21 toward one side in the lateral direction. In this embodiment, the one side in the lateral direction is the outside of the vehicle. In other words, in this embodiment, the side reflective surface 24 internally reflects a portion of the light incident from the incident surface 21 toward the outside of the vehicle. In a vehicle lamp 100 disposed on the left rear side of the vehicle, the one side in the lateral direction is the left side. In a vehicle lamp 100 disposed on the right rear side of the vehicle, the one side in the lateral direction is the right side.

The side exit surface 25 emits the light reflected by the side reflection surface 24 to one side in the lateral direction, i.e., to the outside of the vehicle. In this way, the light guide 20 emits a portion of the light incident from the entrance surface 21 to the outside of the vehicle (to one side in the lateral direction) by the side reflection surface 24 and the side exit surface 25 of the protrusion 23.

The inner lens 30 has a front entrance surface 31, a side entrance surface 32, a refractive surface 33, and an exit surface 34. The front entrance surface 31 receives light emitted from the front exit surface 22 of the light guide 20.

The side entrance surface 32 receives light emitted from the light guide 20 toward the outside of the vehicle. The side entrance surface 32 extends from the vehicle-exterior end of the front entrance surface 31 toward the rear side. The side entrance surface 32 is, for example, a flat surface inclined toward the outside of the vehicle toward the rear side, but is not limited to this and may have a curved shape, etc. The side entrance surface 32 is disposed opposite the side exit surface 25 of the light guide 20.

The refracting surface 33 internally reflects the light incident from the side entrance surface 32 in an inclined direction D that is inclined toward the other side of the side direction with respect to the front direction. The other side of the side direction is the opposite side to the one side in the side direction described above. In this embodiment, the other side of the side direction is the inside of the vehicle. In a vehicle lamp 100 disposed on the left rear side of a vehicle, the other side of the side direction is the right side. In a vehicle lamp 100 disposed on the right rear side of a vehicle, the other side of the side direction is the left side.

The inclination direction D is a direction inclined at a predetermined angle θ toward the inside of the vehicle with respect to the forward direction. In this case, the predetermined angle θ can be, for example, 45° or more.

The refracting surface 33 has a curved portion 35, a folded portion 36, and a flat portion 37. The curved portion 35 extends outward from the end of the side entrance surface 32 on the rear side toward the outside of the vehicle. The curved portion 35 is curved toward the front side so as to be convex toward the rear side. The curved portion 35 internally reflects light incident from the side entrance surface 32. In this embodiment, for example, light L2 incident from the side entrance surface 32 is internally reflected at multiple reflection positions L2a and L2b.

The flat portion 37 is disposed between the curved portion 35 and the exit surface 34. The flat portion 37 is connected to the curved portion 35 at the folded portion 36. The flat portion 37 internally reflects the light that is internally reflected by the curved portion 35 toward the inside of the vehicle.

The curved portion 35 is positioned so that the imaginary tangent plane is inclined toward the inside of the vehicle from the end on the front side to the end on the rear side. The flat portion 37 is also inclined toward the inside of the vehicle from the rear side to the front side. Therefore, a corner is formed in the folded portion 36 by the curved portion 35 and the flat portion 37.

The exit surface 34 emits light incident from the front entrance surface 31 in the forward direction, and emits light that is internally reflected in the inclined direction D by the refracting surface 33 in the inclined direction D.

The inner lens 30 can be manufactured, for example, by a molding method using a mold. As described above, the inner lens 30 has a shape in which the curved portion 35 is inclined from the folded portion 36 toward the rear side toward the inside of the vehicle. Also, the inner lens 30 has a shape in which the flat portion 37 is inclined from the folded portion 36 toward the front side toward the inside of the vehicle. In other words, the curved portion 35 and the flat portion 37 are inclined toward the inside of the vehicle as they move away from the folded portion 36. Therefore, for example, a first mold corresponding to the curved portion 35 side and a second mold corresponding to the flat portion 37 side can be used with the folded portion 36 as a reference. In this case, when removing the mold, the first mold and the second mold can be pulled out in opposite directions. This makes it possible to easily manufacture the inner lens 30.

The outer lens 40 transmits the light emitted from the inner lens 30 and irradiates it toward the front side of the vehicle. The outer lens 40 forms a lamp chamber together with the lamp housing 57 described below.

The housing 50 accommodates the light source 10 and the light guide 20 in the interior 51. The housing 50 has a base 52, a wall 53, and an attachment 54. The base 52 is disposed on the rear side of the housing 50. The wall 53 extends from both left and right ends of the base 52 to the front side. The attachment 54 is fixed to the lamp housing 57 via a screw member 55 and a washer 56.

In addition, a peripheral member 60 is arranged around the vehicle lamp 100 inside the lamp chamber. The peripheral member 60 is arranged on the front side of the inner lens 30 so as to cover a part of the inner side of the vehicle of the inner lens 30 when viewed from the front direction.

Next, an example of the operation of the vehicle lamp 100 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the vehicle lamp 100. When a driver performs a predetermined operation such as operating a turn signal or a hazard switch on the vehicle side, the vehicle lamp 100 emits light from the light emitting surface 11 of the light source 10 in response to the operation.

The light emitted from the light-emitting surface 11 enters the light guide 20 from the entrance surface 21 and is guided by the light guide 20. As shown in FIG. 5, for example, a portion of the light L1 is emitted to the front side from the front exit surface 22 and enters the front entrance surface 31 of the inner lens 30. This light L1 is emitted in the front direction from the exit surface 34. The light L1 emitted from the exit surface 34 passes through the outer lens 40 and is irradiated in the front direction (rear) of the vehicle.

In this embodiment, a peripheral member 60 is disposed within the lamp chamber. By disposing the peripheral member 60, for example, light L3 emitted from the emission surface 34 of the inner lens 30 toward the inside of the vehicle in the forward direction is blocked or reflected by the peripheral member 60 and is not irradiated toward the rear of the vehicle 1. For this reason, for example, when looking at the rear of the vehicle 1 from the inclined direction D, the light L3 cannot be seen.

In contrast, in this embodiment, a portion of the light L2 is reflected by the side reflection surface 24 of the light guide 20 to the outside of the vehicle, and is emitted from the side emission surface 25 toward the outside of the vehicle. This light L2 enters the side entrance surface 32 of the inner lens 30, is internally reflected at the curved portion 35 and the flat portion 37 of the refracting surface 33, and is emitted from the emission surface 34 toward the inclined direction D. Therefore, when the rear of the vehicle 1 is viewed from the inclined direction D, the light L2 is visible. Therefore, for example, even if a peripheral member 60 is arranged in the lamp chamber, the light irradiated by the vehicle lamp 100 can be viewed from the inclined direction D without arranging a separate prism or the like on the front side of the inner lens 30.

As described above, the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment includes a light source 10 that emits light, a light guide 20 that guides light from the light source 10 to emit a portion of the light in a front direction when mounted on the vehicle and emits a portion of the light to one side in a lateral direction relative to the front direction, a front-side incident surface 31 on which the light emitted in the front direction from the light guide 20 is incident, a side-side incident surface 32 on which the light emitted to one side in the lateral direction from the light guide 20 is incident, a refracting surface 33 that internally reflects the light incident from the side-side incident surface 32 in an inclined direction D inclined to the other side opposite to the one side in the lateral direction relative to the front direction, and an inner lens 30 that emits the light incident from the front-side incident surface 31 in the front direction and emits the light internally reflected in the inclined direction D by the refracting surface 33 in the inclined direction D.

According to this configuration, a portion of the light L2 guided by the light guide 20 enters the inner lens 30 from the side entrance surface 32, is internally reflected by the refracting surface 33 toward the inclined direction D, and is emitted from the exit surface 34 in the inclined direction D. Therefore, when the rear of the vehicle is viewed from the inclined direction D, the light L2 emitted in the inclined direction D can be seen. Therefore, for example, even without disposing a separate prism or the like, the light L2 emitted from the exit surface 34 can be seen from the inclined direction D. This makes it possible to avoid a deterioration in the appearance of the vehicle lamp 100 while ensuring visibility from the inclined direction D.

In the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment, the light guide 20 has a protrusion 23 that protrudes from the emission surface 34 in the front direction, and the protrusion 23 has a side reflection surface 24 that internally reflects a portion of the light to one side in the lateral direction, and a side emission surface 25 that emits a portion of the light that is internally reflected by the side reflection surface 24. With this configuration, a portion of the light guided by the light guide 20 can be reliably emitted to one side in the lateral direction.

In the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment, the side entrance surface 32 extends from the front entrance surface 31 toward the rear side so as to face the side of the side exit surface 25. With this configuration, the light emitted from the side exit surface 25 can be reliably made to enter the side entrance surface 32, thereby suppressing light loss.

In the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment, the refracting surface 33 has a curved portion 35 that extends from the end on the rear side of the side entrance surface 32 to one side in the lateral direction and curves toward the front side. With this configuration, the curved portion 35 can internally reflect light in multiple stages. This ensures that the light incident from the side entrance surface 32 is directed in the inclined direction.

In the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment, the refracting surface 33 has a flat portion 37 disposed between the front end of the curved portion 35 and the emission surface 34. With this configuration, the light internally reflected by the curved portion 35 can be internally reflected by the flat portion 37, so that the light can be reliably directed in the inclined direction.

In the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment, the curved portion 35 is curved such that the tangent plane is inclined to the other side in the lateral direction from the front side to the rear side, and the flat portion 37 is inclined to the other side in the lateral direction from the rear side in the front direction to the front side. With this configuration, the curved portion 35 and the flat portion 37 each have a shape that is inclined to the other side in the lateral direction as they move away from the folded portion 36, which is the connection portion between them. Therefore, when the inner lens 30 is manufactured by molding, the mold can be separated for the curved portion 35 side and the flat portion 37 side based on the folded portion 36, which is the connection portion between the curved portion 35 and the flat portion 37. This makes it easy to manufacture the inner lens 30.

In the vehicle lamp 100 according to this embodiment, one side in the lateral direction is the outside of the vehicle, and the other side in the lateral direction is the inside of the vehicle. This allows the light emitted from the emission surface 34 to be seen even when the rear of the vehicle is viewed from a direction inclined toward the inside of the vehicle relative to the front direction.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, one side in the lateral direction is described as the outside of the vehicle, and the other side in the lateral direction is described as the inside of the vehicle, but this is not limited to this. For example, a similar description is possible even if one side in the lateral direction is the inside of the vehicle, and the other side in the lateral direction is the outside of the vehicle.

In the above embodiment, the curved portion 35 and the flat portion 37 are connected to form a corner at the folded portion 36, but the present invention is not limited to this. The curved portion 35 and the flat portion 37 may be smoothly connected.

In the above embodiment, the refractive surface 33 has a curved portion 35 and a flat portion 37, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the refractive surface 33 may have only one of a curved portion and a flat portion.

In the above embodiment, the side entrance surface 32 extends from the front entrance surface 31 toward the rear side so as to face the side exit surface 25 in a lateral direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the side entrance surface 32 may be a part of a plane continuous with the front entrance surface 31.

In the above embodiment, the light guide 20 has a protrusion 23, and the protrusion 23 emits a portion of the light to one side in the lateral direction, but the configuration is not limited to this. The light guide 20 may have a configuration other than a protrusion, such as a recess, as long as it is capable of emitting a portion of the light to one side in the lateral direction.

D...inclination direction, L1, L2, L3...light, L2a, L2b...reflection position, 1...vehicle, 2...vehicle body, 3...running gear, 4...tire, 5...wheel, 6...boarding door, 7...back door, 10...light source, 11...light emitting surface, 20, 20A...light guide, 21...incident surface, 22...front exit surface, 23...projection, 24...side reflection surface, 25...side exit surface, 30, 30A...inner lens, 31 ...Front entrance surface, 32...Side entrance surface, 33...Refractive surface, 34...Exit surface, 35...Curved portion, 36...Folded portion, 37...Flat portion, 40, 40A...Outer lens, 50, 50A...Housing, 51...Inside, 52...Base, 53...Wall portion, 54...Mounting portion, 55...Screw member, 56...Washer, 57...Lamp housing, 60...Peripheral member, 100, 100A...Vehicle lamp

Claims (7)

A light source that emits light;
a light guide that guides the light from the light source and outputs a portion of the light in a front direction when the light source is mounted on a vehicle and outputs a portion of the light to one side in a lateral direction relative to the front direction;
a lateral incidence surface into which the light emitted from the light guide in the front direction is incident, a lateral incidence surface into which the light emitted from the light guide to one side in the lateral direction is incident, a refracting surface that internally reflects the light incident from the lateral incidence surface in an inclined direction that is inclined toward the other side opposite the one side in the lateral direction with respect to the front direction, and an exit surface that emits the light incident from the front incidence surface in the front direction and emits the light that has been internally reflected in the inclined direction by the refracting surface in the inclined direction. The light guide has a protrusion protruding from the light exit surface in the front direction,
The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 , wherein the protrusion has a side reflecting surface that internally reflects a portion of the light toward one side in the lateral direction, and a side emitting surface that emits a portion of the light that has been internally reflected by the side reflecting surface. The vehicular lamp according to claim 2 , wherein the side entrance surface extends from the front entrance surface toward a rear side so as to face the side exit surface in the lateral direction. 3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the refractive surface has a curved portion that extends from an end portion on a rear side of the side entrance surface to one side in the lateral direction and curves toward a front side. The refractive surface has a planar portion disposed between the front end of the curved portion and the exit surface.
5. A vehicle lamp according to claim 4 . The curved portion is curved such that a tangential plane is inclined from the front side to the rear side toward the other side in the lateral direction,
The vehicular lamp according to claim 5 , wherein the flat portion is inclined toward the other side in the lateral direction from a connection portion with the curved portion toward the front side. The one side in the lateral direction is an outer side of the vehicle,
The vehicular lamp according to claim 1 , wherein the other side in the lateral direction is an inner side of the vehicle.

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