JPH01223042A - Headlight control device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the time lag of operation by controlling so that the lighting direction of a headlight is made to change with a driving means driven when the variation quantity of a steering angle is larger than a given value in the device in which a lighting direction is made to change interlocking a steering operation. CONSTITUTION:In application to a right and left pair of fog lamps 1R and 1L hungly provided to the lower part of a vehicle bumper, when an ignition switch 17 and a fog switch 15 are turned on, at first the speed variation quantity of a steering angle is operated from the output of a detection means 20 detecting the steering angle of a handle 14 in a main control part 100. Then the judgment whether the speed variation quantity is larger or smaller than a given value is made, and when YES is judged, the positive or negative judgment of the speed variation quantity is made to conduct successively. And when the positive judgment (right side turning) is made, the motor 10 contained in the lamp 1R is made to actuate, and when the negative judgment (left side turning) is made, the motor 10 contained in the lamp 1L made to actuate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp control device that changes the direction of illumination in conjunction with steering operation of a steering wheel.

[Prior Art] Various proposals have been made to change the direction of illumination of headlights in conjunction with steering wheel operations when a vehicle is cornering. A mechanical cornering lamp system constructed in the following manner, or an electric cornering lamp system constructed such that the rotation angle of the headlight is detected by a rotary encoder and controlled by a servo motor, and disclosed in JP-A-62-77249. According to the above, in order to simplify the complicated structure which is a disadvantage of the latter electric cornering lamp system, a proposal has been made to change the irradiation direction in stages.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, among the above-mentioned conventional cornering lamp systems, in the mechanical cornering lamp system, the steering wheel operating force is directly transmitted as a driving force that changes the direction of illumination of the headlight. Although this system has excellent responsiveness to the amount of change in steering angle, it is not versatile because it must be specially designed for each vehicle type, and it has the problem that it cannot be provided as an optional device, for example.

On the other hand, among electric cornering lamp systems that are easy to ensure versatility, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-7724
In the electric cornering lamp system disclosed in No. 9, steering wheel operation is controlled through a detection means that detects the steering angle in stages and a drive circuit that performs a predetermined operation based on the signal of this detection means. Since the structure is such that the amount of change in the steering angle is transmitted to the driving means that changes the irradiation direction of the headlights, there is a considerable time delay before the drive means that changes the irradiation direction of the headlights is activated. There was a problem that a time lag (time lag) occurred, which caused an unnatural feeling depending on the vehicle speed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle headlight control device that has versatility and reduces time lag in an electric cornering lamp system, that is, a vehicle headlight control device. shall be.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in order to solve the above problems and achieve the purpose, the present invention has the following configuration, namely, a system that is linked to the steering of the steering wheel. A headlamp that changes the irradiation direction by changing the irradiation direction, comprising a driving means for changing the irradiation direction of the headlamp, a steering angle detection means, and a calculation means for calculating a speed change amount of the steering angle, and drive control means for driving the drive means when the amount of speed change is greater than a predetermined value.

[Operation] In the vehicle headlight control device configured as described above, the amount of change in speed of rotation of the steering wheel is calculated during the process in which the steering wheel is rotated and the steering wheel reaches a predetermined steering angle. When the amount of speed change is greater than a predetermined value, the drive means is operated to change the direction of irradiation of the headlight.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows how a fog lamp constituting a vehicle headlamp control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed. FIG. In this figure, a bumper 3 is attached to the lower front part of the vehicle, and fog lamps IR and 1L, which are set as optional equipment, are vertically installed on the bottom of the bumper 3 approximately below the headlights 2R12L via stays. There is.

Each of these fog lamps IR1IL is provided with a protective cover 4 which can be opened and closed freely, and when not in use, it is kept in the state shown in the figure to protect a lens (not shown).

Figure 2 shows fog lamp IR1 installed like this.
It is a perspective view showing the structure of the IL, and the protective cover 4, the opening/closing mechanism of the protective cover 4, and the lens are omitted for the sake of explanation. In FIG. 2, a lamp 5 is supported at the approximate center of the main body 30 in a replaceable manner by a lamp holder (not shown).
0, and changes the light emission of the lamp 5 to a forward optical path. Sub reflector 6
is disposed between the lamp 5 and the reflector 8, and is rotatable about pivot points 6A and 6B.

On the other hand, the motor 10 is provided at the rear left corner of the main body 30, and a motor link 11 is fixed to the rotational output shaft of the motor 10. A link 12 is connected to one end of this motor link 11. Further, a beam flap link 13 is fixed to the pivot point 6B of the sub-reflector 6 and connected to the link 12.

Therefore, the rotational force of the motor 10 is transmitted to rotate the sub-reflector 6.

FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) show cross-sectional views of essential parts of the fog lamp IR1IL constructed in this manner.

Figure 3(a) shows a state in which the sub-reflector 6 is placed in a neutral position and the lamp 5 is turned on, and the optical path indicated by the arrow U is such that everything is reflected forward as shown in the figure. Become.

Next, FIG. 3(b) shows a state in which the sub-reflector 6 is placed in a rotated position and the lamp 5 is turned on. In this state, the optical path U reflected by the sub-reflector 6 is directed to the reflector. The light beam is irradiated in the direction of the angle θ with respect to the forward light path reflected at 8.

FIGS. 4(a), 4(b), and 4(C) are operation explanatory diagrams showing the relationship between the steering angle of the steering wheel 14 and the illumination states of the fog lamps IR and IL. In FIG. 4, the steering wheel 14 is provided with a steering angle detector (not shown), and when the steering wheel is rotated to the left, a negative (-) steering angle detection signal is generated, and when the steering wheel is rotated to the right, a positive (-) steering angle detection signal is generated. (+) steering angle detection signal is generated.
In the neutral position shown in FIG. 4(a), no steering angle detection signal is generated. Therefore, when the steering wheel 14 is in the neutral position, the fog lamps IR and IL whose illumination directions are changed based on this steering angle detection signal are configured to illuminate the front as shown in the figure. ing.

In addition, in FIG. 4(b), when the steering wheel 14 is rotated to the left and a negative (-) steering angle detection signal is generated, the above-mentioned sub-reflector 6 of the fog lamp IL is operated and the angle θ
It will now emit light to the left. Similarly, in FIG. 4(C), when the steering wheel 14 is turned to the right and a positive (+) steering angle detection signal is generated, the above-mentioned sub-reflector 6 of the fog lamp IR operates to move the angle θ in the right direction. It starts to irradiate.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram for carrying out the operation shown in FIG.

In this figure, the main control unit 100 has built-in arithmetic means and a driving electric circuit for converting the aforementioned steering angle detection signal into a speed change amount, and when the calculated speed change amount exceeds a predetermined value, A driving electric circuit acts to drive the motor 10 built into the aforementioned fog lamps IR, 1, and L.

The steering wheel 14 shown by the broken line is provided with a detector 20, which is composed of, for example, a variable resistor, as a means for detecting the steering angle, and outputs a resistance value according to the steering angle of the steering wheel 14. . Here, if this detector 20 is constituted by an acceleration sensor capable of detecting the amount of change in speed, the above-mentioned calculation means is unnecessary.

The ignition switch 17 functions to supply power to the main control unit 100, and has one end connected to a positive electrode P of a battery (not shown). The fog switch 15 is ON10 to turn on the lamp 5 of the fog lamp IR1IL.
It is provided for F F and the main control unit 100 to start execution of a program to be described later, and one end is connected to a positive electrode P of a battery (not shown). symbol G
indicates grounding.

FIG. 6 is an operating range diagram of the headlamp control device configured as described above, and shows that the absolute value of the calculated speed change amount is a predetermined value ■, or, for example, when the vehicle is in a stopped state and a predetermined value. It is shown that when the absolute value of the steering angle exceeds θl, the operating region shown by diagonal lines occurs.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow executed in the block diagram of FIG.

In this figure, when both the ignition switch 17 and the fog switch 15 are turned on, the program starts, and first, in step S1, it is determined whether the amount of speed change is larger than a predetermined value ■, and YES. When the determination is made, the process proceeds to step S2, and then the sign of the speed change amount is determined. If the positive determination is made, the process proceeds to step S3, where the motor 10 built in the aforementioned fog lamp IR acts to start. .

On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S2, step S
4, the motor 10 built into the fog lamp IL is actuated to start. The motor 10 started in this manner stops after a predetermined rotation. Then, the process proceeds to step S7, and when the steering angle θ reaches zero, which is near the neutral position of the steering wheel, the process proceeds to step S8, where the motor lO returns to the neutral position, and the process ends.

Further, if it is determined in step S1 that the speed change amount is smaller than the predetermined value ■, the process proceeds to step S5, where it is determined whether the steering angle θ is larger than the predetermined steering angle θ1. If a YES determination is made in this step S5, step S
The process proceeds to step S3, where the steering angle θ is determined to be positive or negative, and if the steering angle θ is positive or negative, the process proceeds to step S3, where the above-mentioned fog lamp IR
The built-in motor 10 acts to start the motor.

On the other hand, if a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S4 and acts to start the motor IO built in the fog lamp LL.

Then, if No determination is made in step S5, that is, determination is made that the steering angle θ is smaller than the predetermined steering angle θ1, step S7
When the steering angle θ reaches zero, which is near the neutral position of the steering wheel, the process advances to step S8, where the motor 10 returns to the neutral position, and the program execution ends.

According to the program explained above, when the amount of change in speed of the steering angle and/or the steering angle exceeds a predetermined amount, the driving means operates and the direction of the lamp, that is, the headlight changes over time. The time lag is reduced and changes can be made without any discomfort.

In addition, although only the fog lamps were described in this example,
Of course, it can also be applied to headlights such as headlights.

Further, the operating speed of the motor 10 built into the fog lamp 1 and the speed change amount of the steering angle may be made linear.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the vehicle headlight control device according to the present invention is electrically configured and changes the irradiation direction of the headlight according to the amount of change in speed of the steering angle caused by steering wheel operation. This makes it possible to provide a vehicle headlamp control device that has versatility and reduces time lag.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external view showing how a fog lamp of a vehicle headlamp control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the fog lamp of Fig. 1; Figures (a) and (b) are cross-sectional views of the main parts of the fog lamp in Figure 2, and Figures 4 (a), (b), and (c) show the relationship between the steering angle of the steering wheel and the illumination state of the fog lamp. FIG. 5 is a block diagram for performing the operation shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is an operation area diagram, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart diagram executed in the block diagram shown in FIG. 5. In the figure, IRlIL...・Fog lamp, 2R12L...
・Headlight, 5... Lamp, 6... Sub-reflector, 8... Reflector, 10... Motor, 14...
・Handle, 15 ・Four lag switch, 17・
...Ignition switch, 20...Detector, 10
0... Main control unit, Raw 1... Speed change amount, θ... Rudder angle. t

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a headlamp whose irradiation direction is changed in conjunction with the steering of the steering wheel, there is a driving means for changing the irradiation direction of the headlamp, a steering angle detection means, and a calculation means for calculating the amount of speed change in the steering angle. and drive control means for driving the drive means when the speed change amount is larger than a predetermined value.