JPH01314639A - Room lamp for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the function as a lighting apparatus by making the front side of a lighting body provided at an adequate position of a car room as a main light and one end of the lighting body as a spotlight, and leading the light from a light source in the body to the main light and to the spotlight, through a light transmission body. CONSTITUTION:This room lamp 20 has a lighting body 1 formed integrally of a synthetic resin presenting a thin box form with the front side, the upper side, and the lower side opened, and the installing recess 32 of a light transmission body 21 and the installing recess 33 of a reflector 56 are formed therein. And a transparent and thin rectangular box form of lens 3 with the opened back side is set and fixed to the body 1, and a filter 46 to diffuse the light from a bulb 4 is arranged at the rear side of the front plate 42A of the lens 3. This filter 46 has a shield 46A by shield-processing the periphery with a black paint or the like, and a plane luminous pat 46B at the center, and the central part of the front plate 42A responding to the plane luminous part 46B is made as the main light 49. A lower plate 42C is made as a spotlight 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an interior light for a vehicle that achieves uniform illumination and has a spot illumination function in addition to normal illumination.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, this type of interior light installed in the interior of an automobile has generally been constructed as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. That is, in these figures, 1
For example, is a lamp body fixed to the ceiling 2 inside the car, 3 is a lens that is fitted and fixed to the lamp body 1 and protects the bulb 4,
5 is the pace arranged on the lamp body 1, and this pace 5
A pair of contacts (6A) formed in a substantially U-shape that elastically hold the terminal portions 4a and 4b at both ends of the bulb 4 at -H.

6B are arranged opposite to each other with one end fixed. The - contact 6A is connected to the positive terminal a (Fig. 13) of the battery mounted on the vehicle body via a lead wire (not shown), and the other contact 6B is connected to the changeover switch SW.
A substantially ear-shaped locking piece 9 is provided corresponding to a ball bearing 8 provided at the inner end of the operating lever 7 forming the lever. The operating lever 7 has a middle portion rotatably supported by a support bin 10 erected on the lamp body 1, and a knob 11 is integrally provided at a protruding end that protrudes to the outside of the lens 3. ing. On the surface of the lamp body 1, a pair of terminals 12A and 12B are arranged close to each other on both sides of the locking piece 9, one terminal 12A is connected to the door switch DS (FIG. 13), and the other terminal 12B is connected to the battery. are connected to the negative terminals of each. 13 is a spring that presses the ball bearing 8 against the locking piece 9.

In the interior light 15 having such a configuration, when the operating lever 7 is in the OFF position shown by the solid line in FIG.
The ball bearing 8 is engaged in the recess 14 of the locking piece 9,
A non-contact state is maintained for both terminals 12A and 12B. In this state, the bulb 4 is not lit. When the operating lever I is rotated by a predetermined angle clockwise in FIG. 11, the ball bearing 8 is pulled out of the recess 14, moves between the locking piece 9 and the terminal 12A, and comes into contact with both of them. Therefore, the locking piece 9 and the terminal 12A are electrically connected via the ball bearing 8. In this case, the door switch DS to which the terminal 12A is connected operates in communication with the opening and closing of the vehicle door, and is configured to close when the door opens and open when the door closes, so the contact is closed when the door is closed. ) 6A and 6B are connected to the battery with all the door switches connected, and the bulb 4 is turned on. On the other hand, when the operating lever 7 is rotated by a predetermined angle counterclockwise in FIG.
and terminal 12B, and comes into contact with both of them. Therefore, the contact 6B is connected to the negative terminal of the battery through the locking piece 9, the ball bearing 8, and the terminal 12B' (r), thereby lighting the bulb 4 regardless of whether the door is open or closed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such a conventional indoor light 15, since the bulb 4 constitutes a point light source, it is difficult to uniformly illuminate the entire surface of the lens 3. There is a problem in that the brightness gradually decreases as the color changes, resulting in poor appearance. Furthermore, there is a demand for an interior light that has only a single function and can not only illuminate the entire interior of the room, but also brightly illuminate the feet of the driver, fellow passengers, etc., at the same time when getting on and off the vehicle. Moreover, conventional interior lights had the disadvantage that they were not bright enough, making it impossible to see maps etc. at night.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and can evenly illuminate the entire surface of the lens with a simple configuration. Spot illumination can also be performed at the same time, making it possible to see a map even at night. The object of the present invention is to provide a multifunctional vehicle interior light that can illuminate the feet when getting on and off the vehicle.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a lamp body disposed at an appropriate location in a vehicle interior, a light source and a light guide disposed within the lamp body, and a front surface of which forms a main illumination part.
The lamp includes a lens whose one end surface forms a spot illumination part and covers the lamp body, and the light emitted from the bulb is guided to the main illumination part of the lens and the spot illumination part by the light guide. .

[Effect]

In the present invention, the light emitted from the bulb passes through the light guide 9 and exits from its front surface and one end surface to the outside, thereby simultaneously illuminating the main illumination section and the spot illumination section of the lens. Therefore, two mutually orthogonal directions are illuminated simultaneously.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway view showing one embodiment of a vehicle interior light according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Fig. 1. 4 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 1, Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 1, and Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 1.
-C line sectional view.

In these drawings, an interior light 20 has a lighting body 1. which is integrally formed of synthetic resin. Lens 3° Bulb 4 (
4A, 4B), light guide 21. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the driver's seat 2
It is disposed at the lower part of the inner surface of the fourth door 25 via a fixed frame 27.

The lamp body 1 is formed of a bottom plate 31A and a pair of left and right side plates 31B and 31C facing each other on the bottom plate 31A, so that the lamp body 1 has a thin box shape with an open front and upper and lower surfaces. , the inside thereof forms a light guide housing recess 32 and a reflector housing four parts 33.

The reflector storage recess 33 is formed above the light guide storage recess 32 so as to be continuous with the light guide storage recess 32 and to be one step deeper than the light guide storage recess 32 . The bottom plate 31A is inclined at an appropriate angle so that the portion corresponding to the light guide storage recess 32 protrudes forward from the upper end to the lower end, and lenses are provided at both end portions of the lower end surface and at intermediate portions of both sides. 3 and an elastic retaining piece 36 (Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig. 6).
(Fig.) is integrally protruded.

Both ends of the printed circuit board 22 are fixed from above between the upper ends of the pair of side plates 31B and 31C by tapping screws 37. In addition, each side plate 31B,
31C has an engagement recess 38A (see FIG. 1,
(Fig. 5) are respectively recessed, and the side plates 31B,
A pair of upper and lower recesses 38B (FIG. 6) are provided on the inner surface of the light guide 31C to prevent the light guide 210 from wobbling in the front-rear direction.

The lamp body 1 having such a structure is integrally formed of light-shielding white resin, and when the fixing frame 2γ is not used, both end portions are attached to mounting surfaces 3 provided at appropriate locations within the vehicle interior.
9 (FIG. 5) by a plurality of set screws 40.

The lens 3 has an upper front plate 42A1 and a lower plate 42B.

The left and right side plates 42C1 and 42D and 42E are formed in a colorless and transparent rectangular thin box shape with an open back, and are fitted and fixed to the lamp body 1 so as to cover the front surface of the lamp body 1. Therefore, the lower plate 42C and the left and right side plates 42D
, 42E are formed with engagement holes 44 and 45 (FIGS. 5 and 6) into which the fixing protrusion 35 and the elastic engagement piece 36 of the lamp body 1 are engaged. A filter 46 is disposed on the back surface of the front plate 42A to diffuse the light from the bulb 4 to produce soft surface emission. The filter 46 is made of a milky-white thin resin plate, and the peripheral edge is treated with black paint or the like to form a light-shielding part 46A', and the other part, that is, the center part, forms a surface light-emitting part 46B'Th. The middle part of the front plate 42A corresponding to the surface light emitting part 46B forms the main illumination part 49, and the lower plate 42C forms the spot illumination part 50.

In this case, although this embodiment shows an example in which the filter 46 is provided along the back surface of the front plate 42A, the present invention is not limited to this.
The surface of 2A other than the main illumination part 49 is coated with light-shielding coating, and a diffusion step consisting of many small convex lenses is formed on the main illumination part 49 on the back side, and this step diffuses the light to obtain soft surface light emission. You can do it like this.

Each of the bulbs 4A and 4B is an incandescent bulb completely filled with a gas such as xenon or krypton, and the emitted light is white, but if necessary, it is covered with an appropriately colored cap. And valve 4A.

4B has terminal portions 4a at both ends in the reflector storage recess 33.
, 4b are a pair of contacts) 6A, 6B holding holes 52 (
(FIG. 4), it is elastically held and disposed. Said contact) 6A.

6B has its base attached to the printed circuit board 22 with a stopper 53 (
4), it is connected to the electric circuit formed on the board 22, and the base has a rotation stopper 54 (a fourth ) are provided integrally. Further, a reflector 56 is fixed to the printed circuit board 22, and the inner surface thereof forms a reflecting surface 55 that surrounds the bulb 4 and reflects the light emitted from the bulb 4 downward. It is housed in the recess 33. The reflecting surface 55 is a cylindrical surface with a part cut out and open. The flaper 56 is thus formed of metal such as At, and heat dissipation fins 5B (Figs. 1 and 3) are integrally protruded from the upper front surface, upper surface, and back surface of the flefter 56, and a portion of the flutter 56 is formed from a metal such as At. It is exposed to the outside through a mouth 59 (FIG. 3) formed in the bottom plate 31A. In addition, a clamp hole 61 for clamping an external cord 60 (FIG. 3) is provided at the upper center of the bottom plate 31A of the lamp body 1.
(Fig. 1) is formed.

The light guide 21 is formed into a plate shape from a transparent resin such as acrylic resin, and is housed in the light guide storage recess 32 to direct the light emitted from the bulb 4 to the front plate 42A of the lens 3 and below. Plate 42C1 In other words, main lighting section 49
and the spot illumination section 50, and is wedge-shaped so that it is thickest at the upper end and gradually becomes thinner toward the lower end. For this reason, the light guide plate 21
The back surface of the lamp body 1 is inclined at the same angle as the bottom plate 31A of the lamp body 1. The upper end surface of the friend light guide plate 21 is provided with the bulb 4A.
, 4B, the light entrance part 63 (second
4) are recessed over the entire width, and stipples 64 consisting of many small V-shaped recesses are formed on the back surface.

The dots 64 reflect the light from the bulb 4 that has entered the light guide 21 through the light entrance part 63 toward the front plate 42A of the lens 3, and are dotted so that they gradually become denser as they move away from the bulb 4. The density changes, thereby making the brightness of the υ main vein part 49 uniform over the entire surface. moreover,
On the lower end surface of the light guide 21 is a diffusion step 65 (which is made up of a large number of convex lenses and controls the diffusion of the light from the bulbs 4A and 4B).
1) are formed, and furthermore, engagement recesses 3 are formed on each side surface 31B and 31C of the lamp body 1 on both side surfaces.
8A, and the recess 38B (FIGS. 1 and 5).

6), respectively.
B (FIGS. 1 and 6) are integrally provided.

Note that the electric circuit of the interior light 20 is completely similar to the conventional circuit shown in FIG. 13, so illustrations of its changeover switch, changeover switch knob, etc. are omitted.

When the interior light 20 having such a configuration is attached to the fixed frame 27 as described above, as shown in FIG.
, 70B by a support shaft 71 so as to be rotatable, so that it is housed in the fixed frame 27 so as to be freely retractable.

The fixed frame 27 includes a bottom plate T2, the pair of side plates 70A,
70B, it is formed into a shallow box shape with an open surface and upper and lower ends, and when attached to the door 25 as shown in FIG. 8, it is fixed with the support shaft 71 facing upward.

In such a configuration, when the bulbs 4A and 4B are lit, the light enters the core light guide 21 through the light entrance part 63 of the light guide 21, and is repeatedly reflected on the front and back surfaces of the light guide 21.
A part of the light travels through the dots 64 and is reflected to the front side, illuminating the main illumination section 49 of the lens 3. At this time, the light passing through the front plate 42A of the lens 3 is filtered through the filter 46.
Because it is diffused by the light, it becomes a soft light. Furthermore, the density of the dots 64 is different, and the amount of reflection increases as the distance from the bulbs 4A, 4B increases, so the entire surface of the main illumination section 49 is illuminated with approximately uniform brightness, and the bulb 4A.

Convert 4B into a point light source and a surface light source.

Therefore, the appearance of the interior light 20 when the bulb is lit is good.

Further, the light traveling inside the light guide 21 and emitted from the lower end surface is diffused by the diffusion step 65 and illuminates the spot illumination section 50 . In this case, the spot lighting section 50 has a smaller area than the main lighting section 49 and can obtain stronger light, and brightly illuminates the load-bearing floor surface of the driver's seat 24 when the door 25 is closed. When the vehicle is parked in the opposite direction and the door 25 is opened, the road surface below the door is illuminated. On the other hand, when the door 25 is closed, the main lighting section 49 illuminates the area around the driver's seat 24,
When the door 25 is opened, the rear side of the vehicle body is illuminated to notify the driver of the following vehicle that the door is open.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, when the interior light 20 is rotated upward around the support shaft 71 and pulled out from the fixed frame 27, the illumination direction of the main illumination section 49 and the spot illumination section 50 can be changed. Depending on the installation position of the interior light 20, it is also possible to view a map using the spot illumination unit 50. Furthermore, if the lamp is mounted upside down on the upper wall surface of the vehicle interior as shown in FIG. 10, the light emitted from the spot illumination unit 50 will be reflected on the ceiling surface 2, thereby providing indirect illumination.

Note that by providing a friction clutch between the support shaft 71 and the fixed frame 2γ, the interior light 20 can be set and held at any rotation angle.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the vehicle interior light according to the present invention,
The front side of the light guide is used as the main lighting section, the - side end surface is used as the spot lighting section, a light guide is provided inside the lamp body, and the light guide directs light from the bulb to the main lighting section and the spot lighting section. Because it is configured to illuminate two directions 90 degrees apart, for example, the seat and the floor (ceiling) at the same time, if it is installed on the inside of the door, it will illuminate the road surface and the rear side of the vehicle when the door is opened. It enables lighting and improves its function as a lamp. Furthermore, the light guide enables uniform illumination of the front of the lens and improves the appearance when the bulb is lit, providing an ideal indoor light that meets the needs of users.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway view showing one embodiment of a vehicle interior light according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Fig. 1. 4 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 1, Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 1, and Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 1.
-C line sectional view, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the external appearance when installed on a fixed frame, Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of installation on the inside surface of the door, Figure 9
The figure shows a state when the lighting direction is changed, Figure 10 shows an example of indirect lighting, and Figures 11 and 12 are partially cutaway views and A-A of a conventional interior light. line cross section,
FIG. 13 is an electrical circuit diagram. 1...Lighting body, 3...Lens, 4...
Bulb, 20... Indoor light, 21... Light guide, 4
9... Main lighting section, 50... Spot lighting section, 6
3...Light entrance part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The lamp body includes a light body disposed at an appropriate location within the vehicle interior, a light source and a light guide disposed within the light body, the front surface of which forms a main lighting section, and one end surface of which forms a spot lighting section. 1. An interior light for a vehicle, comprising a lens that covers a body, wherein the light guide guides light emitted from the bulb to a main illumination section and a spot illumination section of the lens.