JPH0245232A - Illuminating angle adjustment device for vehicle head lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a head lamp angle variable operation of good response by operating a vehicle posture on the basis of the detected results of a weight sensor and a seating sensor, and controlling variably the illuminating angle of the head lamp on the basis of the operated vehicle posture. CONSTITUTION:Seating switches 1-1 to 1-5 turned on upon the seating of a passenger on each seat are respectively provided at both front right and left seats and at the left, center and right rear seats. Also, a weight switch 2 turned on when a loaded weight becomes equal to or exceeds, for example, 100kg is provided within a trunk. The output signals from the aforesaid switches 1-1 to 1-5 and 2 are inputted to a decoder circuit 3. Furthermore, the on/off state of the inputted signals is logically processed and the signal levels at each of output terminals 3-20 to 3-25 are thereby made variable. According to the aforesaid construction, the turning direction of a motor 49 and the rotational quantity thereof 49 in an illuminating angle variable circuit 4 are controlled in cooperation with a slidable board 42 interlocked with the motor 49 and the illuminating angle of a head lamp is thereby varied.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a vehicle headlamp that automatically adjusts the irradiation angle of the headlight, which is tiltably held relative to the vehicle body, according to the vehicle attitude. This invention relates to a light irradiation angle adjustment device.

[Conventional technology]

In vehicles, especially automobiles, the body and axle are made of leaf springs,
Because the vehicle is connected by a suspension system made of coil springs, etc., if a large load is applied to the front or rear wheels of the vehicle, the vehicle will sink forward or backward, causing the headlights to sag. Not only does the angle of illumination in the vertical direction relative to the road surface change, impairing driving safety, but if the headlights are tilted upwards due to the vehicle moving backwards, there is a risk of causing significant dazzle to the driver of an oncoming vehicle.

In order to correct this change in the irradiation angle of the headlights relative to the road surface, the headlights are held tiltable relative to the vehicle body, and the irradiation angle (optical axis position) of the headlights is adjusted to the driver's seat. An irradiation angle adjustment device that can be adjusted by remote control (manual operation) from the side has been considered. In addition, a method is adopted that detects suspension displacement, calculates changes in the vehicle's attitude from the difference between the front and rear displacements, and automatically adjusts the optical axis of the headlight to the optimal position based on the calculated attitude. A irradiation angle adjustment device with a irradiation angle adjustment device is also being considered.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, according to the irradiation angle adjustment device configured so that the optical axis position of the headlight can be adjusted manually from the driver's seat side, the driver's It is necessary to judge how much the optical axis should be lowered.

This increases the burden on the driver, and since the optical axis must be adjusted downward, the driver's field of view is narrowed. In other words, whether or not to perform optical axis adjustment must depend on the driver's morals.

In addition, if a method is adopted that automatically adjusts the optical axis position of the headlight by detecting suspension displacement, it will not depend on the driver's morals, but the static displacement of the suspension, which originally changes dynamically, will In order to have to detect
There are problems in that it takes time to detect the attitude of the vehicle, and the configuration of the device itself is complicated.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and includes a seating sensor that detects when a passenger is seated on a seat, a weight sensor that detects the weight of loaded luggage exceeding a predetermined value,
A vehicle attitude calculation means for calculating the vehicle attitude based on the detection results of the weight sensor and the seating sensor, and an irradiation angle variable means for varying the irradiation angle of the headlight based on the vehicle attitude calculated by the vehicle attitude calculation means. It is something that

[Effect]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the vehicle posture is calculated based on the static displacement immediately detected by the seating sensor and the weight sensor.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The irradiation angle adjustment device for a vehicle headlamp according to the present invention will be described in detail below.

First, before going into the description of the embodiments, the basic principle of this irradiation angle adjustment device will be described.

That is, the amount of change in the posture of the vehicle can be estimated based on the number of passengers and their seating positions. In addition, the weight of the loaded luggage can also cause changes in the vehicle's posture, and its weight can be specified depending on the vehicle type. Therefore, the number of passengers and their seating positions can be detected, and the If the weight of the loaded luggage is detected, it will be possible to estimate the attitude of the car based on a combination of these detection results.In addition, the average value of the weight of the passengers is 55 pupils in Japan. 75 kg in West Germany
can be represented by

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of an irradiation angle adjusting device to which this principle is applied. In the figure, 11 is a seat switch located on the driver's seat (hereinafter referred to as the driver seat seat switch), 1-2 is a seat switch located on the passenger seat (hereinafter referred to as the passenger seat seat switch), 1- 3 is a seating switch located on the left side of the rear seat (hereinafter referred to as the rear seat left seating switch); 1-4 is a seating switch located in the center of the rear seat (hereinafter referred to as the rear seat center seating switch); 1- 5 is a seating switch located on the right side of the rear seat (hereinafter referred to as the rear seat right seating switch);
2 is a weight switch placed in the trunk (hereinafter referred to as the trunk weight sensor), 3 is a decoder circuit, and 4 is an illumination angle (not shown) of a headlamp (not shown) that is tiltably held relative to the vehicle body. This is a variable irradiation angle circuit that changes the optical axis position. This embodiment shows an example of application to a 5-seater passenger car (2 front seats, 3 rear seats) equipped with a trunk room at the rear. The arrangement state of the trunk weight sensor 2 in a passenger car is shown.

The seat switches 1-1 to 1-5 are configured and arranged so that they are turned on when the passenger is seated in the seat, and the trunk weight sensor 2 indicates that the weight of the loaded luggage in the trunk exceeds 100 ktr. It is configured and arranged as if it were to be turned on. Further, the decoder circuit 3 includes a decoder 31 . Consisting of a resistor rlxr (i and an AND gate 32), driver's seat seating switch 1-1.passenger seat seating switch 1-2.rear seat left seating switch 1-3.rear seat center seating switch 14 and rear seat right seating switch. Switch 1-5 has its input terminal 3-r+ + 3-+
□13-14+3-Is and 3-1. resistance r through
l, r2. Connected to r4, r5 and r6. Further, the trunk weight sensor 2 is connected to a resistor r3 via its input terminal 3-13. and,
The potential level generated at the connection point between the driver's seat switch 1-1 and the resistor r1 and the passenger seat seat switch 1-2 and the resistor r
The potential level generated at the connection point with 2 is applied to one end and the other end of the AND gate 32, and the output signal level of the AND gate 32 is applied to the “24” input terminal of the decoder 31. Further, the potential level generated at the connection point between the trunk weight sensor 2 and the resistor r3 is input to the "23" input terminal of the decoder 31, and the potential level generated at the connection point between the rear seat left seating switch 1-3 and the resistor r4 is "23" input terminal of the decoder 31. The potential level generated at the connection point between the rear seat center seating switch 1-4 and the resistor r5 is transferred to the "2I" input terminal, and the potential level generated at the connection point between the rear seat center seating switch 1-4 and the resistor r6 is applied to the "2I" input terminal. The resulting potential level is applied to the "2°" input terminal. On the other hand, each output terminal of the decoder 31 "
00'' to ``OF'' are connected to the input terminals 4-0 to 4-5 of the variable irradiation angle circuit 4 through the output terminals 3-20 to 3.5 after selecting each terminal as shown in the figure. has been done. - On the other hand, the input terminals 40 to 4-5 of the variable irradiation angle circuit 4 are connected to sliding contacts 44b to 44g that are in sliding contact with semicircular band-shaped conductor patterns 42 and 43 formed on the sliding substrate 41. A sliding contact 44h adjacent to the sliding contact 44g is connected to the positive polarity side of the DC power supply 5 via the coil 451 of the relay 45. Also,
The sliding contact 44a adjacent to the sliding contact 44b is also connected to the relay 46.
It is connected to the positive polarity side of the DC type 'a5 through a coil 461, and diodes 47 and 48 are connected in parallel to the coils 451 and 461. The normally open and normally closed contacts 4 of the relay 45 are connected to both connection ends of the DC motor 49.
52 and the normally open/normally closed contact 462 of the relay 46 are connected, and when the relay 45 is in the energized state, the common terminal 452c of the normally open/normally closed contact 452 and the normally open contact terminal 45 are connected.
2a, and one end of the motor 49 is connected to the positive polarity side of the DC power supply 4. Also, relay 46
When is in the energized state, the common terminal 462C of the normally open/normally closed contact 462 and the normally open contact terminal 462a are electrically connected, and the positive polarity side of the DC power supply 4 is connected to the other end of the motor 49. It has become. That is, normally open/normally closed contact 452
and 462 usually have their common terminals 452C and 4
62C and the normally closed contact terminals 452b and 462b are in a conductive state, and at this time both ends of the motor 49 are grounded. When a drive current flows in the direction shown in the figure through the normally open/normally closed contact 452 to the motor 49, this drive current causes the motor 49 to rotate forward, and the illumination angle of the headlight moves downward. , the sliding substrate 41 is the conductor pattern 4
2 and 43 rotate clockwise as shown in the figure. Further, when a drive current flows in the direction B in the drawing through the normally open/normally closed contact 462 of the motor 49, this drive current causes the motor 49 to rotate in the reverse direction, and the illumination angle of the headlight moves upward. , the sliding substrate 41 is the conductor pattern 4
2 and 43 are integrally rotated to the left in the figure.

Next, the operation of the irradiation angle adjusting device configured as described above will be explained. That is, the table below is a truth table of the decoder circuit 3. In the same table, D10 is the signal level provided to the "24" input terminal of the decoder 31, T is the signal level provided to the "23" input terminal, R1 is the signal level provided to the "2°" input terminal, and R2 is the signal level provided to the "24" input terminal of the decoder 31. The signal level provided to the "2'J" input terminal, and R3 indicates the signal level provided to the "2g" input terminal. The initial position of the irradiation angle indicates the optimum optical axis position of the headlight when the weight of the cargo in the trunk is 100 pupils or less and only the driver is in the vehicle.

In addition, 1 to 5 steps downward refers to a position where the optical axis of the headlight is lowered by 1 to 5 steps (in this example, 1 step is defined as 0.5 degrees) based on the initial position. It shows. The rotation angle position of the sliding substrate 41 shown in FIG.
A state in which the optical axis position of the headlight is set to the initial position is shown.

Now, if the weight of the cargo in the trunk is 100 ksr or less and the vehicle is to start with a passenger on the left side of the rear seat, only the driver seat seating switch 1-1 and the left rear seat seating switch 13 are turned on. That is, in the above table, Dlo and R3 are at the rOJ level, and the output terminal 3-! of the decoder circuit 3! I becomes the 0j level. This causes the sliding contact 44h to be connected to the coil 451 of the relay 45.
, conductor pattern 42, sliding contact 44C9 input terminal 4-1
．． A current flows through the output terminal 3-zl path, and this coil 4
The common terminal 452C of the normally open/normally closed contact 452 of No. 51 and the normally open contact terminal 452a are brought into conduction. This causes a current to flow in the direction A to the motor 49, and due to the forward rotation of the motor 49, the optical axis position of the headlight moves downward, and the sliding board 41 connects the conductive patterns 42 and 43 with sliding contacts. Rotate clockwise while sliding 44a to 44h.

When the sliding contact 44c separates from the conductor pattern 42, the energization of the coil 451 of the relay 45 is released, and the common terminal 452C of the normally open/normally closed contact 452 and the normally open contact terminal 452a are connected to each other. becomes non-conductive, power supply to the motor 49 is cut off, and the optical axis position of the headlight is fixed at a predetermined position in the downward direction. That is,
The optical axis position of the headlamp is lowered by one step based on the initial position.

On the other hand, the posture of the automobile at this time changes in the direction of raising the optical axis position of the headlight due to the driver's seat and the passenger getting on the left side of the rear seat. In other words, the change in the optical axis position due to this attitude change lowers the tip axis position by one step,
It will be automatically adjusted to the optimal position.

In other words, the truth table shown above is based on an actual vehicle (obtained from actual experimental results), and is based on the driver's seat seat switch 1-
1. Passenger seat seat switch 1-2. Rear seat left seating switch 1-3. Rear seat center seating switch 1-4. The posture of the automobile is estimated according to the number of passengers and their seating positions detected based on the rear seat right seating switches 1-5, and the weight of loaded luggage exceeding a predetermined value detected based on the trunk weight sensor 2, The optical axis of the headlight will be automatically adjusted to the optimal position.

As explained above, according to the irradiation angle adjustment device according to the present embodiment, the attitude of the vehicle is estimated based on the static displacement of the number of passengers, their seating positions, and the weight of loaded luggage, which are detected immediately. The headlamp illumination angle can be adjusted with better response than the suspension method described above, and the structure of the device itself can be simplified.

In this embodiment, the weight of the loaded luggage is detected at one point by the trunk weight sensor 2, but
It may be configured to detect weight points in multiple stages, and it goes without saying that the weight points change depending on the type of vehicle. Furthermore, in order to reduce power consumption, this automatic adjustment of the front shaft position is preferably performed only when the headlights are turned on. In addition, if the optical axis position is configured to be automatically adjusted only when the vehicle is stopped, the optical axis position may be adjusted frequently when the seat switch is turned on or off due to the passenger lifting his or her hips from the seat while the vehicle is moving. It becomes possible to prevent automatic adjustment from being performed.

Further, although the posture change characteristics differ depending on the number of passengers, seating positions, and weight of loaded luggage depending on the vehicle type, this change in characteristics can be handled by simply changing the truth table in the decoder circuit 3.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the irradiation angle adjustment device for a vehicle headlamp according to the present invention includes a seating sensor that detects whether a passenger is seated on a seat, a weight sensor that detects the weight of loaded luggage that exceeds a predetermined value, A vehicle attitude calculation means for calculating the vehicle attitude based on the detection results of the weight sensor and the seating sensor, and an irradiation angle variable means for varying the irradiation angle of the headlight based on the vehicle attitude calculated by the vehicle attitude calculation means. Therefore, the vehicle posture is calculated based on the static displacement that is immediately detected by the seating sensor and weight sensor, and it is possible to obtain variable headlight illumination angle operation with better response than the suspension method. , and the configuration can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the irradiation angle adjustment device for a vehicle headlamp according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a seating switch and a weight sensor in the trunk of a passenger car. . 1-1... Driver seat seating switch, l-2... Passenger seat seating switch, 1-3... Rear seat left seating switch, 1-4... Rear seat center seating switch, 15...
- Rear seat right seating switch, 2... Trunk weight sensor, 3... Decoder circuit, 4... Irradiation angle variable circuit. Patent applicant: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A seating sensor that detects whether a passenger is seated on a seat, a weight sensor that detects the weight of loaded baggage exceeding a predetermined value, and a vehicle attitude calculation means that calculates a vehicle attitude based on the detection results of the weight sensor and the seating sensor. A vehicular headlamp irradiation angle adjusting device comprising: and irradiation angle variable means for varying the irradiation angle of the headlight based on the vehicle attitude calculated by the vehicle attitude calculation means.