JPH0314742A - Car headlight system interlocked with steering - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To have proper lamp illumination in the revolving direction and enhance the safety in running by calculating the proper lamp projecting angle by reference to a control map on the basis of a signal given by a steering angle sensor, and driving a projecting angle changing means in accordance with this projecting angle. CONSTITUTION:A power supply circuit 21, a CPU 22, and a left and a right motor drive controlling part 26, 25 for feeding a control signal to turn the projecting angles of the left and right head lamps, in proper directions are provided in a control part 20, which is fed with a signal from a steering angle sensor 10 to sense the amount and direction of the rotation of steering wheel. The operation part 23 of this CPU 22 calculates the proper lamp projecting angle on the basis of a signal given by the steering angle sensor 10 while referencing to the control map 24, which stores in memory the respective proper lamp projecting angles for the steering wheel rotating angle and the left and right rotational directions. A projecting angle changing means 30 is controlled so that the calculated proper lamp projecting angle is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a steering-linked headlamp system for a vehicle that changes the irradiation angle of the headlamp in response to rotation of a steering wheel.

[Conventional technology] Vehicles run at night using headlights installed at the front of the vehicle. If such headlights are fixedly mounted on the front of the vehicle, when the vehicle changes direction, the driver's direction of view (hereinafter referred to as the "point of gaze") and the direction of the headlight's irradiation will be different. There is a problem in that the deviation occurs, and the illumination of the predicted direction of travel becomes insufficient when turning, especially when making a sharp curve.

As a means to deal with such problems,
No. 7-186546 ``Automobile headlights'' has been proposed. The technology disclosed in this application for "vehicle headlights" allows the headlights to swing from side to side with respect to the vehicle body, and also allows the headlights to swing in the same direction as the front wheels when turning the vehicle. The headlights are made to swing. Therefore, with respect to the direction of the vehicle body, it is possible to irradiate an angle that is more swung in the turning direction, and it is possible to irradiate a direction closer to the driver's gaze point.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, according to the above-mentioned conventional device, the illumination angle of the headlight is always swung in the same direction as the direction of the front wheels. There is no consideration whatsoever as to whether it is worth $8 or $8. However, the position of the steering wheel, that is, the position of the driver, is offset from the center line 100 of the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. Therefore, when turning in the same angle carp 200 and 300, the driver's left viewing angle a and right viewing angle b are:
a>b. Therefore, the illumination angle C of the vehicle headlights has the problem that simply adjusting the illumination angle of the headlights according to the turning angle of the front wheels of the vehicle does not properly illuminate the driver's gaze point. Ta.

In other words, in the case of right-hand drive as shown in Fig. 5,
Even if the curve has the same curvature, when turning to the left, the driver's position is on the outside of the corner, so
The field of view in the left direction is wider, and the field of view in the right direction is narrower. Therefore, there is a problem in that the illumination angle of the headlight must be appropriately adjusted using the right or left steering wheel when the vehicle turns.

Purpose of the Invention The steering-linked headlamp system for a vehicle according to the present invention was created in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to change the illumination angle of the headlamp as appropriate depending on the installation position of the right or left steering wheel. An object of the present invention is to provide a steering-linked lamp system for a vehicle that can adjust the steering angle.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle steering-linked headlight system according to the present invention is a vehicle steering-linked headlight system that changes the illumination angle of a headlight in response to a rotational operation of a steering wheel. The steering-linked headlight system includes a steering angle sensor that detects the rotation angle and direction of the steering wheel and outputs a detection signal, an irradiation angle changing means that mechanically changes the lamp irradiation angle, and a rotation angle of the steering handle. and a control map storing appropriate lamp illumination angles separately for each left or right rotation direction, and a calculation unit that receives a detection signal from the steering angle sensor and calculates an appropriate lamp illumination angle t7rL based on the control map. ,
Said! ! The apparatus is characterized in that it includes a shaving angle changing means control section that controls the ray angle changing means to drive the irradiating angle of the front fish lamp so that it becomes the calculated lamp irradiating angle.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the rotation angle and either the left or right rotation direction of the steering wheel can be determined by the steering angle sensor, and this detection (based on item g)
The irradiation angle changing means adjusts the irradiation angle of the headlamp in accordance with the operation state of the handle which is turned off. Furthermore, the illumination angle of the headlight can be controlled to be in an appropriate direction for each steering wheel installation position (left steering wheel or right steering wheel) of the vehicle based on the information in the control map. That is, in the control map,
An appropriate lamp irradiation angle for handle operation is stored in advance for each handle installation position. and,
Information on the operating angle and operating direction of the steering wheel was obtained from the detection signal from the steering angle sensor; the calculation unit calculates an appropriate ramp angle based on the control map. The irradiation angle changing means control unit sets the headlight at the calculated appropriate lamp irradiation angle (j!a) so as to adjust the irradiation angle.
This is for driving and controlling the angle of incidence changing means.

Therefore, by pre-memorizing the most appropriate lamp irradiation angle when operating the steering wheel in the control map for each left steering wheel or right steering wheel, the calculation unit and the irradiation angle changing means control unit can adjust the installation position of the steering wheel. A suitable lamp irradiation angle can be obtained.

[Examples] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In the embodiments, the headlamp is specifically explained as a headlamp or an auxiliary headlamp.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a vehicle steering-linked headlamp system according to the present invention, and its main components include a steering angle sensor 10 and a headlight that receives a detection signal from the steering angle sensor 10. They are a control unit 20 that adjusts the irradiation direction of the lamp, and an irradiation angle changing means 30 that changes the irradiation angle of the headlamp (not shown) by mechanical operation.

The steering angle sensor 10 detects the amount and direction of rotation of the steering wheel, and supplies a detection signal to the control unit 20.

The configuration of the control unit 20 includes a power supply circuit 21 connected to a battery 32 and applying a predetermined voltage to each component of the control unit 20;
A central processing unit 22 which is the central part of the control unit 20, a calculation unit 23 provided within the central processing unit 22 and receiving a detection signal from the steering angle sensor 10, a control map 24 storing lamp illumination angle change characteristics to be described later; It is comprised of a right motor drive control section 25 and a left motor drive control section 26 that supply a control signal for setting the irradiation angle of the headlamp in an appropriate irradiation direction.

The beam angle changing means 30 for adjusting the beam angle of the headlamp is composed of a beam angle changing means 34 for the right headlamp and a beam angle changing means 35 for the left headlamp. The changing means 34 and 35 include reflector drive motors 34a and 35a and potentiometer 3, respectively.
4b and 35b. The right and left reflector drive motors 34a and 35a are motors that drive the reflectors of the search headlamps 11 and 12 to change the irradiation direction. The right and left potentiometers 34b and 35b detect the position angle of each of the driven reflectors and send detection signals to the calculation section 23.

In this embodiment, the irradiation angles of the auxiliary headlamps 11 and 12, which are used in place of or as supplementary headlamps, are changed, but the present invention is limited to changing the irradiation direction of the auxiliary headlamps. Instead, it is also possible to control to change the illumination angle of the headlamp or the illumination angle of both the headlamp and the auxiliary headlamp.

In addition, in the figure, the auxiliary headlamp relay 13 is controlled by the lighting switch 14 of the auxiliary headlamp 11. A lighting signal indicating that the lighting is on is supplied to the section 23.

Further, the switch 15 is a steering neutral detection switch that outputs a signal when the steering wheel is in the straight-ahead position, and a digital sensor may also be used. The neutral detection switch 15 is unnecessary if the steering angle sensor 10 is a device capable of detecting the absolute position of the steering wheel, such as a resistive analog sensor. Next, the operation of the steering angle sensor 0 used in this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 2 shows a pulse signal outputted by the steering angle sensor 0 according to the rotation of the steering wheel, and the outputted pulse signals are pulse signals SSRI and SSR2 that are shifted by 1/4 period from each other. For example, the 0 pulse signal output when the steering wheel rotates from position X to XR is from SSRI-OFF, SSR2-ON to SSRI-OF
F, SSR2-OFF. Therefore, by detecting this output pulse signal, it can be recognized that the steering wheel has been rotated to the right.

Also, when the steering wheel rotates from the Xo position to the XL position, the output pulse signal changes from SSRI-OFF, SSR2-ON to SSRI-ON.
, SSR2-ON. From this change in the pulse signal, it can be recognized that the steering wheel has been rotated to the left.

Furthermore, since the amount of rotation of the steering wheel can be detected as 1/4 period of the pulse signal as one block as shown in the figure, by setting the position block to angle Y, the rotation amount of the steering wheel can be detected by counting the number of blocks. be able to.

Then, by detecting the steering neutral using the switch 15, the calculation unit 23 can detect the direction and amount of rotation of the steering wheel from the neutral position.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step 1 (Sl), the memory of the skin calculator 23 is initialized after the power is turned on.

Next, in step 2 (S2), the calculation unit 23 reads the steering neutral position signal from the switch 15. Then, in step 3 (S3), the calculation unit 23 similarly determines whether or not the auxiliary headlamps 11 and 12 are lit. Here, if it is not lit, in step 4 (S4), O is manually applied to the angle Bl of each reflector of the auxiliary headlamp.

Then, in step 5 (S5), the signals (C
and CL). Then, in R step 6 (S6), the calculation unit 23 calculates the current reflector angles B6, B, of the auxiliary headlamps 11 and 12, respectively. This calculation is done using the right potentiometer 34.
The calculation is performed based on the signals C and CL read above using the calculation coefficient KR of the right reflector angle, the left potentiometer 35b, and the calculation coefficient KL of the left reflector angle.

R Next, in step 7 (S7), first, the current angle of the reflector of the right side capture headlamp 11 is compared with BR and the angle Bl to which the reflector should be oriented. If the values are different, the right reflector drive motor 34a is driven in step 8 (S8) to set the angle Bl. Further, if the angles BR and BX match, step 9 (S9)
At this point, the right reflector drive motor 34a is stopped. Here, by setting the rightward rotation angle as positive and the leftward rotation angle as negative for Bi and BR, B R > 8 1
If so, the right reflector is pointing too far to the right, so
It is driven to the left by the right reflector drive motor 34a. If B R < 8 1, on the contrary, the drive is made to the right.

Next, in step 10 (SIO), the current angle B of the reflector of the left auxiliary headlamp 12 and the angle Bχ to which it should be oriented are compared, as in 87 above. If the two do not match, step 1 is performed as in S8 above.
1 (Sll), the left reflector drive motor 35a is driven. Then, if Bt, and Bl match,
Similarly to S9 above, the left reflector drive motor 35a is stopped in step 12 (S12).

By the above operations from 84 to Sll, the illumination angle of each auxiliary headlamp 11, 12 is set to Bl-0 while the auxiliary headlamps 1l and 12 are not lit.

Next, the operation when the auxiliary headlamps 11 and 12 are turned on in S3 will be described.

First, in step 13 (S13), the calculation unit 23 reads the output signal of the steering angle sensor 10.

Then, in step 14 (S14), the calculation unit 23
Based on the signal from the steering angle sensor 10 and the signal from the switch 15, the current steering position A of the steering wheel is calculated.

Then, in step 15 (S15), the calculation unit 23 calculates an appropriate reflector angle B based on the stored information of the control map 24.
Calculate l.

A characteristic diagram of the steering wheel rotation angle and the lamp 1 reflection angle stored in the control map 24 is shown in FIG. In other words, in this embodiment, it is assumed that a right-hand drive vehicle drives on the road on the left side, and even if the steering wheel turning angle is the same, the lamp illumination I.
It is shown that one corner is significantly changed. this is,
As explained in [Problems to be Solved by the Invention], in the case of a right-hand drive, the field of view in the turning direction is wider when turning left than when turning right. When the lamp is turned off, the lamp irradiation angle is angled more to the left.

Based on this characteristic diagram, the current steering position angle A
The lamp irradiation angle Br(A) corresponding to (when the steering wheel is turned to the left) can be calculated.

The characteristic diagram stored in this control map 24 can be changed in various ways depending on the position of the steering wheel of the vehicle, and it is also possible to change this characteristic depending on whether the vehicle is driving on the right or left side.

Once the angle Bx(A) at which the reflectors of the auxiliary headlamps 11 and 12 should face is calculated, the same operations as S5 to Sl2 are performed, and the left and right reflector drive motors 34a and 35
By driving a, the illumination angles of the auxiliary headlamps 11 and 12 are adjusted to appropriate angles.

As described above, according to this embodiment, in a vehicle with a right-hand steering wheel, the illumination angle of the headlamp can be adjusted appropriately when the steering wheel is turned to the left or right, and the direction of the gaze point ( It is possible to provide good illumination in the direction in which the vehicle is traveling.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the steering-linked headlight system for a vehicle according to the present invention, an appropriate lamp irradiation angle can be set separately for each left and right steering wheel turning operation, and Based on this, the headlights can be irradiated in the appropriate direction in response to the actual steering wheel operation. This makes it possible to provide better lamp illumination in the turning direction when the vehicle turns at night, regardless of the difference in the viewing range between the right-hand drive and the left-hand drive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of the embodiment, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the steering angle sensor of the embodiment, Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment, and Fig. 4 is an implementation example. FIG. 5 is a graph diagram showing the stored contents of the control map in the example. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the forward field of view based on the steering wheel position of the vehicle. 10... Steering angle sensor 20...
Control unit 23... Calculation unit 24... Control map 25,26... Motor drive control unit 30...
Irradiation angle changing means

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a vehicle steering-linked headlight system that changes the illumination angle of the headlights in response to the rotation of the steering wheel, a steering angle sensor detects the rotation angle and direction of the steering wheel and outputs a detection signal. irradiation angle changing means for mechanically changing the lamp irradiation angle; a control map storing appropriate lamp irradiation angles separately for each rotation angle and left or right rotation direction of the steering handle; and the steering angle sensor. a calculation unit that receives a detection signal from the headlamp and calculates an appropriate lamp illumination angle based on the control map; and the illumination angle changing means drives and controls the illumination angle of the headlamp so that it becomes the calculated lamp illumination angle. What is claimed is: 1. A steering-linked headlamp system for a vehicle, comprising: a beam angle changing means control unit;