JPH0360689B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a lighting device that illuminates the space between the headlamps provided on both sides of the front grille of a vehicle in a metallic tone similar to when the headlamps are not lit. .

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, in automobiles, technology has been used to make the front grille between the headlights shine, making it appear as if the headlights are not lit.
As shown in FIG. 12, the front surface of the body 50 located between the head lamps is processed into a mirror surface 51, and a transparent lens 52 made of synthetic resin is covered with a spaced apart step formed on the front surface of the body 50 to simulate a head lamp. The mirror surface 51 reflects external light such as sunlight that has passed through the transparent lens 52, and the backlight effect of the reflected light makes the transparent lens 52 look metallic. It was shining brightly.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with this structure, in the daytime when there is sunlight, the mirror surface 51 formed on the body 50 reflects that light, giving it a metallic glow similar to the headlights, forming a front grille that looks integrated with the headlights. However, when there is no outside light such as at night, the above-mentioned luminous effect is not performed, so the shape of the grille between the headlamps cannot be visually recognized, resulting in a lack of design.

It is also conceivable to install a light source for night illumination in the cavity 53 formed by the body 50 and the transparent lens 52 disposed on the front surface thereof, but in this case, uniform illumination can be achieved over the entire length of the front grille. It is difficult to obtain, and furthermore,
If a plurality of light sources are accommodated to obtain uniform illumination, the cavity 53 serving as the lamp chamber becomes large, which causes an increase in cost.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned problems, and allows the front grille near both headlights of a vehicle to shine in a metallic tone even at night, making the width of the vehicle clear and creating a thin body. The object of the present invention is to provide a lighting device that enables uniform brightness in a shallow lamp chamber.

[Means for solving problems]

A lighting device according to the present invention is provided near a headlamp of a vehicle, and has a front panel formed with a step pattern having a lens-like cross-section and a display section on the back surface, made of a translucent material such as acrylic resin. An inner lens having a diagonally upward serrated step reflection structure formed on the front surface and a light condensing or light scattering structure such as a fisheye prism formed on the rear surface is installed at an appropriate distance behind the inner lens. , a light guide plate formed of a translucent material such as acrylic resin and having a reflective surface formed on the back side is arranged in parallel, and a light emitting part of a light source such as a bulb is formed in a part of the thickness of the light guide plate. We are taking measures.

[Effect]

According to the configuration of the lighting device described above, light from the front is reflected by the step reflection structure of the inner lens provided at the rear of the front panel, so when there is external light such as sunlight, the light from the front panel is reflected. The light that has entered the interior is reflected by a metal film such as aluminum deposited on the step reflection structure, causing the front panel to shine from inside. At this time, the reflected light is reflected by the metal surface,
Because it produces metallic light, the front panel exhibits the same bright color as when the headlamp is not lit.

In addition, when there is no outside light such as at night, the light source is turned on and used, and the luminous flux generated from the light emitting part when the light source is turned on travels straight through the thickness of the light guide plate, and Due to repeated internal reflections, the light propagates to the end, and is diffusely reflected toward the front side by the reflective surface formed on the back surface of the light guide plate. The light directed toward the front surface due to the diffused reflection passes through the uncovered surface of the step reflection structure of the inner lens located in front of the inner lens, and is reflected by the reflection surface of the adjacent step before being irradiated onto the front panel. This illuminates the front panel. At this time, the luminous color is determined by the fact that the light from the light source emitted from the light guide plate is reflected by the metal coating of the inner lens.
Produces a metallic light. The front panel exhibits the same bright color as when the headlamps are not lit, and has a structure in which the headlamps are connected by a light band.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the lighting device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 designates a front grill portion of an automobile provided with a lighting device according to the present invention, and a lighting device 3 is provided between headlamps 2, which are formed at both ends of the front grille 1.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a support frame of the illumination device 3 made of a non-transparent material, which has a structure that blocks light from the two directions of the head lamp and from the rear, and has a fitting groove 5 provided around the front outer periphery of the support frame 4. The front panel 6 is made of transparent synthetic resin such as acrylic resin.
A fitting edge 7 formed on the circumference of the frame 4 is fitted, and a convex portion 8 formed at the end of the fitting edge 7 is engaged with a locking hole 9 formed on the support frame 4 side to be integrated and fixed. do.
This front panel 6 has a printing layer 12 formed by screen printing or the like on a convex surface 11 formed in correspondence with the display section 10 to form a desired display section 10 such as the car name on the front side at the center of the back surface. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 5, a step pattern 14 is formed by flutes 13, 13 consisting of a large number of concave grooves formed in the vertical or horizontal direction similar to the lens shape of the headlamp 2. Note that this step pattern 14 is particularly suitable for portions A and B shown in FIG.
For areas that receive high-intensity illumination in the vicinity of the light source L, the concave flutes 13, 13 are formed with a small pitch width and a high density to enhance the diffusion effect of the light. By increasing the brightness, the brightness is lowered to obtain an overall uniform illumination effect and to prevent glare on the surface side. Further, a light guide plate 15 molded from transparent synthetic resin such as acrylic resin is fixedly installed on the front surface of the support frame 4, located behind the front panel 6. As shown in the figure, the light guide plate 15 is thicker on the side of the light source housing recess 16 formed within the central plate thickness, and the portions far from this part are gradually made thinner.
A large number of conical concave stipples 17 are engraved on the back surface to form a reflective surface that reflects light toward the front surface. As the dots 17 move away from the vicinity of the light source accommodating recess 16 of the light guide plate 15, their formation density is gradually increased from sparse to dense in order to equalize the amount of light reflected from the dots 17. Further, the light source L has its light emitting portion located on the light guide plate 15 within the light source housing recess 16.
The mirror is arranged so as to face the entire reflective surface formed by the stipples 17 formed on the back surface of the mirror. Note that the light source L used in this embodiment is a so-called linear light source L such as a xenon lamp composed of a linear filament, so that the light guide plate 15, which is formed wide,
This can be achieved by using two linear light sources L, L arranged in tandem in the width direction, and it is possible to reduce the occurrence of irradiation loss as a light source.

Reference numeral 18 denotes an inner lens arranged in parallel on the front surface of the light guide plate 15 and spaced apart from the front panel 6. As shown in FIG. 7, the inner lens 18 is made of transparent synthetic resin such as acrylic resin. A serrated step structure 19 of approximately 45 degrees inclined upwardly is formed on the surface side, and a metallic reflective material such as aluminum is deposited or sputtered on the sloped surface of each serrated step structure 19. A metal reflective coating 20 is applied by processing to form a step reflective structure 21. Further, a fisheye prism 22 is provided on the entire rear surface of the inner lens 18 in correspondence with the step reflection structure 21 described above. This fisheye prism 22 condenses the light emitted from the light source L, and the inner lens 18
This is to control the occurrence of uneven brightness in the step reflection structure when emitting light to the outside.

Further, between the light source housing recesses 16 and 16, a filter 23 is provided between the inner lens 18 and the light guide plate 15, which is made of a milky white semi-transparent material and has a convex lens-like cross section so as to cover the light source L section. is interposed. This filter 23 is for attenuating the light emitted near the light source L portion and for uniform illumination of the entire lighting device. Note that 24 in the figure is a terminal plate that supports the bulb of the light source L, and also serves as a support stand for the light sources L, L. Also, 25
26 is a bushing for inserting a cord (not shown) for feeding power to the light sources L, L, and 26 is a fixing screw for fixing the terminal plate 24.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the light flux control structure constructed on the rear surface of the inner lens 18. In place of the fisheye prism 22, a semicylindrical prism 27 is provided corresponding to each of the step reflection structures 21. It was constructed by According to this embodiment, the prism 27 condenses the light emitted from the light source L as in the embodiment shown in FIG. Step reflection structure 2
It is possible to control the occurrence of uneven brightness in 1. In addition, if desired, the above prism 2
It is also possible to construct a light scattering structure instead of 2, 27.

The lighting device with the above configuration is used by turning off the light source L when there is outside light S such as sunlight, and turning on the light source L when there is no outside light S such as at night or inside a tunnel. It is.

As shown in FIG. 10, when there is external light S such as sunlight, the light beam enters the front panel 6 from diagonally above, so the light beam that has passed through the front panel 6 is The metal reflective coating 20 of the step reflective structure 21 has the inner lens 18 formed on the sloped surface of the sawtooth step structure 19.
It is reflected forward (reflected light flux S′) by
The front panel 6 becomes illuminated from inside. At this time, the reflected light S'
Because it is reflected by the 0 surface and produces metallic light,
The front panel 6 exhibits the same bright color as when the headlamp 2 is not lit.

In addition, when there is no external light S, when the light source L is turned on, the light source light L generated by the bulb of the light source L is transmitted to the light source accommodation recesses 16 and 1, as shown in the figure.
6 into the thickness of the light guide plate 15, and the reflection surface formed by the stipples 17 of the light guide plate 15 causes diffuse reflection toward the surface side. The light flux L toward the surface side due to this diffused reflection is condensed by prisms 22 and 27 configured on the rear surface of the inner lens 18, and then reaches the front surface side of the sawtooth step structure 1.
A pair of adjacent metal reflective coatings 20, 2 at 9
0 surface, and the metal reflective coating 20
The light beam L' that has passed through the non-covered surface 28 is irradiated onto the front panel 6, and the front panel 6 is illuminated from the back side. At this time, the luminous flux L' of the luminous color is reflected by the surface of the metal reflective coating 20 of the inner lens 18, so that metallic light is generated, and the front panel 6 is connected to the head lamp 2.
It exhibits the same bright color as when it is not lit.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment in which the surface side shape of the step reflection structure 21 composed of serrated step structures 19 is modified, and the tip of each serrated step 19 is cut off vertically. It is. Therefore, the step reflection structure 21 is formed between the slope portion 19a and the vertical surface portion 1 of the sawtooth step structure 19.
When there is external light S such as sunlight in the daytime, it is reflected (reflected light flux S') by the metal reflective coating 20 formed on the slope part 19a, and the light is reflected on the vertical surface part 9b. Reflection (reflected light flux) by the metal reflective coating 20 configured on 19b
S'') to provide a uniform metallic brightness control effect over the entire surface including the front view side.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the lighting device according to the present invention is configured as described above, an inner lens having a step reflection structure is provided behind the front panel to reflect external light forward and to transmit light from the built-in light source. This not only makes it possible to illuminate the front grill near both headlights of the vehicle not only during the day but also at night, and because the light guide plate is used as a light emitting means for uniform illumination, the entire front grill can be illuminated uniformly. It has excellent effects such as being able to provide illumination and making the entire lighting device thinner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view of a front grille showing an embodiment of the lighting device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part showing the structure of the back side of the front panel A section in FIG. 2, FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing the structure of the light guide plate, and FIG. Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part showing the structure of the prism formed on the rear surface of the inner lens, Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part showing the structure of another prism, and Fig. 9 is the front grill of a car showing how the lighting device is installed. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the reflection and projection action of the inner lens. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the reflection and projection action of another embodiment of the inner lens. FIG. 12 is a conventional glowing grill. FIG. 3... Lighting device, 4... Support frame, 6... Front panel, 15... Light guide plate, 17... Reflective surface, 1
8... Inner lens, 19... Serrated step structure, 20... Metal reflective coating, 21... Step reflective structure, 22, 27... Prism, L... Light source, S... Sunlight.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A front panel is installed near the headlights of a vehicle, and has a step pattern with a lens-like cross section and a display section formed on the back surface, and is molded from a translucent material such as acrylic resin. An inner lens is formed with a sawtooth-like step reflection structure facing upward, and a light-concentrating or light-diffusing structure such as a prism is formed on the rear surface of the inner lens, which is appropriately spaced apart from the inner lens. 1. A lighting device characterized in that light guide plates formed by molding and having a reflective surface formed on the back surface are arranged side by side, and a light emitting part of a light source such as a bulb is formed in a part of the thickness of the light guide plate.