JPH0419246A - High mount stop lamp control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent blinding to a rear vehicle by stepping into a brake pedal in the specific travel state so as to lower the luminance of high mount stop lamp. CONSTITUTION:A travel state detecting means 10 obtains the vehicle speed value on the basis of a brake switch 11 turned on at the stepping-in time of a brake pedal and a vehicle speed pulse signal from a vehicle speed sensor 12. The travel state detecting means 10 is provided with a vehicle speed detecting circuit 13 for generating a vehicle speed zero signal when the vehicle speed value becomes lower than the reference value approximately equivalent to zero speed, and a light switch 14 turned on when a lamp, used without fail at night among vehicular lamps, such as a small lamp is turned on. Each signal from the travel state detecting means 10 is inputted into a travel state judging circuit 15. When the input of each signal is completed, that is, in the specific travel state where the vehicle speed becomes approximately zero and the small lamp is lighted (at night) at the brake stepping-in time, the travel state judging circuit 15 outputs a luminance lowering command signal to a luminance adjusting circuit 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a control device for a high-mounted stop lamp of a vehicle that assists in lighting a brake lamp.

(Prior technology) A high-mounted stop lamp is installed at the rear of a vehicle so that it is approximately at the eye level of the driver of the vehicle behind, and lights up in conjunction with the depression of the brake pedal, which is extremely high on highways etc. It has been recognized to be effective in preventing rear-end collisions.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such conventional devices, the light always lights up when the brake pedal is depressed, so when a vehicle is approaching from behind, for example, during a temporary stop at night. There was a problem that it dazzled the driver.

Here, if the brightness of the high-mounted stop lamp is lowered in advance, this problem will not occur, but visibility during normal driving will be poor, which is not desirable.

Therefore, the present invention provides a high-roll latch in a specific driving state.
- The objective is to solve the above problems by reducing the brightness of the stop lamp.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a driving state detection means for detecting the driving state of a vehicle, and an output of the detection means, as shown in FIG. The present invention includes specific driving state determining means for determining a specific driving state of the vehicle based on the specific driving state of the vehicle, and brightness adjusting means for reducing the brightness of the high mount stop lamp when the vehicle is in the specific driving state.

(Function) In the present invention, when the brake pedal is depressed when the vehicle is running at night and the vehicle is stopped, the brightness of the high-mounted stop lamp is reduced, thereby preventing the driver of the vehicle behind from being dazzled.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

2 and 3 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of a control device for a high-mounted stop lamp according to the present invention.

First, the configuration will be explained.

In FIG. 2, the driving state detection means 10 determines a vehicle speed value based on a vehicle speed pulse signal from a vehicle speed sensor 12 and a brake switch 11 that is turned on when the brake pedal (as shown) is depressed. A vehicle speed detection circuit 13 that generates a zero vehicle speed signal when the vehicle speed value falls below a reference value corresponding to approximately zero vehicle speed, and a light switch that turns on when a lamp, such as a small lamp, that is always used at night among vehicle lamps is turned on. 14, each signal (brake-on signal, zero vehicle speed signal, and small lamp on signal) from the driving state detection means 10 is input to the driving state determination circuit 15 (driving state determination means), and the driving state determination circuit 15 (driving state determination means) 15, when all of the above signals are input, that is, when the brake is depressed, the vehicle speed is almost zero (stopped), and the small lamp is on (at night), the brightness reduction instruction signal is set to Output to the adjustment circuit 16.

The brightness adjustment circuit 16 (brightness adjustment means) reduces the driving voltage of the high mount stop lamp 17 to 50% of the normal voltage when the brightness reduction instruction signal is input, and the brightness of the high mount stop lamp 17 is adjusted when the brake pedal is depressed. It emits light with a brightness that corresponds to the magnitude of the driving voltage from the circuit 16. In addition, BATT in the figure represents the battery voltage.

Next, the operation will be explained according to the operation flow diagram of FIG.

First, when determining whether the brake pedal is depressed (steer,
Step S1), the high mount stop lamp 17 is turned on at 100% drive voltage (step S2), and then it is determined whether the vehicle speed is zero (step S3) and whether the small lamp is turned on (step S4).

If the vehicle speed is zero and the small lamp is on, it is determined that the vehicle is stopped at night. In such a specific driving state, the driving voltage of the high mount stop lamp 17 is lowered by 50% (step 35) to lower the brightness.

Therefore, without dazzling the driver of the vehicle approaching from behind, the high-mounted stop lamp 17 can be turned on at half-light, making it possible to visually recognize the stopped state.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the vehicle is stopped at night, the light emission brightness of the high-mounted 1-stone lamp 170 can be halved, and it is possible to prevent dazzling of the vehicle behind.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various embodiments are possible. For example, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, each signal (brake on signal, zero vehicle speed signal, and small lamp on signal) of the first embodiment is added with "following vehicle approach signal". A brightness reduction instruction signal is output when all these signals are input.

Here, the following vehicle approach signal includes a detection signal from a vehicle rear obstacle detection device such as an ultrasonic sensor, and a so-called automatic dimming in which the reflectance of the interior mirror changes depending on the brightness of the headlights of the rear vehicle. It is conceivable that a reflectance change signal of a mirror device can be used.

According to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the vehicle is stopped at night, the high-mounted stop 7 plumb 17 emits light during period (1) when the vehicle behind is far away. While the brightness is set to 100%, the light emitting brightness can be reduced to 50% during a period (IT) when a rear vehicle approaches, for example.
While ensuring visibility from a distance, it is possible to prevent dazzling when approaching.

Further, it is preferable to slightly delay the timing of reducing the luminance because visibility of the rear vehicle to the vehicle behind it can be ensured.

In each of the above embodiments, the luminance was set to 100% and 50%.
However, it goes without saying that the value is not limited to each stage value.

In particular, in the second embodiment, it is desirable to continuously reduce the brightness as the vehicle behind approaches the vehicle, since this allows the brightness of the high-mounted stop lamp to change smoothly.

(Effects) According to the present invention, the brightness of the high-mounted stop lamp can be reduced in a specific driving state, and dazzling of the vehicle behind can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of a control device for a high-mounted stop lamp according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram thereof, and FIG. is an operation flowchart, and FIG. 4.5 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the control device for a high mount stop lamp according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is its configuration diagram, and FIG. 5 is its timing jig chart. 10... Running state detection means, 15... Running state discrimination circuit (running state discrimination means), 16... Brightness adjustment circuit (brightness adjustment means), 17
...High mount stop lamp.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a driving state detection means for detecting the driving state of the vehicle; a specific driving state determining means for determining a specific driving state of the vehicle based on the output of the detection means; A control device for a high-mounted stop lamp, comprising a brightness adjustment means for reducing brightness.