JPH05290603A - Headlight device enabling light distribution control - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a headlight device, in which a plurality of light distribution patterns can be obtained from a single light source. CONSTITUTION:The light emitted by a light source 3 is gathered by a reflecting mirror 2, and the light is lead from an incident port 4a of an optical fiber 4 into the optical fiber. After the light is controlled by a light shutter 7 provided in the middle of the optical fiber 4, it is projected from an irradiation port 4b on the fore part of a car body to the front of the car body. The light passing each point of the optical fiber 4 is individually turned ON/OFF by the light shutter 7, while the light is colored when necessary. Various light distribution patterns can be obtained by cutting a part of the optical fiber 4 by the light shutter 7 and by coloring the light. The light distribution pattern is chosen by a light shutter control part on a case by case basis.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a headlight device mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a headlight illuminating a front part of a vehicle body for guiding light from a light source by a light guide member such as an optical fiber. The present invention relates to a headlight device that guides light to the front part to illuminate the front of the vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a headlight used for an automobile or the like is constructed as a lamp unit in which a light source such as a halogen bulb is arranged in a lamp body composed of a reflecting mirror and a lens. In such a headlight, the reflector serves to collect the light emitted from the light source and project it in a predetermined direction. Normally, a parabolic mirror is used as the reflecting mirror. Therefore, the front shape of the headlight is limited to a round shape or a prism shape at most. However, in order to design the front part of the vehicle body, it is required that the shape of the headlight has a large degree of freedom. In addition, it is difficult to completely eliminate upward scattered light in a headlight that distributes light by a reflecting mirror.

Therefore, in order to meet such a demand,
A headlight device has been proposed in which light from a light source is guided to a headlight projection section at the front of a vehicle body by a plurality of optical fibers and projected from the projection section (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-12).
(See Japanese Patent No. 0425). In the headlight device, the light emitted from the light source is collected by a reflecting mirror and introduced into the optical fiber from the base end portions of the bundled optical fibers. The optical fiber bundle is expanded into an appropriate shape at the light emitting portion at the tip, and the light emitted from the light emitting portion is expanded according to the shape. According to such a headlight device, it is sufficient to provide only the headlight projection part formed by the tip of the optical fiber on the front surface of the vehicle body, and the front shape can be set to an arbitrary shape by the arrangement of the optical fibers in the projection part. Therefore, the degree of freedom in designing the front part of the vehicle body can be significantly improved. Further, since the light source can be arranged at an appropriate place in the vehicle body, it becomes easy to take measures against heat. Further, since the light passing through the optical fiber has a small amount of scattering and has high straightness, the irradiation direction can be easily set, and upward scattered light can be eliminated.

[0004]

By the way, a headlight of an automobile has at least a traveling beam having a long-distance irradiation property which is used when traveling at a high speed and a downward beam which is used when passing an oncoming vehicle. Alternatively, it is required to be able to switch to a dimming low beam. However, in the case of a headlight device in which light from the light source is introduced into the optical fiber and the light is projected as it is from the tip of the optical fiber as described above, the light distribution is made only by the arrangement of the optical fibers. As determined, it is not possible to obtain different beams of light distribution by the headlight device.
In order to obtain the traveling beam and the passing beam, it is necessary to provide two sets of such headlight devices and switch between them. Therefore, the number of parts is increased, and layout is restricted. Further, in the conventional headlight device, it is necessary to turn on / off the light source each time when switching between the traveling beam and the passing beam or when turning off for a short time such as waiting for a signal. .. Therefore, the life of the light source is inevitably shortened.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to set a front surface shape arbitrarily, and to set a light distribution pattern without turning on / off a light source. An object of the present invention is to provide a headlight device that can be controlled.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, in the present invention, the light from the light source is guided to the headlight projection part of the front part of the vehicle body by a light guide member such as a plurality of optical fibers. In addition, the light amount and color of light passing through each of the light guide members can be individually adjusted.
That is, the headlamp device according to the present invention is a vehicle headlamp device using a light guide member such as a plurality of optical fibers as described above, and individually adjusts the light guide characteristics of each of the light guide members. It is characterized in that a light guide adjusting means to be obtained and a light distribution control means for switching and controlling the light guide adjusting means into a plurality of patterns are provided.

[0007]

With this structure, the light introduced from the light source to each light guide member is projected from the headlight projection section after the light quantity and color are adjusted by the light guide adjusting means. become. In that case, the light guide adjusting means individually adjusts the light passing through each of the light guide members, so that only some of the light guide members are in the light guide state and the other light guide members are in the light shield state. You can Therefore, by controlling the light guide adjusting means based on the light distribution pattern set in the light distribution control means, the light distribution of the light emitted from the headlight device can be made into a desired pattern. .. If all the light guide members are shielded, the headlight device is turned off even if the light source is on. Therefore, the number of times the light source is turned on and off can be reduced, and the life of the light source can be improved.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a headlight device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the headlight device is mounted on an automobile. As is apparent from FIG. 2, inside the engine room of the automobile 1, reflecting mirrors 2 made of concave mirrors are installed on the left and right sides of the rear part (only one of them is shown in the figure). A light source 3 such as a halogen bulb is detachably attached to the reflecting mirror 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the light source 3 is arranged behind the focal point of the reflecting mirror 2, and the light emitted from the light source 3 is collected by the reflecting mirror 2 at one place. And the entrance 4a of the optical fiber 4 which is a light guide member is arrange | positioned at the condensing part. The optical fiber 4 extends toward the front of the vehicle body, and the irradiation port 4b at the tip thereof is arranged in a headlight emitting section 5 (see FIG. 2) provided at the front portion of the vehicle body. A large number of optical fibers 4 are collected to form a set, and they are tightly bundled on the base end side, that is, on the incident port 4a side. On the other hand, the bundle of the optical fibers 4, 4, ... Is widened on the tip side, and the irradiation ports 4b are dispersed in the light projecting section 5 at substantially uniform intervals. Each of the optical fibers 4, 4, ... Has an irradiation port 4 on the back side of the irradiation port 4b.
Small reflecting mirrors 6 are respectively attached to collect and diffuse the light emitted from b and directing it forward. The headlight emitting section 5 has a rectangular shape in this embodiment. Depending on the arrangement direction of the optical fibers 4, 4, ..., Light emitted from the upper irradiation port 4b is slightly upward, light emitted from the lower irradiation port 4b is downward, and light emitted from both left and right sides is slightly left. Alternatively, it is set to the right.

An optical shutter 7 is provided at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the optical fibers 4, 4, .... The optical shutter 7
Is capable of independently turning on / off the light guide of each of the optical fibers 4, 4, ..., Has a filter function, and colors the light passing through each of the optical fibers 4, 4 ,. Has been made possible. That is, the optical shutter 7
The light guide adjusting means for individually adjusting the light guide characteristics of each of the optical fibers 4, 4 ,. The optical shutter 7 is controlled by an optical shutter control section 8 which is a light distribution control means. The control unit 8 has various sensors 9 such as information generated by a driver's operation of a switch or the like, a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, an oncoming vehicle and a preceding vehicle detection means, an environment detection means, or a current position detection means. Of the plurality of light distribution patterns stored in the storage unit 11 based on various information such as information input from the etc., and information from the external information source 10 such as map information. The optical shutter 7 reads out an optimum pattern according to the situation, the driving state, or the surrounding environment.
Is controlled according to the light distribution pattern.

Next, the operation of the thus constructed headlight device will be described. When the light source 3 is turned on, the light emitted from the light source 3 is collected by the reflecting mirror 2 in one place,
The entrance port 4 of each optical fiber 4 arranged in the condensing part
It is introduced into each optical fiber 4 from a. In that case, a large number of optical fibers 4, 4, ...
Since the respective incident ports 4a of 4 are arranged substantially uniformly, the light is distributed to the respective optical fibers 4, 4, ... Almost evenly. The light from the light source 3 thus introduced into the optical fiber 4 is guided through the optical fiber 4 to the headlight projection unit 5 provided in the front part of the vehicle body. Then, the irradiation ports 4b, 4 of the optical fibers 4 arranged in the light emitting section 5 are arranged.
It is projected from b, ... toward the front of the vehicle body.

In the meantime, the light passing through each of the optical fibers 4, 4, ... Is individually turned on and off by an optical shutter 7 provided in the middle of the optical fiber 4, and colored as necessary. It Therefore, the light projected from the headlight projection unit 5 has a light distribution pattern determined by the optical shutter 7. The light distribution pattern is stored in the storage unit 11, and is selected by the optical shutter control unit 8 according to the road condition and driving condition at that time, or the surrounding environment. For example, when there is no oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle and the surroundings are dark, the optical shutter control unit 8 selects a light distribution pattern in which all the optical fibers 4, 4, ... When such a light distribution pattern is selected, the light from the light source 3 is transmitted to all of the irradiation ports 4b of the optical fiber 4 arranged in the headlight projecting section 5.
Therefore, at that time, as shown in FIG. 3A, light is projected from the light projecting portion 5 over the entire surface. In this way, a traveling beam having a high long-distance irradiation property is obtained. Further, when the surroundings are relatively bright, such as when driving in an urban area, or when there are many oncoming vehicles and vehicles in front, the control unit 8 controls the headlight illumination unit as shown in FIG. 3 (B). A light distribution pattern is selected in which the optical fibers 4 arranged on the upper side of 5 and on the side of the oncoming vehicle (on the right side in the traveling direction, on the left side in the figure) are in a light blocking state. Therefore, at that time, the light projected from the upper portion and the right portion of the light projecting unit 5 is cut. As a result, the light projected from the light emitting unit 5 is directed downward and is dimmed, so that it becomes a passing beam that does not give glare to an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle.
In addition, when passing by an oncoming vehicle while traveling at high speed,
As shown in FIG. 3C, the control unit 8 selects a light distribution pattern that blocks the optical fiber 4 arranged on the right side of the light projecting unit 5. Therefore, at that time, light having a high long-distance irradiation property is projected from the light projecting unit 5 by cutting only a portion toward the oncoming vehicle. On the other hand, when it is not necessary to use the passing beam but there is a risk of giving glare to the preceding vehicle as in the case of traveling on a highway partitioned by the median strip, the control unit 8 is
(D), a light distribution pattern that shields the optical fiber 4 arranged in the central portion of the light emitting section 5 is selected. As a result, the light projecting unit 5 projects light with the central portion cut off, which is likely to be reflected by the mirror of the vehicle in front. In addition, in the case of rain or fog, the control unit 8 outputs a signal for operating the filter function of the optical shutter 7, and colors the light passing through the optical shutter 7 in yellow. Further, when the vehicle is temporarily stopped due to waiting for a signal or the like, the control unit 8 outputs a signal for blocking all the optical fibers 4. Therefore,
At that time, although the light source 3 is turned on,
The irradiation of the light from the headlight emitting section 5 is stopped.

As described above, according to this headlight device, the headlight projecting section 5 has the irradiation ports 4b, 4 of the plurality of optical fibers 4.
b, ..., the optical fiber 4,
The arrangement of 4, ... makes it possible to arbitrarily set the front shape of the light projecting portion 5, and it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in designing the front portion of the vehicle body, which is similar to that described in the above-mentioned publication. Not only the action and effect are obtained, but also a new action that various light distribution patterns can be created by individually adjusting the light guide characteristics of the optical fibers 4, 4, ... The effect can be obtained. As a result, it is possible to obtain lights having different light distributions, such as a traveling beam and a passing beam, with a single light source 3. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and simplify the structure. .. Also, the light source 3 is turned on even when such a light distribution is switched or the headlight is temporarily turned off.
Since it is not necessary to turn it off, the life of the light source 3 can be improved. Moreover, by guiding the light through the optical fiber 4, a beam with less scattering and high straightness can be obtained, so that the irradiation direction can be easily set and the light distribution pattern can be easily set. Further, since the optical shutter 7 for controlling the light distribution can be arranged apart from the light source 3, it is not necessary to take measures against heat for the optical shutter 7.

Further, since a large number of optical fibers 4, 4, ... Which guide the light from the light source 3 are independently controlled, more light distribution patterns are set in addition to the above-mentioned light distribution patterns. can do. For example, the range illuminated by the headlight projection unit 5 is widened from the front of the vehicle body to the left and right directions of the vehicle body, and the light distribution pattern is provided so as to shield the optical fibers 4 that illuminate both the left and right sides of the vehicle during normal traveling. By providing a light distribution pattern that guides the optical fiber 4 in the direction, the headlight device can also have a function as a cornering lamp. Further, if the optical fibers 4, 4, ... Are divided into a plurality of sets and their light distribution patterns are set respectively, it is possible to have a function as a parking lamp or a clearance lamp.

In the above embodiment, as the light guide adjusting means for adjusting the light guide characteristic of each optical fiber 4, the optical shutter 7 for turning on / off the light passing through the optical fiber 4 is used. However, as the light guide adjusting means, a light transmittance varying member such as liquid crystal can be used. If such a light guide adjusting means is used, it is possible to individually adjust the light amount of the light projected from the irradiation port 4b of each optical fiber 4, so that the light distribution pattern can be further varied. .. Furthermore, if the variable light transmittance member is provided with a variable wavelength filter function, it is possible to change the color of the light projected from the headlight projection unit. Further, in the above embodiment, the left and right headlight devices are independently provided, but the left and right optical fiber bundles may be collectively controlled by a single light guide adjusting means. .. By doing so, the light source can be shared between the left and right,
The number of parts can be further reduced. As the light guide member, in addition to the optical fiber as in the above embodiment, an optical waveguide having a larger diameter can be used.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the light from the light source is guided to the headlight projection part of the front part of the vehicle body by the plurality of light guide members and projected from the projection part. Therefore, the front shape of the light emitting portion can be arbitrarily set by the arrangement of the light guide members in the light emitting portion. Therefore, the degree of freedom in designing the front portion of the vehicle body can be significantly improved. Further, since the light source can be arranged at an appropriate position in the vehicle body, the degree of freedom in layout is increased, and measures against heat are facilitated. Furthermore, since the light scattering is reduced by passing through the light guide member,
The irradiation direction can be easily set. Since the light guide characteristics of the plurality of light guide members are individually adjusted, it is possible to variously set the light distribution pattern of the light projected from the headlight projection section. Therefore, not only the traveling beam and the passing beam, but also the front illumination can be performed with an optimal light distribution pattern according to the situation at that time.
Moreover, since those light distributions are obtained by one light source, the number of light sources used can be reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to turn on / off the light source even when the light distribution is switched or the headlight is temporarily turned off, the life of the light source can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a headlight device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the vehicle is equipped with the headlight device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing various light distribution patterns obtained by the headlight device and beams projected at that time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Light Source 4 Optical Fiber (Light Guide Member) 5 Headlight Emitting Section 7 Optical Shutter (Light Guide Adjusting Section) 8 Optical Shutter Control Section (Light Distribution Control Section) 9 Various Sensors 10 External Information Source 11 Storage Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A light source installed in a vehicle body, and a plurality of light guide members for guiding the light from the light source to a headlamp light-emission section at the front of the vehicle body, the light being projected by the light-emission section. In a vehicle headlight device adapted to illuminate the front of the vehicle body;
Light guide adjusting means for individually adjusting the light guide characteristics of each of the light guide members, and light distribution control means for controlling the light guide adjusting means according to a predetermined light distribution pattern are provided. A headlight device that can control light distribution.