JPH0574495B2 - - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure a field of view sufficient for retreat of a vehicle in front of the vehicle by changing the irradiating direction of a lighting means to half- steering direction in interlocking relation with steering wheel operation in the retreat of vehicle. CONSTITUTION:When a fog switch 6 is turned on, left and right fog lamps 7, 8 are lit. When a vehicle is steered right by a steering wheel under such a condition for example, the contact 1a of a steering sensor 1 is closed when the steering exceeds a predetermined angle. Then, a transistor Q1 in a right lamp drive signal processing circuit 21 is turned on so that the irradiating direction of right lamp 7 is moved right by the operation of a DC motor 32 in a right lamp drive unit 3. On the other hand, a backup switch 10 is closed in the retreat of vehicle and a transistor Q3 in a backup-signal processing circuit 23 is turned on, so that, when the contact 1a is closed, the potential level of an output terminal 242 in a decoder 24 becomes L to operate a left lamp drive signal processing circuit 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a cornering lamp system for a vehicle that changes the irradiation direction of a lighting means in conjunction with steering wheel steering.

[Conventional technology]

Vehicles, especially automobiles, are equipped with headlights on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle as lighting means for illuminating the front at night, but these headlights only illuminate the front of the vehicle in a fixed manner. When the vehicle approaches a curve, the direction in which the vehicle is traveling cannot be sufficiently illuminated. In other words, when cornering around a curve, sufficient illumination is not provided in the direction in which the vehicle is actually traveling, which may pose a danger.

To solve this problem, cornering lamp systems have been proposed in which the direction of the headlights is varied in conjunction with the steering wheel of the vehicle, and the direction of travel is illuminated. .

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in conventional cornering lamp systems, the irradiation direction is variable in the direction of steering in conjunction with the steering wheel steering when moving forward, and therefore, when moving backward When steering the steering wheel, the irradiation direction is varied in the opposite direction to the direction of backward movement, making it impossible to secure a sufficient field of view in the front of the vehicle in the direction of backward movement.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and is designed to vary the irradiation direction of the lighting means in the direction opposite to the steering direction in conjunction with steering of the steering wheel when the vehicle is backing up.

[Effect]

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the vehicle is moving backward, the irradiation direction of the lighting means can be varied in the direction opposite to the steering direction in conjunction with the steering of the steering wheel.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The vehicle cornering lamp system according to the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing one embodiment of this cornering lamp system. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a clock starting from the straight steering position, and a steering sensor that turns on its contacts 1a and 1b based on the steering wheel steering exceeding a predetermined rotation angle position in the counterclockwise direction (right steering and left steering). 2 is this steering sensor 1
A controller that determines the potential level of the output terminals 2c and 2d based on the open/closed state of the contacts 1a and 1b and the back switch 10 which is turned on based on the backward movement of the vehicle; 3 is based on the potential level of the output terminal 2c of the controller 2; A right lamp drive unit 4 drives a fog lamp (not shown) (hereinafter referred to as the right lamp system) installed on the front right side of the vehicle. A left lamp drive unit that drives a fog lamp (not shown) (hereinafter referred to as the left lamp system), 5 is a DC power supply, 6 is a fog switch that is the main switch of this cornering lamp system, and 7 is a lamp in the right lamp system (right lamp). , 8 is the lamp (left lamp) in the left lamp system.

The steering sensor 1 has a front view shown in FIG. 2, and a sectional view taken along the line 2 in FIG.
A first connecting gear 11 that meshes with and rotates the steering shaft 9 that rotates as the steering wheel is steered.
, a second connecting gear 12 that meshes with this connecting gear 11 and rotates, and a third connecting gear 13 that meshes with and rotates this connecting gear 12. The rotation output of the steering shaft 9 is decelerated by the connection gears 11 to 13, and the deceleration rotation output generated in the pinion 13a integrally formed with the connection gear 13 causes
The rack 14 is configured to slide in the left and right directions as shown (FIG. 2). That is, by steering to the right or steering to the left, the steering shaft 9
rotates clockwise or counterclockwise in FIG. 2, and the rotational output of this steering shaft 9 is
The speed is reduced by the connecting gears 11 to 13 of
Due to the deceleration rotation output generated in the pinion 13a,
The rack 14 is configured to slide to the right or left. As the rack 14 slides in the left-right direction, the movable contact 15, which has a substantially U-shape in plan view and is indicated by broken lines in FIG. 4, moves in the left-right direction on the board 16. Conductive patterns 16a, 16b, and 16c are formed on the substrate 16 so as to face the locus of movement of the movable contact 15. The conductor patterns 16b and 16c are arranged adjacent to each other with a gap W in between, and as the movable contact 15 moves to the right, the contact portions 15a and 15b slide into contact with each other, so that the conductor patterns 16a and 1
6b becomes electrically conductive, and this conductive pattern 16
A, 16b and the movable contact 15 facing this conductor pattern constitute the contact 1a in FIG. 1. Further, as the movable contact 15 moves to the left, the contact portions 15a and 15b come into sliding contact, so that the conductor patterns 16a and 16c become electrically connected, and the conductor patterns 16a, 16c and the movable contact facing the conductor pattern 15 constitutes the contact 1b in FIG.
The moving position of the movable contact 15 on the substrate 16 shown in FIG.
Contact portions 15a and 15b of the movable contact 15
The relative position indicates the case where the rotational position of the steering shaft 9 is located at its origin position. In other words, this shows a case where the steering wheel is in the straight-ahead steering position, and by steering the steering wheel more than 45 degrees to the right from the straight-ahead steering position,
The contact portion 15b of the movable contact 15 is the conductor pattern 16
The conductor pattern 16 is moved so that the contact portion 15b of the movable contact 15 begins to come into sliding contact with the conductor pattern 16c by steering the steering wheel beyond 45 degrees to the left starting from the straight steering position.
An adjacent gap W between b and 16c is set.

On the other hand, the controller 2 includes a right lamp drive signal processing circuit 21 composed of a PNP transistor Q1, a diode D1, and resistors R1 and R2.
, PNP transistor Q2, diode D2,
A left lamp drive signal processing circuit 22 composed of resistors R3 and R4 and an NPN transistor Q.
3. Back signal processing 23 composed of capacitor C1 and resistors R5 to R8, and decoder 2
4, resistors R9 and R10, and the potential at the connection point between the transistor Q1, collector and diode D1 in the right lamp drive signal processing circuit 21 is applied to the output terminal 2c, and the potential at the connection point between the transistor Q1 in the right lamp drive signal processing circuit 21 and the transistor in the left lamp drive signal processing circuit 22 is The configuration is such that the potential at the connection point between the collector of Q2 and the diode D2 appears at the output terminal 2d. and,
A power supply voltage via a fog switch 6 is supplied to right and left lamp drive signal processing circuits 21 and 22 and a back signal processing circuit 23 via an input terminal 2e of the controller 2, and a contact point 1a of the steering sensor 1 and 1b,
It is connected to the positive polarity side of the DC power supply 5 via the fog switch 6 via resistors R9 and R10. Further, the back signal processing circuit 23 is supplied with a power supply voltage via the back switch 10 through its input terminal 2f.
The power supply voltage input through this terminal 2f is divided by resistors R6 and R7, and the transistor Q3
The configuration is such that the base voltage of and,
The potential at the connection point between the collector of the transistor Q3 and the resistor R8 is applied to the input terminal 24c of the decoder 24, and the potential at the connection point between the contacts 1a and 1b of the steering sensor 1 and the resistors R9 and R10 via the input terminals 2a and 2b is applied. , are input to input terminals 24a and 24b of the decoder 24. When the “H” level voltage signal is input to the input terminal 24c of the decoder 24,
Based on the potential levels of the input terminals 24a and 24b, if the potential levels of the terminals 24a and 24b are "L" and "H", only the potential level of the output terminal 241 is set to "L", and
When the potential level of the output terminal 4b is "H" or "L", only the potential level of the output terminal 242 is set to "L". In addition, when an "L" level voltage signal is input to the input terminal 24c,
Based on the potential levels of the input terminals 24a and 24b, if the potential levels of the terminals 24a and 24b are "L" and "H", only the potential level of the output terminal 245 is set to "L", and
When the potential level of the output terminal 4b is "H" or "L", only the potential level of the output terminal 246 is set to "L". The output terminals 241, 246 and 242, 245 of the decoder 24 are connected to the bases of the transistors Q1 and Q2 of the right and left lamp drive signal processing circuits 21 and 22 by resistors R2 and R.
Connected via 4. Note that the decoder 24
When the potential levels of the terminals 24a and 24b are both "H" level, the output terminal 2
Needless to say, the potential levels of 41, 242, 245, and 246 are "H" level.

The right lamp drive unit 3 includes a relay coil 31 connected to the output terminal 2c of the controller 2 via its terminal 3a, a DC motor 32, and a lamp drive shaft 33 rotationally driven by the DC motor 32. The movable contact 34 is configured to rotate integrally with the lamp drive shaft 33. This movable contact 34 is connected to the positive polarity side of the DC power supply 5 via the main fog switch 6a, and the contact portions 34a and 34b formed at both ends of the movable contact 34 rotate as the lamp drive shaft 33 rotates. It is adapted to come into sliding contact with arc-shaped conductor patterns 35 and 36 arranged at its lower end. The conductor pattern 35 is connected to the relay coil 31
The common terminal 37c is connected to one end of the DC motor 32. Further, the conductor pattern 36 is connected to a normally open contact terminal 38a of a second normally open/normally closed contact 38 driven by the relay coil 31, and its common terminal 38c is connected to the other end of the DC motor 32. It is connected. Movable contact 34 and conductor pattern 35
The relative positional relationship with relay coil 3 and 36 is as follows:
1, that is, the common terminals 37c and 38 of the normally open and normally closed contacts 37 and 38
When c is connected to the normally closed contact terminals 37b and 38b, the contact portions 34a and 34b are in a non-contact and contact state with the conductor patterns 35 and 36, as shown in the figure. Then, the contact portion 34b, the conductive pattern 36,
The DC motor 32 is rotated clockwise by the current supplied through the path of the normally open/normally closed contact 38, and the lamp drive shaft 33 is rotated clockwise in the figure, and the contact portion 34b of the movable contact 34 is a conductor. Even after being separated from the pattern 36, the contact portion 34a and the conductor pattern 35 maintain their contact state. It goes without saying that the DC motor 32 is rotated counterclockwise by the current supplied through the path of the contact portion 34a, the conductor pattern 35, and the normally open and normally closed contacts 37, thereby rotating the lamp drive shaft 33 to the left. The other end of the relay coil 31, normally open/normally closed contact 3
The normally open contact terminals 37a and the normally closed contact terminals 38b of 7 and 38 are grounded. By rotating the lamp drive shaft 33 clockwise and counterclockwise, the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 in the lamp system installed on the right side of the front of the vehicle changes, and the lamp drive shaft 33 rotates clockwise. As a result, the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 is rotated to the right when viewed from the driver's seat, and by rotation to the left, the irradiation direction is rotated to the left.

Although the structure of the right lamp drive unit 3 has been described above, the structure of the left lamp drive unit 4 is similar, and each part is given a number corresponding to that of the right lamp drive unit 3, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, by clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of the lamp drive shaft 43, the irradiation direction of the left lamp 8 in the lamp system installed on the left side of the front of the vehicle changes, and the lamp drive shaft 43 does not rotate clockwise. As a result, the irradiation direction of the left lamp 8 rotates to the left when viewed from the driver's seat, and by rotating to the left, the irradiation direction of the left lamp 8 rotates to the right. In addition, the lamp drive shaft 3
When the lamps 3 and 43 are positioned as shown in the figure, the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 and the left lamp 8 is set to maintain a state facing the front direction.

Next, the operation of the vehicle cornering lamp system configured as described above will be explained. That is,
It is now assumed that the vehicle is traveling straight ahead with the fog switch 6 turned on. By turning on the fog switch 6, the right and left lamps 7 and 8 immediately start lighting. Further, at this time, the contacts 1a and 1b of the steering sensor 1 are connected to the contact portion 15 of the movable contact 15.
a and 15b are located within the adjacent gap W between the conductor patterns 16b and 16c in FIG. Since it is at the "H" level, the potential level of the output terminals 241, 242, 245, and 246 becomes "H", and since the base potential is high, the transistors Q1 and Q2 maintain the off state. That is, the potential level of the output terminals 2c and 2d in the controller 2 is maintained at the ground potential, and the relay coils 31 and 41 of the right lamp drive unit 3 and the left lamp drive unit 4 are maintained at the ground potential level.
No current flows through the normally open and normally closed contacts 37 and 38.
and 47 and 48 maintain the illustrated state. Therefore, DC motors 32 and 4 from DC power supply 5
Since power is not supplied to the lamps 2 and the lamp drive shafts 33 and 43 do not rotate, the irradiation directions of the right lamp 7 and the left lamp 8 continue to face the front direction and remain stationary.

When the steering wheel is rotated clockwise from this state to start right steering, the rotation of the steering shaft 9 (FIG. 2) to the right accompanying this right steering causes the coupling gear to mesh with and rotate with the steering shaft 9. A decelerated rotational output is generated in the pinion 13a of the group, and the rack 14 slides to the right due to this decelerated rotational output. That is, in FIG. 4, the movable contact 15 moves to the right with respect to the board 16, and when the steering wheel is turned more than 45 degrees to the right from the straight steering position, the contact portion 15b moves to the conductor pattern 16b. They begin to come into contact with each other. That is, by steering the steering wheel more than 45 degrees to the right from the straight-ahead steering position, the first
The contact 1a in the figure is now closed, and the input terminal 24a of the contact 1a is closed by the closing operation of the contact 1a.
Due to the change in the potential level from "H" to "L", the potential level of the output terminal 241 of the decoder 24 becomes "L", and the right lamp drive signal processing circuit 21
The transistor Q1 in the right lamp drive unit 3 is turned on, and the relay coil 31 in the right lamp drive unit 3 is energized. This relay coil 3
1, the common terminals 37c and 38c of the normally open/normally closed contacts 37 and 38 and the normally open contact terminals 37a and 38a are brought into conduction, and the DC motor 32 is connected to the contact portion 34 of the movable contact 34.
b, a drive current begins to flow through the path of the conductor pattern 36, the normally open/normally closed contact 38, and the normally open/normally closed contact 37. This drive current causes the DC motor 32 to rotate clockwise, rotate the lamp drive shaft 33 clockwise, and rotate the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 to the right. Then, as the lamp drive shaft 33 rotates clockwise, the contact portion 34a of the movable contact 34 comes to move in contact with the conductor pattern 35, and the contact portion 34b
At the point when the conductor pattern 36 separates from the conductor pattern 36, the supply of drive current to the DC motor 32 is cut off. That is, at this point, the rotation of the lamp drive shaft 33 is stopped, and the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 is fixed at a predetermined deflection angle position on the steering wheel steering direction side.

When steering to the right starting from the straight ahead steering position described above, the contact point 1 in the steering sensor 1
b is in the open state, and the transistor Q2 in the left lamp drive signal processing circuit 22 continues to maintain the off state, so no energizing current flows through the relay coil 41 in the left lamp drive unit 4, and the DC motor 42 does not rotate. Therefore, the irradiation direction of the left lamp 8 continues to remain facing the front. In other words, when steering to the right by more than 45 degrees from the straight-ahead steering position as a starting point, only the illumination direction of the right lamp moves in conjunction with the steering wheel steering to a predetermined deflection angle position on the steering direction side and is fixed. This variable operation of the irradiation direction ensures visibility when cornering by steering to the right. At this time, since the left lamp 8 illuminates the front direction in a fixed manner, visibility in front of the vehicle is secured, and cornering to the right can be performed more safely.

When steering to the left starting from the straight-ahead steering position, by steering the steering wheel beyond 45 degrees to the left, the contact portion 15b of the movable contact 15 comes into sliding contact with the conductor pattern 16c, and the contact 1b of the steering sensor 1 It becomes closed. That is, due to the change in the potential level of the input terminal 24b from "H" to "L" due to the closing operation of the contact 1b, the potential level of the output terminal 242 of the decoder 24 becomes "L", and the left lamp is driven. The transistor Q2 in the signal processing circuit 22 is turned on, the relay coil 41 in the left lamp drive unit 4 is energized, the lamp drive shaft 43 is driven by the DC motor 42, and the irradiation direction of the left lamp 8 is changed to the left. Rotate to . Then, when the contact portion 44b of the movable contact 44 separates from the conductor pattern 46, the DC motor 42 stops, and the left lamp 8
The irradiation direction is fixed at a predetermined deflection angle position on the steering direction side.

When steering to the left starting from the straight-ahead steering position described above, the contact point 1 in the steering sensor 1
a is in the open state, and the transistor Q1 in the right lamp drive signal processing circuit 21 continues to maintain the off state, so no energizing current flows through the relay coil 31 in the right lamp drive unit 3, and the DC motor 32 does not rotate. Therefore, the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 continues to remain facing the front. That is, when left steering is performed by more than 45 degrees to the left from the straight-ahead steering position, only the illumination direction of the left lamp 8 moves in conjunction with the steering wheel steering to a predetermined deflection angle position on the steering direction side and is fixed. This variable operation of the irradiation direction ensures visibility when cornering by left steering. At this time, since the right lamp 7 illuminates the front direction in a fixed manner, visibility in front of the vehicle is secured, and cornering to the left can be performed more safely.

If the steering wheel steering angle is returned to within the range of 45° to the right or left by turning the steering wheel to the left after turning to the right or turning to the right after turning to the left,
That is, in FIG. 4, the contact portion 15a of the movable contact 15
15b is returned within the range of the adjacent gap W between the conductor patterns 16b and 16c, the contact 1a or 1b of the steering sensor 1 returns from the closed state to the open state, and the transistor Q1 or Q2 turns off. Returning to the state, the DC motor 32
Alternatively, 42 is the contact portion 34a of the movable contact 34, the conductor pattern 35, the normally open/normally closed contact 37, the normally open/normally closed contact 38, or the contact portion 44 of the movable contact 44.
a. It is re-driven along the path of the conductor pattern 45, the normally open/normally closed contact 47, and the normally open/normally closed contact 48, and the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 or the left lamp 8 is returned to facing the front, and then it stops. .

In a cornering lamp system that performs such basic operations, when the vehicle is moving backward, the back switch 10 is activated based on the backward movement.
is closed. That is, when the back switch 10 is closed, the rise in the base potential causes the transistor Q3 in the back signal processing circuit 23 to
is turned on, and the potential set to the terminal 24c of the decoder 24 is inverted from the "H" level to the "L" level. Based on the set potential of the "L" level via this terminal 24c, the decoder 24 sets the potential level of the output terminal 242 to "L" when the contact 1a of the steering sensor 1 is closed, and the contact 1b is closed. If so, the potential level of the output terminal 246 is set to "L". That is, when the contact 1a in the steering sensor 1 is closed by steering to the right while backing up, the transistor Q2 in the left lamp drive signal processing circuit 22 is turned on, and the relay coil in the left lamp drive unit 4 is turned on. 41 becomes energized, and the irradiation direction of the left lamp 8 moves to a predetermined deflection angle position on the left side of the front of the vehicle and is fixed. Further, when the contact 1b in the steering sensor 1 is closed by steering to the left while moving backward, the transistor Q1 in the right lamp drive signal processing circuit 21 is turned on, and the relay coil in the right lamp drive unit 3 is turned on. 31 becomes energized, and the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 moves to a predetermined deflection angle position on the right side of the front of the vehicle and becomes fixed. In other words, when backing up while steering the steering wheel, the illumination direction of the lamp on the side opposite to the steering direction moves to a predetermined deflection angle position on the side opposite to the steering direction and is fixed. Sufficient visibility in the direction of backward movement in front of the vehicle is ensured when reversing.

Note that the rotational movement of the right lamp 7 and left lamp 8 in the irradiation direction by the lamp drive shafts 33 and 43 may be performed by moving the entire system of the right lamp 7 and left lamp 8, but in this embodiment, the rotational movement in the irradiation direction of the right lamp 7 and the left lamp 8 is A movable lamp system using sub-reflectors is used to ensure sufficient visibility. That is, FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing an example of this sub-reflector movable lamp system, in which 61 is a main reflector;
62 is a sub-reflector. Sub reflector 6
2 is configured to be swung left and right on the back side of the lamp 7 via a link 64 driven by the lamp drive shaft 33 shown in FIG. When the automobile is traveling straight, the directions of light reflected by the main reflector 61 and the sub-reflector 62 are in the same direction (front direction). If, for example, left steering is performed during a backward movement in such a state, the lamp drive shaft 33
rotates clockwise, and only the sub-reflector 62 swings to the right at a predetermined swing angle position and stops (stops at the position shown in the broken line in FIG. 6). That is, while the light reflected from the main reflector 61 continues to illuminate the front, the light reflected from the sub-reflector 62 illuminates in the direction of a predetermined deflection angle, and the total diffusion angle widens, resulting in a backward movement direction. This ensures visibility in both directions and toward the front of the vehicle. By employing such a sub-reflector movable lamp system for the left lamp as well, the cornering lamp system of this embodiment can achieve a practically sufficient operation.

In this embodiment, the illumination direction of the fog lamp is moved to a predetermined deflection angle position and fixed in conjunction with the steering wheel steering, but the illumination direction can be continuously varied in conjunction with the steering wheel steering. The present invention can also be applied to a stepless cornering lamp system such as this, a step drive type cornering lamp system in which the direction of illumination is varied stepwise in conjunction with steering wheel steering, and the like. Further, in this embodiment, the fog lights are configured to be movable in conjunction with steering wheel steering, but it goes without saying that a configuration in which the head lamps are movable may also be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the cornering lamp system for a vehicle according to the present invention, the irradiation direction of the lighting means is changed in conjunction with the steering wheel steering when the vehicle is reversing, so that the direction of illumination of the lighting means can be varied in the direction opposite to the steering direction. When the vehicle is moving backward while moving backward, the direction of illumination of the lighting means is varied, and the field of view is expanded in the direction opposite to the steering direction, ensuring a sufficient field of view in the direction of backward movement in front of the vehicle.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle cornering lamp system according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view of a steering sensor used in this cornering lamp system, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken along the line - in Fig. 2. 4 is a plan view showing the moving position of the movable contact provided in this steering sensor facing the conductor pattern on the substrate surface, and FIG.
The figure is an external perspective view showing a sub-reflector movable lamp system (fog lamp) driven using this cornering lamp system, and FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of this fog lamp. 1...Steering sensor, 1a, 1b...Contact, 2...Controller, 3...Right lamp drive unit, 4...Left lamp drive unit, 6...Fog switch, 7...Right lamp, 8...Left lamp , 10... Back switch, 21... Right lamp drive signal processing circuit, 22... Left lamp drive signal processing circuit, 23... Back signal processing circuit, 24...
Decoder, 33, 43...Lamp drive shaft, 32,
42...DC motor, 62...Sub-reflector.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a cornering lamp system for a vehicle that changes the irradiation direction of the lighting means in conjunction with steering wheel steering, the irradiation direction variable variable irradiation direction changes the irradiation direction of the lighting means in a direction opposite to the steering direction in conjunction with steering wheel steering when the vehicle is backing up. A vehicle cornering lamp system comprising: