JPH06162804A - Headlight device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a head lamp to automatically illuminate an optimum position viewed by a driver by detecting the grade of a road and adjusting the headlight to be in an illumination direction or range corresponding to the grade. CONSTITUTION:A night vision camera including a night detecting optical system is arranged near the visible point of a driver to detect an image in an area, not illuminated by a head lamp. The image is processed to read a horizontal position and detect the grade of a road where a vehicle runs. On the other hand, a speed is read out through a speed meter. Preferably, an inclination to predetermined reference attitude in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is also detected. The detected values of the grade, speed and inclination are input to a control unit 50 and an actuater 46 is actuated to change the light axis L of the head lamp 18 with the front end pivotally supported by a column 44. In this way, the illumination direction of the headlight 18 is optimized corresponding to the grade.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight device for controlling the light distribution of a headlamp which illuminates the front of the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, in accordance with the gradient of the traveling path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a headlamp is arranged in a vehicle in order to improve the front visibility of the driver at night. Generally, the headlamp is arranged at a substantially tip end of the vehicle and irradiates a predetermined relatively wide range.

However, since the headlamp is fixed, the irradiation direction and the irradiation range of the front of the vehicle by the headlamp are constant, and it may not be possible to illuminate a portion necessary for the driver's visual observation to be bright. .

In order to solve this, a headlamp has been proposed in which the irradiation optical axis of the headlamp is changed according to the steering angle to irradiate a portion according to the traveling direction (Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-22299). . Further, the degree of the traveling direction of the vehicle is detected by a steering angle such as a steering angle,
There has also been proposed a headlight device that expands or contracts the area of the light emitted from the headlamp based on this detection value to change the irradiation area of the headlamp (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-27938).

[0005]

However, a vehicle running path such as a road has a non-uniform road surface shape, and the vehicle running path is not limited to a continuous plane, and most of them have a slope.

As described above, the headlamp that changes the irradiation optical axis and the irradiation area of the headlamp according to the steering angle is effective for changing the light distribution in the left and right direction in front of the vehicle.
As the shape of the road is considered to be light distribution on the assumption that the road is flat, it is possible to irradiate the vicinity where the driver sees when the shape of the vehicle running road changes, such as when the road runs from a flat land to a sloped road. Can not.

Therefore, there may be a portion where the light of the headlamp is not irradiated on a traveling road having a slope, and the headlamp is set at an optimum position so as to provide information suitable for visual inspection for prompting the driver to make an accurate judgment. Sometimes it was not possible to irradiate.

In view of the above facts, the present invention has an object of providing a vehicle headlight device capable of irradiating an optimum position viewed by a driver.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 has a headlamp capable of changing at least one of an irradiation direction and an irradiation range, and a slope of a traveling path on which a vehicle travels. And a control unit for controlling at least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range of the headlamp to be at least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range corresponding to the gradient based on the gradient. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle headlamp apparatus according to the first aspect, the vehicle headlight device further comprises tilt detecting means for detecting a tilt of the vehicle in a vehicle front-rear direction from a predetermined reference attitude. The control means controls, based on the inclination and the gradient, at least one of an irradiation direction and an irradiation range of the headlamp to be at least one of an irradiation direction and an irradiation range corresponding to the inclination and the gradient. .

[0011]

The vehicle headlamp device according to the invention described in claim 1 is provided with the detecting means for detecting the gradient of the road on which the vehicle travels. The gradient of the traveling road can be detected by the displacement of the horizon in the image of the front of the vehicle or the road-vehicle communication. This vehicle has a headlamp, and at least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range of the headlamp can be changed. According to the gradient detected by the detecting means, the control means controls such that at least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range of the headlamp is at least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range corresponding to the gradient. If the road is downhill, change the irradiation direction of the headlamp to the downward direction, or move the shade that specifies the irradiation range of the headlamp to lower the irradiation range. Or On the other hand, when the road is an uphill road, the irradiation range of the headlamp, which is the irradiation direction, is changed so that it is directed upward, or the shade that specifies the irradiation range of the headlamp is moved to move the irradiation range upward. And so on. Therefore, even if the traveling road has a slope, light from the headlamps is applied to the traveling road in accordance with the slope.

The posture of the vehicle may change depending on the seating position of the vehicle occupant and the weight of the loaded cargo. Due to this change in posture, that is, the inclination in the front and rear of the vehicle, the irradiation direction and the irradiation range of the headlamp change, and the light from the headlamp is not properly irradiated in the irradiation direction and the irradiation range as they are.

In view of this, the vehicle headlamp device according to a second aspect of the present invention includes tilt detecting means for detecting a tilt of the vehicle in the vehicle front-rear direction from a predetermined reference posture. The control means according to the detected vehicle front-rear direction inclination,
At least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range is controlled so that the irradiation direction and the irradiation range correspond to the inclination and the gradient. Therefore, even when the vehicle travels on a traveling road having a slope when the seating position of the occupant or the weight of the loaded cargo causes a tilt in the vehicle front-rear direction, the irradiation direction and the irradiation range of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range are changed according to the inclination and the slope. At least one is controlled,
Light from a headlamp according to the inclination and the gradient is applied to the traveling path.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments to which the vehicle headlight device of the present invention is applied will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The vehicle headlight device according to the first embodiment is an application of the present invention when a gradient in front of the vehicle 10 is obtained from an image captured by a camera. As shown in FIG. 1, the front body 1 of the vehicle 10
An engine hood 12 is arranged on the upper surface of 0A, and front bumpers 16 are fixed to both front and rear ends of the front body 10A in the vehicle width direction. At the upper part of the front bumper 16 and the lower part of the front body 10A, a pair of left and right headlamps 1 (both ends in the vehicle width direction) are provided.
8 and 20 are provided.

A windshield glass 14 is provided near the rear end of the engine hood 12. A room mirror 15 is provided above the windshield glass 14 and inside the vehicle 10, and a night vision camera 22 including a night detection optical system for taking an image of the front of the vehicle is arranged near the room mirror 15. Has been done. The night vision camera 22 is connected to the image processing device 48 (FIG. 5). The location of the night vision camera 22 should be close to the driver's visual position (so-called eye point) so that the road shape in front of the vehicle can be accurately recognized and the driver's visual sensation can be more closely matched. Is preferred.

A speedometer (not shown) is arranged in the vehicle 10. A vehicle speed sensor 66 (FIG. 5) for detecting the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10 is attached to a cable (not shown) of the speedometer (not shown). There is.

As shown in FIG. 2, the headlamp 18
Is a projector-type headlamp with a convex lens 3
0, a bulb 32, and a lamp house 34. A convex lens 30 is fixed to one opening of the lamp house 34, and a socket 36 is provided in the other opening so that a light emitting point is located on the optical axis L of the convex lens 30 (the central axis of the convex lens 30). The valve 32 is fixed.

The bulb side of the lamp house 34 is a reflector 38 having an elliptical reflection surface, and the light reflected by the bulb 38 by the reflector 38 is convex lens 30 and bulb 32.
It is supposed to be condensed between. The shade 40 (see FIG. 3) is fixed so that the upper end of the shade 40 is located near the converging point. The shape of the shade 40 is predetermined in order to improve visibility of pedestrians and signs of the driver and to prevent glare of oncoming vehicles, and the light of the bulb 32 reflected and condensed by the reflector 38 passes through the shade 40. The light is divided into the light and the light that is shielded and emitted from the convex lens 30.

The upper front portion 3 of the lamp house 34
A bearing 42 is fixed to 4A. This bearing 42
Are rotatably supported by columns 44. The column 44 is horizontally fixed to a frame (not shown) of the vehicle 10. Further, a cylindrical tip end of a mover 46A of the actuator 46 is attached to the lower rear portion 34B of the lamp house 34. The actuator 46 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the vehicle 10, and is composed of a worm gear having a motor 46D and a mover 46A as a worm. That is, the rear end of the mover 46A is carved so as to function as a worm and meshes with the worm wheel 46B. The mover 46A is linearly movable by a sliding mechanism (not shown), and the worm wheel 46A
The rotating shaft of B is fixed to the shaft 46C of the motor 46D, and the rotation of the motor 46D is converted into the linear drive of the mover 46A. Therefore, by the rotation of the motor 46D according to the signal from the control device 50, the mover 46A expands and contracts in the vertical direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 2). When the mover 46A contracts, the headlamp 18 rotates counterclockwise and the optical axis L becomes the optical axis LU,
When the mover 46A extends, the headlamp 18 rotates right and the optical axis L becomes the optical axis LD. In this way, the headlamp 18 rotates about the support column 44 as the movable element 46A expands and contracts, and the optical axis L moves in the vertical direction (UP or DN direction in FIG. 1).
Biased to.

The headlamp 20 has a shade 41 and an actuator 47 (FIG. 5). The configuration of the headlamp 20 is similar to that of the headlamp 18, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the headlamps 18 and 2 are driven during nighttime driving.
A schematic configuration of the night vision camera 22 that detects an image of a portion that is not illuminated with 0 will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 4, the night vision camera 2
2 includes a lens 102, a photocathode 104, a microchannel plate 106, a screen 108, and a two-dimensional CCD sensor 110. Photons (photons) incident on the lens 102 are guided to the photocathode 104 and converted into electrons (electrons). The electrons are amplified by the microchannel plate 106 and reach the screen 108 to form an image. This screen 1
The image on 08 is converted into an image signal by the two-dimensional CCD sensor 110 and output. Therefore, by using this night vision camera 22, the headlamps 18, 20
Thus, it is possible to capture an image of a dark part where light is not emitted.

A night vision camera is formed by using an image intensifier tube that multiplies the intensity of a dark visible image received by X-rays or particle beams and converts it into a bright visible image. Similarly to the above, it is possible to detect an image of a dark part while traveling at night.

As shown in FIG. 5, the controller 50 includes a read only memory (ROM) 52, a random access memory (RAM) 54, a central processing unit (CPU) 56, an input port 58, an output port 60, and these. It is configured to include a bus 62 such as a data bus and a control bus to be connected. The ROM 52 stores a map (Table 1) described later, a control program, and the like.

A vehicle speed sensor 66 and an image processing device 48 are connected to the input port 58. Output port 60
Are connected to the actuators 46 and 47 via the driver 64. The output port 60 is also connected to the image processing device 48.

The image processing device 48 is a device for image-processing an image taken by the night vision camera 22 based on signals input from the night vision camera 22 and the control device 50 as described later.

The above-mentioned road shape includes the shape of the traveling road,
For example, it includes a road shape corresponding to one lane formed by a center line, curbs and the like.

Next, an example of image processing based on the image signal output from the night vision camera 22 in the image processing device 48 will be described. The position of each pixel on the image formed by the image signal can be specified by the coordinates (X _n , Y _n ) of the coordinate system set on the image by the orthogonal X axis and Y axis (see FIG. 7).

FIG. 7 shows a reference image 120 that substantially matches the image viewed by the driver when the flat road 122 on which the vehicle 10 is traveling is photographed by the night vision camera 22. This road 122 has two lanes, and each lane has a center line 124 as a boundary, and a curb 126 is a boundary between the road 122 and the other roads.

In the image 120, the driver 1
Eye gaze when looking forward in parallel to the driving direction of 0
The point D (X _D , Y _D ) at the position corresponding to (see FIG. 6) is predetermined. The point D (X _D , Y _D ) is used as a reference point of the image 120 captured by the night vision camera 22, and lines passing through the points D and orthogonal to each other are a horizontal line Hor and a vertical line Ver. The vertical position of the pixel at the uppermost portion of the locus of pixels on the image of the center line 124 and the curb 126 of the image 120, that is, the Y-axis coordinate matches the Y-axis coordinate Y _D of the horizontal line Hor. Therefore, the horizontal line Hor on the image 120 during the stable running of the vehicle 10 on the flat ground coincides with the horizon. This horizontal line Hor can be represented by the coordinate Y _D of the point D on the Y axis.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the road in front of the vehicle 10 has a slope, that is, the road 122 in front of the vehicle 10 traveling on a flat ground is a downhill having a slope of an angle θ from the flat ground. The image 121 at that time (see FIG. 6) is
It becomes a compressed image in the direction of the downhill, and image 12
The first horizon moves downward from the position of the horizon when the flat road 122 is photographed. The vertical position of the pixel at the uppermost portion of the locus of pixels on the image of the center line 124 and curb 126 of this image 121, that is, the line of the Y-axis coordinate Y _m is the horizontal line of the image 121 taken by the night vision camera 22. It becomes Hm. Thus, horizontal line Hm of this image 121 is represented by the coordinate Y _m of the pixels in the uppermost part of the trajectory.

As described above, the image processing device 48 obtains the coordinate Y _m of the horizontal line H _m from the locus of pixels on the image taken by the night vision camera 22.

When there is a slope on the road ahead of the vehicle 10, the driver's gaze position is also displaced. That is,
The driver's gaze position moves up and down according to the road gradient θ. This gradient θ is because it corresponds to the deviation [Delta] H between the coordinate Y _D of the D point coordinate Y _m and the reference horizontal line of the image obtained by the image processing apparatus, the optical axis in accordance with the magnitude of the deviation [Delta] H L By moving up and down, the headlamp can illuminate an area sufficient for the driver to see.

Since the distance from the vehicle 10 to the driver's gaze position changes depending on the vehicle speed V, the angle Lθ formed by the optical axis L for illuminating the vicinity of the gaze position is proportional to the deviation ΔH and the vehicle speed V. Can be expressed by the following equation (1).

Lθ = Ls + f (ΔH, V) --- (1) where Ls: angle of the reference optical axis f (ΔH, V): function that determines the correction angle from the vehicle speed and deviation

In the first embodiment, the relationship defined by the above equation (1) is stored in the ROM 5 as a map as shown in Table 1 below.
I remember in 2. In the present embodiment, in order to simplify the optical axis drive control, the optical axis L is not continuously deflected from the continuous vehicle speed V and the deviation ΔH, but the vehicle speed V and the deviation ΔH are stepped for each predetermined range. Have been set. Also, the deviation Δ
H includes a sign, and a positive sign (+) corresponds to a change from the horizontal line Hor to an upper part, and a negative sign (-) corresponds to a change from the horizontal line Hor to a lower part.

[0036]

[Table 1]

However, P: division range (pitch) of deviation ΔH set in advance K: constant angle obtained from the driver's gaze position Hereinafter, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. First, when the driver turns on a light switch (not shown) of the vehicle to turn on the headlamps 18 and 20, the control main routine shown in FIG. 9 is executed every predetermined time. When this control routine is executed, the routine proceeds to step 202, where after the vehicle speed V is read, at step 204, an image reading signal is output to the image processing device 48 which image-processes the road shape (gradient). When the image reading signal is input, the image processing device 48 obtains the coordinate Y _m of the horizontal line H _m for the image of the captured image as described above. Next step 2
At 06, the coordinates Y _m of the obtained horizontal line H _m of the image are read.

In the next step 208, the reference horizontal line Hor
Deviation of the horizontal line Hm of the image from the coordinate difference (Y _D
-Y _m ) and the process proceeds to step 210. In step 210, the movement amount of the actuators 46 and 47 corresponding to the angle Lθ formed by the optical axis L which is the control amount is calculated with reference to the map (Table 1) described above. Next step 2
12, the actuators 46, 4
7 is moved to deflect the optical axes of the headlamps 18 and 20, and this routine ends.

Next, image processing in the image processing apparatus 48 used in the first embodiment will be further described with reference to FIG. When the image reading signal is input from the control device 50, the image processing device 48 receives the night vision camera 22.
The image (see FIG. 8) of the front image of the vehicle 10 captured by is read (step 220). When the reading of the image is completed, the image is subjected to image processing by edge extraction, integration processing, etc., and an image of only the center line 124 and the curb 126 on the image is extracted (step 222). Next, regarding the extracted pixels of the center line 124 and the curb 126, the uppermost pixel of the trajectory of the center line 124 and the curb 126 is specified by the maximum and minimum of the Y-axis coordinates (step 224) to represent the horizontal line of the image. The coordinate Y _m is output to the controller 50 (step 226).

As described above, in the first embodiment, the image taken by the night vision camera is deflected to the optical axis of the headlamp according to the gradient of the road ahead of the vehicle. It can be illuminated by 10 headlamps.

Further, in the present embodiment, the map stored in advance for deflecting the optical axis is set to the optical axis corresponding to the gradient of the road, so that high-speed control can be realized and the corresponding optical axis can be easily achieved. Can be specified.

Here, the posture displacement of the vehicle 10 may occur depending on the number of occupants of the vehicle 10, the seating position, the load load of the cargo, and the like. In this case, an image similar to the road gradient described above is captured by the night vision camera.

At this time, the deviation ΔH is obtained from the difference between the coordinate Y _m of the horizontal line H _{m of} the image obtained as described above and the coordinate Y _D of the reference horizontal line Hor, and the actuators 46 and 47 are operated according to the difference ΔH. By moving
The optical axes of the headlamps 18 and 20 are changed according to the displacement of the horizontal line Hm of the captured image. As described above, in the first embodiment, even when the attitude displacement of the vehicle 10 occurs, the attitude displacement is deflected to the corrected optical axis of the headlamp.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, instead of obtaining the road gradient from the image in front of the vehicle 10 in the first embodiment, the gradient is obtained from road information obtained from a transmission device (not shown) arranged along the road. The present invention is applied to road-to-vehicle communication. Since the configuration of the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, detailed description of the same parts will be omitted and different parts will be described.

In the second embodiment, the night vision camera 22 and the image processing device 48 are used instead of the receiving device 24 for receiving road information transmitted from a plurality of transmitting devices (not shown) arranged along the road ( (See FIG. 11). Therefore, the road information including the gradient transmitted from the transmitting device (not shown) is input to the control device 50.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. In the control main routine of the second embodiment, step 204 to step 252 and step 2 in the control main routine of the first embodiment (see FIG. 9) are performed.
Step 06 is executed instead of Step 254. Therefore, different points will be described below.

At step 252, the slope θ is read from the road information stored at the time of interrupt processing, which will be described later, and the routine proceeds to step 256. In step 254, the deviation ΔH is obtained based on the read vehicle speed V and the gradient θ. In step 254, the deviation ΔH of the first embodiment is converted by the following equation (2).

ΔH = G · θ −−− (2) where G: a constant (a value determined in advance from the relationship between the deviation ΔH and the gradient θ to use Table 1 above)

Next, when the receiving device 24 receives road information from the transmitting device (not shown), the interrupt processing routine shown in FIG. 13 is executed. In step 262,
Judge whether or not the road information has been received by road-to-vehicle communication,
In the case of negative determination, it is determined to be another similar signal, and this routine is ended. On the other hand, if the determination is affirmative, since the road information includes the gradient θ, the routine proceeds to step 264, the gradient θ is extracted from the read road information and stored in a memory (not shown), and then this routine ends.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the deviation Δ from the gradient θ obtained by road-to-vehicle communication without performing image processing.
Since H can be obtained, there is no need for calculation time for image processing and the like, processing time can be shortened, and image reading is unnecessary, so a simple device configuration with only a receiving device is provided.

In the above embodiment, the lamp house of the headlamp is rotated to deflect the optical axis.
By moving the shade inside the lamp house,
It can be operated in the same manner as when the optical axis is deflected.
That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the control device 50 controls the drive device 45 instead of the actuator. The drive device 45 is disposed inside the lamp house 34 of the headlamp 18 and is connected to the control device 50. The drive device 45 causes the shade 40 to move to the optical axis L of the convex lens 30 in accordance with a control signal output from the control device 50. It is configured to move up and down on a plane orthogonal to each other. Therefore, this shade 4
By moving 0, the irradiation range is changed in the upper and lower parts in front of the vehicle, and the head lamp 18 can be operated in the same manner as when the optical axis is deflected. The same applies to the headlamp 20.

[0052]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, since at least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range of the headlamp corresponding to the gradient of the road on which the vehicle travels is changed, Even if the road has a slope, there is an effect that the driver can irradiate the optimum position that the driver can see.

According to the invention described in claim 2, since the irradiation direction and the irradiation range are changed according to the inclination of the vehicle from the reference attitude, even when the attitude of the vehicle changes due to a load or the like, There is an effect that the driver can irradiate the optimum position visually.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front portion of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention as seen obliquely from the front of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a headlamp to which the present invention is applicable.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a shade (a view seen from an arrow in FIG. 2).

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing the configuration of a night vision camera.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control device.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the vehicle showing the optical axis of the headlamp.

FIG. 7 is an image diagram of an image signal output by a night vision camera.

FIG. 8 is an image diagram of an image signal output by a night vision camera that photographs a road having a gradient.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control main routine of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing routine of the image processing apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control device of a second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a control main routine of the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an interrupt processing routine of the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another example of a headlamp to which the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18 head lamp 20 head lamp 22 night vision camera 40 shade 48 image processing device 50 control device 66 vehicle speed sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hisashi Satonaka 1 Toyota-cho, Toyota-shi, Aichi Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A headlamp capable of changing at least one of an irradiation direction and an irradiation range, a detection means for detecting a gradient of a road on which a vehicle travels, and an irradiation direction and an irradiation range of the headlamp based on the gradient. A vehicle headlight device comprising: a control unit that controls at least one of the irradiation direction and the irradiation range corresponding to the gradient. 2. A tilt detecting means for detecting a tilt of the vehicle in a front-rear direction of the vehicle from a predetermined reference posture,
The control means controls so that at least one of an irradiation direction and an irradiation range of the headlamp is at least one of an irradiation direction and an irradiation range corresponding to the inclination and the gradient, based on the inclination and the gradient. Item 1. The vehicle headlight device according to Item 1.