JPH06267304A - Head lamp device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the visibility in front of a vehicle without giving the glare to other vehicles. CONSTITUTION:Cam-shaped shielding cams 40A, 42A continuously changed with the distance from a rotary shaft 44 to the outer periphery along the peripheral direction are provided in a head lamp 18. The shielding cams 40A, 42A are driven by motors 40D, 42D and individually rotated. The cut line on the right side in the vehicle width direction within cut lines appearing in front of a vehicle is vertically changed in position as the shielding cam 42A is rotated, and the cut line on the left side in the vehicle width direction is vertically changed in position as the shielding cam 42A is rotated. A control device not shown in the figure detects the position of another vehicle based on the image obtained when the front of the vehicle is picked up and controls the rotation of the shielding cam corresponding to the position of the other vehicle not to give the glare to the other vehicle.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular headlamp device, and more particularly to a vehicular headlamp device for controlling the light distribution of headlamps that illuminate the front of the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle, a pair of headlamps are provided on the right and left sides of the front end of the vehicle. The headlamps are turned on when it is difficult to visually recognize the situation ahead, such as at night, and the driver can see the front of the vehicle. It is designed to improve sex. This headlamp generally has a configuration in which the irradiation range can be switched to only two stages of high beam and low beam, and when another vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle is present, the driver of the other vehicle can be changed. The low beam is often chosen so as not to give dazzling and unpleasant glare. However, for example, when the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle is long, the driver continuously looks at the dark area outside the irradiation range of the headlamp with the low beam, and the glare is given to the preceding vehicle with the high beam. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to always irradiate an appropriate area in front.

For this reason, a light-shielding plate for shielding the irradiation light is provided inside the headlamp, and the light-shielding plate is moved so that a sufficient irradiation range can be obtained without giving glare to other vehicles. The boundary between the area and the unirradiated area (hereinafter,
It has been proposed to control the position of this boundary). Further, as a technique for controlling the position of the cut line so as not to give glare to other vehicles, a situation in front of the vehicle is imaged by a CCD camera or the like, and the preceding vehicle is recognized based on an image signal output from the CCD camera. It has been proposed to detect the inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle and control the light distribution of the headlamps according to the inter-vehicle distance (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-58242).
2-131837).

[0004]

However, the control of the position of the cut line by the light shielding plate is performed for the entire cut line continuous along the vehicle width direction. Therefore, for example, when an oncoming vehicle approaches, the cut line is controlled so as to move to a position that does not give glare to the oncoming vehicle even if there is no preceding vehicle or the distance between the preceding vehicle is large. Therefore, the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is not sufficiently irradiated with light and the irradiation range becomes insufficient,
There was a problem that the visibility of the driver was reduced.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object thereof is to obtain a vehicle headlight device capable of improving visibility in front of a vehicle without giving glare to other vehicles. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a plurality of vehicle headlight devices according to the present invention are provided in a headlamp, and by changing the irradiation range or irradiation direction of each light, a vehicle Changing means for changing the position of the boundary between the portion irradiated with the light from the headlamp and the portion not irradiated with the light from the headlamps in different regions in front of the vehicle along the width direction, and detection means for detecting the position of another vehicle, Control means for controlling the changing means corresponding to the position of the other vehicle so as not to give glare to the other vehicle based on the position of the other vehicle detected by the detecting means.

[0007]

According to the present invention, by changing the irradiation range or the irradiation direction of each light, a portion irradiated with the light from the headlamp and a portion not irradiated with the light from the headlamp in different regions along the vehicle width direction in front of the vehicle. The headlamp is provided with a plurality of changing means for changing the position of the boundary of the. Thereby, when the irradiation range or the irradiation direction of light is changed by any one of the plurality of changing means, in a predetermined area corresponding to the changing means, a portion to be irradiated with light and a portion not to be irradiated with light are changed. The position of the boundary of, that is, the position of the cut line will be changed. Further, the present invention detects the position of the other vehicle, based on the detected position of the other vehicle, so as not to give glare to the other vehicle,
The changing means corresponding to the position of the other vehicle is controlled. In this way, since the changing means corresponding to the position of the other vehicle is controlled, when the other vehicle is detected, only the position of the cut line in the area where the detected other vehicle exists does not give glare. Controlled by.

Therefore, for example, there is no preceding vehicle,
Alternatively, even when an oncoming vehicle approaches in a situation where the inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle is large, only the position of the cut line within a predetermined area where the oncoming vehicle exists is lowered so as not to give glare to the oncoming vehicle, and While preventing glare from being given to the oncoming vehicle, the position of the cut line outside the area, for example, the position of the cut line in the area corresponding to the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, is not lowered, so that the irradiation range is insufficient. It does not occur that the driver's visibility deteriorates. In this way, when the other vehicle is detected, only the position of the cut line corresponding to the position of the other vehicle is controlled so as not to give glare, so that visibility in front of the vehicle can be improved without giving glare to the other vehicle. Can be improved.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, an engine hood 12 is arranged on an upper surface portion of a front body 10A of a vehicle 10, and a front bumper 16 is provided at a front end portion of the front body 10A from once in the vehicle width direction to the other end. Is fixed. This front bumper 16 and engine hood 1
A pair of headlamps 18 and 20 are disposed between the two front edge portions at both ends in the vehicle width direction.

A windshield glass 14 is provided near the rear end portion of the engine hood 12, and the vehicle 10
A room mirror 15 is provided in the vicinity of a portion corresponding to the upper side of the windshield glass 14 inside. A TV camera 22 for picking up an image of the situation in front of the vehicle is arranged near the rear-view mirror 15. TV camera 22
Is connected to the image processing device 48 (see FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, as the TV camera 22, a TV camera that includes a CCD element that simply detects only the amount of light and that outputs an image signal representing a monochrome image is used.

The TV camera 22 is arranged at a position as close as possible to the driver's viewpoint position (so-called eye point) so that the road shape in front of the vehicle can be accurately recognized and the driver's visual sense is matched. It is preferably arranged. Further, the road shape in the present embodiment includes the shape of the traveling road, for example, the road shape corresponding to one lane formed by the center line, the curb, or the like.

Further, a speedometer (not shown) is arranged in the vehicle 10, and a vehicle speed sensor 66 (see FIG. 4) for detecting a vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10 is attached to a cable of the speedometer (not shown). There is. The vehicle speed sensor 66 is connected to the image processing device 48 and outputs the detection result of the vehicle speed V.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the headlamp 18 is a projector-type headlamp and includes a convex lens 30, a bulb 32, and a lamp house 34.
The lamp house 34 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the vehicle 10 substantially horizontally. The convex lens 30 is fixed to one opening of the lamp house 34, and the optical axis L of the convex lens 30 (convex lens 30) is fixed to the other opening. The bulb 32 is fixed via a socket 36 such that the light emitting point is located on the central axis of the bulb.

On the bulb side inside the lamp house 34, an elliptical reflecting surface reflector 38 is formed.
The light emitted from 8 is reflected by the reflector 38 and condensed between the convex lens 30 and the bulb 32. Actuators 40 and 42 are arranged near the condensing point. The actuator 40 includes a light-shielding cam 40A rotatably supported by a rotation shaft 44 fixed in the lamp house 34 along the vehicle width direction, and a gear 40B is fixed to the light-shielding cam 40A. ing. A gear 40C fixed to the drive shaft of the motor 40D meshes with the gear 40B. The motor 40D is the driver 6 of the control device 50.
4 is connected.

Similarly to the actuator 40, the actuator 42 has a light-shielding cam 42A rotatably supported by the rotary shaft 44, a gear 40B fixed to the light-shielding cam 40A, a motor 42D, and a motor 42D. The gear 40C is fixed to the drive shaft and meshes with the gear 40B. The motor 40D is also connected to the driver 64 of the control device 50. The light of the bulb 32 reflected and condensed by the reflector 38 is reflected by the light-shielding cam 4 of the actuators 40 and 42.
The light is blocked by 0A and 42A, and the other light is emitted from the convex lens 30.

The shading cams 40A and 42A are provided on the rotary shaft 4
4 has a cam shape in which the distance from the outer circumference to the outer circumference continuously changes along the circumferential direction, and the motors 40D and 42D are driven in response to a signal from the control device 50 so as to be separately rotated. It With the rotation of the light shielding cams 40A and 42A, the position of the boundary where the light of the bulb 32 is divided into the passing light and the light that has been shielded changes vertically. This boundary appears as a cut line which is a boundary between light and dark in the light distribution in front of the vehicle 10.

As shown in FIG. 7, the boundary formed by the shading cam 40A appears as a cut line 70 on the right side in the vehicle width direction in the irradiation area of the headlamp 18, and the shading cam 40A is rotated. The position of the cut line 70 is from the position corresponding to the uppermost position (the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 7 as the solid line, the position below the so-called high beam) to the position corresponding to the lowermost position (the position shown by the phantom line in FIG. 7, It moves in parallel to the so-called low beam position.

Further, the boundary formed by the light shielding cam 42A appears as a cut line 72 on the left side in the vehicle width direction in the irradiation area, and the position of the cut line 72 is at the uppermost position by rotating the light shielding cam 42A. 7 (a position indicated by a solid line as a cut line 72 in FIG. 7, a position below a so-called high beam) to a lowest position (a position indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 7, a position equivalent to a so-called low beam) in parallel.

The headlamp 20 is the headlamp 1.
Since the configuration is the same as that of 8, the detailed description is omitted,
As shown in FIG. 4, actuators 41 and 43 are attached, and the positions of the cut line on the left side and the position of the cut line on the right side of the irradiation area are moved separately in accordance with the operation of the actuators 41 and 43.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 50 has 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 components. It is configured to include a bus 62 such as a data bus and a control bus. The ROM 52 stores a map and a control program described later.

A vehicle speed sensor 66 and an image processing device 48 are connected to the input port 58. This image processing device 4
Reference numeral 8 denotes a TV camera 22 and a control device 50 as described later.
The image captured by the TV camera 22 is image-processed based on the signal input from the. The output port 60 is connected to the actuators 40 and 42 of the headlamp 18 and the actuator 4 of the headlamp 20 via the driver 64.
1 and 43 are connected. Also, the output port 60 is
It is also connected to the image processing device 48.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. Driver is vehicle 1
When the light switch 0 (not shown) is turned on and the headlamps 18 and 20 are turned on, the control main routine shown in FIG. 5 is executed every predetermined time. In step 200 of this control main routine, another vehicle recognition processing is executed to recognize the preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the subject vehicle and the oncoming vehicle traveling in the opposite lane. The other vehicle recognition process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 8A, the vehicle 10 is driving the road 122.
The image was taken by the TV camera 22 while traveling,
An image that roughly matches the image seen by the driver.
An example of the image (image 120) is shown. This road 122
Has white lines 124 on both sides of the lane in which the vehicle 10 travels.
ing. Note that each pixel on the above image is
Is determined by the X-axis and the Y-axis that are set to
Coordinates of the coordinate system (X_n, Y _n) Identifies the location
It In the following, recognition of other vehicles based on this image
Done.

In step 400, an area having a predetermined width γ on the image is set as the white line detection window area W _sd as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, considering that only an image of approximately 40 to 50 m in front of the vehicle 10 can be detected when the vehicle 10 is traveling at night, 60 m in front of the vehicle 10 is considered.
The white line above the line is not detected. Further, the probability that another vehicle exists in the lower area in the image is low. For this reason,
The white line detection window region W _sd is set so that the region above the predetermined horizontal line 140 and the region below the lower limit line 130 are removed so that the white line detection window region W _sd can be detected up to 60 m in front of the vehicle 10.

In the next step 402, the window area W _sd
The inside is differentiated with respect to the brightness, and the peak point (maximum point) of this differential value is extracted as the edge point which is the white line candidate point. That is, in the vertical direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 9) in the window region W _sd , the brightness from the pixel at the lowermost position to the pixel at the uppermost position is differentiated with respect to each pixel in the horizontal direction, and a large variation in brightness is differentiated. The peak point of the value is extracted as the edge point. As a result, continuous edge points are extracted as shown by the broken line 132 in the window area W _sd in FIG.

In step 404, linear approximation processing is performed.
In this processing, the edge points extracted by the white line candidate point extraction processing are linearly approximated using Hough transform, and approximate straight lines 142 and 144 along the line estimated to be the white line are obtained. At the next step 405, the intersection point P _N (X
The coordinate value = X _N ) is obtained, and the horizontal displacement amount A (A) between the obtained intersection point P _N and the intersection point P ₀ (X coordinate value = X ₀ ) of the approximate straight line in the case of a predetermined straight line as a reference. = X _N −X ₀ ). The displacement amount A corresponds to the degree of the curve of the road 122.

In the next step 406, the displacement amount A is A ₂
Road 1 by determining whether the ≧ A range of ≧ A ₁
It is determined whether 22 is a substantially straight road. This judgment reference value A ₁
Is a reference value representing the boundary between a straight road and a right curve road,
The judgment reference value A ₂ is a reference value representing the boundary between the straight road and the left curved road. If it is determined in step 406 that the vehicle is a straight road, the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle 10 is read in step 408.

In the next step 410, the correction widths α _L and α _R for correcting the position of the approximate straight line are determined in setting the vehicle recognition area W _P for recognizing the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle according to the read vehicle speed V. To do. When traveling at high speeds, the radius of curvature of the road on which the vehicle can turn is large, so it can be considered that the vehicle is traveling on a substantially straight road. Even if the road is close to, if the radius of curvature of the road is small in the distance, the vehicle may deviate from the vehicle recognition area W _P. Therefore, the correction widths α _L and α _R are set so that the values increase as the speed V decreases, using the map shown in FIG.

At the next step 412, the lower limit line 130,
An approximate straight line 142 whose position is corrected by the correction widths α _L and α _R ,
A process for recognizing a preceding vehicle and an oncoming vehicle is performed by adding a predetermined triangular area (an area estimated to have an oncoming vehicle) to the right side of an area surrounded by 144 (an area estimated to have a preceding vehicle). A vehicle recognition area W _P for determining is determined (see FIG. 10). The area of the vehicle recognition area W _P is also increased as the vehicle travels at a low speed due to the change of the correction widths α _L and α _R according to the change of the vehicle speed V (see FIG. 11). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the vehicle travels on the left side. However, if the vehicle travels on the right side, the triangular area in which the oncoming vehicle is estimated to exist is added to the left side of the area in which the preceding vehicle is estimated to exist.

On the other hand, when the determination in step 406 is negative, in step 414 it is determined whether the road is a right curve road or a left curve road by determining whether A> A ₂ . When the determination is affirmative, the road is determined to be a right curve road, the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10 is read in step 416, and the correction widths α _L , α according to the read vehicle speed V are read using the map shown in FIG. Correction value for _R α _L ', α _R '
Is determined in step 418. In the next step 420, the gains GL for determining the correction widths α _R , α _L of the left and right approximate straight lines according to the displacement amount A indicating the degree of the curve,
GR is determined using the maps shown in FIGS. 13 and 14,
In step 422, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _L of the final window area are determined based on the determined correction values α _R ′ and α _L ′ and the gains GL and GR.

At this time, since the road is a curved road, the left and right sides are asymmetric, and the approximate straight lines 142 and 144 have different slopes. Therefore, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _L are set to independent values. That is, when the road is a right-curved road and the radius of curvature is small (the displacement amount A is large), the probability that the preceding vehicle 11 exists on the right side is high. Therefore, the correction width α _R is increased by increasing the right gain GR (see FIG. 13) and the correction width α _L is reduced by decreasing the left gain GL (see FIG. 14). Further, when the road is a right curved road and the radius of curvature is large (the displacement amount A is small), the correction width α _R is reduced by decreasing the gain GR on the right side, and the correction is performed by increasing the gain GL on the left side. Increase the width α _L. This change in correction width is shown in FIG.
As an image.

In step 424, the determined correction width α
_On the right side of the area surrounded by the approximate straight lines 142 and 144 whose positions are corrected by _L and α _R , a predetermined triangular area in which it is estimated that an oncoming vehicle exists is added to the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle. A vehicle recognition area W _P for recognizing a vehicle is determined.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 414 is affirmative, it is determined that the road is a left curved road and step 4
26, and the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10 is read. In step 428, using the map of FIG. 12, the read vehicle speed V
The left and right correction values α _R ′, α _L ′ are determined in accordance with the above, and in step 430, the left and right gains GL, GR corresponding to the displacement amount A are determined. That is, when the road is a curved road and the radius of curvature is small (the displacement amount A is large), it is highly likely that the preceding vehicle 11 exists on the left side. Therefore, correction is performed by reducing the gain GR on the right side according to the map shown in FIG. The width α _R is reduced, and the gain GL on the left side is calculated according to the map shown in FIG.
The correction width α _L is increased by increasing.

In the next step 432, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _L of the final window region are determined based on the determined correction values α _R 'and α _L ' and the gains GL and GR.
In step 434, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _{L determined}
A vehicle for recognizing and processing a preceding vehicle and an oncoming vehicle by adding a predetermined triangular area estimated to have an oncoming vehicle to the right side of the area surrounded by the approximate straight lines 142 and 144 whose positions are corrected in The recognition area W _P is determined.

When the vehicle recognition area W _P is determined as described above, the process proceeds to step 436, and horizontal edge detection processing in the vehicle recognition area W _P is performed as recognition processing of another vehicle. In this horizontal edge detection process, first, step 40
Similar to the edge detection process of No. 2, horizontal edge points are detected in the vehicle recognition area W _P. Next, the detected horizontal edge points are laterally integrated to detect a peak point E _P at a position where the integrated value exceeds a predetermined value (see FIG. 8B). This horizontal edge is likely to appear when another vehicle is present.

At the next step 438, the position coordinates of another vehicle
Is calculated. First, vertical edge detection processing is performed. Horizontal edge
Peak point E of the integrated value at point j_PWhen there are multiple
Peak point E located below_PIn order from the peak point E_PTo
A vertical line is drawn to include both ends of the included horizontal edge points.
Window area W for detecting_R, W_LSet (Figure
8 (C)). This window area W_R, W_LInside
Vertical edges are detected and vertical lines 138R and 138L are
Window area W when detected_R, W _LSandwiched between
It is determined that another vehicle exists in the closed area.

Next, the vehicle width is obtained by obtaining the lateral distance between the vertical lines 138R and 138L detected in each of the window regions W _R and W _L , and the coordinates of the center of the vehicle (X
i, Yi) to obtain the coordinates of the center of the vehicle width. By repeating this process in the vehicle recognition area W _P , as shown in FIG. 18 as an example, the position coordinates of n (five in the figure) vehicles existing in the vehicle recognition area W _P are obtained. Since the detected vertical lines 138R and 138L correspond to both ends of the tail portion of the vehicle in the width direction, the coordinates (Xi, Yi) represent a position near the center of the tail portion of another vehicle. With the above, the other vehicle recognition process is completed, and the process proceeds to step 202 in the flowchart of FIG.

In step 202, the coordinate values (XR, YR) of the vehicle existing at the position where the Y coordinate value is the smallest on the right side of the irradiation area and the Y coordinate value on the right side of the irradiation area, which are used in the gain setting process described later. Initialize the coordinate values (XL, YL) of the vehicle existing in the smallest position. Here, the cut line 70 when the high beam is applied to YR
The value corresponding to the position of the cut line 72 at the time of the high beam, and the value corresponding to the position of XR, X.
An arbitrary value is set for L. In step 204, the value of the area "i" provided on the memory is set to 1 and step 2
At 06, among the position coordinates of the n vehicles determined by the other vehicle recognition processing described above, the coordinates (Xi, Y) of the “i” th vehicle
Take in i).

At step 208, whether the position of the i-th vehicle in the X direction is located on the right side or the left side within the irradiation area of the headlamps 18 and 20 based on the value of Xi taken in. Or determine whether it is located in the center. The right side of the irradiation area here is an area corresponding to the cut line 70 shown in FIG. 7, and the left side of the irradiation area is an area corresponding to the cut line 72. Also,
When the position of the vehicle in the X direction is the position on the cut line 70 and the cut line 72, it is determined that the vehicle is located at the center.

When it is determined in step 208 that the vehicle is located on the left side, the process proceeds to step 210 and Yi
Is smaller than the coordinate value YL. If the determination in step 208 is affirmative, step 2
In step 12, Yi is assigned to YL and Xi is assigned to XL, and the process proceeds to step 226. On the other hand, when it is determined in step 208 that the vehicle is located on the right side, the process proceeds to step 222, and it is determined whether the value of Yi is smaller than the value of coordinate value YR. If this determination is affirmative, Yi is substituted for YR and Xi is substituted for XR at step 224, and the routine proceeds to step 226.

When it is determined in step 208 that the vehicle is located at the center of the irradiation area on the cut lines 70 and 72, it is determined in step 214 whether the value of Yi is smaller than the value of YL. If the determination is affirmative, Yi is substituted for YL and Xi is substituted for XL in step 216, and it is determined in next step 218 whether the value of Yi is smaller than the value of YR. If affirmative, in step 216 Yi is assigned to YR and Xi is assigned to XR, and the process proceeds to step 226.

In step 226, it is determined whether or not the above processing has been performed for all the other vehicles whose positions have been detected by the other vehicle recognition processing. If the determination in step 226 is negative, "1" is added to i in step 228, the process returns to step 206, and the coordinate of the next vehicle (Xi, Y
i) take in step 20 based on the taken coordinates
The processing from 8 to 226 is repeated. Therefore, step 200
When n vehicles are recognized in the other vehicle recognition processing, the processing in steps 206 to 228 is repeated n times, and the determination in step 226 is affirmed and step 230 is performed.
Move to.

When the determination in step 226 is affirmative, the coordinate value (XR, YR) is the coordinate of the vehicle existing at the position where the Y coordinate value is the smallest on the right side (and center) of the headlamp irradiation area. Stored and coordinate value (X
L, YL) stores the coordinates of the vehicle existing at the position with the smallest Y coordinate value on the left side (and center) of the headlamp irradiation area. This (XR, Y
The vehicles existing at the positions R) and (XL, YL) are vehicles that are most likely to give glare on the right and left sides of the irradiation area. If the vehicle is not present, or if the vehicle is present at a position higher than the cut line position of the headlamp during the high beam (that is, at a very distant position),
The coordinate values (XR, YR) and (XL, YL) retain the initial values.

In step 230, the actuator 4
As a process of determining the gains set to 0, 41, 42, and 43, the gain DEGR of the rotation angle of the light shielding cam 40A is set based on the coordinate values (XR, YR) so that the position of the cut line 70 matches YR. Based on the coordinate values (XL, YL), the gain DEGL of the rotation angle of the light shielding cam 42A is determined so that the position of the cut line 72 coincides with YL. The gains DEGR and DEGL are determined by, for example, a map showing a predetermined relationship between YR and DEGR, Y
It can be determined with reference to a map showing the relationship between L and DEGL.

At the next step 232, the actuator 4 is determined based on the gains DEGR and DEGL determined above.
0, 42 motors 40D, 42D are driven, and shading cam 4
Rotate 0A and 42A. The actuator 41
Is driven similarly to the actuator 40, and the actuator 43 is driven similarly to the actuator 42. As a result, the position of the cut line 70 is controlled to coincide with YR, and the position of the cut line 72 is controlled to coincide with YL. As described above, the coordinates of the other vehicle detected by the other vehicle recognition process represent the position of the central portion of the tail portion of the other vehicle, and the cut line by this control is the tail portion of the vehicle that is most likely to give glare. Since it is located near the center of the car, it does not give glare to other vehicles. However, YR,
When the YL position is lower than the lower limit position of the cut line, the cut line is lowered to the lower limit position.

Next, the control result of the cut line by the above processing will be described. For example, as another vehicle in front of the vehicle 10, the position of the point marked with “1” in FIG.
When the vehicle exists only on the left side (0 front), the position of the cut line 72 is controlled so as to match the position of the point "1" as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. At this time, the cut line 70 on the right side of the irradiation range is at the upper limit position shown by the solid line, but does not give glare to the vehicle,
Moreover, the driver of the vehicle 10 does not feel that the irradiation range is insufficient.

Further, for example, when the vehicle is also present at the position of the point marked with "2" in FIG. 18, the coordinate Y2 of this point is lower than the lower limit position of the cut line 72, so that the cut line 72 is cut. The position of is lowered to the lower limit position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. At this time as well, the cut line 70 is maintained at the upper limit position. When the vehicle is present only at the point "5" (right side in front of the vehicle) in FIG. 18, the position of the cut line 70 is "5" as shown by the solid line in FIG.
It is controlled to match the position of the point. At this time,
The position of the cut line 72 is maintained at the upper limit position.

Further, when the vehicle exists only at the point "4" in FIG. 18 (center in front of the vehicle), the positions of the cut line 70 and the cut line 72 are shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Thus, each is controlled so as to match the position of the point "4". This prevents glare from being applied to the vehicle located at the point "4". Further, when the vehicle is present at the point “3” in FIG. 18 (also in the center in front of the vehicle), the coordinate Y3 at this point is lower than the lower limit position of the cut line 70 and the cut line 72, so the cut line 70 The position of the cut line 72 is lowered to the lower limit position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.

In this way, the cut line of the headlamp is divided into the cut line 70 and the cut line 72 by the light shielding cams 40A and 42A, and the respective positions can be controlled by the actuators 40 and 42. When it is detected, it controls only the position of the cut line in the area where the detected other vehicle exists, so it prevents glare from being detected on the other vehicle, and the driver does not have enough irradiation range. I don't feel it.

Further, in this embodiment, since the light distribution of the headlamp is controlled according to the position of the other vehicle in the image, it is not necessary to detect the inter-vehicle distance and the processing such as calculation can be performed in a short time. Further, when controlling the light distribution of the headlamp according to the inter-vehicle distance, even if the inter-vehicle distance with the other vehicle is constant, the relative position and direction with respect to the other vehicle due to the slope of the road, the inclination of the vehicle, etc. Change may cause glare, and it is necessary to correct the irradiation range (or irradiation direction) according to the gradient, inclination, etc., but in this embodiment, road gradient, vehicle inclination, etc. Even if there is TV according to this
Since the orientations of the camera 22 and the headlamps 18 and 20 change, an image corresponding to the gradient or the inclination is obtained, and the light distribution of the headlamp is controlled according to the position of another vehicle in this image. There is no need to do such things.

Although the light distribution cam in front of the vehicle is controlled by the light shielding cam in the above embodiment, the light of the headlamp may be shielded by a light shielding plate or a shutter. Further, although the light distribution is controlled by blocking the light of the headlamp, the emission optical axis of the headlamp may be deflected.

Further, in this embodiment, the light shielding cams 40A, 42
The cut line is divided into the cut line 70 and the cut line 72 from the center by A, and the position of each cut line is controlled. However, the number of cut line divisions and the divided position are not limited to this. Absent.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, by changing the irradiation range or the irradiation direction of each light, the light from the headlamp is irradiated in different regions in front of the vehicle along the vehicle width direction. The headlamp is provided with a plurality of changing means for changing the position of the boundary between the part to be irradiated and the part not to be illuminated, and when another vehicle is detected, glare is given to the other vehicle based on the detected position of the other vehicle. Since the changing means corresponding to the position of the other vehicle is controlled so as not to exist, the excellent effect that the visibility in front of the vehicle can be improved without giving glare to the other vehicle is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front portion of a vehicle used in the present embodiment as seen obliquely from the front of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a headlamp to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control main routine of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another vehicle recognition processing.

FIG. 7 is an image diagram for explaining a cut line displaced by an actuator.

8A is an image diagram of an image captured by a TV camera during the day, FIG. 8B is a conceptual diagram for explaining horizontal edge point integration processing, and FIG. 8C is a vertical edge detection processing. It is a conceptual diagram of.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a window area at the time of recognizing a white line.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a vehicle recognition area.

FIG. 11 is an image diagram for explaining that the vehicle recognition area is changed according to the vehicle speed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a relationship between a vehicle speed and a correction width of an approximate straight line.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the degree of a right curve road and the gain that determines the correction width of the approximate straight line on the right side.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a relationship between the degree of a right curve road and a gain that determines a correction width of an approximate straight line on the left side.

FIG. 15 is an image diagram showing window regions and correction widths for curved roads having different curvatures.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a relationship between a degree of a left curved road and a gain that determines a correction width of an approximate straight line on the right side.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the relationship between the degree of a left curved road and the gain that determines the correction width of the approximated straight line on the left side.

FIG. 18 is an image diagram showing an example of coordinates representing the position of another vehicle detected by another vehicle recognition processing.

19 is an image diagram showing the control result of the position of the cut line when the vehicle exists at the position "1" or "2" in FIG.

FIG. 20 is an image diagram showing a control result of the position of the cut line when the vehicle exists at the position “5” in FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is an image diagram showing a control result of the position of the cut line when the vehicle exists at the position “3” or “4” in FIG. 18.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18 headlamp 20 headlamp 22 TV camera 40 actuator 42 actuator 48 image processing device 50 control device 70 cut line 72 cut line 100 traveling vehicle detection device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of headlamps, each of which is irradiated with light from a headlamp in a region in front of the vehicle which is different along the vehicle width direction by changing an irradiation range or an irradiation direction of the light. Change means for changing the position of the boundary between the non-illuminated part, the detecting means for detecting the position of the other vehicle, and the glare for the other vehicle based on the position of the other vehicle detected by the detecting means As described above, a vehicle headlight device comprising: a control unit that controls a changing unit corresponding to the position of the other vehicle.