JPH0687373A - Indicating lighting device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance visual recognition property by increasing contrast when light of a display device is turned on and off. CONSTITUTION:A fluorescent lamp 14 which receives electricity from a power supply provided in a vehicle and emits the required color light is provided on an outer face of the vehicle and the outer periphery thereof is covered by a lens cover 13 consisting of colorless transparent member to constitute a display device 11. A control means which controls turning on and off of the fluorescent lamp 14 to display at least either of indication of the vehicle direction and braking is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an indicator lighting device for a vehicle suitable for a tail lamp, a brake lamp, etc. of a tail of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an example of this type of automobile tail lamp is shown in FIG. In this tail lamp 1, a lens cover 3 colored in a required color such as red is attached to an appropriate position on the outer surface of a tail portion of an automobile body 2, and a plurality of white light bulbs 4, 4 ... Are arranged in a row in the lens cover 3. It is arranged.

Each of these white light bulbs 4, 4 ... Has a bulb filled with an inert gas, and as shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B), has a high brightness for displaying a vehicle stop (brake). The lamp 4a and the low-intensity lamp 4b for tail display at night are appropriately combined.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional tail lamp 1, the life of each white light bulb 4 is, for example, about 1500 hr, which is not necessarily long. Therefore, the number of times of replacement of these white light bulbs 4, 4 ... However, since the number of white light bulbs 4 to be installed is large, there is a problem that replacement maintenance is complicated and the cost is high.

Further, when the white light bulb 4 is turned on, the temperature rises to a high temperature of, for example, about 500 ° C. Therefore, it is necessary to assemble an expensive lens cover 3 having high temperature resistance, resulting in a high cost. Furthermore, since the lens cover 3 is colored in a required color such as red, the transmittance of the light from the white electrode 4 when passing through the lens cover 3 decreases, the brightness decreases, and the visibility decreases. There is a problem.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle pointing illuminating device capable of improving visibility by increasing brightness.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present application (hereinafter, referred to as the first
The invention includes a power source installed in a vehicle, a light source that receives the power from the power source and emits light of a desired color, and a lens cover that is provided on the outer surface of the vehicle and is made of a non-colored transparent member. It is characterized by comprising a display device for covering and a control means for controlling turning on / off of the light source to display at least one of a direction indication and braking of the vehicle.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present application (hereinafter referred to as the second invention) is a power source installed in a vehicle, a light source which receives power from the power source and emits light of a desired color, and the light source. An indicator provided on the outer surface of the vehicle and covered with a lens cover made of an uncolored translucent member; and a control means for controlling turning on / off of the light source to display at least one of a direction indication and braking of the vehicle. And a light color control means for controlling the emission color of the light source.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3 of the present application (hereinafter referred to as the third invention), the light source is at least red,
One of a plurality of fluorescent lamps and one of a plurality of colored light bulbs that emits green light and blue, respectively, and the light color control means has a control means for controlling turning on and off of one of the fluorescent lamps and the colored light bulbs.

Furthermore, the invention according to claim 4 of the present application (hereinafter referred to as the fourth invention) is a power source mounted in a vehicle, and a light source which receives power from the power source and emits light of a desired color.
An indicator provided with the light source on the outer surface of the vehicle and covered with a lens cover made of an uncolored translucent member, and a control for controlling turning on / off of the light source to display at least one of a direction indication and braking of the vehicle And a dimming unit that receives the control signal from the control unit and controls the brightness of the light source.

In the invention according to claim 5 of the present application (hereinafter referred to as the fifth invention), the light source is a fluorescent lamp, and the light control means controls the frequency of the voltage applied to the fluorescent lamp. It is characterized by being dimmed.

Further, in the invention according to claim 6 of the present application (hereinafter, referred to as a sixth invention), the display is commonly used as a stop lamp for displaying braking of the vehicle and a tail lamp for displaying a rear portion of the vehicle, The dimming means is characterized in that it adjusts the brightness of the tail lamp to 7 to 8% when the brightness of the stop lamp is 100%.

[0014]

[Action]

<First invention> Since the lens cover is colorless and transparent, the display looks colorless and transparent when the light source is turned off, while the light source color appears when the light source is turned on. Therefore, the contrast between when the light source is turned on and when it is turned off is large. Become. Therefore, the visibility of the display can be improved. Further, it is possible to suppress the decrease in the transmittance which is reduced when the light from the light source is transmitted through the colorless and transparent lens cover, and it is possible to increase the brightness of the display and further improve the visibility.

<Second and Third Inventions> Since the light color of the light source can be appropriately controlled by the light color control means, the lens cover covering the light source can be made colorless and transparent.

Therefore, the visibility and brightness of the display device can be increased almost in the same manner as in the first aspect of the invention.

Further, by providing a light source which emits at least three primary colors of red, green and blue, the light colors of these light sources can be significantly controlled. Therefore, the number of these lamps can be reduced to three, and simplification of the configuration, reduction in size and weight, and cost reduction can be achieved together.

<Fourth to Sixth Inventions> Since the brightness of the light source can be adjusted by the light adjusting means, for example, one light source can be used as a tail lamp for low brightness and a stop lamp for high brightness. And reduce the number of lamps,
The configuration of the display, the reduction in size and weight, and the cost reduction can be achieved together.

In the third and fifth aspects of the invention, since the light source is a highly efficient and long-life fluorescent lamp, the efficiency as a light source can be increased and the life can be extended.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial plan sectional view of an embodiment including the first and fourth to sixth inventions of the present application. In the figure, an indicator 11 for an automobile is provided on the left and right of the outer surface of the tail portion of a vehicle body 12 as appropriate. A pair of left and right uncolored and transparent lens covers 13 are attached to the positions, and for example, a straight fluorescent lamp 14 that emits a desired color such as red is built in each of these lens covers 13, and a tail lamp is formed. And as a stop (brake) lamp.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the fluorescent lamp 14 has a pair of electrodes 14b and 14c, which are cold cathodes or hot cathodes, sealed in both axial ends of a glass straight bulb 14a together with an appropriate amount of mercury and a rare gas. However, a phosphor film 14d that emits any of red, green, and blue (R, G, B) is attached to almost the entire length of the inner peripheral surface of the bulb 14, and the pair of electrodes 14b and 14c are attached to the pair of electrodes 14b and 14c. A power supply 16 such as a vehicle-mounted battery is electrically connected via a control device 15 including a dimming inverter 15a and the like.

The control device 15 converts the direct current from the power source 16 into alternating current or pulses to turn on the fluorescent lamp 14, lighting means for turning on the direction indicating knob switch (not shown) of the vehicle and the brake pedal. In accordance with the above, one of the pair of left and right indicators 11 or both of the fluorescent lamps 14 is controlled to be turned on and off to indicate the traveling direction of the vehicle, or to indicate stop, a turn-on / off control means, a direction indicating knob switch and a brake pedal. In accordance with the contents of the operation of 1., the frequency of the voltage applied to the pair of electrodes 14a, 14b of the fluorescent lamp 14 is appropriately controlled by the inverter 15a, and the brightness of the fluorescent lamp 14 is adjusted to, for example, two levels of high and low. Have.

The inverter 15a is a fluorescent lamp 14.
Can be adjusted to a high brightness for displaying a running stop (brake) of the automobile and a low brightness for displaying a tail at night. The brightness of the tail lamp is 100% that of the stop lamp.
Then, it is dimmed to 7-8%.

For this reason, both the stop display mode and the tail display mode can be realized by one fluorescent lamp 14. As a result, one fluorescent lamp 14 is placed inside the lens cover 13.
Easy to install and manage.

Since the lens cover 13 is colorless and transparent, the indicator 11 looks colorless and transparent when the fluorescent lamp 14 is turned off, while the indicator 1 is displayed when the fluorescent lamp 14 is turned on.
1 appears as its luminescent color and the contrast between the two is large, so that the visibility of the display 11 can be improved.

Further, since the life of the fluorescent lamp 11 is, for example, about 5000 hours, which is about three times longer than that of the white light bulb 4 which is about 1500 hours, the number of replacements due to its life is reduced to reduce the replacement maintenance. The cost can be reduced.

Further, since the fluorescent lamp 14 only heats up to, for example, about 80 ° C. when it is turned on, it is not necessary to use the expensive lens cover 13 having high temperature resistance, and the cost can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the fluorescent lamp 14 consumes less power and is highly efficient, it is possible to save power. This is particularly important as a lighting device for automobiles whose electric power capacity is limited as the size and weight of the vehicle battery are reduced.

In the above embodiment, the fluorescent lamp 14 is set to 1
Although the case where the lamp is provided is described, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, three fluorescent lamps 14 each having a fluorescent material film that emits red, green, and blue light deposited on the inner peripheral surface of the bulb 14 are provided. Is housed in an uncolored and transparent lens cover 13, and the on / off control means and dimming means of the control device control the turn-on / turn-off and brightness of these fluorescent lamps 14. May be configured to control the color of light.

That is, 3 which emit red, green and blue respectively
By turning on and off an appropriate number of the fluorescent lamps 14 of the book by the turn-on / off control means of the control device 15 and extinguishing the others, the light color of the entire display 11 can be controlled, and the fluorescent lamps 14 being turned on. The light color can also be controlled by adjusting the brightness of the light by the light adjusting means.

According to this embodiment, three fluorescent lamps 1
Since the three primary colors of light are emitted by 4 respectively, the light color can be largely controlled, for example, from red to purple. Moreover, since the lens cover 13 is transparent without coloring, the colored light from the fluorescent lamp 14 is covered by the lens cover. It is possible to reduce the loss of light when passing through 13 and increase the brightness.

Therefore, while all the fluorescent lamps 14 are off, the display 11 looks colorless and transparent,
When the display 11 is turned on, the display 11 looks like the emission color of the fluorescent lamp 14 or a composite color thereof, so that the contrast when these lights are turned off is large, and the visibility of the display 11 can be improved.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present application, in which, for example, four colored light bulbs 17 including at least three lights emitting red, green and blue respectively are provided, and an uncolored and transparent lens cover 13 is provided. It is characterized in that it is covered by.

Each of the colored light bulbs 17 is, for example, a bulb 17a of a white bulb, and the red, green, and blue colored films 17b are respectively attached to the entire outer peripheral surface of the bulb 17a. When electrically connected, all the colored light bulbs 17 are turned on by the control device 15 by operating the direction switch knob switch of the vehicle, depressing the brake pedal, or the like,
The display 11 is adapted to be dark red or dark amber.

Therefore, when all the colored light bulbs 17 are turned off, the display 11 looks as colorless and transparent as the color of the lens cover 13 as shown in FIG.
When is turned on, the display 11 looks dark red or amber as shown in FIG. That is, since the contrast between the colored light bulb 17 when it is turned off and when it is turned on is large, the display 1
The visibility of 1 can be improved.

[0037]

As described above, the first invention of the present application is
Since the lens cover is colorless and transparent, the display looks colorless and transparent when the light source is off, while it looks like the light source color when the light source is on, so the contrast between when the light source is on and when it is off is large. Therefore, the visibility of the display can be improved. Further, it is possible to suppress the decrease in the transmittance which is reduced when the light from the light source is transmitted through the colorless and transparent lens cover, and it is possible to increase the brightness of the display and further improve the visibility.

Further, in the second and third inventions of the present application, since the light color of the light source can be appropriately controlled by the light color control means, the lens cover covering the light source can be made colorless and transparent.

Therefore, the visibility and brightness of the display device can be increased almost in the same manner as in the first aspect of the invention.

Further, by providing a light source which emits at least three primary colors of red, green and blue, the light colors of these light sources can be significantly controlled. Therefore, the number of these lamps can be reduced to three, and simplification of the configuration, reduction in size and weight, and cost reduction can be achieved together.

Further, in the fourth to sixth inventions of the present application, since the brightness of the light source can be adjusted by the light adjusting means,
For example, one light source can be shared as a low-luminance tail lamp and a high-luminance stop lamp, and the number of lamps can be reduced to achieve both the structure of the display, the reduction in size and weight, and the cost reduction. .

In the third and fifth aspects of the invention, since the light source is a highly efficient and long-life fluorescent lamp, the efficiency as a light source can be improved and the life can be extended. Further, since the life of the fluorescent lamp is considerably longer than that of the white light bulb, it is possible to reduce the number of times of exchanging the fluorescent lamp due to the life of the fluorescent lamp, reduce replacement maintenance, and reduce the cost.

Further, since the fluorescent lamp does not heat up to a high temperature even when it is turned on, it is not necessary to use an expensive lens cover or the like which is resistant to high temperature, and the cost can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the fluorescent lamp consumes less power and is highly efficient, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of a vehicle battery or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial plan cross-sectional view of a vehicle pointing lighting device including the first and fourth to sixth inventions of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection between the fluorescent lamp shown in FIG. 1, a control device, and a power supply.

FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view of a main part of another embodiment of the third invention of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an off state of the display shown in FIG.

5 is a front view showing a lighting state of the display shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partial plan sectional view of a conventional tail lamp.

7A and 7B are front views of the conventional white light bulb for high and low brightness shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Tail Lamp 12 Car Body 13 Lens Cover 14 Fluorescent Light 15 Inverter 16 Power Supply 17 Coloring Light Bulb

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A power source installed in a vehicle, a light source that receives the power from the power source and emits light of a desired color, and a lens cover that is provided on the outer surface of the vehicle and is made of an uncolored transparent member. And a control means for controlling the turning on and off of the light source to display at least one of the direction indication and the braking of the vehicle. 2. A power source installed in a vehicle, a light source that receives the power from the power source and emits light of a desired color, and a lens cover that is provided on the outer surface of the vehicle and is made of a transparent member that is not colored. Display unit, a control unit that controls turning on and off of the light source to display at least one of a direction indication and braking of the vehicle, and a light color control unit that controls the emission color of the light source. Indicating lighting device for vehicles. 3. The light source comprises at least one of a plurality of fluorescent lamps and colored light bulbs which emit at least red, green and blue respectively, and the light color control means controls turning on and off of one of the fluorescent lamps and the colored light bulbs. The vehicle pointing illumination device according to claim 2, further comprising a control unit. 4. A power source installed in a vehicle, a light source that receives the power from the power source and emits light of a desired color, and a lens cover that is provided on the outer surface of the vehicle and is made of an uncolored transparent member. A display device, a control means for controlling the turning on / off of the light source to display at least one of the direction indication and the braking of the vehicle, and a control for controlling the brightness of the light source in response to a control signal from the control means. An indicator lighting device for a vehicle, comprising: a light unit. 5. The vehicle directed illumination according to claim 4, wherein the light source is a fluorescent lamp, and the light control means controls the frequency of the voltage applied to the fluorescent lamp to perform the light control. apparatus. 6. The display device is shared as a stop lamp for displaying the braking of the vehicle and a tail lamp for displaying the rear portion of the vehicle, and the dimming means sets the brightness of the stop lamp to 1
The indicator lighting device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein, when it is set to 00%, the brightness of the tail lamp is adjusted to 7 to 8%.