JPH0789444B2 - Projector headlight - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a projector-type vehicle headlight.

[Conventional technology]

The vehicle headlamp must have a light distribution pattern that brightly illuminates the front of the own lane and does not dazzle an oncoming vehicle.

A projector-type automotive headlamp has been proposed as a headlamp that has a light distribution characteristic that meets the above requirements, has a simple lens configuration, and can be downsized in its overall shape. As the latest technology relating to this projector type headlight, for example, JP-A-58-209801 is known.

FIG. 18 shows the above-mentioned known projector-type headlight. The headlight of this known example is provided with a shell-shaped reflector, and the axial cross section of the inner reflecting surface of this reflector forms a part of an ellipse, and the eccentricity of the ellipse is perpendicular to the axial direction. In a vehicle headlamp increasing from a longitudinal section to a horizontal axial longitudinal section, the elliptical portion of all axial sections
The focal points 105 of 101, 102 are also arranged such that the corresponding vertices 104 of the elliptical portions 101, 102 of all axial cross sections coincide.

110 is the outer focus of the ellipse 102, 110 is the dimmer, 112 is the ellipse 101
The outer focal point of the lens, 113 is a lens.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

When the reflector is constructed by the above-mentioned known technique, the luminous intensity distribution on the installation surface of the dimmer 111 is as shown in FIG. This luminous intensity distribution curve is the length of the ellipse,
Although it changes depending on how to reduce the diameter, it has a certain tendency and is determined by itself, and there is no design freedom.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a projector-type headlight in which the luminous intensity distribution can be arbitrarily set.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, a projector-type headlight of the present invention has a light source bulb installed in the vicinity of the focal point of a reflecting mirror, and a shade having a cut line in which light emitted from the light source is reflected by the reflecting mirror. In a projector-type vehicle headlight that focuses in the vicinity and projects the reflected light forward by a convex lens, the reflecting surface of the reflecting mirror is divided into a plurality of areas, and (i) the reflecting surface of at least one area is A spheroid having a first focus near the light source bulb and a second focus near the shade, so that the reflected light is concentrated near the intersection of the shade and the optical axis, (ii) the spheroid The reflecting surface of the area other than the above is configured to reflect the incident light from the light source bulb toward an area further away in the horizontal direction than the intersection of the shade and the optical axis, and the area other than the spheroidal surface. of The optical path of the reflected light from the morphism surface, in the vicinity of the shade on the edges when viewed in the optical axis parallel to the vertical cross section 1
It is characterized in that the light is distributed along the upper edge of the shade when the light is condensed at a point and the condensing point is viewed three-dimensionally.

[Action]

In the reflecting mirror of the headlight configured as described above, the light reflected by the spheroidal reflecting surface in the central portion is concentrated near the intersection of the shade and the optical axis, and the central luminous intensity distribution (in the horizontal direction) is obtained. Since it is raised, it becomes easier to design the left and right peripheral parts of the reflecting mirror (if the remaining light intensity distribution obtained by subtracting the light reflected by the spheroidal reflection surface from the light intensity distribution on the shade corresponding to the desired light distribution pattern is satisfied, Enough). And
The shape of the reflection surface of the left and right peripheral portions is not restricted to a shape determined analytically geometrically like a concave mirror in the related art (for example, a paraboloid of revolution, a spheroid of revolution, etc.) and is desired to have a desired shape. Seeking the light distribution characteristics on the shade of
Since it suffices to assemble the surface elements of the concave mirror so as to form this characteristic, it is possible to construct an arbitrary light distribution characteristic.

However, the above-mentioned "dividing the reflecting surface and assuming a surface element" and "assembling the concave mirror surface element" are divisions and assemblings during design thinking, and dividing the actual tangible members. It is not something you do or assemble.

It is artificial to calculate the direction (represented by the normal direction) for each surface element by dividing the reflective surface to be constructed into hundreds of thousands of surface elements of 0.2 mm square, for example. It's almost impossible to do with mathematical calculation, but it's not so difficult if you use an electronic computer.

As in this example, when the reflective surface is divided into hundreds of thousands of surface elements of 0.2 mm square, it is possible to imitate that each of these surface elements is a plane as a design method. it can.
Therefore, for the surface elements that are adjacent to each other among a large number of assumed surface elements, if the direction of each surface element is calculated and the position of one surface element is given, the other surface element is designed. Can be physically connected.

〔Example〕

Next, an embodiment of a projector type vehicle headlamp according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14 before describing in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. Of 1
An outline of the arrangement of the constituent members of the embodiment will be described.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram in which a cross section including the optical axis Z is drawn in a schematic diagram and an optical path is added. Similarly, FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram in which a light path is added to a vertical cross section including the optical axis Z, and FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram schematically illustrating the front viewed from the lens side.

The basic structure of the projector type automotive headlamp according to the present invention is arranged such that the optical axis of the concave mirror and the optical axis of the convex lens are aligned with each other, and a light source bulb is installed in the vicinity of the focal point of the concave mirror. The light emitted from the light source is reflected by the concave mirror and is incident on the meridional image plane of the convex lens, and a shade having a cut line is provided near the meridional image plane.

Reference numeral 1 is a concave mirror, and F is its focal point. The light source bulb 2 is provided so that the filament is located near the focal point F.

A convex lens is provided so as to share the optical axis Z with the concave mirror 1.

Reference numeral i-j shown in FIG. 12 denotes the meridional image plane of the convex lens 3, and the light emitted from the light source and reflected by the concave mirror 1 is incident on this meridional image plane.

The incident light is modulated by the convex lens 3 and projected forward (to the right in FIGS. 12 and 13).

As can be easily understood by comparing FIGS. 12 and 13 showing the embodiment of the present invention, when the optical path of the light beam reflected by the concave reflecting mirror 1 is seen in a vertical section parallel to the optical axis Z. , Shade 4
It is focused on one point near the upper edge. Actually, the light source is not a point light source and has a slight size, so that it is not condensed at one point literally, but it is condensed in a small area.

When viewed in a horizontal cross section parallel to the optical axis Z, the optical path of the reflected light flux is not focused on the small local portion but is distributed in the width direction of the shade 4. In summary, the optical path of the reflected light forms a horizontal linear second focus near the upper edge of the shade. In this case, the second focal point means an area where the reflected light is condensed, and is not a one-dimensional geometric point.

A screen is provided in the vicinity of the meridional image plane, and the light distribution pattern is shown by isolux curves as shown in FIG.
H-H is a horizontal line on the screen, and V-V is a vertical line. However, FIG. 15 is a schematic description and does not strictly represent the light distribution characteristics, but schematically illustrates the characteristics. The reason why the light distribution area is narrow in the vertical direction and long in the horizontal direction is that the reflected light flux is focused on the horizontal second linear focus, as described above.

As shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, a shade 4 having an edge along the meridional image plane is provided. More specifically, as indicated by 4a in FIG. 14, a cut line is formed so as to recede from the meridional image plane i-j. FIG. 16 shows how the above-mentioned light distribution pattern and the shade 4 overlap. As shown in FIG. 16, the upper half of the light flux passes through, and most of the lower half of the light flux is blocked, but light is allowed to pass through the portion corresponding to the cut line 4a. However, this FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the shade, and does not accurately represent the light distribution characteristics.

Since the light fluxes partially covered as described above are condensed on the meridional image plane i-j and intersect each other, the light flux projected in front of the headlight has a pattern of an inverted shape of FIG. To form. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic shape of a projection pattern by an isolux curve on a screen provided in front of the headlight.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the design configuration of the reflector 6 in one embodiment of the present invention, and its I-I cross section is shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view corresponding to FIG. 18 in the above-mentioned known art, but the optical path of the right half part is omitted because it is symmetrical. A cross section taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2 is shown in FIG.

The center of the reflecting surface shown as area C in FIG.
A spheroid is formed with the focal point S ₁ as the second focal point.
In FIG. 2, the spheroidal surface portion is shown with spots.

Since the central portion C shown in FIG. 1 is configured as a spheroid, the light incident on the spheroid C area from the light source provided at the point F as shown by arrows a and b is as shown by arrows c and d. Focus on the point S ₁ (the second focal point placed on the intersection of the shade 4 and the optical axis zz).

Since the central portion C is closer to the light source than the peripheral portion D,
It receives incident light having a high luminous flux density and reflects (bright) reflected light having a high luminous flux density.

In this way, the luminous intensity distribution near the center of the shade 4 is increased by the reflected light from the spheroidal surface C, so that the design of the portion other than the spheroidal surface C becomes easier. Specifically, the remaining luminous intensity distribution obtained by subtracting the luminous intensity distribution (concentrated at the center) formed by the reflected light of the spheroidal surface C from the desired luminous intensity distribution on the shade is used for other than the spheroidal surface C. It may be formed by the part (the central part of the reflecting mirror).

Area other than the above-mentioned spheroidal surface C, that is, the peripheral portion D shown in FIG. 1 (portion without spots in FIG. 2)
Is divided into many planes as a design method.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view schematically showing a state in which one-fourth of the reflecting surface of the reflector 6 is divided into a large number of surface elements, and FIG. 5 shows incident light and reflected light of the surface element Q ₅ . FIG.

The relationship between the point Q on the reflector 6 corresponding to the point S at an arbitrary distance x _s from the center S _{1 of the} shade 4 is obtained (see FIG. 1).
That is, the relationship of the set Q ₁ -Q-Q ₂ (FIG. 2) of micro-planes located at the distance x ₁ from the center T of the reflector 6 is obtained as follows.

First, when x ₁ = 0 as an initial value, a set Q ₃ −
Q ₆ −Q ₄ determines the direction of the surface element (represented by the normal direction) so that the reflected light reaches the point S ₁ .

As for the adjacent part of the set Q ₃ -Q ₆ -Q ₄ of the surface elements whose initial values are set as described above, the direction is determined so that the reflected light reaches the adjacent part of the point S ₁ , and so on. Repeat the calculation.

In this case, what is necessary to identify a certain surface element is a. X, Y, Z coordinate values of adjacent faces to which the surface element to be specified should be connected, and b. The direction of the surface element to be identified (represented by the normal direction of the surface element).

Is. Then, as described above, in order to specify one certain surface element computationally, a reference starting point (the position and direction of the first surface element) is required.

Therefore, comparing FIG. 2 with FIG. 4, it can be seen that the set of many plane elements shown in FIG. 4 has points Q ₃ , Q ₆ shown in FIG.
It can be seen that the area is surrounded by a line that connects Q ₇ and Q ₃ in sequence.

Since the spheroidal surface shown with dots in FIG. 2 has a known optical axis direction and focus position, the spheroidal surface is cut along the line Q ₃ -Q ₆ -Q _4. The shape can be calculated.

Thus, surface elements adjacent to the line Q _3, Q _6, Q ₇ described above, the direction is identified if Sadamare.

The above-mentioned x _s and x ₁ have a functional relationship and are x _s f (x ₁ ). Thus, the method of defining this function is determined based on the desired light distribution on the shade. Specifically, f (x ₁ ) = ax ₁ + b f (x ₁ ) = ax ₁ ² + bx _{1 + c f (x 1) =} ax 1 3 + bx 1 2 + cx 1 + d f (x 1) = a 1 x 1 n + a 2 x 1 n-1 ... a n x 1 + a n + 1 f (x 1) = ae Various techniques such as ^bx1 are conceivable and can be arbitrarily selected or used in combination. a, b, c, d are constants.

Hereinafter, a few examples will be described.

In the case of f (x ₁ ) = ax ₁ + b, assuming that a = 0.5 and b = 0, f (x ₁ ) = 0.5x _{1 and} x ₁ = 2, x _s = 1 is one of the solutions. . This is shown on the coordinate plane as shown in FIG.

When the above state is replaced by the relationship between the horizontal sectional shape of the reflector 6 and the meridional image plane (the upper edge of the shade), the result is as shown in FIG. That is, the light in the range 2 on the reflector 6 side is collected in the range 1 on the meridional image plane, and the illuminance distribution in this case is as shown by the solid line in FIG.

The light reflected by the spheroidal surface C is concentrated in the vicinity of the center and has a pattern shown by a chain line, and what actually acts effectively is the sum of both patterns (solid line and chain line).

Under normal conditions of use of a vehicle headlight, it is desired that the luminous intensity of the central portion is concentratedly higher than that of the above light distribution pattern (Fig. 8).

Therefore, next, assuming that a = 0.125, b = 0, and c = 0 at f (x ₁ ) = ax ₁ ² + bx ₁ + c, then f (x ₁ ) = 0.125x ₁ ² , for example x ₁ = 4 , X _s = 2 is one of the solutions.

This is expressed in coordinates as shown in FIG. 9, and the relationship between the reflector and the shade is as shown in FIG. The light distribution characteristic in this case is as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The central luminous intensity is higher than in the figure.

Although illustration is omitted, the higher-order functional expression described above, f (x ₁ ) ＝ ax ₁ ³ ＋ bx ₁ ² ＋ cx ₁ ＋ d, and f (x ₁ ) ＝ a ₁ x ₁ ⁿ ＋ a ₂ x ₁ ^The central luminous intensity becomes higher as the value of n in ^n-1 ... a _n x ₁ + a _{n + 1} is increased to 4,5, and the central luminous intensity becomes higher by using the logarithmic expression f (x ₁ ) ＝ ae ^bx1. .

A desired light distribution characteristic may be obtained by appropriately selecting these equations and arbitrarily selecting constants a, b to d. Since the luminous intensity distribution characteristic remarkably changes widely depending on the order of the expression of x ₁ and the selection of the constant, any luminous intensity distribution characteristic can be obtained in a practical accuracy range.

However, the above-mentioned "practically any characteristic" means any luminous intensity distribution characteristic within the range of "a mode in which the luminous intensity is maximum in the central part and symmetrically in the left and right directions, and the luminous intensity decreases as the distance from the center increases". It is said that it can correspond to.

In the embodiment described above, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reflecting surface is divided into a central portion, a left peripheral portion, and a right peripheral portion.
Although it is divided into areas, as can be easily understood from the operation and effect of this embodiment, when the present invention is carried out, the reflecting mirror is not necessarily divided into three areas and can be divided into a plurality of areas. The same action and effect can be obtained.

20 and 21 show an embodiment different from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, and the difference from the previous example is as follows. Compared to the shade 4 of the previous example (FIGS. 12 and 13) which is cylindrically shaped along the meridional image plane i-j,
The shade 4'in this example (Figs. 20 and 21) is formed in a flat plate shape that is in contact with the meridional image plane i-j and is orthogonal to the optical axis Z.

Even if it is configured as in this example, the same effect as the previous example (FIGS. 12 and 13) can be obtained within the accuracy range practically required.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the projector type headlamp of the present invention can arbitrarily set the luminous intensity distribution on the meridional image plane, and as a result, can be easily configured to have a desired light distribution pattern. Has excellent practical effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are explanatory views of a method for designing a special reflector of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing a front view of the reflector. FIG. 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line I-I, and FIG.
The figure is also a III-III vertical sectional view. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a state where the special reflector in one embodiment of the present invention is divided into plane elements, and FIG. 5 is an optical path diagram showing a state of reflection on the above-mentioned plane element. 6 to 11 are explanatory views of the reflector designing method according to the present invention. 12 to 14 are explanatory views of a schematic configuration of a projector type headlight according to the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a plan view,
FIG. 13 is a side view and FIG. 14 is a front view. 15 to 17 are explanatory views of the optical function of the projector type headlight. FIG. 18 is an explanatory view of a known projector-type headlight, and FIG. 19 is a light distribution characteristic chart of the headlight. FIG. 20 is a plan view of an embodiment different from the above, and FIG. 21 is a side view of the same. 1 ... Concave reflecting mirror, 2 ... Light source bulb, 3 ... Convex lens, 4,4 '... Shade, 4a ... Cutline provided at the top of the shade, 5,6 ... Reflector.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A light source bulb is installed near a focal point of a reflecting mirror,
In a projector type headlight in which the light emitted from the light source bulb is reflected by a reflecting mirror and focused near a shade having a cut line, and the reflected light is projected forward by a convex lens, the reflecting surface of the reflecting mirror. Is divided into a plurality of areas, and (i) the reflecting surface of at least one area is a spheroid with the first focus in the vicinity of the light source bulb and the second focus in the vicinity of the shade. And (ii) the reflection surface of the area other than the spheroidal surface, the area where the incident light from the light source bulb is horizontally separated from the intersection of the shade and the optical axis. Configured to reflect toward, and the optical path of the reflected light from the reflection surface of the area other than the spheroidal surface,
When viewed in a vertical cross section parallel to the optical axis, the light is focused on one point near the upper edge of the shade, and when the above-mentioned light focusing point is viewed three-dimensionally, the light is distributed along the upper edge of the shade. A projector-type headlight, characterized in that