JPH0810562B2 - Vehicle lamp system - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp system used for illuminating the front of a vehicle.

[Conventional technology]

A vehicle, especially an automobile, is provided with a headlight as a lighting means for illuminating the front of the night, and the irradiation range (diffusion angle) of this headlight is fixedly determined. In other words, it is necessary to pay attention to pedestrians on the road shoulder when traveling at low speeds such as in urban areas, and the diffusion angle of the front lights is set to a sufficiently wide value so that the visibility can be secured even when traveling at such low speeds. .

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

It is generally known that the driver's visual field becomes narrower as the vehicle speed increases. This is because the driver's vehicle tries to bring a farther road into view as the vehicle speed increases.
When traveling at high speeds, it is necessary to have visibility in the traveling path farther than the shoulder in front of you.

However, according to the conventional vehicular lamp system, the divergence angle of the headlight is always constant regardless of the vehicle speed, and it is widely set to secure the visibility at low speed driving. In that case, there is a problem in that even the road shoulder just before being in the field of view is included in the irradiation range, and the irradiation distance to the far side is shortened accordingly.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has been made in view of such problems,
The diffusion angle of the lighting means is narrowed as the vehicle speed increases, and for this reason, a first lens in which a prism portion and a transparent portion are repeatedly formed in the vehicle width direction, and the first lens And a second lens formed by repeatedly forming a prism portion and a transparent portion, and the first lens and the second lens are symmetrically arranged back to back, and the second lens
The diffusion angle is changed by moving the lens in the vehicle width direction according to the vehicle speed.

[Action]

Therefore, according to the present invention, as the vehicle speed increases, the second
The lens moves in the vehicle width direction, and the dispersion range of the emitted light becomes narrow.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, a vehicle lamp system according to the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the vehicle lamp system. In the figure, 1 is a vehicle speed sensor which sends out a pulsed electric signal according to the vehicle speed, and 2 is a waveform shaping circuit which shapes the pulsed electric signal sent out by the vehicle speed sensor 1 into a rectangular pulse signal (vehicle speed signal). ,
3 is a prescaler for transmitting an overflow signal each time the number of pulses of the vehicle speed signal input via the waveform shaping circuit 2 reaches a predetermined number of pulses. 4 is a counter for counting the number of overflow signals transmitted by the prescaler 5. Is a latch circuit for fetching the count value of the counter 4 for each rising edge of the clock signal sent from the oscillator 6, and 7 is a predetermined one of the output terminals 70 to 79 based on the latch data held by the latch circuit 5. This is a decoder that selects an output terminal and sets its level to "0" level.

Output terminals 70 and 71, 72, 73, 74, 75 to 79 of the decoder 7
Is a sliding contact 84a that is in sliding contact with the semicircular strip-shaped conductor patterns 82 and 83 via the input terminals 8a to 8e of the lens drive circuit 8.
To 84e, and the sliding contact 84f adjacent to the sliding contact 84e is connected to the positive side of the DC power supply 9 via the coil 851 of the relay 85. The sliding contact 84g adjacent to the sliding contact 84a is also connected to the positive polarity side of the DC power supply 9 via the coil 861 of the relay 86, and the coils 851 and 861.
Are connected in parallel with diodes 87 and 88. The normally open / normally closed contact 852 of the relay 85 and the normally open / normally closed contact 862 of the relay 86 are connected to both connection ends of the DC motor 89, and when the relay 85 is energized, The common terminal 852c of the normally closed contact 852 and the normally open contact terminal 852a are electrically connected to each other, and the positive side of the DC power supply 9 is connected to one end of the DC motor 89. When the relay 86 is energized, the common terminal 862c of the normally open / normally closed contact 862
And the normally open contact terminal 862a are electrically connected to each other, so that the other end of the DC motor 89 is connected to the positive polarity side of the DC power supply 9.
That is, normally open / normally closed contacts 852 and 862 are normally the common terminals 852c and 862c and normally closed contact terminals 852b and 862b.
Are in a conducting state, and both ends of the DC motor 89 are then grounded. The normally open / normally closed contact 85 is applied to the DC motor 89.
When DC power is supplied via 2, the motor rotates the lens drive shaft 10 in the clockwise direction (right rotation in the drawing), and the conductor patterns 82 and 83 are rotated along with the right rotation of the lens drive shaft 10.
Is also configured to rotate rightward by being integrated with the sliding substrate 81. When DC power is supplied to the DC motor 89 via the normally-closed contact 862, the lens drive shaft 10 rotates counterclockwise, and the conductor pattern 82 and 83 is adapted to rotate counterclockwise integrally with the sliding substrate 81. As the lens drive shaft 10 rotates left and right, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (e), The slide position of the second lens 12 with respect to the first lens 11 is changed.

That is, the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are composed of prism-shaped lenses of the same material and the same shape, and a plurality of triangular strips 13 are integrated at equal intervals on one surface of these lenses. Are formed so as to protrude. That is, the first
On one surface of each of the lens 11 and the second lens 12, a triangular strip (prism portion) 13 and a concave strip (bare portion) 15 are repeatedly formed in the vehicle width direction. And the first lens
The second lens 12 and the second lens 12 are arranged symmetrically with each other, and the surfaces on which the triangular strips 13 are not formed are back-to-back, and the second lens 12 and the first lens 11 are closely arranged. It is slidable. FIG. 1 (a) shows the sliding positional relationship between the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 when the lens drive shaft 10 is rotated to the left at the maximum, and FIG. The slide positional relationship at the time of maximum right rotation is shown. That is, the lens driving shaft 10 is rotationally moved from the maximum left rotation position or the maximum right rotation position to the maximum right rotation position or the maximum left rotation position, so that the second lens 12 is moved relative to the first lens 11 in the triangular strip. It is designed to slide rightward or leftward in the figure by one pitch of 13. The integrated first and second lenses 11 and 12 are attached to the front surface of a light source such as headlight (not shown), and the light emitted from the light source is emitted from the second lens 12. After passing through the first lens 11, the light passes through the first lens 11 and is irradiated to the outside. Further, the clock signal sent from the oscillator 6 is inputted to the reset terminals of the prescaler 3 and the counter 4 in FIG. 2 via the inverter 14, and the prescaler 3 and the counter 4 send from the oscillator 6. It is designed to be reset at the falling edge of the clock signal. The position of the output terminal of the decoder 7, which is at the "0" level, is sequentially moved from the output terminal 70 to the output terminal 79 as the latch data value held by the latch circuit 5 increases. It goes without saying that even after the increase, the decrease or the increase after the decrease is such that the terminals are successively moved down or up to the adjacent terminals.

Next, the operation of the vehicle lamp system thus configured will be described. That is, if it is assumed that the vehicle starts traveling with the headlight turned on, a vehicle speed signal corresponding to the traveling speed is input to the prescaler 3 via the vehicle speed sensor 1 and the waveform shaping circuit 2. As a result, the prescaler 3 sends out an overflow signal each time the number of pulses of the input vehicle speed signal reaches a predetermined number of pulses, and the counter 4 updates the counter value each time the overflow signal is sent out. Then, at the rising edge of the clock signal sent from the oscillator 6, the count value in the counter 4 is fetched by the latch circuit 5 and latched. on the other hand,
The prescaler 3 and the counter 4 are reset at the falling edge of the clock signal sent by the oscillator 6, so that the counter 4 again counts the overflow signal sent by the plus scaler 3 from zero. Then, the count value is taken into the latch circuit 5 at the rising edge of the next clock signal sent from the oscillator 6. That is, the number of overflow signals counted by the counter 4 is fetched by the latch circuit 5 for each cycle of the clock signal sent from the oscillator 6, and becomes new latch data. It goes without saying that the number of overflow signals sent by the prescaler 3 in one cycle of the clock signal sent by the oscillator 6 increases as the vehicle speed increases. And increase.

On the other hand, the decoder 7 selects a predetermined output terminal among the output terminals 70 to 79 based on the latch data held by the latch circuit 5 and sets its level to "0" level. That is,
As the latch data value in the latch circuit 5 increases, the output terminal positions at the "0" level are sequentially output terminal 70.
It goes up to the output terminal 79, and for example, when the latch data exceeds the traveling speed of 10 km / h, the output terminal 71 becomes "0".
When the level becomes 20 Km / h or more, the output terminal 72 becomes the "0" level. Similarly, every time the speed increases by 10 km / h, the signal position of "0" level advances to the adjacent output terminal, and when the traveling speed exceeds 90 km / h, the output terminal 79 becomes "0" level. Now, assuming that the vehicle speed is 10 km / h or less, the decoder 7 sets the level of its output terminal 70 to "0" level. That is, at this time, the output terminals 71 to 79 are at the "1" level, and the coils 851 and 861 of the relays 85 and 86 are in the illustrated state.
Current does not flow into the motor 89, and therefore the motor 89 is not supplied with power, and the lens drive shaft 10 does not rotate. That is, the rotation position of the lens drive shaft 10 at this time is the maximum left rotation position,
The slide position of the second lens 12 that slides in conjunction with the rotation of the drive shaft 10 is in the state shown in FIG. Therefore, the light of the light source passing through the triangular strip 13 of the first lens 11 via the concave strip 15 of the second lens 12 is refracted when it exits the triangular strip 13 of the first lens 11. Then, the light of the light source which is irradiated in the left direction in the drawing and passes through the concave strip 15 of the first lens 11 through the triangular strip 13 of the second lens 12 is incident on the triangular strip 13 of the second lens 12. When entering the light, it is refracted and is irradiated to the right in the figure. That is, the light of the light source emitted through the first and second lenses 11 and 12 is appropriately dispersed in the left-right direction, and the diffusion angle of the headlight at this time is widened. Therefore, the driver can drive while paying sufficient attention to pedestrians and the like on the road shoulder.

When the vehicle speed increases from this state and exceeds 20 km / h,
The level of the output terminal 72 of the decoder 7 becomes "0" level, the coil 851 of the relay 85 has a sliding contact 84f and a conductor pattern.
The current flows through the path of 82 and the output terminal 84b. By energizing the coil 851, the common terminal 852c of the normally open / normally closed contact 852 and the normally open contact terminal 852a are brought into conduction, the DC motor 89 rotates, and the lens drive shaft 10 starts rotating to the right. When the lens drive shaft 10 rotates to the right, the slide position of the second lens 12 starts to move to the right, and the sliding substrate 81 causes the conductor patterns 82 and 83 to move.
Rotate to the right while sliding contacts 84a to 84g are in sliding contact with. When the sliding contact 84b is separated from the conductor pattern 82, the energization of the coil 85 of the relay 85 is released, and the common terminal 852c and the normally open contact terminal 852a of the normally open / normally closed contact 852 are released.
And become non-conductive, and the power supply to the DC motor 89 is cut off. The DC motor 89 stops slightly after rotating due to inertia,
The sliding substrate 81 has a facing gap 81a between the conductor patterns 82 and 83.
It stops with the sliding contact 84b arranged in the approximate center. Similarly, as the vehicle speed increases, the signal position of the "0" level sent from the decoder 7 is output terminals 73, 74 ... 7
The DC motor 89 intermittently rotates, and the slide position of the second lens 12 moves stepwise to the right.

FIG. 1 (b) shows the second case when the vehicle speed exceeds 30 Km / h and the level of the output terminal 73 of the decoder 7 becomes "0" level.
Shows the slide position of the lens 12, and shows the light of the light source passing through the triangular strip 13 of the first lens 11 and the concave strip 15 of the second lens 12 via the triangular strip 13 of the second lens 12. The light from the light source that passes through the concave strip 15 of the first lens 11 is emitted in the front direction, and the amount of light emitted in the left and right directions is reduced. That is, as the slide position of the second lens 12 moves to the right, the amount of light emitted in the left and right directions gradually decreases, and the amount of light emitted in the front direction gradually increases. become. Then, when the vehicle speed exceeds 50 km / h and the level of the output terminal 75 of the decoder 7 becomes "0" level, the lens drive shaft 10 reaches the maximum right rotation position,
As shown in FIG. 1 (c), the slide position of the second lens 12 is a position moved to the right by one pitch of the triangular strip 13 with respect to the position in FIG. 1 (a). At this time, almost all of the light from the light source passing through the first and second lenses 11 and 12 is irradiated in the front direction, and thereafter, the vehicle speed increases and the output of the decoder 7 becomes the "0" level. Even if the terminal position moves up to the output terminals 76, 77, ... 79, the second slide position maintains the state shown in FIG. 1 (c). That is, the diffusion angle of the headlight becomes gradually narrower as the vehicle speed increases, and the irradiation distance to the distant portion increases accordingly, so that the visibility of the driver's vehicle during high-speed traveling can be sufficiently secured. Of course, even when the vehicle speed decreases, the position of the output terminal of the decoder 7 which is at the "0" level is sequentially lowered this time, and the current flows through the coil 861 of the relay 86 so that the lens drive shaft 10 moves. It goes without saying that the headlamp will rotate counterclockwise, and the diffusion angle of the headlight will gradually increase as the vehicle speed decreases. In addition, even if the vehicle speed decreases after the vehicle speed increases or increases after the vehicle speed decreases, the divergence angle of the headlights may be gradually decreased or increased, and an appropriate divergence angle corresponding to the vehicle speed at that time can be obtained. Needless to say.

In the present embodiment, the position of the output terminal of the decoder 7 at the "0" level is moved up every 10 Km / h, but the position is not limited to every 10 Km / h, and may be set for any vehicle speed. Further, the diffusion angle may not be necessarily changed stepwise but may be continuously changed. Further, although the triangular strips 13 formed on the first and second lenses 11 and 12 are arranged at equal intervals, the central portion is made sparse and the density is increased toward both sides. This makes it possible to change the diffusion angle of the headlight while ensuring a sufficient irradiation amount in the front direction.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the vehicle lamp system of the present invention, the second lens moves in the vehicle width direction as the vehicle speed increases, and the dispersion range of the emitted light becomes narrower. The divergence angle becomes narrow, the irradiation distance to the distant point increases as the vehicle speed increases, and the safety during high-speed traveling can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a sliding positional relationship of a prismatic lens used in a vehicle lamp system according to the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment of this vehicle lamp system. 1 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 4 ... Counter, 5 ... Latch circuit, 7 ... Decoder, 8 ... Lens drive circuit, 10 ... Lens drive shaft, 11 ... First lens, 12 ... Second Lens, 13 ... triangular strip, 15 ... concave strip.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lamp system for a vehicle, wherein a diffusion angle of a lighting means is narrowed as a vehicle speed increases, and a first lens having a prism portion and a transparent portion repeatedly formed in a vehicle width direction. The second lens, which is formed by repeatedly forming a prism portion and a transparent portion similarly to the first lens and is arranged symmetrically back to back with the first lens, and the second lens depending on the vehicle speed. And a diffusion angle varying means for changing the diffusion angle by moving the lamp in a direction.