JPH09288904A - Vehicle headlamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To utilize wasted reflected light for light distribution. SOLUTION: A reflecting surface 35 at the top wall 31 of a reflector 3 is made convex. As a result, light incident on and reflected by the convex reflecting surface 35 at the top wall 31 of the reflector 3 is controlled in diffusion in the upward and horizontal directions as compared with conventional reflected light. The amount of incident light increases, and the conventionally wasted light reflected from the reflecting surface 35 at the top wall 31 of the reflector 3 can be utilized for light distribution. Therefore, accumulation of light is avoided, appearance is enhanced, and the need for a shade is eliminated, resulting in the reduced number of part items. In the case of a vehicle with a high mounting position that allows viewing even the space just in front of it, e.g. a one-box car, the space in front of it can be illuminated rightly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular headlight such as a fog lamp or a headlamp, and particularly to a vehicle for which the wasted light reflected from the reflecting surface of the reflector upper wall can be used for light distribution. It concerns headlights.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a vehicle headlamp of this type includes a housing, a lens arranged in front of the housing,
The lamp includes a lamp chamber defined by the housing and a lens, a light source bulb disposed in the lamp chamber, and a reflector disposed in the lamp chamber and reflecting light from the light source bulb to the lens side. This reflector has a hollow shape integrally formed with a rear wall and a side wall such as an upper wall. Reflective surfaces are provided on the inner surfaces of the side walls such as the rear wall and the upper wall of the reflector. When the light source bulb is turned on, the light from the light source bulb is reflected by the reflecting surface of the rear wall of the reflector, and the reflected light is emitted to the outside through a lens in a predetermined light distribution pattern.

[0003]

The above-mentioned vehicle headlight tends to have a horizontally long rectangular shape when viewed from the front because of its design. In this case, in the reflector, the distance between the upper wall and the lower wall becomes small. For this,
Especially, the amount of light from the light source bulb incident on the reflecting surface of the upper wall of the reflector increases. However, in the above-described conventional vehicle headlamp, since the reflecting surface of the upper wall forms a horizontal plane, the reflected light that is incident on and reflected by the reflecting surface of the upper wall is not directly controlled and passes through the lens to the road surface. The light is radiated as a light reservoir from about 0.5 m to 1.5 m in front of the upper vehicle body (direction of travel of the vehicle). As a result, the reflected light from the reflecting surface of the upper wall, which has an increased amount of incident light, cannot be used in light distribution and is wasted.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional vehicle headlamp, there is a problem in appearance because a light pool is generated at a position of about 0.5 m to 1.5 m on the front side from the vehicle body. In order to solve the appearance problem due to this light pool, a shade that blocks the light from the light source bulb from entering the reflecting surface of the upper wall may be provided, but in this case a new shade such as an increase in the number of parts There is a problem.

Further, in the above-described conventional vehicle headlight, in the case of a vehicle such as a one-box car in which the mounting position is high and the front side is visible, the front side light is insufficient from the light reservoir position.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle headlamp that can utilize the light reflected from the reflecting surface of the reflector upper wall, which has been wasted, in the light distribution.

[0007]

The present invention is characterized in that the reflecting surface of the reflector upper wall is a convex curved surface. As a result, the reflected light that is incident and reflected on the reflective surface of the upper wall that forms the convex curved surface is diffusion-controlled in the upward and leftward directions as compared with the reflected light that is incident and reflected on the reflective surface of the upper wall that forms the flat surface. Therefore, in the vehicle headlamp of the present invention, the amount of incident light increases and the light reflected from the reflecting surface of the upper wall, which has been wasted until now, can be used for light distribution.

Further, in the vehicle headlamp of the present invention,
Since the light reflected from the reflecting surface of the upper wall can be used for light distribution, it is possible to eliminate the light pool generated at a position of about 0.5 m to 1.5 m on the front side from the vehicle body, and improve the appearance. Moreover, since the light reservoir is eliminated and the appearance is improved, it is not necessary to provide a shade for blocking the light from the light source bulb from entering the reflecting surface of the upper wall, and the number of parts is reduced accordingly. You can Moreover, in the case of a vehicle such as a one-box car in which the vehicle is installed at a high mounting position and can be seen in the front side, the front side can be illuminated brightly.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, two examples of embodiments of a vehicle headlamp of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of a vehicle headlamp according to the present invention. This example describes a reflector movable type vehicle headlamp.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a housing made of synthetic resin, for example. Openings 10 and 11 are provided on the front and rear of the housing 1, respectively. The front opening 10 is provided with a seal recess 12.

In the figure, 2 is a lens. This lens 2 has a dish shape, and a sealing leg 20 is formed around the entire circumference of the opening.
Are provided integrally. The seal leg 20 of this lens 2
In the seal recess 12 of the housing 1 is hot melt or the like 21
Is sealed and the lamp chamber 14 is defined.

In the figure, 3 is a reflector. The reflector 3 is made of, for example, a thermosetting resin (BMC) or the like. The reflector 3 is arranged in the lamp chamber 14 so as to be rotatable and tiltable by a pivot bearing or the like (not shown). The reflector 3 includes a rear wall 30, an upper wall 31 and a lower wall 3.
2 and the side walls of the left and right side walls 33 are integrally formed into a hollow shape and have a horizontally long rectangular shape when viewed from the front. A reflective surface 34 is provided on the inner surface of the rear wall 30. The reflecting surface 34 is composed of, for example, a reflecting surface element group divided into a large number of blocks on a paraboloid of revolution. A reflection surface 35 is also provided on the inner surfaces of the side walls 31, 32, 33. Of the side walls, the reflecting surface 35 of the upper wall 31 has a rear wall 30 and an upper wall 31.
A radius R centered on a substantially vertical line L passing through the boundary 36 between
It is composed of a convex spherical surface (about 500 mm in this example). Openings 37 are formed on the front and rear of the reflector 3.
And 38 are provided respectively.

In the figure, 4 is a light source bulb. The light source bulb 4 includes a glass tube 40 enclosing a filament 44, a cylindrical base 41 integrally provided at a rear portion of the glass tube 40, and a flange 42 provided at an intermediate portion of the base 41. And a terminal 43 protruding rearward from the rear end of the base 41. The glass bulb 40 of the light source bulb 4 thus formed is inserted from the rear opening 11 of the housing 1 and the rear opening 38 of the reflector 3 to the reflecting surfaces 34 and 35 of the reflector 3, and the collar portion 42 of the light source bulb 4 is reflected. The light source bulb 4 is detachably attached to the reflector 3 by the attachment spring 5 while being brought into contact with the peripheral edge of the rear opening 38 of the light source bulb 3.

In the figure, 7 is a so-called rubber cover waterproof cover. The peripheral edge of the waterproof cover 7 is detachably and watertightly attached to the peripheral edge of the rear opening 11 of the housing 1 by a mounting cap 8. Then, the central boss portion of the waterproof cover 7 is attached to the base 41 of the light source bulb 4. It is configured to be watertightly fitted to prevent water from entering the lamp chamber 14 from the rear opening 11 of the housing 1.

Thus, the filament 4 of the light source bulb 4
4 is turned on, the filament 44 of the light source bulb 4
The light from is incident on the reflecting surface 34 of the rear wall 30 of the reflector 3 and is reflected, and the reflected light is emitted to the outside through the lens 2 in a predetermined light distribution pattern. On the other hand, the light from the light source bulb 4 is incident on and reflected by the reflecting surface 35 of the upper wall 31 of the reflector 3, and the reflected light (solid arrow in FIGS. 3 and 4) is diffused in the upward and leftward and rightward directions. The light is emitted to the outside through the lens 2.

At this time, in the vehicle headlamp according to the present invention, the reflecting surface 35 of the upper wall 31 has the rear wall 30 and the upper wall 31.
Since it is composed of a convex spherical surface having a radius R centered on a substantially vertical line L passing through the boundary 36 between the and, the reflected light (solid arrow in FIGS. 3 and 4) in the vehicle headlamp of the present invention is In comparison with the reflected light (broken line arrow in FIGS. 3 and 4) in the conventional vehicle headlamp in which the reflecting surface of the upper wall is composed of a horizontal plane, the upward direction, for example, about 12 ° and the lateral direction, for example, The diffusion is controlled to about 12 °, and the light is irradiated to the outside through the lens 2.

As described above, in the vehicle headlamp of the present invention in this embodiment, the reflected light from the reflecting surface 35 of the upper wall 31 which has been increased in the amount of incident light and wasted until now is distributed on the light distribution. Available.

Further, in the vehicle headlamp of the present invention in this embodiment, since the reflected light from the reflecting surface 35 of the upper wall 31 can be utilized for light distribution, about 0.5 m on the front side from the vehicle body.
It is possible to eliminate the light accumulation that occurs at a position of up to 1.5 m and improve the appearance. Moreover, since the light accumulation is eliminated and the appearance is improved, it is not necessary to provide a shade for blocking the light from the light source bulb 4 from entering the reflection surface 35 of the upper wall 31, and the number of parts is reduced accordingly. Can be promoted.
Moreover, in the case of a vehicle such as a one-box car in which the vehicle is installed at a high mounting position and can be seen in the front side, the front side can be illuminated brightly.

5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the vehicle headlamp according to the present invention. In the figure, the same symbols as those in FIGS. 1 to 4 indicate the same components.

In the vehicle headlamp of the present invention in this embodiment, a plurality of diffusive reflecting surface elements (so-called semi-cylindrical reflecting elements) are formed on the reflecting surface 39 of the upper wall 31. The vertical boundary lines of the plurality of reflective surface elements 39 of the upper wall 31 and the vertical boundary lines of the uppermost reflective element of the reflective surface element group 34 of the rear wall 30 are matched.

Since the vehicle headlamp of the present invention in this embodiment has the above-described structure, it is possible to achieve the same effect as that of the first embodiment. Especially,
In the vehicle headlamp of the present invention in this embodiment, a plurality of diffusing reflective surface elements are formed on the reflective surface 39 of the upper wall 31, so that the vehicle headlight of the present invention is provided as shown in FIG. The light reflected by the lamp (solid arrow) is diffused and controlled in the left-right direction, for example, about 30 °, as compared with the light reflected by the conventional vehicle headlight (broken arrow).

Further, the vehicle headlamp of the present invention in this embodiment is provided with a plurality of reflecting surface elements 3 of the upper wall 31.
9 vertical boundary lines and the reflective surface element group 3 of the rear wall 30
Since the vertical boundary line of the uppermost reflective element among the four is matched, the vehicle headlamp of the present invention looks good when viewed from the front.

In the above-described embodiment, the reflecting surface 34 of the rear wall 30 is composed of a reflecting surface element group which is divided into a large number of blocks on the paraboloid of revolution. It may be composed of one reflecting surface of a paraboloid of revolution.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the reflecting surface 35 of the upper wall 31 has the boundary 3 between the rear wall 30 and the upper wall 31.
Although it is composed of a convex spherical surface having a center O on a substantially vertical line L passing through 6, it is convex if it can be controlled so that the reflected light from the reflecting surface 35 of the upper wall 31 can be used for light distribution. The reflecting surface may be a curved surface.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above, the vehicular headlamp of the present invention can utilize the reflected light from the reflecting surface of the reflector upper wall, which has been wasted, in the light distribution.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a vehicle headlamp of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional explanatory view showing the difference in the optical path of the reflected light on the upper wall of the vehicle headlight of the present invention and the conventional vehicle headlight.

FIG. 4 is a front explanatory view showing the difference in the optical path of the reflected light on the upper wall between the vehicle headlight of the present invention and the conventional vehicle headlight.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the vehicle headlamp of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a front explanatory view showing the difference in the optical path of reflected light on the upper wall between the vehicle headlight of the present invention and the conventional vehicle headlight.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing, 14 ... Lamp room, 2 ... Lens, 3 ... Reflector, 30 ... Rear wall, 31 ... Upper wall, 32 ... Lower wall, 3
3 ... Left and right side wall portions, 34 ... Reflecting surface of rear wall, 35 ... Reflecting surface of upper wall, 36 ... Boundary between rear wall and upper wall, 39 ... Reflective surface elements of a plurality of diffusing systems on the upper wall, 4 ... Light source bulb, 5 ... Mounting spring, 7 ... Waterproof cover, 8 ... Mounting cap.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A housing, a lens disposed in front of the housing, a lamp chamber defined by the housing and the lens, and a light source bulb disposed in the lamp chamber.
A reflector for arranging the light in the lamp chamber and reflecting light from the light source bulb toward the lens side, and a vehicle headlamp provided with the reflector, the reflector including a side wall such as a rear wall and an upper wall, A vehicle headlamp, wherein reflecting surfaces are provided on the inner surfaces of the rear wall and the upper wall, and the reflecting surfaces of the upper wall are convex curved surfaces. 2. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of diffusing reflective surface elements are formed on the reflective surface of the upper wall. 3. The reflection surface of the rear wall is composed of a reflection surface element group divided into a plurality of blocks, and the vertical boundary line of the reflection surface element group of the rear wall and a plurality of reflection surface elements of the upper wall. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 2, wherein a vertical boundary line of the vehicle headlight is matched.