JPH10181422A - Vehicular automatic lighting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dispense with the flickering phenomenon of an instrument light occurring when power source is inputted to an operation circuit with a lighting switch left in an automatic operating position or when the lighting switch is switched to a manual operating position from the automatic operating position or vice versa and the phenomen of a vehicle light going off for a moment while the lighting switch is operated. SOLUTION: The vehicular automatic lighting device is equipped with an operation circuit 21 for controlling a vehicle external light 3 and an instrument light 41 corresponding to illumination signals from a lighting switch 1 operating position and an illuminance sensor 22. The operation circuit 21 includes functions to retain emission brightness of the instrument light 41 in an extinctive condition from the time the power source is inputted to the time illumination judgement is started and to retain at least one of the respective lights 3, 41 in a lighted condition for a short time while the lighting switch 1 is switched over from a manual operating position to an automatic operating position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic lighting device for a vehicle in which a lighting circuit of a vehicle is controlled by an arithmetic circuit in accordance with an operating position of a lighting switch and an illuminance signal from an illuminance sensor. The present invention relates to an auto light device for a vehicle which eliminates a problem that a headlight is turned off or a false light is turned off depending on a state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional device of this type, there is, for example, a vehicle light control device disclosed in JP-A-59-140140. This prior art proposes a technique for preventing driving of a vehicle lamp from suddenly turning off due to a failure of a control circuit, thereby ensuring driving safety, and more specifically, a power supply for a fuel-safe circuit independent of the control circuit. And the lighting safe is maintained by this fail-safe circuit, thereby preventing sudden turning off of the lighting.

[0003] As this type of vehicular auto light device, there is a type in which an illumination lamp is controlled using an arithmetic circuit.
This is an operation circuit in which a lighting switch having an automatic operation position and a manual operation position and an illuminance sensor that derives an illuminance signal corresponding to the illuminance outside the vehicle are connected, and the operation position of the lighting switch and the illuminance signal from the illuminance sensor In response to this, the vehicle exterior lamps (tail lamps, headlamps, etc.) and the instrument lamps (meters, navigators, etc.) are controlled.

The arithmetic circuit is in a reset state immediately after the power is turned on until the clock oscillation source for proceeding with the processing steps of the arithmetic circuit is stabilized, and thereafter, when the clock oscillation source is stabilized and the reset state is released. Initial setting (initialization) is performed. When the initial setting is completed, the I / O port connected to the illuminance sensor is opened, and the illuminance signal is read to start illuminance determination. Then, when it is determined that the illuminance determined from the illuminance signal is the vehicle exterior lamp lighting level, a lighting flag is set, and when it is determined that the illuminance is the unlit level, the lighting flag is turned off.

At this time, when the lighting switch is in the manual operation position, the vehicle exterior lighting and the like are directly turned on by the lighting switch regardless of the state of the lighting flag in the arithmetic circuit. On the other hand, when the lighting switch is in the automatic operation position, when the lighting flag in the arithmetic circuit is turned on, the arithmetic circuit turns on the exterior lighting and dimming control of the instrument lighting. And turns off the instrument lighting.

[0006]

However, when the arithmetic circuit is turned on while the lighting switch is being switched to the automatic operation position, or when the lighting switch is switched between the manual operation position and the automatic operation position, the meter is not operated. There was a problem that the light emission luminance of the kind of illumination lamp changed and flickering occurred.

For example, when the ignition switch is turned to the automatic operation position at night, the ignition switch is turned on.
When the power is supplied to the arithmetic circuit by operating N, the arithmetic circuit does not turn on the exterior lamp until the arithmetic circuit finishes the initial setting and starts illuminance determination as described above. It is in a dimmed state. Thereafter, when the illuminance determination is started and the lighting flag is turned on, the arithmetic circuit turns on the exterior lighting, and accordingly the instrument lighting is in a dimmed state.

In addition, for example, when the lighting switch is switched to the automatic operation position, the arithmetic circuit performs a plurality of confirmation processings to confirm whether the automatic operation switching signal is actually input from the lighting switch in order to eliminate malfunction caused by noise. During this time, the control of the exterior lighting is not performed, and accordingly the instrument lighting is in the non-dim state. After that, when the illuminance determination is started and the lighting flag is set, the arithmetic circuit turns on the exterior lighting,
As a result, the instrument lamps are dimmed. That is, under such a state, the instrument illuminating lamp has a change in light emission illuminance between a non-dimming state and a dimming state, that is, a flicker phenomenon has occurred.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to turn on the power to the arithmetic circuit with the lighting switch being switched to the automatic operation position, or to switch the lighting switch between the manual operation position and the automatic operation position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular auto light device that eliminates a flicker phenomenon of an instrument illumination light generated when a switching operation is performed and eliminates a phenomenon that an exterior illumination light is momentarily turned off when a lighting switch is switched. It was done.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 first derives a lighting switch having an automatic operation position and a manual operation position and an illuminance signal corresponding to the illuminance outside the vehicle. A vehicle comprising: an illuminance sensor; and an arithmetic circuit connected to the illuminance sensor and the lighting switch, and an arithmetic circuit for controlling an exterior light and an instrument illuminator in accordance with an operation position of the lighting switch and an illuminance signal from the illuminance sensor. In the autolight device, the arithmetic circuit has a function of temporarily holding at least one control state of each of the illumination lamps at least at the time of turning on the power to the arithmetic circuit and at the time of switching operation of the lighting switch. The present invention provides a vehicle auto light device characterized by the following.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an auto light for a vehicle, wherein the arithmetic circuit has a function of maintaining the emission luminance of the instrument illuminating lamp from power-on to illuminance determination start. Provide equipment.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the arithmetic circuit is provided with a function of holding the emission luminance of the instrument lamp in a dimmed state from the time when the power is turned on until the start of the illuminance determination. Provided is an auto light device for a vehicle.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, at least one of the illumination lamps is operated when the lighting switch is switched between a manual operation position and an automatic operation position.
An automatic light device for a vehicle is provided, wherein the arithmetic circuit has a function of temporarily holding two control states.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the arithmetic circuit includes a function of temporarily holding at least one of the illumination lamps in a lighting state when the lighting switch is switched from a manual operation position to an automatic operation position. The present invention provides an automatic light device for a vehicle, comprising:

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an electric block diagram according to an embodiment. In the figure, the configuration denoted by reference numeral 1 is a lighting switch, 2 is an auto light controller, 3 is an exterior light, 4 is an instrument, 5 Is a key switch,
6 is a tail relay, 7 is a head relay, and 8 is a DC power supply. Hereinafter, each configuration will be described.

First, the lighting switch 1 is a composite switch in which a tilting lever (not shown) and a rotary knob (not shown) provided at the end of the lever are combined. The lighting switch 1 includes an auto switch unit 11 that is turned on when the knob is operated to an auto operation position (AUTO), a small switch unit 12 that is turned on when the knob is operated to a first stage (SMALL) of a manual operation position, To the two-step (HE
AD) The head switch unit 13 which is turned ON when operated.
And

When the lever is moved to the passing operation position, the passing switch unit 14 is turned on. When the lever is switched between the main operation position and the dimmer operation position, the movable contacts P1, P2 are connected to the main contacts M1, M2.
Dimmer contact D
1, D2 connected to main and dimmer changeover switches 15, 16. The lighting switch 1
Are connected to the auto light controller 2, the exterior lamp 3, the tail relay 6, and the head relay 7.

Next, the auto light controller 2 will be described. The auto light controller 2 is built in a synthetic resin case to form a unit, and is attached to a lower portion of an installation panel of the vehicle. The auto light controller 2 includes an arithmetic circuit 21, an illuminance sensor 2
2. Watchdog circuit 23, oscillation source 24, constant voltage source 2
5, connected by inverting amplifier circuits 26, 28, 29 and relay drive circuit 27.

The arithmetic circuit 21 is connected to the illuminance sensor 22 and the lighting switch 1, and switches the exterior lamp 3 and the instrument lamp 41 according to the operation position of the lighting switch 1 and the illuminance signal from the illuminance sensor 22. This is controlled by, for example, a one-chip microcomputer. The arithmetic circuit 21 includes a RAM 211 for storing various data such as an illuminance signal read from the illuminance sensor 22 and flags used in the process of processing, and a ROM 212 for storing a program as shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. And the CP executing the arithmetic processing
U213.

The arithmetic circuit 21 has a function of maintaining the light emission luminance of the instrument illuminating lamp 41 in a dimmed state from the time when the power is supplied to the arithmetic circuit 21 by turning on the key switch 5 until the start of the illuminance judgment, and The ROM 212 has a function programmed in the ROM 212 to temporarily hold at least one of the illuminating lights 3 and 41 when the switch 1 is switched from the manual operation position to the automatic operation position.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 is 1 [mSE
C] shows a timer interrupt routine for recognizing an operation signal from the auto switch unit 11 which is executed for each of the C]. Step 1
02, step 1 for determining whether the tail lamp lighting condition is satisfied
03, a step 104 for determining the state of the input port from the auto switch unit 11 again, a step 105 for turning on the tail lamp, and a step 106 for storing that the tail lamp has been turned on.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 shows the main timer interrupt routine. Step 107 for judging a switch input, 1 [mSEC] Steps 108 for judging whether a timer interrupt operation is in progress, 1 [MSE
C] Step 109 for executing the same processing as the timer interrupt
It consists of.

Next, the illuminance sensor 22 is a sensor that derives an illuminance signal corresponding to the illuminance outside the vehicle, and directs the light receiving axis toward the sky via a windshield. The watchdog circuit 23 is a circuit that monitors the operation circuit 21 so that it does not run away. When the operation circuit 21 detects that the operation circuit 21 is in the runaway state from the state of the port (Po) of the operation circuit 21, the watchdog circuit 23 has a reset terminal. There is a function to stop runaway by inputting a reset signal to (RESET). The oscillation source 24 generates a clock pulse for causing the processing steps of the arithmetic circuit 21 to proceed.

The constant voltage source 25 adjusts the voltage input from the DC power supply 8 to a constant voltage and supplies power to the components constituting the arithmetic circuit 21 and the auto light controller 2. The regulator 251, the diode 252, the Zener A diode 253 and a resistor 254 are provided. The inverting amplifier circuits 26, 28 and 29 are existing circuits composed of transistors, inverters and the like. Relay drive circuit 2
Reference numeral 7 denotes a circuit that drives the tail relay 6 and the head relay 7, and includes transistors 271 and 272.

Next, the exterior lamp 3 is composed of main head lamps 31 and 33, dimmer head lamps 32 and 34, and a tail lamp 35. The instruments 4 are composed of meters and navigators, and the instrument lights 4
1 is provided. The instrument illuminating lamp 41 is controlled by the arithmetic circuit 21 so that the emission luminance is bright in a daytime or the like where the illuminance outside the vehicle is bright, that is, in a non-dimming state. Circuit 2
1 is controlled. The key switch 5 is
It comprises a CC switch 51 and an ignition switch 52, and is connected between the DC power supply 8 and the auto light controller 2.

The tail relay 6 comprises a coil 61 and a contact 62. The coil 61 is connected to the inverting amplifier circuit 26 and the relay drive circuit 27 of the auto light controller 2 and to the small switch section 12 of the lighting switch 1. I have. The head relay 7 includes a coil 71 and a contact 7.
The coil 71 is connected to the relay drive circuit 27 of the auto light controller 2 and the head switch unit 13 of the lighting switch 1.

Next, the function and operation of the arithmetic circuit 21 will be described. First, among the functions of the arithmetic circuit 21, a function of maintaining the emission luminance of the instrument lighting 41 in a dimmed state from the time when the key switch 5 is turned on to turn on the power to the arithmetic circuit 21 until the start of the illuminance determination. Will be described with reference to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG.
When the key switch 5 is operated at (T5) to turn on the power to the arithmetic circuit 21, the oscillation source 24 is stabilized at time T2 (T6), and the initial setting is performed from time T2 (T6) to time T3 (T7). Until the illuminance signal is input from the illuminance sensor 22 at the time T3 (T7) and the illuminance determination is started, the emission luminance of the instrument illuminating lamp 41 is maintained in a dimmed state as shown in FIG. Then, when it is determined that the illuminance outside the vehicle is bright at time T4, the emission luminance of the instrument illuminating lamp 41 is set to the non-dimming state as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when it is determined that the illuminance outside the vehicle is dark at the time T8, the emission luminance of the instrument illumination lamp 41 is maintained in the dimmed state as shown in FIG. That is, the lighting switch 1 at night
With the key switch 5 turned to the automatic operation position.
Even if the power is turned on to the arithmetic circuit 21 by operating N, the instrument illumination lamp 41 remains in the dimmed state, and the flicker phenomenon does not occur.

Next, among the functions of the arithmetic circuit 21,
When the lighting switch 1 is switched from the manual operation position to the automatic operation position, the lighting lamps 3 and 41
The function of temporarily holding at least one of the lighting states in the lighting state will be described with reference to FIGS. For example, as shown in FIG.
At time T9, the small switch unit 12 is turned on, at time T10, the auto switch unit 11 is turned off, and
At 13, the auto switch section 11 is turned on, and the time T16
A case in which the switching operation of the lighting switch 1 is performed such that the small switch unit 12 is turned off will be described.

First, when the auto switch unit 11 is turned off at time T10, a timer interrupt routine for auto switch recognition (see FIG. 2) is started as shown in FIG. Then, while the subsequent timer interrupt process is executed a predetermined number of times, the auto switch unit 11
When the ON operation is recognized, an ON signal is output to the transistor 271 of the relay drive circuit 27 and an operation signal is output to the tail relay 6. In the example shown in FIG. 5, since the auto switch unit 11 is turned ON again at time T13, the arithmetic circuit 21 recognizes the ON operation of the auto switch unit 11 and outputs an operation signal to the tail relay 6 at time T15. I have. Therefore, before the small switch section 12 is turned off at the time T16, an operation signal is output from the auto light controller 2 to the tail relay 6, and the tail lamp 35 continues to light. Tail lamp 3
When 5 is lit, the instrument illuminating lamp 41 of the instrument 4 remains in the dimmed state, and the flicker phenomenon does not occur.

When the timer interrupt routine for auto switch recognition (see FIG. 2) is executed from time T20 to time T28 as shown in FIG. 6A, the timer interrupt routine for auto switch recognition is executed. Before entering, as shown in FIG. 6B, another interrupt occurs at time T26 (see FIG. 3).
Does not enter the timer interrupt routine for auto switch recognition until the interrupt processing is completed. At this time, if the switching operation of the lighting switch 1 is performed, the tail lamp may be turned off before the arithmetic circuit 21 recognizes the ON operation of the auto switch. Therefore,
The other interrupt routine (see FIG. 3) is also programmed with a step of timer interrupt processing for auto switch recognition. By doing so, it is possible to always recognize the ON operation of the auto switch.

[0032]

The present invention provides a lighting switch having an automatic operation position and a manual operation position, an illuminance sensor for deriving an illuminance signal corresponding to the illuminance outside the vehicle, a lighting switch connected to the illuminance sensor and the lighting switch, and An operation circuit for controlling the exterior lighting and the instrument lighting according to the operating position of the vehicle and the illumination signal from the illumination sensor.
The arithmetic circuit has a function of temporarily holding at least one control state of each of the illumination lamps at least at the time of turning on the power to the arithmetic circuit and at the time of switching operation of the lighting switch. This has the effect of eliminating the flickering phenomenon of the instrument illuminating lamp that occurs when the power is supplied to the arithmetic circuit while the switching is performed.

Further, the arithmetic circuit is provided with a function of holding the emission luminance of the instrument lighting lamp in a dimmed state from the time when the power is turned on until the start of the illuminance judgment. There is an effect that the flicker phenomenon does not occur at night time when the flicker phenomenon is noticeable.

Further, the arithmetic circuit has a function of temporarily holding at least one control state of each of the lighting lamps when the lighting switch is switched between a manual operation position and an automatic operation position. In addition, the flickering phenomenon of the instrument lighting that occurs when the lighting switch is switched between the manual operation position and the automatic operation position as in the case of switching from the manual operation position to the automatic operation position is eliminated, and the lighting is also eliminated. This has the effect of eliminating the phenomenon that the exterior lamp is momentarily turned off when the switch is switched.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electrical block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the function of the arithmetic circuit shown in FIG. 1, showing a timer interrupt routine for recognizing an operation signal from an auto switch unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a function of the arithmetic circuit shown in FIG. 1 and shows a main timer interrupt routine;

FIG. 4 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in which (A) shows illuminance, (B) shows a power supply, and (C) shows each state of illumination.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are time charts for explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 5A is a small switch, FIG. 5B is an auto switch, FIG. 5C is a tail relay, FIG. E) shows each state of the 1 [mSEC] timer interrupt.

FIG. 6 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the one shown in FIG. 1, where (A) is a 1 [mSEC] timer interrupt,
(B) shows each state of the main timer interrupt routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lighting switch 2 Auto light controller 3 Outside light 4 Instrument 5 Key switch 6 Tail relay 7 Head relay 8 DC power supply 21 Operation circuit 22 Illumination sensor 23 Watchdog circuit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A lighting switch (1) having an automatic operation position and a manual operation position, an illuminance sensor (22) for deriving an illuminance signal according to the illuminance outside the vehicle, the illuminance sensor (22) and the lighting switch (2). An arithmetic circuit (21) that is connected to 1) and controls the exterior lamp (3) and the instrument lamp (41) according to the operating position of the lighting switch (1) and the illuminance signal from the illuminance sensor (22). And at least one of the lighting lamps (3, 41) during power-up of the arithmetic circuit (21) and at least one of switching operations of the lighting switch (1). The arithmetic circuit (21) is provided with a function of temporarily holding two control states, the automatic light device for a vehicle being provided with the function. 2. The arithmetic circuit (21) according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic circuit (21) has a function of maintaining the light emission luminance of the instrument illumination lamp (41) from the time of turning on the power to the start of illuminance determination. An auto light device for a vehicle, comprising: 3. The arithmetic circuit (21) according to claim 2, wherein the function of maintaining the emission luminance of the instrument illuminating lamp (41) in a dimmed state from power-on to illuminance determination start is provided. An auto light device for a vehicle, comprising: 4. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the illumination lamps (3, 41) is operated when the lighting switch (1) is switched between a manual operation position and an automatic operation position. The auto light device for a vehicle, wherein the arithmetic circuit (21) has a function of temporarily holding a control state. 5. The invention according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the illumination lamps (3, 41) is turned on when the lighting switch (1) is switched from a manual operation position to an automatic operation position. The automatic light device for a vehicle, characterized in that the arithmetic circuit (21) is provided with a function to temporarily hold the data.