JPH10226271A - Illuminating direction control device for vehicular lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the illuminating direction of a lamp controllable corresponding to the vehicle running attitude simply by providing a vehicle height detecting means on an axle shaft of either the front wheels or the rear wheels. SOLUTION: With regard to an illuminating direction control device 1 for a vehicular lamp causing to change the illuminating direction of the lamp 6 correspondingly to the vehicle attitude in the proceeding direction, a vehicle height detective means 2 for detecting the height variation of either the front or rear wheel axle shaft of the vehicle and a driving means 5 for directing the illumination light of the lamp 6 to the desirable direction are provided. A vehicle attitude calculation means 3 is also provided to calculate the vehicle standstill attitude based on the detection signals from the vehicle height detecting means 2 as well as to regulate the interrelation between the detection signal of the vehicle running attitude and that of the vehicle height detecting means 2 based on vehicle standstill and to calculate the vehicle running attitude from the detection signals of the vehicle height detecting means 2. An illumination control means 4 corrects the illumination direction of the lamp 6 in accordance with the signal from the vehicle attitude calculation means 2 and a signal to keep it in the standard direction is sent to the driving means 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a vehicle height detecting means for detecting a change in the height of an axle portion of a front wheel or a rear wheel of a vehicle. The present invention relates to an irradiation direction control device for a vehicular lamp that performs the above control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to prevent the direction of light emitted from a lamp attached to a vehicle from becoming unstable due to a change in the posture of the vehicle, a change in the running posture of the vehicle is made so as to cancel the change. A device that constantly corrects the irradiation direction (a so-called auto-leveling device) is known.

For example, a change in the pitching angle (or pitch angle) of a vehicle is determined based on detection signals obtained by vehicle height detection means (vehicle height sensors and the like) attached to the axles of the front and rear wheels of the vehicle. There is a device that controls the irradiation direction of the lamp in response to the request.

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned device, each of the axles of the front and rear wheels of the vehicle has one position.
Since the individual vehicle height detecting means is required, there is a problem in securing the arrangement space and cost.

That is, in the above-mentioned apparatus, at least one or more vehicle height detecting means is required at the axle portion of each wheel before and after the vehicle, but depending on the vehicle, a place for mounting the vehicle height sensor at the axle portion of the front wheel is secured. May not be possible. In addition, attaching a plurality of vehicle height detecting means to the vehicle causes an increase in the number of parts, and causes problems such as a high cost and a long time for mounting work.

If one of the vehicle height detecting means attached to the front and rear axles of the vehicle does not function due to a failure or the like, it becomes impossible to know the posture of the vehicle, and the lighting fixture is not lit. However, there arises a problem that the irradiation direction cannot be determined.

According to the present invention, the illumination direction of the lamp can be controlled in accordance with a change in the attitude of the vehicle only by providing a vehicle height detecting means for one of the axles of the front wheel and the rear wheel of the vehicle. The task is to

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a vehicle height detecting means for detecting a change in the height of an axle of a front wheel or a rear wheel of a vehicle, and a lighting device for illuminating light. Driving means for directing in a desired direction, and calculating the stopping posture of the vehicle based on the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means,
Vehicle attitude calculating means for defining a correlation between the running attitude of the vehicle and the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means based on the stopping attitude, and calculating the running attitude of the vehicle from the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means, And an irradiation control unit for transmitting a signal for correcting the irradiation direction of the lamp to the driving unit in accordance with a signal from the vehicle posture calculation unit.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by defining the correlation between the running attitude of the vehicle and the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means based on the stopping attitude of the vehicle, the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means can be obtained. It is possible to calculate the running posture of the vehicle and control the irradiation direction of the lamp in accordance with the calculated posture. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a vehicle height detecting means at each axle of the front wheel and the rear wheel of the vehicle.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of a lighting direction control apparatus for a vehicle lamp according to the present invention.

The irradiation direction control device 1 comprises a vehicle height detecting means 2,
The vehicle includes a vehicle attitude calculation unit 3, an irradiation control unit 4, and a driving unit 5. The driving means 5 is controlled by the irradiation control means 4.
As the lamp 6 whose irradiation direction is controlled via the LED, for example, in the case of an automobile lamp, a head lamp, a fog lamp, a cornering lamp, and the like are exemplified.

The vehicle height detecting means 2 is provided for detecting a change in the height of the axle portion of the front wheel or the rear wheel of the vehicle. The detection signal is used as basic information for obtaining the stopping posture and the running posture of the vehicle. It is said.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a method of measuring the distance L between the vehicle height detecting means 2 and the road surface G by using a detection wave such as an ultrasonic wave or a laser beam, an axle of a front wheel or a rear wheel. A vehicle height sensor is provided as the vehicle height detecting means 2 for detecting vertical movement of the section, and a method of detecting the amount of expansion / contraction x of the suspension S by using the vehicle height sensor can be exemplified.

It is preferable that the vehicle height detecting means 2 is attached to an axle portion far from the center of gravity of the vehicle. The reason is, for example, when the center of gravity of the vehicle is located near the front part, the load accompanying the change in the occupant and the change in the load on the vehicle is greater in the rear wheel axle part than in the front wheel axle part. This is because the change is easily detected and the change is easily detected.

The vehicle attitude calculating means 3 calculates the stopping attitude of the vehicle based on the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2, and calculates the running attitude of the vehicle and the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2 based on the stopping attitude. And the running attitude of the vehicle is calculated from the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2.

That is, the stopping posture and the running posture of the vehicle can be originally obtained by calculating the pitching angle from the change in the height of the axle portion before and after the vehicle. In the configuration of FIG. 1, one of the front wheels and the rear wheels of the vehicle is used. Since the vehicle height detecting means 2 is provided only for the axle portion of the vehicle, the attitude of the vehicle cannot be known from the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2 as it is.

However, if the correlation between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2 and the attitude of the vehicle can be defined in advance, the stopping attitude and the running attitude of the vehicle are calculated from the detection signals of the vehicle height detecting means 2. be able to.

In the following, the calculation of the vehicle attitude is described as follows.
The description is divided into two cases.

(I) Calculation of stopping posture (ii) Calculation of running posture

First, the stopping posture of (i) changes depending on the load conditions such as the number and arrangement of occupants in the vehicle, the loading location of the load, the load amount, and the like. A static correlation between the signal and a state quantity (for example, a pitching angle) indicating the stopping posture of the vehicle is determined in advance. In addition, this "static" means that the vehicle is stopped.

FIG. 3 shows the amount of change in the height of the axle portion (for example, the axle portion of the rear wheel) detected by the vehicle height detection means 2 (this is referred to as "Δh") on the horizontal axis, and the stopping posture of the vehicle. The vertical axis represents the pitching angle (which is referred to as “p”), which indicates an example of the correlation between the two under a certain load condition.

In this example, when the relationship between Δh and p is a straight line L having a negative slope, ie, the slope and the intercept of the P axis are “a” and “b”, respectively, The expression "p =
a · Δh + b ”. Therefore, for example, if the value of Δh at the time of stopping is “Δho”, the corresponding p value (this is described as “po”) is obtained as “po = a · Δho + b”.

Since such a correlation equation varies depending on various load conditions, in order to accurately know the stopping posture of the vehicle, information on the load distribution of the vehicle (for example, by sitting in a passenger seat or a rear seat). Weight, distribution of cargo, etc.)
Attaching a large number of such sensors may cause an increase in cost and may be contrary to the purpose of the present invention of reducing the number of parts, so that considering the load condition assumed for the vehicle, the number of sensors should be as small as possible. It is desirable to prepare a correlation equation. For example, it is preferable to use an average correlation formula or the like located between the correlation formula when the load condition is the maximum and the correlation formula when the load condition is the minimum as a practical relation formula. .

Although the correlation shown in FIG. 3 is represented by a straight line represented by a linear equation, it is generally represented by a curve. In this case, the linear approximation is performed for each predetermined range. , Or a predetermined function conversion with respect to the vertical and horizontal axes (for example,
It is preferable from the viewpoint of simplifying the posture calculation process that the correlation is represented by a linear expression by performing logarithmic transformation.

The stopping posture calculating means 7 shown in FIG. 1 preliminarily defines the above-mentioned static correlation equation between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2 and the stopping posture of the vehicle. The stop posture of the vehicle can be calculated from the detection signal of the vehicle height detection means 2 obtained before traveling of the vehicle based on the above-mentioned correlation equation.

It should be noted that whether or not the vehicle is stopped is determined by
It can be performed based on a detection signal of a vehicle speed detecting means (included in a running state detecting means to be described later). Operation signals, etc.) can also be used.

Next, the running posture of (ii) changes mainly based on the acceleration of the vehicle irrespective of the number of occupants and the amount of load in the vehicle. Negative correlation is observed with each other. Therefore, if a dynamic correlation between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2 and a state quantity (for example, a pitching angle) indicating the traveling posture of the vehicle is obtained under the traveling conditions of the vehicle, the vehicle that changes every moment is obtained. It is possible to capture the running posture of the vehicle. still,
This “dynamic” means that the vehicle is running.

FIG. 4 is a graph in which the abscissa represents the height change amount Δh of the axle portion detected by the vehicle height detecting means 2 and the ordinate represents the pitching angle (this is referred to as “P”) indicating the running posture of the vehicle. 1 shows an example of the correlation between the two.

In this example, when the relationship between Δh and P is a straight line G having a negative slope, that is, the slope and the intercept of the P axis are “A” and “B”, respectively, the linear equation “ P = A
Δh + B ”. For example, assuming that the height change amount Δh of the axle portion during traveling of the vehicle is “Δh1”, the pitching angle at that time is P = P1 = A · Δh1 + B
It is.

The linear expression is a reference point (referred to as "Qo") specified by a combination of the pitching angle po indicating the stopping posture and the detected value Δho of the vehicle height detecting means 2 at that time. .) And a straight line having a predetermined slope “A”. Therefore, the straight line G is the reference point Qo
"P-po = A · (Δh-Δh
o) ”and the above expression“ P = A · Δh + B ”, it can be seen that the intercept B is“ B = po−A · Δho ”.

That is, the dynamic correlation between the pitching angle P and the height change amount Δh of the axle portion is such that the inclination A is substantially constant irrespective of the load condition of the vehicle, and The intercept B is defined by a linear expression defined by the position of the reference point Qo indicating the stopping posture before the vehicle travels. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. The reference point indicating the immediately preceding stopping posture is from point Qo to point Qo '.
(Δho ′, po ′), the point Q
The correlation between P and Δh, that is, the correlation between the running posture and the vehicle height change, is defined by a straight line G ′ passing through o ′ and parallel to the straight line G. For example, a vehicle has two occupants in the front seat and one in the rear seat.
A straight line G indicates the correlation when there are two occupants, and a straight line G 'indicates the correlation when one more person gets on the rear seat and luggage is loaded on the rear trunk from this state. Just think.

Although the dynamic correlation shown in FIG. 4 is represented by a straight line represented by a linear expression, it is generally represented by a curve. Or by performing a predetermined function conversion (for example, logarithmic conversion or the like) on the vertical axis or the horizontal axis so that the correlation is represented by a linear expression. It is preferable from the viewpoint of conversion.

The control methods shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 can be summarized in the following manner.

(1) Determination of Static Correlation Equation (p = a · Δh + b) (2) Detection of Vehicle Height at Stop (Δho) (3) Calculation of Stopping Posture (po) and Reference Point (Qo) ( 4) Determination of dynamic correlation equation (P = A · Δh + B) (5) Detection of vehicle height during traveling (Δh1) (6) Determination of traveling posture (P1).

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle attitude calculating means 3 has a running attitude calculating means 8. The running attitude calculating means 8 is based on the stopping attitude of the vehicle calculated by the stopping attitude calculating means 7. The dynamic correlation equation between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means 2 and the running attitude of the vehicle is defined, and the running attitude of the vehicle corresponding to the amount of change in the height of the axle is determined by the correlation equation. Is calculated from

The irradiation control means 4 sends a signal for correcting the irradiation direction of the lamp 6 to the driving means 5 in accordance with a signal from the vehicle attitude calculation means 3. For example, when the vehicle is stopped, The irradiation light of the lamp 6 is directed in a desired direction in accordance with a signal from the stopping posture calculating means 7, or the irradiation light of the lamp 6 is desired in accordance with a signal from the traveling posture calculating means 8 during traveling of the vehicle. The control for turning to the direction is performed.

Regarding the control of the irradiation direction, the following 2
Methods can be mentioned.

(A) A method of directing irradiation light in a predetermined direction as a whole. (B) A method of directing a part of irradiation light in a predetermined direction.

The simplest method of the above (A) is a method of turning the illumination axis of the lamp in a predetermined direction by rotating the entire lamp around its rotation axis. The components of the lamp (for example, reflecting mirrors, lenses, light sources,
A method of controlling the attitude of the light-shielding member or the like to direct the optical axis of the optical system as a whole in a predetermined direction can be mentioned.

In the method (B), in order to partially change the direction of irradiation light, a method of changing only the irradiation axis of a specific lamp in a device including a plurality of lamps (for example, a headlamp in an automobile) , Fog lights,
When a corner lamp is provided, only the irradiation axis of one or two of the three lamps is changed. )
Or a method of controlling the attitude of one or more of the constituent members of the lamp (for example, by forming the reflecting mirror from a fixed reflecting mirror and a movable reflecting mirror and moving the optical axis of the movable reflecting mirror in a desired direction) Etc.).

The above-described control of the irradiation direction is performed based on only the attitude of the vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. Running state detecting means 9 for detecting
It is also possible to change the way of controlling the irradiation direction of the lamp 6 by the irradiation control means 4 according to the running state of the vehicle.

For example, as described above, since the dynamic correlation between the height change amount of the axle portion and the pitching angle mainly relates to the acceleration of the vehicle, the absolute value of the acceleration of the vehicle falls within a predetermined range. In the case where the absolute value of the vehicle acceleration is within a predetermined range, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling at a substantially constant speed when the absolute value of the acceleration of the vehicle is within a predetermined range. In addition, it is possible to perform control such that the illumination direction control of the lamp is not performed or the control range is narrowed according to the change in the running posture, or the response speed of the control is reduced. When the dynamic correlation expression is expressed by a linear expression, the coefficient value (the value of the slope or intercept) of the linear expression may be changed according to the traveling speed or acceleration of the vehicle.

In addition, it is determined on the basis of a detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means that the vehicle is traveling on a rough road having a large amount of unevenness. Do not perform or reduce the control range,
Alternatively, by slowing down the response speed of the control to prevent excessive correction from being applied to the control of the irradiation direction,
Various embodiments are possible.

[0044]

5 to 9 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an irradiation direction control device (auto leveling device) for a vehicle lamp.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the irradiation direction control device 10, and an ECU incorporating a microcomputer is shown in FIG.
(Electronic control unit) 11 includes an on / off instruction signal from a headlamp switch 12, an ignition signal as an engine start signal, a detection signal from a vehicle height sensor 13 attached to an axle portion of a rear wheel of the vehicle, Vehicle speed sensor 1
4 are input.

The vehicle height sensor 13 (see FIG. 6) corresponding to the vehicle height detecting means 2 uses a sensor provided for an electronically controlled air suspension of the rear wheels. 14, ABS (Anti-
A sensor provided on the rear wheel is used for a skid brake system.

The actuator section 15 (15 ') corresponding to the driving means 5 has a motor drive circuit 17 (17') for controlling the rotation of the stepping motor 16 (16 ') according to the control signal output from the ECU 11. have. In addition, “′” attached to the reference sign means that the components related to the irradiation direction control of the headlamp are provided separately for each lamp in consideration of the fact that a pair of headlamps are provided at the front of the vehicle. doing.

An actuator 19 driven by the stepping motor 16 is attached, for example, to the rear surface of the lamp body 20 of the headlamp 18 (the irradiation direction of the lamp is forward), as shown in FIG. By tilting the reflecting mirror 22 in the lamp space defined between the lamp body 20 and the front lens 21 in the vertical plane including the optical axis by the actuator 19, the irradiation direction of the headlamp 18 is directed to a desired direction. Is controlled as follows. The reflecting mirror 22 has a portion near the upper end supported by the lamp body 20 via a ball bearing 23, and a portion near the lower end of the reflecting mirror 22 via a ball bearing 24.
The rotation of the motor shaft of the stepping motor 16 is converted into the movement of the sliding shaft 19a substantially in the front-rear direction (indicated by an arrow F), whereby the reflection mirror 22 and the reflection mirror 22 are rotated. The attached discharge lamp (metal halide lamp or the like) 25 is tilted as shown by arrow C.

When the control section 26 including the ECU 11 is attached to the lamp body 20 as shown in the figure, maintenance and inspection work of the headlamp 18 and the irradiation direction control device 10 can be easily performed.

The structure of the headlamp 18 'is substantially the same as the structure of the headlamp 18. Therefore, the description thereof may be made by adding "" to each symbol in FIG. 7 and the above description. Therefore, description and illustration are omitted.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of main processing in the ECU 11. First, in step S1
It is determined whether or not an instruction to turn on the headlamps 18 and 18 'is issued. That is, it is determined whether to turn on the discharge lamp 25 and to control the irradiation direction of the head lamps 18 and 18 'based on the on / off signal from the head lamp switch 12. If there is an instruction to turn on the lamp, the next step is performed. The process proceeds to S2, but if there is no such instruction, the process ends.

When the headlamps 18 and 18 'are turned on, the ignition signal is referred to in the ECU 11, and the power supply to the discharge lamp 25 is temporarily stopped when the engine of the vehicle is started. In addition, when equipped with an automatic headlamp lighting device (a device that automatically controls the lighting timing of the lamp according to the traveling environment of the vehicle),
The instruction signal of the headlamp switch 12 can be replaced with a control signal sent from the automatic lighting device to the ECU 11 or a logical sum signal of the control signal and the instruction signal of the headlamp switch 12.

In step S2, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is stopped based on the detection signal of the vehicle speed sensor 14. When the vehicle is stopped, the process proceeds to step S3, and when the vehicle is running, the process proceeds to step S7.

After detecting the change in the height of the rear wheel axle by the vehicle height sensor 13 in step S3, the stopping posture of the vehicle is calculated in the next step S4.

FIG. 9 shows a straight line SL indicating a static correlation and a straight line DL indicating a dynamic correlation between the height change amount ΔH detected by the vehicle height sensor 13 and the pitching angle P.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the straight line S, where the detected value of the vehicle height sensor 13 in step S3 is “ΔHa”.
The pitching angle Pa corresponding to ΔHa is obtained from L.

Therefore, the stopping posture of the vehicle is represented by a point Qa in FIG. 9 where ΔHa and Pa are pairs of coordinate values.

In the next step S5, ΔHa and Pa are stored in a predetermined memory in the ECU 11 as reference data.

Then, in the next step S6, the ECU 1
Numeral 1 sends a correction signal corresponding to the calculated pitching angle Pa relating to the stopping posture to the motor drive circuits 17, 17 'to control the irradiation direction of the headlamps 18, 18'. That is, when the vehicle is in a forward-lowering (or front-up) state, the irradiation direction of the headlamps 18 and 18 'is adjusted upward (or downward) to keep the irradiation direction substantially horizontal. After defining the height of the cut line (or cutoff) defining the light-dark boundary in light to be the reference height, the process returns to the first step S1.

The processing in steps S3 to S6 is always performed when the headlamps 18 and 18 'are turned on and the vehicle is stopped.
The value of Pa is updated.

In step S7, after detecting the amount of change in the height of the axle portion of the rear wheel while the vehicle is running, the next step S7 is performed.
In step 8, the running posture of the car is calculated.

As described above, the dynamic correlation is represented by the straight line DL shown in FIG. 9, and since the straight line DL passes through the point Qa and has the predetermined slope "A", the straight line DL has a predetermined slope "A". Assuming that the detected value of the vehicle height sensor 13 is “ΔHb”, the pitching angle Pb corresponding to ΔHb from the straight line DL
Is required. That is, “DHba = ΔHb−ΔH
a ”and“ ΔPba = Pb−Pa ”,“ A = ΔP
ba / DHba ”, the value of the slope A is defined in advance, and pitching during traveling is performed by the arithmetic expression“ ΔPba = A · DHba ”, that is,“ Pb = Pa + A · (ΔHb−ΔHa) ”. The angle Pb can be calculated. Note that the running posture of the vehicle at this time is represented by a point Tb in FIG. 9 in which ΔHb and Pb are pairs of coordinate values. In addition, the values of the slope and intercept of the straight lines SL and DL generally differ depending on the vehicle type depending on the physical characteristics (elastic coefficient, damping coefficient, etc.) of the suspension.

In step S9, the ECU 11 sends a correction signal corresponding to the pitching angle Pb relating to the running posture calculated in the previous step to the motor drive circuits 17, 17 'to control the irradiation direction of the head lamps 18, 18'. After the control is performed such that the height of the cut line in the light distribution pattern always becomes the reference height regardless of the running posture of the vehicle, the process returns to the first step S1.

[0063]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the correlation between the running attitude of the vehicle and the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means based on the stopped attitude of the vehicle. By defining the relationship, it is possible to calculate the running posture of the vehicle and control the irradiation direction of the lamp in accordance with this, and for that purpose, it is only necessary to provide the vehicle height detecting means on the axle portion of the front wheel or the rear wheel of the vehicle. I'm done. Therefore, the cost and the working time can be reduced by reducing the number of parts. Also, even if the vehicle height detecting means is attached to each of the axle portions before and after the vehicle, if one of the vehicle height detecting means fails to function due to a failure or the like, the remaining vehicle height detecting means may be provided. It is possible to calculate the vehicle attitude based on the detection signal and control the irradiation direction of the lamp in accordance with the calculation, so that the reliability of the device can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the static correlation equation between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means and the stopping posture of the vehicle is defined in advance, so that the static correlation expression can be obtained before the vehicle travels. The stopping posture of the vehicle can be easily calculated from the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by defining a dynamic correlation equation between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means and the running posture of the vehicle based on the stopping posture of the vehicle,
The running posture of the vehicle can be easily calculated from the change in the height of the axle.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the static or dynamic correlation between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means and the vehicle attitude is defined as a linear expression, thereby calculating the vehicle attitude. Can be simplified.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a straight line passing through the reference point specified by the combination of the state quantity indicating the stopping posture and the detected value of the vehicle height detecting means at that time and having a predetermined slope is used. By defining the dynamic correlation equation as a linear equation, it is possible to easily determine a dynamic correlation with respect to a change in the stopping posture before the vehicle travels.

According to the invention of claim 6, by changing the control of the irradiation direction of the lamp in accordance with the running state of the vehicle, it is possible to perform the irradiation control prompting the running of the vehicle.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily calculate the stopping posture of the vehicle from a predetermined correlation equation and control the irradiation direction of the lamp according to the calculated posture.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle height detecting means.

FIG. 3 is a graph for explaining a static correlation between a height change amount of an axle portion and a pitching angle.

FIG. 4 is a graph for explaining a dynamic correlation between a height change amount of an axle portion and a pitching angle.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention together with FIGS. 6 to 9, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing an arrangement of a vehicle height sensor and a vehicle speed sensor in a vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a lamp.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing a static and dynamic correlation equation between a height change amount by a vehicle height sensor and a pitching angle.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 irradiation direction control device for vehicle lamp, 2 vehicle height detection means, 3 vehicle attitude calculation means, 4 irradiation control means, 5 drive means, 6 lamps, 7 stop attitude calculation means, 8 running Attitude calculating means, 9: running state detecting means

Claims (7)

[Claims] An irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp for changing an irradiation direction of a lamp in accordance with a posture of the vehicle in a traveling direction of the vehicle, for detecting a change in height of an axle portion of a front wheel or a rear wheel of the vehicle. A vehicle height detecting means, a driving means for directing irradiation light of a lamp in a desired direction, and a stopping posture of the vehicle based on a detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means. The correlation between the running posture and the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means is defined,
And a vehicle attitude calculating means for calculating a running attitude of the vehicle from a detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means, and an irradiation control for sending a signal for correcting an irradiation direction of the lamp to the driving means in accordance with a signal from the vehicle attitude calculating means. Means for controlling the irradiation direction of a vehicle lamp. 2. The irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein a static correlation equation between a detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means and a stopping posture of the vehicle is defined in advance, and And a stop attitude calculating means for calculating a stop attitude of the vehicle based on the correlation equation from a detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means obtained before traveling of the vehicle. 3. The irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein the detection signal of the vehicle height detection means and the traveling attitude of the vehicle are calculated based on the stopping attitude of the vehicle calculated by the stopping attitude calculation means. The vehicle attitude calculating means defines a dynamic correlation expression between the vehicle attitude calculating means and the running attitude calculating means for calculating the running attitude of the vehicle corresponding to the height of the axle portion from the correlation equation. Characteristic irradiation direction control device for vehicle lamp. 4. The lighting direction control apparatus for a vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein a static correlation expression defined by the stopping attitude calculation means or a dynamic correlation expression defined by the traveling attitude calculation means. An irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp, wherein a relational expression is a linear expression. 5. The irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle direction is specified by a combination of a state quantity indicating a stopping posture calculated by the stopping posture calculating unit and a detection value of the vehicle height detecting unit at that time. A dynamic correlation equation in the running posture calculation means is defined as a linear equation by a straight line passing through a reference point and having a predetermined inclination. apparatus. 6. An irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 3, further comprising a traveling state detecting means for detecting a traveling state including a traveling speed or an acceleration of the vehicle, and driving the vehicle. An irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp, wherein the control of the irradiation direction of the lamp by the irradiation control means is changed according to the state. 7. An irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp for changing an irradiation direction of a lamp according to a posture of the vehicle in a traveling direction of the vehicle, for detecting a change in height of an axle portion of a front wheel or a rear wheel of the vehicle. The vehicle height detecting means, the driving means for directing the illumination light of the lamp in a desired direction, and the static correlation formula between the detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means and the stopping posture of the vehicle are defined in advance. A stopping attitude calculating means for calculating a stopping attitude of the vehicle based on the above-mentioned correlation equation from a detection signal of the vehicle height detecting means before traveling of the vehicle, and an irradiation direction of the lamp according to a signal from the stopping attitude calculating means. An irradiation direction control device for a vehicle lamp, comprising: irradiation control means for sending a signal for correction to a driving means.