JPH1059241A - Lighting system for bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a headlight from uselessly lighting, prolong the life of the lamp, and ensure visibility at dusk, by putting out lights in the bright circumference and lighting in the perfect darkness and lighting only a lamp for side eye built in the headlight at dusk. SOLUTION: Voltage V of the connection point of a CdS optical sensor 21 changing the resistance value according to illuminance and resistance R2 is impressed of the minus (-) input terminals of a comparator ICA and a comparator ICB. Reference voltage V1 is impressed from the connection point of resistance R3 and resistance R4 on the plus (+) input terminal of the comparator ICA, and reference voltage V2 is impressed from the connection point of resistance R5 and resistance R6 on the (+) input terminal of the comparator ICB. The resistance value of the CdS optical sensor 21 is changed according to illuminance, and hence comparative V output from the connection point of the resistance R2 and the CdS optical sensor is changed. According to change of the comparative voltage V at night, at dusk, and in the daytime, output of the comparator ICA and the comparator ICB are changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bicycle lighting device having a circuit for automatically turning on and off a headlight by detecting surrounding light and darkness with an optical sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Automatically turning on and off the headlight of a bicycle by detecting the surrounding light and darkness with an optical sensor is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-77774.

[0003]

However, since the conventional bicycle headlight is only turned on at night and turned off in the daytime, it is turned on or off at dusk such as in the evening. Operation was unstable.

[0004] For this reason, there is a problem that the headlight is turned on to consume the battery and shorten the lamp life of the headlight, despite the brightness at which the driver of the car can sufficiently recognize the bicycle. In addition, there is a problem that the headlight is not turned on when the brightness of the bicycle is difficult to be visually recognized, so that the driver of the vehicle is late in finding the bicycle and is in danger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a lighting device for a bicycle which can prevent unnecessary lighting of a headlight at dusk such as in the evening and can be visually recognized by a driver of an automobile.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a bicycle lighting device for automatically turning on and off a headlight by detecting ambient light and darkness by an external light sensor, a side-eye lamp for illuminating a side in the headlight is built-in, and According to the output of the optical sensor, the surrounding light / dark level is detected in three stages from light to dark, and only the side-eye lamp is turned on in the second stage toward dark, and in the third stage in the dark, A circuit for lighting a side eye lamp and the headlight is provided.

According to this configuration, the headlight is turned off when the surroundings are bright, and is turned on when the surroundings are completely dark, and only the side-eye lamp built in the headlight is turned on during dusk to illuminate the side. Therefore, useless lighting of the headlight is prevented, lamp life is extended, and the presence of a bicycle at twilight can be notified to others. In particular, the notification to the driver of the car approaching from the front is ensured.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bicycle illuminating device for automatically turning on and off a headlight by detecting the surrounding light and darkness by an external light sensor. According to the output of the external light sensor, the degree of the surrounding light and dark is detected in three stages from light to dark, and only the tail lamp is turned on in the second stage toward dark, and the tail lamp is turned on in the third stage in darkness. A circuit for lighting the headlight is provided.

According to this configuration, the headlight is turned off when the surroundings are bright, turned on when the surroundings are completely dark, and only the tail lamp provided at the rear of the bicycle is turned on at dusk to illuminate the rear side. It is possible to prevent unnecessary lighting of the bicycle, prolong the life of the lamp, and inform the presence of a bicycle at twilight. In particular, the notification to the driver of the car approaching from behind is ensured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bicycle illuminating device for automatically turning on and off a headlight by detecting surrounding light and darkness by an external light sensor. The bicycle has a built-in lamp and a tail lamp that illuminates the rear side at the rear of the bicycle, and detects the degree of the surrounding light and dark in three stages from light to dark according to the output of the external light sensor, and goes toward dark. In a second stage, only the side-eye lamp and the tail lamp are turned on, and in a dark third stage, a circuit for turning on all of the side-eye lamp, the tail lamp, and the headlight is provided.

According to this configuration, the headlamp is turned off when the surroundings are bright, and is turned on when the surroundings are completely dark. At dusk, only the side-eye lamp and the tail lamp built in the headlamp are turned on and the side lights are turned off. In addition, since the rear light is illuminated, useless lighting of the headlight is prevented, the life of the lamp is extended, and the presence of the bicycle at twilight can be reliably notified to others. Particularly in this case, the notification to the driver of the vehicle approaching from the front and rear direction is ensured.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows a lighting device for a bicycle according to the present invention. A headlight 3 is fixed to a front fork 2 of a bicycle 1 by a bracket 4, and a rear fork 5 is provided.
, A tail lamp 6 is fixed and both are connected by a power supply line, and a power terminal 7 (see FIG. 2) is connected to a hub dynamo 8 attached to the axle of the bicycle front wheel.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a side view and a front view of the headlamp 3, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are side and plan sectional views of the headlamp 3. FIG. A concave reflector 11 is built in a front part in the head case 10, and a socket 13 held by a socket holder 12 is protruded from a central part of the reflector 11. When a light bulb 14 is set in the socket 13 and turned on, the light is reflected by the reflector 11 and illuminates the front through a head cap 15 also serving as a lens.

An LED 16 constituting a side eye is disposed at the rear of the reflector 11, and the light illuminates the side through a side eye lens 17 inserted into the side of the head case 10, and is pierced in the reflector 11. The front is illuminated through the window 18.

Further, a printed circuit board 20 having a circuit for automatically turning on and off the lamp is provided at the rear of the socket holder 12, and a CdS
An optical sensor 21 is implanted, and receives light entering through a window provided on the lower surface of the head case 10 to detect the surrounding brightness.

On the other hand, the tail lamp 6 is connected to a circuit to be described later formed on the printed circuit board 20 via a terminal 22 by a power supply line, and is turned on and off by its output.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram for automatically turning on and off a headlight and the like, and shows a case where the hub dynamo 8 is used as a power supply. When the hub dynamo 8 is used as a power source, the electromotive force fluctuates depending on the running speed of the bicycle. Therefore, a constant DC voltage is used to suppress the fluctuation by using a constant voltage circuit.

That is, the AC voltage generated by the hub dynamo 8 is rectified by the diode D1, and is smoothed by the consor C1 to become a DC voltage.

Since this DC voltage fluctuates with the running speed of the bicycle, it is converted into a constant DC voltage by a constant voltage circuit comprising a transistor Q1, a bias resistor R1, a Zener diode ZD1 and a capacitor C2, and the resistors R2 and Cd
The S light sensor 21 is supplied to a light sensor detection circuit composed of a series circuit.

This light sensor detecting circuit is a CdS light sensor 21 whose resistance value changes according to the illuminance shown in FIG.
The voltage V at the connection point between the resistor R2 and the comparators ICA and ICB
-(Minus) input terminal.

On the other hand, the + (plus) input terminal of the comparator ICA is connected to the reference voltage V1 from the connection point of the resistors R3 and R4.
Is applied, and the reference voltage V2 is applied to the + input terminal of the comparator ICB from the connection point between the resistors R5 and R6.

FIG. 5 shows a characteristic diagram of the optical sensor 21. The voltage value according to the resistance value on the vertical axis changes according to the illuminance on the horizontal axis. For example, in the nighttime, the voltage value increases due to the increase in the resistance value, and in the daytime, the voltage value decreases due to the decrease in the resistance value. In the evening time (the illuminance of A and B), the voltage value corresponding to the intermediate resistance value V2 to V1.

The reference voltages V1 and V2 input to the comparators ICA and ICB in FIG. 4 are voltage values corresponding to the illuminances A and B on the CdS characteristic curve shown in FIG. 5, and V1> V2.

The resistance value of the light sensor 21 changes when the illuminance changes, and the comparison voltage V output from the connection point between R2 and the CdS light sensor 21 changes.

As the comparison voltage V changes at night, evening, and daytime, the outputs of the comparators ICA and ICB change as shown in the table.

[0026]

[Table 1]

As can be seen from the above table, the comparator ICA
Is L only at night. When the output of the comparator ICA becomes L, the transistor Q2 turns on, a current flows through the phototriac coupler IC2 via the resistor R7, and the phototriac coupler IC2 operates. Thereby, the light bulb 1
4 is turned on, the AC voltage from the hub dynamo 8 is applied to the bulb 14, and the bulb 1
4 lights continuously.

At this time, the output of the comparator ICB is also L, and when the transistor Q4 is turned on, the voltage from the hub dynamo 8 is applied to the LED 16 via the constant voltage circuit including the transistor Q3, the resistor R9 and the Zener diode ZD2. , LED 16 is turned on.

On the other hand, in a daytime state in which the ambient light is bright, the outputs of the comparators ICA and ICB are both H, and neither the light bulb 14 nor the LED 16 operates and the light is turned off.

When the ambient light is in the twilight state in the evening, the output of the comparator ICA is H, but the output of the comparator ICB is high.
Becomes L. For this reason, the headlight bulb 14 is turned off, but the LED 16 is turned on. Thus, the light bulb 1
4 is effective to prevent wasteful lighting of the light bulb 14 and to prevent the bulb 14 from breaking, and this light illuminates the front of the headlight and the side via the side eye lens 17 so that at least the vehicle coming from the front Drivers can be alerted to the presence of a bicycle.

Further, by connecting the tail lamp 6 to the terminal 22, the tail lamp 6 is turned on simultaneously with the LED side eye lamp 16, so that a driver of an automobile approaching from behind can be alerted.

In the above embodiment, an example in which a hub dynamo is used as a power source has been described. However, a battery such as a dry battery or a secondary battery may be used instead of the hub dynamo. Alternatively, the charging battery and the hub dynamo may be shared. In this case, it is preferable to stop or move the bicycle slowly and use a battery while the power output from the hub dynamo is low, and to automatically switch from the battery to the hub dynamo when the power output increases. Of course, various circuit configurations can be adopted as a circuit for switching the output between the battery and the hub dynamo.

[0033]

According to the structure of the first aspect, the headlight is turned off when the surroundings are bright, turned on when the surroundings are completely dark, and only the side-eye lamp built in the headlight is turned on at dusk. By illuminating the side of the vehicle, useless lighting of the headlight is prevented, the life of the lamp is extended, and the presence of the bicycle at dusk can be known to others. In particular, the notification to the driver of the car approaching from the front is ensured.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the headlight is turned off when the surroundings are bright, is turned on when the surroundings are completely dark, and only the tail lamp provided at the rear of the bicycle is turned on at dusk to illuminate the rear. Useless lighting of the headlight is prevented, the lamp life is extended, and the presence of the bicycle at twilight can be notified to others. In particular, the notification to the driver of the car approaching from behind is ensured.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the headlight is turned off when the surroundings are bright, turned on when the surroundings are completely dark, and only the side-eye lamp and the tail lamp built in the headlight are turned on at dusk. Since the side and rear sides are illuminated, unnecessary lighting of the headlight is prevented, the life of the lamp is extended, and the existence of the bicycle at twilight can be reliably notified to others. Particularly in this case, the notification to the driver of the vehicle approaching from the front and rear direction is ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a bicycle for explaining a bicycle lighting device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a headlight, (A) is a side view thereof,
(B) is the front view.

3A and 3B are explanatory views of a headlight, in which FIG.
(B) is a plan sectional view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram of an optical sensor.

FIG. 5 is a lighting circuit diagram of a bicycle that is turned on and off by an optical sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Headlight 6 Tail Lamp 14 Headlight Bulb 16 LED 21 CdS Light Sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lighting device for a bicycle which automatically turns on and off a headlight by detecting the surrounding light and darkness by an external light sensor, wherein a side-eye lamp for illuminating a side is built in the headlight. At the same time, the surrounding light / dark level is detected in three stages from light to dark in accordance with the output of the external light sensor, and in the second stage toward darkness, only the side-eye lamp is turned on, and the darkness is detected. In a third stage, a circuit for lighting the side eye lamp and the headlight is provided. 2. A bicycle lighting device for automatically turning on and off a headlight by detecting surrounding light and darkness by an external light sensor, comprising a tail lamp for illuminating a rear portion at a rear portion of the bicycle, and an output of the external light sensor. Accordingly, the surrounding light / dark level is detected in three stages from light to dark, and in the second stage toward darkness, only the tail lamp is turned on,
A lighting device for a bicycle, comprising a circuit for lighting the tail lamp and the headlight in a third dark stage. 3. A bicycle lighting device for automatically turning on and off a headlight by detecting surrounding light and shade by an external light sensor, wherein a side-eye lamp for illuminating a side is built in the headlight, The rear part of the bicycle is provided with a tail lamp for illuminating the rear side, and the degree of surrounding light and dark is detected in three stages from light to dark in accordance with the output of the external light sensor. A lighting device for a bicycle, comprising a circuit for lighting only the eye lamp and the tail lamp, and for lighting all of the side eye lamp, the tail lamp, and the headlight in a third dark stage.