JPH11291816A - Abnormal lighting warning system for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely eliminate the erroneous recognition of a lighting state by a driver. SOLUTION: A disconnection detecting means 4 and relays 6 and 7 are provided respectively in power supply lines 31 and 32 for stop lamps 21a and 21b and tail lamps 22a and 22b in both left and right sides. When a tail lamp switch 13 is turned ON and the disconnection detecting signal of the tail lamp is outputted, the relay 7 is turned ON by a lighting control means 18 to cut off the power supply line 32, and the relay 6 is turned ON to switch power supply to the stop lamp to a power supply line 33 via a luminance adjusting means 5. Changing and adjusting are performed by the luminance adjusting means 5 to reduce the light of and light the stop lamp by the same luminance as that for the tail lamp. When switches 12 and 13 are OFF, LED 911 to 914 are turned OFF by a display control means 19, LED 911 and 913 are lit by green color to perform normal displaying when the switch is ON and no disconnection detecting signals are outputted and, when a disconnection detecting signal is outputted, LED 912 and 914 are lit by red color to display abnormality and simultaneously sound an alarming buzzer 92.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lamp, such as a stop lamp or a tail lamp, provided at the rear of an automobile, in which it is difficult for a driver to visually recognize whether or not the driver is lit while driving. The present invention relates to a warning device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle, which is used for making the driver surely determine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A stop lamp, a turn signal lamp, a back lamp, and a tail lamp are provided at the rear of a vehicle. Since these lights convey the driving operation intention of the own vehicle to the following vehicle, it becomes a serious problem when the disconnection occurs.

[0003] For this reason, conventionally, as a warning device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle, there is a device which detects a disconnection of the lighting and turns on a red warning light provided on an instrument panel or a meter display in front of a driver's seat. Various types are known (for example, JP-A-55-128165, JP-A-2-179551, and JP-A-9-997).
No. 7).

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional alarm device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle, the warning light is turned on when the disconnection of the light is detected, and the warning light is turned off when the disconnection is not detected. When the warning light is turned off, the light is normal, and when the warning light is turned on, the driver tries to make the driver aware that an abnormality has occurred due to disconnection. In other words, there are two types of lamp status display by the warning light, and the driver recognizes that there is no abnormality and is normal if the warning light is off.

However, the disconnection detection by the disconnection detecting means is performed only when the stop lamp is energized by a brake operation for a stop lamp, and the tail lamp is energized by an ON switching operation of a tail lamp switch for a tail lamp. This is performed for the first time, and the disconnection detection is not performed until such energization is performed, so that the warning lamp is also kept in the extinguished state. For this reason, the driver may erroneously recognize that the lamp is normal by seeing the warning light in the unlit state even though the lamp is disconnected.

The warning light may be turned off due to an abnormality of the warning light or an abnormality of the CPU other than when the disconnection detecting means is not in operation. In such a case, even if the disconnection detecting means detects the disconnection of the lamp, the driver erroneously recognizes that the lamp is operating normally because the warning lamp is kept turned off.

[0007] When such an erroneous recognition occurs, the driver may leave the lamp off despite the fact that the light is out.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lamp abnormality warning device which can surely eliminate a driver's erroneous recognition of a lamp state. To provide.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, when the disconnection of the lamp 200 is detected by the disconnection detecting means 40 (see FIG. 1), an abnormal display means 902 is provided. Is intended to be used for a warning device for a vehicle lamp abnormality provided with a control means 190 for displaying an abnormality by turning on a lamp, and displaying that the lamp is normal by lighting it in a color different from that of the abnormality display means 902. The normal display means 901 for performing the above operation is provided positively,
The control by 0 is a basic specific matter that the normal display means 901 is turned on when the disconnection detection signal from the disconnection detection means 40 is in a non-output state. Here, the lighting color of the "abnormal display means" is generally, for example, red or orange, and the lighting color of the "normal display means" is preferably green, blue, white, or the like.

As described above, the normal display means 901 displays, for example, a green lighting display to positively indicate that the lamp 200 is normally lit. It is possible to determine that the light is on. That is, if the lamp is disconnected, the abnormality display unit 902 is lit, for example, in red, while if the lamp is not disconnected, the normal display unit 901 is lit, for example, in green. For this reason, since the display means of either the abnormal display means 902 or the normal display means 901 is lit, the driver can reliably determine whether the lamp 200 is in the normal state or the abnormal state. It is possible to do. In addition, in the conventional lamp abnormality warning device, the warning lamp is turned on only when there is an abnormality in which a disconnection has occurred, and in other cases, the warning lamp is turned off.
Even if the lamp is not disconnected, the warning lamp is turned off due to an abnormality in the control means or the like, and even if an abnormality has occurred in the control means including the abnormality warning circuit, a situation may be unknown.
In this regard, in the present invention, if neither the normal display means 901 nor the abnormal display means 902, which should be lit even when the lamp 200 is lit, are lit, the control means 190 or the display means irrespective of the disconnection. It is possible to determine that an abnormality has occurred in 901 and 902.

In the present invention, there is provided a lighting command detecting means 101 for detecting lighting command information for the lamp 200 as described in claim 2, so that the disconnection detecting means 40 is activated by energizing the lamp. Make up, in addition,
By configuring the control means 190 so as to keep both the normal display means 901 and the abnormal display means 902 in the non-lighting state when the detection signal of the lighting instruction information from the lighting command detecting means 101 is in the non-output state, the driver can It can be determined that the disconnection detection by the disconnection detection unit 40 has not been performed by looking at the normal display unit 901 in the light-off state. In other words, in the case of the above-mentioned claim 2, it is possible to detect whether or not the disconnection has occurred by the disconnection detecting means 40 only by outputting a lighting command by a switch operation or the like for the lamp and energizing the lamp. Since the timing at which the detection by the disconnection detecting means 40 becomes possible is the lighting command to the lamp 200, the time until the detection signal of the lighting command is output from the lighting command detecting means 101,
By maintaining the normal display means 901 in the light-off state,
It is possible for the driver to determine that the diagnosis of the occurrence of the disconnection has not been executed at present.

Further, in the above invention, an alarm means 920 for generating an alarm sound is provided, and the alarm means 920 is set by the control means 190 when a disconnection detection signal is received from the disconnection detection means 40. By controlling the operation continuously for a time, when the disconnection occurs, the abnormality display means 9 is displayed.
02 and the warning means 9
The driver can be surely alerted by both the sounding of the warning sound 20 and the warning from the auditory side. In addition, if the driver attempts to turn on the broken lamp even after the occurrence of the disconnection, that is, after the driver is warned, the lighting operation of the driver is set as described in claim 4. The alarm means 920 may be activated each time it is detected by the lighting command detecting means 101. By doing so, a warning sound is issued every time the driver turns on and displays the disconnected lamp 200 unconsciously, despite the fact that the abnormality display means 902 has already been turned on and the alarm means 920 has issued an alarm. Each time, a caution that a disconnection has occurred is warned.

[0013]

As described above, according to the warning device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle according to the present invention, in addition to the original abnormal display means, the normal display means for lighting and displaying in a color different from the abnormal display means is provided. By providing the normal display positively, it is possible to make the driver surely determine the state of the lamp, and it is possible to eliminate the possibility of the driver being erroneously recognized.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an overall configuration diagram of a warning device for abnormal lighting according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the display of the status of a rear combination lamp of an automobile. In the figure, 2
Reference numerals a and 2b denote a pair of rear combination lamps provided on both sides in the vehicle width direction (left-right direction). The rear combination lamps 2a and 2b on each side include stop lamps (braking lights) 21a and 21b and tail lamps (tail lights). ) 2
2a and 22b, an unillustrated turn signal lamp (rear direction indicator light), and an unillustrated backup lamp (rearward light) are integrally combined. The stop lamps 21a and 21b and the tail lamp 22
a and 22b are lamps having different luminances.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a battery as a power source;
Is a disconnection detecting means, 5 is a brightness adjusting means, 6 is a first relay as a current switching means, 7 is a second relay as a breaking means, 8 is an ignition (Ig) switch, 9 is a display / alarm means, 10 is a display / alarm means. It is a controller (ECU) including a microcomputer and the like.

A power supply line 31 from the battery 3 to the stop lamps 21a and 21b on both sides is provided with a fuse 11 from an upstream side and a stop lamp switch (St-LP SW) 12 which is turned ON by a driver's brake operation. When,
The first relay 6 and the disconnection detecting means 4 are interposed in this order. A power supply line 32 from the battery 3 to the tail lamps 22a and 22b on both sides is provided with a tail lamp switch (Ta-LP · S) constituted by a relay which is turned ON by a driver's ON operation from the upstream side.
W) 13, the fuse 14, the second relay 7, and the disconnection detecting means 4 are interposed in this order. Further, the battery 3 is connected to the first relay 6 by the St.
A power supply line 33 bypassing the LP-SW 12 is connected, and the brightness adjusting means 5 is interposed in the power supply line 33.

Hereinafter, each of the above means will be described in detail.

Each of the disconnection detecting means 4 includes a power supply line 31.
Or 32, a resistor 41 for generating a predetermined voltage drop, and an operational amplifier 42 for detecting a difference between voltage values before and after the resistor 41. When the lamp 21a, 21b or the tail lamp 22a, 22b fluctuates from the difference value when it is normal, it is configured to output to the controller 10 that the bulb has been cut off.

The brightness adjusting means 5 includes the power supply line 3
3 is provided with a transistor 51 as a switching element interposed therebetween, and a driving pulse for driving the transistor 51 ON / OFF is supplied to the transistor 51 so that an ON based on the driving pulse width is provided.
A predetermined power corresponding to the OFF ratio is supplied to the first relay 6;
Is supplied to each of the stop lamps 21a and 21b via the. Then, the controller 10
The stop lamps 21a and 21b are controlled to change the power by pulse width modulation so that the tail lamp 22
The dimming is adjusted so that the brightness becomes the same as a and 22b. The transistor 51 may be configured using a PNP type, a MOS-FET, or the like.

The first relay 6 is normally a St-LP SW1
2 and the stop lamps 21a,
While receiving the control signal (control current) from the controller 10 while being connected to the power supply line 33 via the brightness adjusting means 5 and the two stop lamps 2
1a and 21b are switched. The second relay 7 always connects the power supply line 32 via the Ta-LP / SW 13 and the two tail lamps 22a and 22b. On the other hand, when the second relay 7 receives a control signal from the controller 10, the second relay 7 is energized and the power supply line is turned on. 32 is disconnected. Such first or second
As the relays 6 and 7, a non-contact relay may be used in addition to the electromagnetic relay.

Since the stop lamps 21a and 21b are particularly important, whether or not the stop lamp fuse 11 has been blown is detected, and a warning is displayed as described later when the fuse is blown. That is, the fuse 11 and
A line 33 branched from the St-LP / SW 12 and connected to the controller 10 via the fuse 15;
In the controller 10, regardless of the ON / OFF state of the St-LP SW 12, the fuse 11 is controlled by two pieces of input information from a line 34 branched from between the LP-SW 12 and the first relay 6 and connected to the controller. The cut can be determined.

The Ig switch 8 is turned on by the driver turning on the ignition, and the ON operation supplies a current to a power supply circuit built in the controller 10 to operate the controller 10. .

The display / warning means 9 includes a display section 91 mounted on a display or the like of an instrument panel of an automobile, and a warning buzzer 92 provided near the driver's seat as warning means. . The display unit 91
Green LED as stop lamp display
(Light emitting diode) 911 and LED 9 whose lighting color is red
12 and a green LED 913 and a red LED 914 similar to those described above as a display unit for a tail lamp. The green LEDs 911 and 913 constitute normal display means, and the red LEDs 912 and 914 constitute abnormal display means.

The operation of the display / warning means 9 is controlled by a control signal from a display control means 19 which will be described later in the controller 10. In this embodiment, the exchange of the control signal is performed by a multiplex communication line. 16. That is, the display control means 1
The control signal converted from parallel to serial by the multiplex communication circuit 17 on the ninth side is transmitted through the multiplex communication line 16 to the multiplex communication circuit 93 on the display / warning means 9 side. Each of the LEDs 911 to 914 of the display section 91 or the alarm buzzer 92 is operated by a signal.

The controller 10 includes a lighting control unit 18
And a display control means 19. The lighting control means 18 includes an ON operation signal (lighting command information) from the St-LP SW 12 and the Ta-LP SW 13 as lighting command detecting means, and each disconnection detection signal from both disconnection detecting means 4 and 4. Based on the input information of the first and second relays 6, 7
And the ON operation of the brightness adjusting means 5 are controlled. The display control means 19
Controls the operation of the LEDs 911 to 914 of the display unit 91 and the alarm buzzer 92 based on input information such as the lighting command information and the disconnection detection signal, the disconnection information of the stop lamp fuse 11, and the like. It has become. This display control means 19 constitutes the control means of the present invention. Hereinafter, basic operation control by these controllers 10 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

First, control is started by turning on the Ig switch 8, and in step S1, the above St-LP SW12 or Ta-L
It is determined whether or not the P.SW 13 has been turned on, and if it is off, the LEDs 911 to 9 of the display unit 91 are determined in step S2.
14 is maintained in a light-off (not displayed) state. As a result, the driver can use the stop lamps 21a and 21b and the tail lamp 2
It can be determined that the diagnosis of whether or not the wires 2a and 22b are disconnected has not been performed yet.

On the other hand, in step S1, the St-LP SW12
Of the Ta-LP SW 13, for example, St-LP SW 12 is O
If N, a determination is made in step S3 as to whether or not a disconnection detection signal has been output from the disconnection detection means 4 on the power supply line 31, and if not, the green LE is determined in step S4.
While only D911 is turned on (normal display), if the disconnection detection signal is output, the red LED 912 is determined in step S5.
Only lights up (error display). Also, the above step S1
If the Ta-LP SW 13 is turned on at step S
In step S3, it is determined whether or not a disconnection detection signal from the disconnection detection means 4 on the power supply line 32 has been output. If the disconnection detection signal has not been output, only the green LED 913 is turned on (normal display) in step S4. If the signal is output, only the red LED 914 is turned on (abnormal display) in step S5. As described above, unlike the conventional case in which two types of display, ie, extinguishment by a warning light and warning by red lighting, are performed, the display unit 91 is switched to three types of display: extinguished, lit green, and lit red to switch to green. The stop lamps 21a and 21b and the tail lamps 22a and 22b are provided to the driver by positively displaying a normal display by turning on (LEDs 911 and 913).
Can be reliably notified that is normally lit. For this reason, in the above-mentioned conventional case, each lamp 21
Although the valves a, 21b, 22a, and 22b are cut, the warning lamps are turned off due to loosening / separation of various sockets, abnormality of the controller, or abnormality of the warning lamp itself, and the driver is normal. However, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reliably eliminate such a risk of misrecognition.

If it is determined in step S6 that the disconnection detection signal is for the stop lamps 21a and 21b, the process returns to step S1 and thereafter, and if the disconnection detection signal is for the tail lamps 22a and 22b, In step S7, the second relay 7 is turned on (see the dashed line in FIG. 2) to disconnect the connection with the power supply line 32. In synchronization with this, the first relay 6 is turned off in step S8.
N stop lamps 2
The power supply to 1a and 21b is switched from the power supply line 31 via the St-LP · SW 12 to the power supply line 33 via the brightness adjustment means 5, and the brightness adjustment means 5 is operated at the same time. As a result, a predetermined voltage is applied to the two stop lamps 21a and 21b for lighting them with the same luminance as the tail lamps 22a and 22b, and the stop lamps 21a and 21b are replaced in a state where the stop lamps 21a and 21b are dimmed by a predetermined amount compared to the normal state. It will be lit. In addition, even if only the left tail lamp 22b is disconnected among the pair of tail lamps 22a and 22b, the power supply to the left and right tail lamps 22a and 22b is interrupted by the above step S7. Since the stop lamps 21a and 21b play a role, the right and left balance is achieved.

Such stop lamps 21a, 21b
Is turned on in step S9, Ta-LP SW13 is OFF
Until switching, or Ig switch 8 is OFF
Until the power is turned off. On the other hand, when the Ta-LP / SW 13 is turned off or the power is turned off in step S9, the first relay 6 is turned off in step S10 to switch to the power supply line 31 side via the original St-LP / SW 12. The operation of the brightness adjusting means 5 is
Set to FF. Thereby, both stop lamps 21a, 2
1b is turned off, and both stop lamps 21a and 21b are turned off.
Is returned to a state where it can be lit at the original luminance by the ON operation of the St-LP SW 12.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the above basic control, the following control is also performed.

That is, both the stop lamps 21a and 21b are turned on with the same brightness as the tail lamps 22a and 22b as an alternative to the tail lamps 22a and 22b disconnected in step S8. If the St-LP SW 12 is turned on while the alternate lighting is being performed continuously in S9, the first relay 6 is turned off and both stops while the St-LP SW 12 is ON. Lamps 21a, 2
1b is lit at the original luminance. Thereby, even during the alternative lighting, it is possible to notify the following vehicle of the driver's brake operation.

Also, the red LED 912 in step S5
Or an alarm buzzer 9
2 is sounded for a predetermined time. Thus, in addition to the visual recognition by the above-described red lighting, the driver can be notified of the abnormality by the auditory recognition of the alarm buzzer 92, and the abnormality can be reliably determined. Become like If the driver turns on the disconnected lamp in spite of the disconnection, the warning buzzer 92 may be sounded for a relatively short time to call attention. In this case, the sounding time may be changed depending on the type of the broken lamp. That is, the stop lamps 21a and 21b, which are important lights, are disconnected.
Nevertheless, when the St-LP SW 12 is turned ON, the tail lamps 22a, 22b are, for example, 0.5 sec.
Despite disconnection of other lights such as Ta-LP / SW
When the 13 or the like is turned on, the alarm buzzer 92 may be sounded, for example, for 5 seconds each.

Further, the fuse 11 of the power supply line 31 for the stop lamps 21a and 21b which are important lights
When the disconnection is detected, the red LED 912 blinks. Thus, when an abnormality occurs in the stop lamps 21a and 21b, the driver can easily determine whether the abnormality is caused by the burnout of the bulb or the suction by the blown fuse. Therefore, there are four types of display to the driver by the display unit 92: off, red on, red on, and green on, and whether the disconnection detection is undiagnosed for the driver, abnormal or normal, and if it is abnormal, It is possible to reliably determine whether or not an abnormality is present.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes various other embodiments. That is, in the above embodiment,
A case has been described in which when the disconnection of the tail lamps 22a and 22b is detected, the stop lamps 21a and 21b are alternately turned on in a state where the dimming is adjusted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. , 22b may be alternately lit in a state where the brightness is adjusted. In this case, tail lamp 2
Stop lamps 21a, 22b as bulbs for 2a, 22b
Using a valve capable of expressing the same brightness as that of the battery 21b, the battery 3 is connected to the ON-side contact of the second relay 7 by a Ta-LP.SW1.
The power supply line bypassing the power supply line 3 may be connected, and the original power supply line 32 may be provided with the second brightness adjusting means. Then, the controller 10 normally operates the second brightness adjusting means so as to operate the tail lamp 2.
When the stop lamps 21a and 21b are disconnected, the second relay 7 is turned on to alternately light the tail lamps 22a and 22b at the same luminance as the stop lamps 21a and 21b. What should I do?

LEDs 911 and 913 as normal display means
Is not limited to green, and may be any color that can be distinguished from the red LEDs 912 and 914 as the abnormality display means, and may be a lighting color such as blue.

In FIG. 2, one disconnection detecting means 4 is provided for each of the left and right stop lamps 21a, 21b or the tail lamps 22a, 22b. However, the present invention is not limited to this. At the same time, the number of LEDs of the display unit 91 may be set to a number corresponding to each of the left and right sides so that it is possible to identify which of the left and right is disconnected or normal.

Further, for other turn signal lamps, backup lamps, license lamps and the like constituting the rear combination lamp, disconnection detecting means, normal display means and abnormal display means are provided to positively indicate that they are normal. You may do so.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control contents.

[Explanation of symbols]

3, 30 Battery (power supply) 4, 40 Disconnection detecting means 12 St-LP SW (stop lamp switch; lighting command detecting means) 13 Ta-LP SW (tail lamp switch; lighting command detecting means) 19 Display control means (control Means) 21a, 21b Stop lamp (light) 22a, 22b Tail lamp (light) 92 Warning buzzer (warning means) 101 Lighting command detecting means 130 Switch 190 Control means 200 Light 901 Normal display means 902 Abnormal display means 911, 913 Green LED ( Normal display means) 912, 914 Red LED (abnormal display means) 920 Alarm means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A disconnection detecting means provided in an automobile for detecting disconnection of a lamp, an abnormality display means for displaying that the lamp is abnormal by lighting, and receiving a disconnection detection signal from the disconnection detecting means. A warning device for lighting a vehicle abnormality, comprising: a control unit for lighting the abnormality display unit; and a normal display unit for displaying that the lamp is normal by lighting it in a color different from that of the abnormality display unit. The disconnection detecting means is interposed in a power supply line to the lamp, and the control means lights the normal display means when a disconnection detection signal from the disconnection detecting means is in a non-output state. A warning device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle, comprising: 2. The lighting device according to claim 1, further comprising: lighting command detecting means for detecting lighting command information for the lamp, wherein the disconnection detecting means is configured to be activated by energizing the lamp. A warning device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle, wherein both the normal display unit and the abnormal display unit are kept off when the detection signal of the lighting instruction information from the lighting instruction detecting unit is in a non-output state. . 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an alarm unit that emits an alarm sound, wherein the control unit is configured to operate the alarm unit continuously for a set time when a disconnection detection signal is received from the disconnection detection unit. A warning device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle, wherein the warning device is used. 4. The control means according to claim 3, wherein the control means activates the alarm means each time a detection signal of lighting instruction information is received from the lighting instruction detection means in a state of receiving the disconnection detection signal from the disconnection detection means. A warning device for abnormal lighting of a vehicle characterized by having the following configuration.