JPH1173804A - Lens for headlamp and auxiliary lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent traffic accidents by clearly notifying the presence of cars without headlamps while dark at nightfall, cars left parked on the streets at night, or bicycles without lights to pedestrians or other car drivers. SOLUTION: A luminous light emission layer 3 which phosphoresces in a dark place is formed on the surface of a lens body 2 of a lens 1 for headlamps by a clear coating mixed with a luminous pigment whose light yellowish green color disappears to generate transparency when mixed with a paint vehicle, then at night, the surface of the lens 1 shines continuously with phosphorescence according to the light emission color of the luminous pigment and the afterglow thereof, thereby notifying the presence of cars and bicycles without headlamps, or cars left parked on the streets.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lens used for a head lamp or an auxiliary lamp such as a fog lamp or a spot lamp installed on the front of a car, a motorcycle, a scooter, a bicycle or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A headlamp and its auxiliary lamp are composed of a body fixed to a vehicle body, a reflector (reflector) and a lamp (light source) disposed inside the body, and an extension fitted and fixed to a front surface of the body. , And a lens attached so as to cover the front surface thereof.

As a light source lamp, a xenon lamp, a halogen lamp or the like capable of obtaining a sufficient amount of light even in a suburb or a mountain road where there is no street light is used. The lens is formed of transparent glass or transparent plastic having good translucency. ing.

[0004] Since the shape and structure of an automobile headlamp are different for each vehicle type, and the design is frequently changed in accordance with the model change of the vehicle, the molding process of the lens and other lamp materials is difficult. For example, most of the reflectors have been converted from conventional steel plates to thermosetting plastics (BMC).

The lens and extension are made of polycarbonate (PC), and the body is made of polypropylene (P).
Many are molded with thermoplastics such as P).

[0006] In particular, PC has a greater impact strength than glass, is less likely to break, and has better transparency, so that at least 60% of lenses for odd-shaped headlamps are currently being converted from glass to PC. .

The required characteristics of the lens include scratch resistance, weather resistance, chemical resistance, heat resistance, etc. in addition to the impact resistance and transparency. Plastic lenses such as PC lenses are glass lenses. The surface of the lens is easily scratched compared to that of the lens, so the surface of the lens can be hard-coated with an ultraviolet-curable clear paint that uses acrylic or the like as a vehicle resin that has the ability to form a hard coating that improves scratch resistance. It has been subjected.

[0008]

By the way, headlights and auxiliary lamps of automobiles illuminate the road surface in front brightly at nighttime or when traveling in a tunnel to inform the driver of the road conditions and at the same time, the traveling of the vehicle. It informs the driver of pedestrians and oncoming vehicles of the presence of a car, or informs the driver of the vehicle ahead that changes lanes or brakes while looking at the rearview mirror, contributing to safe driving. On roads, etc., there are many drivers who only rely on streetlights without driving headlights etc. at dusk when the area is dark,
Many traffic accidents have occurred because pedestrians and oncoming vehicles and drivers of vehicles ahead were unable to detect the presence of the vehicle.

In order to prevent the battery from being exhausted, or to avoid dazzling the driver of an oncoming vehicle stopping at a traffic light, many drivers turn off their headlamps each time they stop at an intersection or pedestrian crossing. Turn off the headlamps, and if the paint color of the stopped car is black, dark blue, dark brown, dark green, etc. that is inconspicuous in darkness, you will notice a car entering the intersection at a high speed or a car stopped by a motorcycle driver There was a risk that a collision or collision accident would occur late, or that a pedestrian would not be aware of the stopped car and would be forced to cross the pedestrian crossing at a red light and be jumped by that car.

On dark and narrow roads without street lights or sidewalks, motorcycles and bicycles collide with cars parked on the road and on the shoulders, unlit bicycles jump on pedestrians,
Conversely, accidents in which unlit bicycles are hit by trucks and the like have also frequently occurred.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for driving a car without turning on a headlight or an auxiliary lamp at nightfall, turning off a headlight at an intersection or a pedestrian crossing, and stopping a car, or on a road or a shoulder. Even if a car or motorcycle parked in the park is left unattended, or when riding a bicycle without lights at night, it is possible to make sure that pedestrians and other car drivers are aware of the existence of such cars and bicycles. The technical task is to make it possible to prevent traffic accidents.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a device in which a lens used for a headlamp or an auxiliary lamp is unconventionally designed. In addition, a clear paint mixed with a luminous pigment, which loses body color when mixed with a paint vehicle and produces a sense of transparency, is applied, and a phosphorescent light emitting layer that emits phosphorescence in a dark place is formed. .

In the lens of the present invention, when the sun goes down and the area becomes dark, the luminous luminous layer formed on the front surface or the back surface of the lens body emits the luminous color of the luminous pigment which luminesces by accumulating energy obtained from sunlight. Emits the corresponding phosphorescence and its afterglow,
The light emission lasts for a certain time.

Therefore, a car that travels without turning on the headlights or auxiliary lamps at sunset, a bicycle that travels without light at night, or a car, motorcycle, or bicycle parked on the road or on the shoulder and left unattended is provided. In addition, the head lamp and the auxiliary lamp are automatically illuminated, so that the presence thereof can be notified to a pedestrian, a driver of another vehicle, or the like.

[0015] Even if a vehicle temporarily stopped at an intersection or a pedestrian crossing turns off the headlamp, the headlamp portion shines brightly at that moment, so that pedestrians and the like can clearly know the existence of the stopped vehicle. Can be closed. In particular, immediately after the headlamp is turned off, the luminous pigment that has been fully supplied with energy from the light of the lamp that was lit up to then emits the highest brightness, so it is an intersection in the city where lighting signs and neon signs etc. are crowded Also, the light can be clearly recognized.

Further, in the lens of the present invention, the luminous light-emitting layer formed on the front surface or the back surface of the lens body is formed of a transparent clear paint, and the luminous pigment mixed in the clear paint is a paint vehicle. When mixed with a pigment, the body color disappears and a transparent feeling is produced, and the luminous pigment has an attribute that it does not emit light while receiving energy from artificial rays such as sunlight or a lamp.

Therefore, when the lamp is lit during the daytime or at night, the luminous light-emitting layer is almost colorless and transparent. There is no difference from the above, and there is no problem that the light of the lamp lit at night is attenuated by the luminous layer.

If, for example, a brake lamp that is lit when the brake is applied emits light even when the brake is not applied, the driver of the following vehicle may be confused and the driving operation may be erroneous. On the contrary, there is no danger with regard to the head lamp and the auxiliary lamp even if the head lamp and the auxiliary lamp emit light when the lamp is not turned on or turned off.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance and a sectional structure of a lens according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a modification of the sectional structure.

The lens 1 shown in FIG.
Is an automotive headlamp lens molded from a thermoplastic plastic such as polycarbonate to which a benzotriazole-based or benzophenone-based ultraviolet absorber that prevents the plastic from deteriorating by ultraviolet rays. It is formed in a horizontally long L shape that simultaneously covers the front of the spot lamp attached to the outside, and also serves as an auxiliary lamp lens. The body color disappears when mixed with a paint vehicle on the surface of the lens body 2. A clear paint mixed with a luminous pigment that produces a transparent feeling is applied to form a luminous light emitting layer 3 that emits phosphorescence in a dark place.

As the clear paint for forming the phosphorescent light-emitting layer 3, an acrylic resin excellent in abrasion resistance for protecting the surface of plastic and an ultraviolet-curable clear paint for a hard coat using a solvent thereof as a paint vehicle are used. Have been.

As the phosphorescent pigment mixed in the clear paint, for example, strontium oxide, aluminum oxide, boron oxide or a boron compound, to which europium oxide is added as an activator, is mixed and fired. Powdered phosphorescent material having a particle size of 200 mesh or less (Chemitec product number: CP)
-05, CP-10).

The fine powder of the phosphorescent material exhibits an opaque pale yellow-green body color in the daytime or in a bright place, but when this is mixed with a paint vehicle of a clear paint, the pale yellow-green body color is completely reduced. It was confirmed by experiments that it disappeared and produced a feeling of transparency almost equivalent to the transparency of a plastic bottle used as a container for drinking water or the like in the daytime or in a bright place.

On the other hand, at night or in a dark place, the fine powder of the luminous material exhibits a bright and bright green (CP-05) or blue (CP-10) luminescent color, and the initial luminance is 2.
It is very bright, 500 mcd / m ² or more, and the afterglow time is extremely long, such as 20 hours or more for green and 30 hours or more for blue.
It has the excellent features of being able to maintain light emission without receiving light energy during the period from dusk to dawn, and containing no radioactive substances harmful to the human body and high safety. I have.

In the lens 1, even if the headlamp is not turned on, the luminous pigment in the luminous luminous layer 3 formed on the surface of the lens body 2 has high brightness when the sun goes down and the area becomes dark. It emits a phosphorescent light that emits a clear green or blue luminescent color and automatically shines on the headlamp part, and since the color and brilliance of the light is fantastic peculiar to phosphorescent light, the headlamp can be used at sunset. Even if you drive a car without turning on the auxiliary lamp, the presence of the car can be known to others.

The luminous pigment emits light for a certain period of time,
In particular, since the afterglow time of the finely powdered phosphorescent material is very long, that is, 20 hours or more, even in the case of a car parked on the road that is not driven at all, the headlamp portion automatically emits light at night. As it fires, its luminescence lasts until dawn, signaling the presence of the car overnight.

Also, the luminous light emitting layer 3 formed on the lens body 2 can receive energy from the light of the illuminated headlamp during night driving, so that the vehicle is temporarily stopped at an intersection, a crosswalk, or the like. When the headlamp is turned off, the light is emitted with the highest brightness, so that the presence of the car can be clearly known.

The lens 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a lens for a headlamp of an automobile, but the lens of the present invention is not limited to this, and it is an auxiliary lens such as a fog lamp and a spot lamp provided together with the headlamp on the front of the automobile. Lamp lenses are also included. Further, the present invention is not limited to headlamps and auxiliary lamps of automobiles, but can also be applied to motorcycles such as motorcycles and scooters, headlamps of bicycles, and the like.

The light-storing light-emitting layer 3 shown in FIG. 1 is formed by mixing a light-storing material into a clear coating for hard coating for protecting the surface of the lens body 2 made of plastic, but is not limited to this. First, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, a clear paint mixed with a luminous pigment is applied to the surface of the lens body 2 to form a luminous light-emitting layer 3, and then a clear paint for a hard coat is formed thereon. May be applied to form the clear coat layer 4 serving as a protective layer on the lens surface.

Further, the luminous light-emitting layer 3 is not limited to being formed on the front surface of the lens body 2 but may be formed on the back surface thereof. Further, the lens body 2 is not limited to plastic, but may be glass.

[0031]

The lens according to the present invention can be used for a car that travels without turning on the headlights or auxiliary lamps at nightfall, a car that stops at the intersection or pedestrian crossing at night and turns off the headlamps, on the road or on the roadside. It has a very good effect of notifying pedestrians and other car drivers of the presence of nightly parked cars or bicycles or motorcycles running without light, which can contribute to the prevention of traffic accidents.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance and cross-sectional structure of a lens according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a modification of the sectional structure of the lens according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Lens (lens for headlamp) 2 ... Lens body 3 ... Luminescent light emitting layer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A clear paint mixed with a luminous pigment which, when mixed with a paint vehicle, loses body color and produces a sense of transparency when mixed with a paint vehicle, is applied to the front or back surface of the lens body (2), and emits phosphorescence in a dark place. A lens for a headlamp or an auxiliary lamp, wherein a luminous light emitting layer (3) is formed. 2. The lens according to claim 1, wherein the lens body is molded of plastic, and the clear paint is a clear paint for a hard coat that protects the surface of the plastic. 3. The lens according to claim 1, wherein the phosphorescent pigment is a fine powder having a light yellow-green body color and a particle size of 200 mesh or less.