JP2012209111A - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular lamp that can attain a designated light distribution pattern by making an optical axis of a light source and an optical axis of a lamp coincide with each other when the light source of the vehicular lamp is arranged by making it incline to an optical axis of a vehicle.SOLUTION: In the vehicular lamp 1 wherein a circuit board 6 preparing a light source 7 along the front and rear of the vehicle, a polarizing lens 20 arranged by covering the light source 7, and a prism lens 4 having a prism part 40 are integrally assembled in a bracket 5 and they are built in a lamp chamber made of an outer lens 8 and a housing 3, the light from the light source 7 arranged by being inclined in a vehicular width direction points to the front or the rear of a vehicle by the polarizing lens 20 having a free curved surface continued to irradiate light to an irradiation target range of the prism lens 4 and the prism part 40 arranged on the prism lens 4.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp, and more particularly to a vehicular lamp that uses a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode as a light source.

  In recent years, light-emitting elements such as light-emitting diodes have been adopted as light sources for vehicle lamps.

  In this case, it may be desired that the irradiation region when the light from the light emitting diode is irradiated onto the screen, for example, can have a horizontally long shape with a narrow vertical width.

  For this reason, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, a lens in which a so-called polarizing lens is arranged in front of the light emitting diode in the light irradiation direction is known. This polarizing lens is an aspherical lens having a horizontally long shape, and two convex lenses having substantially the same shape in the lateral direction are arranged side by side so as to have overlapping portions. The light emitting diode is arranged so as to face the overlapping portion of the polarizing lens. As a result, the light from the light emitting diode is irradiated by being polarized in the lateral direction by the two convex lenses, and the luminance of this light is substantially the same as the luminance of the light from the light emitting diode that has passed through the overlapping portion of each convex lens. For example, when the screen is irradiated, the entire irradiation area appears to shine with substantially uniform brightness.

JP 2007-48470

  However, the polarizing lens described above is arranged so that its central axis coincides with an axis perpendicular to the light emitting surface of the light emitting element, and the light from the polarizing lens is emitted radially around the axis. It has become.

  For this reason, the substrate on which the light emitting element is mounted, and the polarizing lens to be placed on the light emitting element must be arranged substantially in parallel with the outer lens of the vehicle lamp and with the light emitting element facing the substantially center of the outer lens. In other words, the arrangement of the light emitting element and the polarizing lens is limited.

  Therefore, in recent years when the interior of the vehicular lamp is becoming a narrow space, it is desired that the arrangement of the light emitting element and the polarizing lens be given a degree of freedom. Further, even in a lamp that is slanted and has a different optical axis from the vehicle optical axis, it is necessary to uniformly emit light emitted from the interior of the vehicle lamp.

  An object of the present invention is to provide light emitting elements and polarizing lenses with a degree of freedom, slanting, and using light emitted from the lamp chamber as an optimal light distribution pattern even in a lamp having a different vehicle optical axis and light source optical axis. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp that can irradiate uniformly.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle lamp according to the present invention includes a light source and a polarizing lens that are disposed so as to be inclined with respect to the front direction or the rear direction of the vehicle, and light from the polarizing lens is directed to the front direction of the vehicle by the prism lens. Alternatively, it is configured to be directed backward.

  In order to solve the above problems, a vehicular lamp according to the present invention controls the deflection of light from a light source including a plate-like prism lens provided so as to be inclined in the vehicle front-rear direction and a semiconductor light emitting element. A vehicle lamp having a polarizing lens to be incident on a prism lens, wherein the light source is disposed to be inclined to the vehicle outer side with respect to a vehicle optical axis, and the polarizing lens is a high luminance light out of the light from the light source The light beam is controlled to be deflected in a direction substantially coinciding with the vehicle optical axis, and the prism lens is formed with a prism portion for emitting incident light from the polarizing lens to the front of the vehicle. Features.

  According to this configuration, even in a vehicular lamp using a semiconductor light emitting element installed in a direction in which the optical axis of the light source does not coincide with the vehicle optical axis, the optical axis of the light source is substantially coincident with the vehicle optical axis by the polarizing lens. Furthermore, by diffusing the irradiation light from the polarizing lens by the prism portion of the prism lens and irradiating the front of the vehicle, it is possible to irradiate the front of the vehicle with an optimal light distribution with a uniform appearance. I can do it.

  In the above-described configuration, the prism unit includes a low prism unit that diffuses left and right high-brightness light out of light whose polarization is controlled by a polarizing lens and irradiates the light to the front, and a high prism formed on the left and right sides of the low prism unit. The formed configuration can be adopted.

  According to this configuration, light with high luminance incident on the low prism portion of the prism lens is diffused and emitted forward by the low prism portion, and light incident on the high prism portions formed on the left and right sides of the low prism portion is By forming a light distribution pattern that is greatly diffused forward by the high prism portion, it is possible to improve appearance by uniformly illuminating the vehicular lamp and to form an optimal light distribution pattern.

  In the above-described configuration, a configuration in which a plurality of light sources are provided in the vehicle front-rear direction and the low prism portion and the high prism portion are alternately formed on the prism lens can be adopted.

  According to this configuration, even in a vehicular lamp having a plurality of light sources, it is possible to improve the appearance by uniformly illuminating the vehicular lamp and to form an optimal light distribution pattern.

According to the vehicular lamp of the present invention, even in a vehicular lamp that is provided so as to incline in the vehicle front-rear direction, the light axis of the light source is made to substantially coincide with the vehicular optical axis direction by the polarizing lens. Can irradiate in front of the vehicle optical axis, diffuse other light in the left and right direction, and diffuse and distribute light in the left and right direction by the prism lens to irradiate the optimal light distribution pattern in front of the vehicle The vehicle lamp can be illuminated uniformly.

It is a front side perspective view of a vehicle lamp. It is a front side perspective view of the state which removed the outer lens etc. of the vehicular lamp. It is a figure which shows the optical path of a vehicle lamp. It is a figure showing the high prism part and low prism part of a prism lens. It is the figure which showed the structure of the polarizing lens. It is a figure which shows the structure of the polarizing lens body comprised by integrating the said polarizing lens with the base. It is a figure showing the light distribution pattern of a vehicle lamp.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the same number is assigned to the same element throughout the description of the embodiment.

  1 to 7, the vehicular lamp 1 is a lamp provided on the left and right sides of the front part of the vehicle as viewed from the front of the vehicle. In FIG. Accordingly, when the vehicle lamp 1 is viewed from the front side of the vehicle, the vehicle lamp 1 is seen in a state of being disposed on both the left and right sides of the front portion of the vehicle.

  The vehicular lamp 1 is a lamp having a function of a part of a vehicular headlamp (not shown) arranged at the front of an automobile, and is provided inside the vehicular lamp 1 together with a traveling lamp and a passing lamp. It has a function as a signal lamp, that is, a clearance lamp or a daytime running lamp. The vehicular lamp 1 of the present invention may have a structure that is attached to a bumper of a vehicle body as a single unit.

  1 and 2, a vehicular lamp 1 includes a plate-like prism lens 4 provided in a lamp chamber formed by an outer lens 8 and a housing 3 so as to incline in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a semiconductor light emitting element. A polarizing lens 20 that deflects light from the light source 7 to be incident on the prism lens 4 is integrally fixed via a bracket 5, and the circuit board 6 that holds the light source 7 on the surface of the housing 3. Is installed.

  The outer lens 8 is formed of a light transmissive material, for example, a transparent synthetic resin material such as polycarbonate, and is disposed on the front side of the housing 3 via a seal portion (not shown) provided on the entire periphery. The outer lens 8 and the housing 3 form a lamp chamber that contains the prism lens 4, the bracket 5, the light source 7, and the polarizing lens 20. The surface of the outer lens 8 on the vehicle front side is inclined substantially parallel to the prism lens 4.

  The housing 3 is made of a light-impermeable material, for example, an opaque synthetic resin material such as polycarbonate, and the outer lens 8 is assembled to the front side through a seal portion (not shown) provided on the entire periphery. It has been.

  In addition, the prism 3, the polarizing lens 20, and the circuit board 6 that holds the light source 7 are integrally fixed to the bracket 5 in the housing 3, and the fixing surface that fixes the bracket 5 is rearward as it goes to the outside of the vehicle. Inclined to. The inclination of the fixed surface of the housing 3 is formed more gently than the inclination of the prism lens 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the prism lens 4 is made of a flat light-transmitting synthetic resin material, and is inclined rearward from the vehicle inner side toward the vehicle outer side. Is provided so that the distance between the prism lens 4 and the light source 7 is gradually reduced.

  The light source side surface of the prism lens 4 is formed with a flat incident surface, and the opposite surface is formed with at least a large and small prism portion 40 as an output surface. In addition, the prism lens 4 is formed such that the light incident surface and the light emitting surface are substantially parallel and may be partially curved.

In the prism unit 40, a high prism unit 40B having a high prism height and a low prism unit 40A having a low prism height are alternately formed, and a space between the high prism unit 40B and the low prism unit 40A is a prism. The height is formed so as to change gradually. Further, the prism is provided in a cylindrical shape having a vertical kamaboko shape.

  The high prism portion 40B is a prism having a height of 0.5 mm formed at the vehicle inner end portion and the vehicle outer end portion of the prism portion 40, and the height gradually decreases toward the low prism portion 40A. It is formed as follows.

  The low prism portion 40A is a prism having a height of 0.3 mm formed on a portion of the prism portion 40 where high-luminance light is linearly positioned in the light source 7 when viewed from the front, and is connected to the high prism portion 40B. It is formed so that the height gradually increases as it goes.

  The prism formed in the prism unit 40 is composed of a fisheye lens having a vertical kamaboko shape when viewed from the front, and is formed at regular intervals.

  The prism lens 4 is configured to diffuse and irradiate light from the polarizing lens 20 toward the optical axis L in front of the vehicle. In FIG. 3, prism portions 40 are formed on the surface of the prism lens 4 opposite to the light source 7, for example, and these prism portions 40 extend in the vertical direction of the prism lens 4 and have a cross-section combining a plurality of straight lines. A plurality of curves are provided side by side in the vehicle width direction.

  In the prism portion 40 of the prism lens 4, a low prism portion 40A is provided in the range of 12 ° to the left and right with the optical axis L2 of the light source 7 polarized by the polarizing lens 20 as the center, and as the distance from the optical axis L2 increases. The height of the prism gradually increases, and the high prism portion 40B is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, light emitted from the light source 7 enters the high prism portion 40B after being polarized by the polarizing lens 20 and diffused to the left and right (the light emitted from both ends of one prism of the high prism portion 40B The intersecting angle is denoted as θ1), and is emitted forward of the vehicle.

Light with high illuminance polarized on the polarizing lens 20 by light emitted from the light source 7 enters the low prism portion 40A and is diffused to the left and right (the angle at which the light emitted from both ends of one prism of the high prism portion 40B intersects). Is denoted as θ2), and is emitted forward of the vehicle. At this time, since the height of the prism is higher in the high prism portion 40B than in the low prism portion 40A, the diffusion angle toward the front of the vehicle is θ1> θ2. By combining the light distribution of the low prism portion 40A and the high prism portion 40B, it is possible to form the light distribution pattern 9 diffused to the left and right while satisfying an arbitrary light distribution standard shown in FIG.

  The light source 7 is a surface-mount type semiconductor light-emitting element that includes a semiconductor light-emitting element such as an LED and is directly attached to the circuit board 6 by solder or the like.

  Further, the light source 7 is not limited to the semiconductor light emitting element, and a semiconductor light source 7 using a semiconductor such as a high-brightness LED and organic EL (electroluminescence), a semiconductor laser (LD), an incandescent light bulb, etc. It may be.

  The circuit board 6 has a thin plate shape, and light sources 7 are attached to the surface at equal intervals, and is fixed to the bracket 5 from the back side.

[Polarized lens]
The polarizing lens 20 has an emission surface composed of a continuous free-form surface based on a cylindrical shape, and is disposed so as to be fixed to the circuit board 6, for example. The configuration of the polarizing lens 20 will be described in detail later. In general, the width in the x direction in the figure is formed larger than the width in the y direction (perpendicular to the paper surface), and the cross section along the y direction in the figure is The highest convex shape is formed at the center, and the height of this convex shape gradually increases after increasing from one side (left side in the figure) to the other side (right side in the figure) along the x direction in the figure. It is configured as follows.

  5A and 5B are diagrams showing the configuration of the polarizing lens 20, wherein FIG. 5A is a plan view, FIG. 5B is a bottom view, FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line cc of FIG. It is sectional drawing in the dd line | wire of (a).

  First, as shown in FIG. 5A, the polarizing lens 20 has a width in the x direction (which may be referred to as a first direction) in the drawing when viewed in a plan view. It is formed larger than the width of the case. Each side in the x direction (side in the y direction) in the drawing forms a first arc-shaped side 20A and a second arc-shaped side 20B that are convex outward. In this case, for example, the first arc-shaped side 20A has a larger diameter than the second arc-shaped side 20B. In the drawing, each side in the y direction (x direction side) forms a smooth curve 20C obtained by connecting the first arc-shaped side 20A and the second arc-shaped side 20B.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5D, which is a cross section along the y direction in the figure, the highest convex shape is formed at the center, and the height of the convex shape is a cross section along the x direction in the figure. As shown in FIG. 5C, the first arcuate side 20A is configured to gradually decrease after increasing from the first arcuate side 20A side to the second arcuate side 20B side.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, which is the bottom surface of the polarizing lens 20, a concave surface 20D is formed on the surface facing the light emitting element 14, and the concave surface 20D is a virtual axis extending in the y direction in the figure. It is comprised by the circular arc surface (cylindrical surface) centering on Q. 5A and 5B, the light source 7 is also drawn in addition to the polarizing lens 20, and the light source 7 is positioned at the center of the concave surface 20D of the polarizing lens 20 in the x direction in the drawing. It has become like this. The concave surface 20D of the polarizing lens 20 has an effect that the light from the light source 7 can be efficiently incident into the polarizing lens 20 through the concave surface 20D without substantially reflecting light.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing a polarizing lens body 25 having the polarizing lens 20. 6 (a) is a perspective view, FIG. 6 (b) is a plan view, FIG. 6 (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line cc of FIG. 6 (b), FIG. 6 (d) is a front view, and FIG. (E) is a side view. In FIG. 6, in view of the fact that the polarizing lens 20 may be formed to be relatively small, the polarizing lens body 25 is configured integrally with the base 27 and is easy to handle. Accordingly, the polarizing lens 20 can be easily attached to the circuit board 6 by the base 27, for example.

  Thus, the polarizing lens body 25 including the polarizing lens 20 and the base 27 is formed by, for example, integral molding of a resin material. 6A and 6B, a pair of holes 27A are formed on both sides of the polarizing lens 20 in the base 27, and these holes 27A are holes for facilitating the molding of the resin material. Yes.

According to the vehicular lamp 1 of the present invention configured as described above, even in the vehicular lamp 1 provided to be inclined in the vehicle front-rear direction, the polarizing lens 20 causes the optical axis of the light source 7 to be substantially the same as the vehicular optical axis direction. By matching, it is possible to irradiate light with high luminous intensity in front of the vehicle optical axis, and further diffuse other light in the left-right direction and diffuse light distribution in the left-right direction by the prism lens 4. Since the lamp optical axis can be made to coincide with the vehicle optical axis L2, and the vehicle lamp 1 can be illuminated uniformly, an optimal light distribution pattern can be formed.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, it cannot be overemphasized that the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiments. Further, it is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle lamp 20 ... Polarized lens, 20A ... 1st arc side, 20B ... 2nd arc side, 20C ... Smooth curve, 20D ... Concave surface, 25 ... Polarized lens body, 27 ... Base, 27A ... Hole,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Housing 4 ... Prism lens, 40 ... Prism part, 40A ... Low prism part, 40B ... High prism part 5 Bracket 6 Circuit board 7 Light source 8 Outer lens L1 Light source optical axis L2 Lamp optical axis (optical axis after polarization)
L3-L4 Ray HP irradiation pattern

Claims (3)

A vehicular lamp having a plate-like prism lens provided so as to be inclined in a vehicle front-rear direction, and a polarizing lens that deflects light from a light source composed of a semiconductor light-emitting element and causes the light to enter the prism lens, The light source is disposed to be inclined toward the vehicle outer side with respect to the vehicle optical axis, and the polarizing lens is configured to control deflection of high-intensity light out of the light from the light source in a direction substantially coinciding with the vehicle optical axis. A vehicular lamp, comprising: a prism portion configured to diffuse and emit incident light from the polarizing lens forward of the vehicle.   The prism unit includes: a low prism unit that diffuses left and right high-brightness light out of light whose polarization is controlled by the polarizing lens and irradiates the light to the front; and a high prism unit that is formed on the left and right sides of the low prism unit. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular lamp is formed. 3. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the light sources are provided in a vehicle front-rear direction, and each of the low prism portion and the high prism portion is alternately formed on the prism lens. Lamps.