JPH0328033A - Car-interior illumination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate visual obtacle for the driver by adjusting the output of an illumination, which illuminates approx. only the outside circumferential surface of the audio panel part of a cluster panel in accordance with the lightness outside the car to be sensed by a sensing part. CONSTITUTION:An illumination 3 is installed to illuminate approx. only the outside circumferential surface 5 of an audio panel approx. in the center of a cluster panel 6 in a position above the front seat eye point 2 in the car 1 and ahead of the frontmost position of a floor shift level 7. A lighting control part 8 adjusts the output of the illumination 3 with an adjusting part 10 in connection to a power supply 12 in compliance with the lightness outside the car to be sensed by a sensing part 9. Accordingly the audio panel surface 5 is irradiated at an illuminance level according to the lightness outside the car without giving visual bother to the driver 4 and co-passenger, which should assure the driver to make easy switching operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a vehicle interior lighting device for illuminating an audio panel surface in front of a cluster panel provided in the interior of a vehicle such as a passenger car.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in the interior of a passenger car, a lighting lamp is installed in the front center or both sides of the ceiling to illuminate the driver's and passenger seats, and a lighting lamp is installed approximately in the center of the ceiling to illuminate almost the entire interior of the vehicle. Often. Of these, the former is
It is mainly used for viewing maps, etc., and is usually called a map lamp. The latter allows the person in the back seat to look at the map,
This is used to help you see the seat surface inside the vehicle when you open the door to get on or off the vehicle, and is usually called a room lamp.

On the other hand, the audio panel is equipped with a scale display that shows the broadcast frequency, a changeover switch for channel selection, volume adjustment, etc., and a volume control switch. Changeover switches and the like are provided with symbols and characters near each or on the touch surface to indicate their respective functions.

Some luxury cars have only the letters and symbols that are self-luminous.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

When looking at the audio panel surface from a lighting perspective, there is no lighting that facilitates audio operations and provides an atmosphere for enjoying music. When turning on a map lamp to operate audio or enjoy music, conventional man lamps illuminate a relatively wide area with a relatively high illuminance of 20 to 40 lx so that you can see expanded maps, etc. As a result, unnecessary parts such as the entire cluster panel and front view mirror are brightly illuminated, causing visual nuisance to the driver. In addition, the direct illumination light from the pine lamps gives drivers a strong glare, making driving difficult.

On the other hand, when the room lamp is turned on, the inside mirror seen by the driver reflects the vehicle itself or the illuminated face of the person in the rear seat, causing visual annoyance to the driver. In this way, pine lamps and room lamps brightly illuminate almost the entire interior of the vehicle, so they create visual nuisance not only for the drivers on their own, but also for the drivers of vehicles following them, and reduce the visibility of the road ahead. let Therefore, generally neither the map lamp nor the room lamp is turned on while the vehicle is running.

On an audio panel equipped with self-luminous fonts, only the letters and symbols of the fonts that emit light are high, so the brightness contrast between the letters and symbols and the panel surface that serves as the background is high. This makes the letters and symbols appear brighter than necessary, creating a visual nuisance when driving for long periods of time. In addition, because only the letters and symbols on the touch surfaces of the switches are illuminated, it is difficult to operate them because it is difficult to understand the distance to the switches and the shape and condition of the switches themselves.

With map lamps and room lamps, all you have to do is change the brightness level of the lamp to keep the appearance of the audio panel constant, but conventional pine lamps and room lamps have a function to adjust the brightness level. I haven't. The self-luminous switches on the audio panel also have no adjustment function. Some self-luminous systems allow you to adjust the luminous intensity when displaying speed or engine speed, but this is a manual volume adjustment and is not automatically linked to the brightness outside the vehicle.

Therefore, even though the eye adaptation level changes depending on the brightness outside the vehicle, the illuminance on the audio panel surface remains constant, making it impossible to obtain a constant level of visibility.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is installed above the eye point of the front seat in the vehicle interior and forward of the most forward position of the floor shift lever, and illuminates only the approximately outer peripheral surface of the audio panel located approximately in the center of the cluster panel. It consists of a lighting lamp, a power supply unit that supplies power to the lighting lamp, and a lighting control unit connected between the lighting lamp and the power supply unit, and the lighting control unit detects brightness outside the vehicle. The present invention includes a vehicle interior illumination device including a detection section for detecting a sensor, and an adjustment section connected to the detection section for adjusting the output of the illumination lamp in accordance with the brightness outside the vehicle.

[Created/Used]

A lighting lamp that is installed above the eye point of the front seat in the vehicle interior and in front of the most forward position of the floor shift lever, and that illuminates only the outer circumferential surface of the audio panel located approximately in the center of the cluster panel, and supplies power to the lighting lamp. and a lighting control section connected between the lighting lamp and the power supply section, and the lighting control section includes a detection section that detects brightness outside the vehicle, and a lighting control section that is connected to the detection section. By being equipped with a vehicle interior lighting system that includes an adjustment section that adjusts the output of the lighting lights in response to the brightness outside the vehicle, the brightness outside the vehicle can be adjusted without causing visual annoyance to the driver and passengers. Since the audio panel surface can be illuminated at an illuminance level according to the lighting conditions, it becomes easier to operate switches on the audio panel surface.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference numeral 1 indicates the interior of the vehicle, 2 indicates the eye point of the front seat 15, 3 indicates the area above the eye point 2 of the front seat 15, and A lighting lamp installed on the ceiling l3 in front of the forwardmost position of the knob 16 of the shift lever 7, 4 a driver seated in the front seat 15, 5
is an audio panel surface of the cluster panel 6, 8 is a lighting control unit, 9 is a detection unit that detects the brightness outside the vehicle, 10
8! An adjustment section that adjusts the brightness of the illumination lamp 3; 12 is a power supply section that supplies power to the illumination lamp 3; and 11 is an inside lamp. The audio panel surface 5 is incorporated at a slightly lower portion of the cluster panel 6 at approximately the center thereof, and the surface has an inclination of about 20 degrees with respect to the vertical axis.

The illumination lamp 3 has a narrow-angle light distribution so as to illuminate substantially the outer peripheral surface of the audio panel surface 5, and the shadow of the floor shift lever 7 and the driver's 4 hand does not appear on the audio panel surface 5 when operating it. In addition, in order to efficiently illuminate the audio panel surface 5, it is arranged approximately at the center of the left and right sides of the approximately front portion of the ceiling l3. It is also conceivable to provide the illumination light 3 in front of the ceiling 13 on the side of the driver's seat 15 or on the side of the passenger seat (not shown);
This is undesirable because the shadow of the head and arms of the driver 4 or the person sitting in the front passenger seat (not shown) appears on the audio panel surface 5. It is also possible to install the lighting lamp 3 at the front and back center of the ceiling 13, but the lighting lamp 3 may reflect on the inside cooler 11 and cause annoyance to the driver 4, or the floor shift lever may be placed on the audio panel surface 5. This is not desirable because it may cause a shadow of 7. It is also possible to make the illumination lamp 3 freely changeable in its illumination direction so that it can be used as a map lamp and a room lamp, but in that case, there is a problem that, for example, the audio panel surface 5 and the map etc. cannot be illuminated at the same time. This is not desirable because it occurs.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lighting control section 8 includes a detection section 9 that detects the brightness outside the vehicle, and a lighting control section 8 that adjusts on/off and the illuminance of the audio panel surface 5 in at least two levels according to the detected brightness outside the vehicle. and an adjustment section 1o. In this example, when the brightness outside the vehicle becomes 100 1x or less,
Turn on lighting lamp 3.

This value is the illuminance outside the vehicle when about 50% of drivers feel that it is dark outside the vehicle and turn on the side lights (not shown) [References: Proceedings of the 1960 Federation of Electrical Engineering Associations Conference, (8) Electric Railway/Lighting/Power Application Division, m777
). The lights for various displays such as the speed display are also turned on and off in conjunction with the turning on and off of the side lights.In other words, if the brightness outside the vehicle is less than 100x, the lighting for the display will be turned off. If it is more than that, it means that lighting is not necessary. Since the illuminance outside the vehicle is approximately 0 (zero) lx at night, the illuminance outside the vehicle will fluctuate between 0 and 100 lx when the lighting lamp 3 is turned on.

If the illuminance shown in FIG. 3 is applied to the audio panel surface 5 in response to variations in the illuminance outside the vehicle, a substantially constant appearance can be obtained. Figure 3 shows data showing the relationship between the brightness of the human eye and the brightness of the object so that the object appears to have a certain brightness (Brightness B) (References: Denki Shoin: Electrical Equipment Technical Calculation Handbook 2nd edition, Beige v-1
76) is shown by converting the luminance into illuminance and taking brightness B as a parameter. In this embodiment, in order to simplify the adjustment section 10, the following three levels of illuminance are set.

〔effect〕

With the above structure, the audio panel surface can be efficiently illuminated without causing any visual hindrance to the driver, and the lighting environment in the vehicle interior that facilitates the operation of the driver and enjoys music can be created. can be produced. It also creates a lighting environment that gives a sense of calm and relief even when you are not listening to music.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing the arrangement of a vehicle interior lighting system according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, and Fig. 3 shows the relationship between the illuminance outside the vehicle and the illuminance required on the audio panel surface. FIG. l...Car interior, 2...Front seat eye point, 3...Lighting light, 5...Audio panel surface, 6... Cluster panel, 7...
...Floor shift lever 8...Lighting control section, 9...Detection section, 10...Adjustment section, l
2...Power supply section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In the interior of a passenger car, a lighting lamp is installed above the eye point of the front seat and in front of the frontmost position of the floor shift lever, and illuminates only the outer surface of the audio panel of the cluster panel. It consists of a power supply section to supply the light, and a lighting control section connected between the lighting lamp and the power supply section, and the lighting control section includes a detection section that detects brightness outside the vehicle, and a lighting control section connected to the detection section. 1. A vehicle interior lighting device comprising: an adjustment section that adjusts the output of a lighting lamp in accordance with the brightness outside the vehicle.