JPH04196002A - Fog lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the light projecting efficiency and have matching to the car design by setting a light distributing characteristic of a reflex mirror so that its main reflex surface consists of a parabolic columnar plane, and furnishing the reflex mirror with a center illuminance compensating means to intensify the center illuminance. CONSTITUTION:The main reflex surface of a reflex mirror 3 shall consist of a parabolic columnar plane 3a, and this plane shall determine the dominating light districution characteristic of a fog lamp 1. As assistant reflex surface, a rotary parabolic reflex plane 3b is provided at each side of this parabolic columnar plane 3a, and these planes 3b have foci at a light source 2, and thereby the light therefrom is converged into approx. parallel beams of light and cast ahead. Accordingly a lens 4 is free from lens cut 4a substantially because parabolic columnar plane 3a is adopted as its main reflex surface. This enhances the light projecting efficiency and permits matching with car design through making the lens 4 inclination free.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a lighting device for an automobile, and more particularly to a fog lamp that is required to have light distribution characteristics that are narrow in the vertical direction and wide in the horizontal direction.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of a conventional fog lamp 91, in which light from a light source 92 is converted into a parallel light beam by a rotating paraboloid reflector 93, and this parallel light beam is converted into a convex or concave beam in the vertical direction. A lens 94 having a cylindrical lens cut 94a performs diffusion in the left and right direction to obtain the desired light distribution characteristics.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the fog lamp 91 is approximately 8 mm wide in the left and right direction.
Since an extremely wide irradiation angle of 0° is required, compared to other lighting equipment such as a headlamp, the lens 94a is extremely strong, in other words, a lens with severe irregularities is used. As a result, diffused reflection within the lens 94 increases, resulting in a problem of reduced irradiation efficiency. In addition, when the lens 94 having the above-mentioned circle-shaped lens cut 94a is tilted so as to be aligned with the reflecting mirror 93 and face up, the light distribution characteristic is curved in the shape of a lower chord bow. When the lens 94 is tilted downward, the light distribution characteristics are curved in the shape of a 1-string bow. Therefore, it is inevitable to adjust the tilt of the lens 94 in order to harmonize with the automobile design, which limits the automobile design. However, such problems arose, and it became a challenge to solve these problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention is a specific means for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides fog lamps that require light distribution characteristics that are narrow in the vertical direction and wide in the horizontal direction. By providing a fog lamp characterized in that the light distribution characteristics are set using the object reflecting surface as the main reflecting surface, and the reflecting mirror is provided with a center illuminance compensation means for increasing the center illuminance, the irradiation efficiency can be improved. The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems by improving the light intensity and also solving the problem of curvature of light distribution characteristics due to the inclination of the lens.

【Example】

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. What is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of a fog lamp 1 according to the present invention.
is similar to the conventional example in that it is composed of a light source 2 such as a halogen lamp, a reflecting mirror 3, and a lens 4, but according to the present invention, the reflecting mirror 3 is a one-sided parabolic base. The light emitting surface 3a is the main reflecting surface, and the main light distribution characteristics of the fog lamp 1 are set by this parabolic light emitting surface 3a. What is shown in FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the parabolic base irradiation surface 3a.The parabolic columnar reflection surface 3a has a vertical cross section of a parabola with the light source 2 as its focal point, and a horizontal cross section of the parabolic column reflection surface 3a. The cross section is formed as a straight line, so that the light source 2
Since the light from the light source 2 is converged only in the vertical direction and reflected in the horizontal direction almost at the same angle of divergence from the light source 2, the horizontal length of the parabolic base radiation surface 3a is adjusted appropriately. Through this adjustment, light distribution characteristics for the fog lamp 1 that are narrow in the vertical direction and wide in the horizontal direction can be obtained only by the parabolic columnar reflecting surface 3a without relying on the lens cut 4a of the lens 4. However, the fact that the lens cup 4a is unnecessary means that the shadows generated on the reflecting mirror 3 are also projected on the side thereof, and the socket 2a of the light source 2 is also projected on the parabolic base projection surface 3a. As shown in the light distribution characteristic H in Figure 4, the shadow of ! (This results in a dark zone D in the center where 6 degrees is required.) The present invention eliminates the dark zone D by providing a center illuminance compensation means, thereby achieving an ideal light distribution for the fume lamp 1. This makes it possible to employ the parabolic cylindrical reflecting surface 3a that provides the characteristic H as the main reflecting surface.Referring again to FIGS. What is adopted is a paraboloid of revolution reflection surface 3b provided as an auxiliary surface on both sides*11a of the parabolic columnar reflection surface 3a, and each paraboloid of revolution reflection surface 3b focuses on the light source 2. As a result, the light from the light source 2 is converged into a substantially parallel beam and irradiated forward.As previously explained, the lens 4 has a paraboloid on its main refractory surface. Since the lens cut 4a is not substantially applied by adopting the pillar reflecting surface 3a, the paraboloid of revolution reflecting surface 3
The reflected light from b goes to the center of the light distribution characteristic H, that is, the dark zone D (see Figure 4) without being diffused, and the dark zone D is expanded to compensate for the lack of illuminance in this area. Become something to do. The second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5 is based on the same purpose as the previous first embodiment, and like the previous embodiment, the main reflecting surface is a parabolic column reflecting surface 3a. Therefore, a detailed explanation of this part will be omitted to avoid convergence, and a description will be given of the central illuminance compensation means, which is different from the previous embodiment. In this embodiment, the auxiliary reflecting surfaces, which serve as the center illuminance compensating means, are arranged at both ends of the parabolic columnar reflecting surface 3a, and each of the auxiliary reflecting surfaces is arranged facing inward and has an oblique light beam having a focus on the light source 2. It is made into an object reflecting surface 3c, and the degree to which the light from the light source 2 is directed inward is directed forward at approximately the center of this parabolic base radiation surface 3c. In this way, the reflected light from the auxiliary reflecting surface, that is, the inclined parabolic reflecting surface 3c, is directed toward the center of the light distribution characteristic H, that is, the dark zone D (see FIG. 4), and Similarly, it compensates for insufficient illuminance. What is shown in FIG. 6 is a third embodiment of the present invention, in which a parabolic columnar reflecting surface 3a is used as the main reflecting surface, similar to any of the previous embodiments.
However, as the center illumination compensation means, a convex lens 5 is used instead of the auxiliary reflecting surface of the previous embodiment, and the reflecting mirror 3 is only a parabolic column reflecting surface 3a. ing. +]ii The convex lens 5 is provided to be located in front of the light source 2, and its focal point is approximately at the position of the light source 2. By doing so, the convex lens 5 converges the direct light emitted forward from the light source 2 and directs it toward the front of the fog lamp 1 as substantially parallel light. As in the embodiment, the light is directed toward the dark zone D (see FIG. 4) of the light distribution characteristic H, and the insufficient illuminance in the dark zone D is compensated for. Next, to explain the effects of the present invention, in any of the above embodiments, by providing a center illuminance compensating means for compensating so as to improve the illuminance at the center of the light distribution characteristic, as a main reflecting mirror, This reflector alone makes it possible to adopt the parabolic base radiation surface 3a that provides the optimal light distribution characteristics for the fog lamp 1, thereby eliminating the need for the lens cut applied to the Len-Onna 4 and eliminating internal reflections. The purpose is to improve the irradiation efficiency by eliminating this problem, and also to allow the lens 4 to be tilted freely.

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, according to the present invention, the light distribution characteristics of the reflecting mirror are set using one parabolic column reflecting surface as the main reflecting surface, and the reflecting mirror is provided with a center illuminance compensating means for increasing the center illuminance. This fog lamp makes it possible to use a parabolic reflecting surface that provides the optimum light distribution characteristics for the fog lamp, thereby improving irradiation efficiency by making it virtually unnecessary to cut the lens. At the same time, the lens can be freely tilted to match the design of the automobile, which has an outstanding effect on improving the performance of this type of fog lamp and expanding its uses.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a fog lamp according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 1, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing the main part of the same embodiment, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the light distribution characteristics obtained by the parabolic columnar reflecting surface, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the third embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the conventional example. ■・・・・・・Fog lamp 2・・・・・・・Light source 3・・・・Reflector 3a・・・・Parabolic column reflecting surface 3b・・・・・... Rotating parabolic reflecting surface 3c...... Inclined parabolic column reflecting surface 4...
...Lens 5...Convex lens H...Light distribution characteristic D...Dark zone Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In fog lamps that require light distribution characteristics that are narrow in the vertical direction and wide in the horizontal direction, the light distribution characteristics of the fog lamps are set using a parabolic column reflection surface as the main reflection surface of the reflector. In addition, the fog lamp is characterized in that the reflecting mirror is provided with a center illuminance compensating means for increasing the center illuminance. (2) Claim (1) characterized in that the central illuminance compensating means is an auxiliary reflecting surface of a paraboloid of rotation that is provided at both ends of the paraboloidal reflecting surface and has a focal point at the light source. Fog lamps as described in section. (3) The central illuminance compensating means is a parabolic reflecting surface that is provided on both sides of the parabolic reflecting surface, has a focus on the light source, and is directed inward. Fog lamps as described in scope item (1). (4) The fog lamp according to claim 1, wherein the center illuminance compensating means is a convex lens provided in front of the light source and having a substantially focal point on the light source.