JPH0765603A - Vehicle headlight device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Even when the vehicle travels on a complicatedly shaped road such as a curved road, the front of the vehicle is illuminated without reducing the visibility of the driver. [Structure] The position and deviation angle of the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle and the output signal of the beam changeover switch are read (202, 20).
4) When the high beam side lamp is turned on, the low beam side lamp is controlled to a deflection angle according to the curved road (light distribution control B, 212). When the high beam side lamp is off and the low beam side lamp is not disconnected (208, 210), the deflection angle is controlled according to the curved road (light distribution control A, 21).
4). In the case of the low-beam side lamp burnout, the deflection angle is set to the initial angle when going straight (light distribution control C, 216). In this way, even when the high beam is turned on, it is deflected to the low beam according to the road shape, and the visibility in the vicinity of the vehicle is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular headlamp device, and more particularly to a vehicular headlamp device for controlling the light distribution of headlamps that illuminate the front of the vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle, in order to improve visibility in front of the driver at night or the like, light distribution such as a state of illuminating a distant place with a large amount of light and a state of illuminating a vicinity with a small amount of light (so-called high beam and low beam) Is provided with a switchable headlamp. The headlamp is fixed to a substantially front end of the vehicle and irradiates a predetermined relatively wide range.

On an ordinary road on which a vehicle equipped with this headlamp travels, there may be another vehicle such as a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle or an oncoming vehicle passing the host vehicle. When there is another vehicle in front of this vehicle, the headlamp is in the light distribution (high beam) state for distant irradiation,
A large amount of light is emitted toward the other vehicle and the driver of the other vehicle feels dazzling. For this reason, other vehicles are detected by detecting the light from the tail lamp of the preceding vehicle or the light from the head lamp of the oncoming vehicle, and when the other vehicle is present in front of the own vehicle, the head lamp is used for distant light distribution. There is a vehicle headlamp device that switches from a state to a light distribution state of irradiation near the vehicle (from a high beam to a low beam).

By the way, at the time of switching from the light distribution state of distant irradiation to the light distribution state of near-vehicle irradiation, the driver feels uncomfortable due to a sudden change in light amount or the like. In order to solve this problem, there is also a vehicle headlamp device in which the headlamp is gradually switched from a light distribution state of distant illumination to a light distribution state of near-vehicle illumination (high beam to low beam) (JP-A-1-
289727).

[0005]

However, in the light distribution state of the far-field irradiation, the light distribution far from the vehicle is originally considered in order to improve the visibility of the far distance. For this reason,
In the light distribution state of distant irradiation, the light distribution near the vehicle tends to be insufficient. Therefore, when the driver sets the light distribution state of distant irradiation in order to improve the visibility when traveling on a curved road such as a mountain road, the visibility on the road shoulder and the cliff side near the vehicle is deteriorated. Therefore, even if the headlamp is gradually switched from the high beam to the low beam as in the conventional case,
The visibility in the vicinity of the vehicle is reduced.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention is a vehicle that can illuminate the front of the vehicle without reducing the visibility of the driver even when the vehicle travels on a road having a complicated shape such as a curved road. An object of the present invention is to provide a headlight device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle headlamp device according to the invention of claim 1 has at least one of a far irradiation lamp, an irradiation direction, an irradiation range and a brightness changed. Headlamps for vehicles in which headlamps composed of possible near-field illumination lamps are arranged on the left and right sides, the position of another vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle, and the shape of the traveling path in front of the own vehicle are detected. And the irradiation direction, the irradiation range, and the irradiation range of the near-field irradiation lamp so that the traveling direction of the host vehicle is irradiated based on the detected position of another vehicle and the detected shape of the traveling road. Control means for controlling at least one of the brightness.

A vehicle headlamp device according to a second aspect is the vehicle headlamp device according to the first aspect, further comprising a disconnection detecting means for detecting a disconnection of the lamp for irradiating the vicinity.
The control means sets at least one of an irradiation direction, an irradiation range, and a brightness of the near-field irradiation lamp to a predetermined state when a disconnection of the near-field irradiation lamp is detected.

[0009]

A vehicle headlamp device according to the invention described in claim 1 is a headlamp comprising a distant irradiation lamp and a near-field irradiation lamp in which at least one of irradiation direction, irradiation range and brightness can be changed. The vehicle headlights are arranged on the left and right sides, respectively. This vicinity irradiation lamp is, for example,
The irradiation direction can be deflected by deflecting the optical axis using a so-called low-beam side lamp, and the irradiation range can be changed by moving the shade as a light shielding means provided inside the lamp, and the amount of power supplied to the lamp The brightness can be changed by increasing or decreasing. Further, as the distant irradiation lamp, for example, a distant irradiation lamp which is a so-called high beam side lamp whose irradiation direction, irradiation range and brightness are predetermined may be used, and at least one of the irradiation direction, irradiation range and brightness is used. It is also possible to use a distant illumination lamp that can be changed. The traveling road condition detecting means detects the position of another vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle and the shape of the traveling road in front of the own vehicle. The traveling road condition detecting means includes an image processing device for image-processing an image captured by a camera to detect the position of another vehicle and the shape of the traveling road, road-to-vehicle communication, and a measuring device such as a range finder. There is a detection device that detects the position and the shape of the road. The control means irradiates at least one of the irradiation direction, the irradiation range, and the brightness of the near-field irradiation lamp so that the traveling direction of the own vehicle is irradiated based on the detected position of the other vehicle and the detected shape of the traveling path. Control one. Therefore, irrespective of whether the far-field illumination lamp is turned on or off, light is emitted near the vehicle in the direction in which the vehicle is traveling by the control of at least one of the illumination direction, the illumination range, and the brightness of the near-field illumination lamp. Sex improves.

Further, as described in claim 2, by further comprising a disconnection detecting means for detecting the disconnection of the near-field irradiation lamp, it is possible to judge whether or not the near-field irradiation lamp is disconnected and is so-called one-eye traveling. When the disconnection of the near-field irradiation lamp is detected, the control means sets at least one of the irradiation direction, the irradiation range and the brightness of the near-field irradiation lamp to a predetermined irradiation state, for example, when traveling on a straight road. .
As a result, the front of the host vehicle is reliably illuminated by the near-field illumination lamp, and the visibility in front of the host vehicle may be reduced by changing at least one of the illumination direction, the illumination range, and the brightness of the near-field illumination lamp. Absent.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the present invention is applied to a headlamp control device for controlling light distribution of a headlamp arranged in front of a vehicle. The arrow FR in the figure
Indicates the vehicle body front direction, arrow UP indicates the vehicle body upward direction, and arrow L
H indicates the left side of the vehicle width, and arrow RH indicates the right side of the vehicle width.

As shown in FIG. 1, an engine hood 12 is disposed on the upper surface of a front body 10A of a vehicle 10, and a front bumper fixed to both front and rear ends of the front body 10A in the vehicle width direction. A pair of left and right headlamps 18 and 20 (both end portions in the vehicle width direction) are provided on the upper portion of 16. A windshield glass 14 is provided near the rear end of the engine hood 12. A camera 22 is arranged above the windshield glass 14 and inside the vehicle 10 (a driver's visual position, in the vicinity of a so-called eye point) to photograph the front of the vehicle at night. The camera 22 includes an image processing device 48.
(Fig. 7). The camera 22 may be a night-vision camera using an image intensifier tube that multiplies the intensity of a dark visible image received by X-rays or particle beams and converts it into a bright visible image. The cable of a speedometer (not shown) in the vehicle 10 is connected to the vehicle 10
A vehicle speed sensor 66 (FIG. 7) for detecting the vehicle speed Sp of the vehicle is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, a steering 26 is provided in the vehicle 10. This steering 2
A turn signal lever 28 and a wiper control lever 30 are arranged near the rotary shaft 6 (not shown).

A light control switch 32 (FIG. 7) attached to the tip of the turn signal lever 28.
Is a switch for instructing the headlamps 18 and 20 to be turned on and off, and is turned on and off when the tip portion of the turn signal lever 28 is rotated around the axis of the turn signal lever 28. When the light control switch 32 is turned on, the headlamps 18, 2
0 turns on or off.

Further, the turn signal lever 28 is provided with a beam selector switch 70 (FIG. 7) for instructing switching of the headlamp to either a high beam or a low beam. The beam changeover switch 70 is configured such that the beam changeover switch 70 is switched on and off by swinging the turning single lever 28 in the direction from the steering wheel 26 toward the driver.

On the left side of the vehicle 10 is arranged a headlamp 18 composed of a low beam side lamp L1 and a high beam side lamp L2 having substantially the same structure, and on the right side is constituted a low beam side lamp R1 and a high beam side lamp R2. A headlamp 20 is provided. The high beam side lamp L2 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the vehicle 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the high beam side lamp L2 is a projector type head lamp and has a bulb 40C as a light source. This valve 40
C is attached to the reflector 42C having an elliptical reflection surface, and the light emitted from the bulb 40C is reflected by the reflector 42C.
It is configured to emit light toward the front of the vehicle 10 (direction of the arrow FR in FIG. 3) by being reflected by C. A shade 44C is fixed on the exit side of the reflector 42C and near the converging position of the reflector 42C, and a convex lens 46C for distant irradiation is disposed on the exit side of the shade 44C. Therefore, the light of the bulb 40C reflected by the reflector 42C is condensed in the vicinity of the shade 44C, is emitted by the convex lens 46C with the position near the shade 44C as a light emitting point, and is in front of the vehicle 10 (direction of the arrow FR in FIG. 3). Light is emitted to.

The low beam side lamp L1 has a bulb 40S.
Is equipped with. The bulb 40S is attached to a reflector 42S having an elliptical reflection surface, and the light emitted from the bulb 40S is reflected by the reflector 42S to cause the vehicle 10
The light is emitted to the front (in the direction of the arrow FR in FIG. 3). A shade 44S having a function of being movable so as to limit the irradiation range in the vertical direction for anti-glare of an oncoming vehicle is disposed on the exit side of the reflector 42S and near the converging position by the reflector 42S. (See Figure 4).
A convex lens 46S is arranged on the exit side of the shade 44S. Therefore, the light of the bulb 40S reflected by the reflector 42S is condensed in the vicinity of the shade 44S and emitted toward the front of the vehicle 10 (direction of the arrow FR in FIG. 3) by the convex lens 46S with the light emitting point at the position near the shade 44S. It

The convex lens 4 of the low beam side lamp L1
6S is a convex lens 46C of the high beam side lamp L2.
The divergence angle is larger and the low beam side lamp L
The irradiation range when 1 is turned on is wider than the irradiation range when the high beam side lamp L1 is turned on.

Further, in the vicinity of the convex lens 46S of the low beam side lamp L1 and in the vehicle width direction (the direction opposite to the arrow LH in FIG. 3).
A bearing 80 is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the. The bearing 80 is axially supported by a column 82 that is vertically fixed to a frame (not shown) of the vehicle 10. Further, in the vicinity of the bulb 40S of the low beam side lamp L1 and in the vehicle width outside direction (see FIG. 3).
A cylindrical tip end of a mover 86A included in the actuator 86 is attached to an outer peripheral portion in the arrow LH direction). The actuator 86 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the vehicle 10, and includes a motor 86D and a mover 86.
It is composed of a worm gear having A as a worm.
That is, the rear end of the mover 86A is engraved so as to function as a worm and meshed with the worm wheel 86B. The mover 86A is linearly movable by a sliding mechanism (not shown), the rotation shaft of the worm wheel 86B is fixed to the shaft 86C of the motor 86D, and the rotation of the motor 86D is converted into the linear drive of the mover 86A. It Therefore, the motor 8 according to the signal from the control device 50
The rotation of 6D causes the mover 86A to expand and contract in the horizontal direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 3). When the mover 86A contracts, the low-beam side lamp L1 rotates right and the optical axis L becomes the optical axis LR,
When the mover 86A extends, the low beam side lamp L1 rotates counterclockwise and the optical axis L becomes the optical axis LL. In this way, the mover 8
In response to the expansion and contraction of 6A, the headlamp 18 rotates about the column 82 as an axis, and the optical axis L is deflected in the horizontal left-right direction (RH or LH direction in FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 4, the low beam side lamp L
The valve side of the shade 44S of No. 1 is a carved rack portion 88A, and the pinion 8 of the actuator 88 is provided.
It is meshed with 8B. The pinion 88B is fixed to the rotating shaft of the motor 88C, and the rotation of the motor 88C is converted into the vertical movement of the shade 44S (direction of arrow A in FIG. 4). The rack portion 88A, the pinion 88B and the motor 88C constitute an actuator 88. Therefore, the motor 88C according to the signal from the control device 50 rotates, and the shade 44S moves in the vertical direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 4). The vertical movement of the shade 44S limits the irradiation range in front of the vehicle (see FIG. 5). That is, the cut line, which is the boundary between the light irradiation area and the non-irradiation area of the headlamp, moves up and down in front of the driver.

The headlamp 20 is the headlamp 1 described above.
A low-beam side lamp R1 and a high-beam side lamp R2, which have the same configuration as that of FIG. 8 and are arranged at target positions around the center of the vehicle 10 along the vehicle width (front-rear direction, arrow FR direction in FIG. 3), are provided. (See FIG. 7). The high beam side lamp R2 includes a bulb 41C. The low-beam side lamp R1 is provided with a bearing 81 and an actuator 87 (FIG. 7) so that the optical axis L can be deflected in the horizontal left-right direction (RH or LH direction in FIG. 1) about a pillar 83 that supports the bearing 81 as an axis. In addition, the shade 45S is provided with the shade 45S and the actuator 89 so as to be movable in the vertical direction (UP in FIG. 1 or reverse direction to UP). The configuration of the headlamp 20 is similar to that of the headlamp 18, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. The headlamp 20 is arranged so that the optical axes of the low-beam side lamp R1 and the high-beam side lamp R2 are in substantially the same direction as the headlamp 18.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, by illuminating the high-beam side lamps L2 and R2 of the headlamps 18 and 20, a far irradiation range consisting of the region HI is formed,
By turning on the low-beam side lamps L1 and R1, an irradiation range in the vicinity of the reference area LO (area surrounded by a chain line) is formed. When the low beam side lamps L1 and R1 are turned on, the actuators 88 and 89 are controlled to control the area LO _FF corresponding to the light reaching distance (the area surrounded by the two-dot chain line). Furthermore, LO _L (region surrounded by the chain line 3 points) region corresponding to the extent of the left side of the light by controlling the actuator 86 is controlled, the extent of the right side of the light by controlling the actuator 87 regions corresponding (region surrounded by 3 dot chain line) LO _R is controlled.

As shown in FIG. 7, headlamps 18, 2
The control device 50 for controlling the light distribution of 0 includes a read only memory (ROM) 52 and a random access memory (RA).
M) 54, central processing unit (CPU) 56, input port 5
8, an output port 60, a driver 64, and a bus 62 such as a data bus or a control bus that connects these components. The ROM 52 stores a control program for controlling headlamps, which will be described later. The camera 22 is connected to the input port 58 via the control end 70G of the beam changeover switch 70, the vehicle speed sensor 66, and the image processing device 48. The control terminal 70G of the beam changeover switch 70 outputs a high level signal when the beam changeover switch 70 is turned on, that is, when the driver issues an instruction for high beam irradiation. Also, the input port 58
Is connected to the low beam side bulbs L1 and R1 via lamp burnout detection circuits 72 and 74. The lamp burnout detection circuits 72 and 74 are provided for the low beam side bulbs L1 and R, respectively.
It is a circuit for detecting whether or not the lamp is burned out by determining whether or not the power of the battery BT is supplied to the battery 1.
The output port 60 is connected to the actuators 86, 87, 88, 89 via the driver 64 and the image processing device 48.

The image processing device 48 is based on signals input from the camera 22 and the control device 50.
This is a device for image-processing the image (image) taken in. Here, when the vehicle travels on a road shape such as a curved road such as a curve, the driver changes the gaze position according to the road shape. Therefore, if the driver's gaze position according to the road shape can be specified, the headlamp can be deflected in that direction to obtain an irradiation state with good driver visibility. A method of obtaining the gaze position of the driver by using image processing will be briefly described below. The position of each pixel on the image formed by the image signal is specified by the coordinates (X _n , Y _n ) of the coordinate system set on the image by the orthogonal X axis and Y axis.

The present inventor conducted an experiment to detect the position of the driver's gaze when the vehicle 10 traveled at a plurality of traveling speeds (vehicle speed V). The result is that he is gazing at the position where he reaches. In this experiment, the distance from the vehicle 10 to the viewpoint position where the driver gazes is obtained from the line-of-sight direction (angle between the line of sight and the traveling direction of the vehicle 10) and the vehicle speed V. Therefore, if the road shape and the vehicle speed V can be specified, the gaze position of the driver can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, a plan view of the road is generated from the photographed image, and the deviation angle φ formed by the current traveling direction of the vehicle 10 and the line-of-sight direction viewed by the driver according to the road shape is obtained.

FIG. 8 shows an image 120 taken by the camera 22 while traveling on a road 122 having two lanes. On this road 122, the lane is bounded by a line 124, and the curbstone 126 is bounded by the road 122 and the rest. In the image 120, a reference point D is struck at a position parallel to the road 122 and corresponding to the height and direction of the line of sight L of the driver, which coincides with the traveling direction of the vehicle 10, and the reference point D coincides with the horizon during traveling. A horizontal line Hor that passes through the point D and a point D that is orthogonal to the horizontal line Hor and is perpendicular to the horizontal line Hor.
The straight line passing through is located at the vertical line Ver. The image processing device 48 generates an image 130 for specifying the road shape when the road 122 is viewed from above, based on a plurality of image data representing the pixel positions of the line 124 and the curb 126 on the image 120 (FIG. 9). reference).

As shown in FIG. 9, the current vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10
The driver's gaze distance in is the part of the distance X (on the circumference of radius X) about 1.5 seconds after the current vehicle speed V from the vehicle 10 as shown in the following formula (1). The road 122 has a road shape obtained by the image processing device 48, and the driver normally views the direction according to the road shape. In the present embodiment, the shape of the line 124 provided along the road shape of the road 122 is simply specified as the road shape. Therefore, the intersection P of the line 124 and the radius X can be specified as the driver's gaze position.

Although the road shape is specified by the line 124 in the above, the road shape may be specified by assuming a position (trajectory) where the vehicle runs in the lane.
Further, the road may be converted into an abstract line segment by image processing such as expansion / contraction process and the road shape may be specified by this line segment.

X = 1.5 · (10/36) · V −−− (1) where V: vehicle speed (unit: km / h) X: gaze distance (unit: m)

The straight line passing through the intersection P is in the direction in which the driver looks at it according to the shape of the road (the line of sight of the driver L
It is a direction that substantially coincides with 1). Therefore, the angle formed by the line of sight L of the driver, which coincides with the traveling direction of the vehicle 10, and the line of sight L1 corresponding to the road shape changes depending on the traveling state (vehicle speed V) of the vehicle 10 and the road shape. The deviation angle φ indicates an angle.

Therefore, if the light distribution control amount for deflecting the headlamps 18, 20 on the low beam side is calculated according to the obtained deviation angle φ, and the optical axis is deflected according to the calculated light distribution control amount. The light distribution of the headlamps 18 and 20 includes the driver's gaze position. This light distribution control amount is the vehicle speed V
And the deflection angle θ of the low-beam side lamp when the irradiation range is increased or decreased according to the deviation angle φ. The driver's gaze position is determined by the traveling state of the vehicle 10 (vehicle speed V) as shown in the above equation (1).
It is considered including.

Further, other vehicles (leading vehicle and oncoming vehicle) normally run in front of the host vehicle 10. When a position that is an eye point of the other vehicle (a rear-view mirror position of the preceding vehicle and an eye point of the driver of the oncoming vehicle) is included in the irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle 10 to the other vehicle, May give glare to the driver. Therefore, if the other vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle 10 can be recognized, the light distribution control can be performed so as not to give glare to the other vehicle. A method for obtaining the recognition of other vehicles (leading vehicle and oncoming vehicle) by image processing will be described below.

In this embodiment, the image processing device 48 determines the recognition of other vehicles (leading vehicle and oncoming vehicle) and the inter-vehicle distance.

As shown in FIG. 10A, an image 120 taken by the camera 22 is included in the image of the vehicle 10.
The preceding vehicle 11 is located within the white lines 124 on both sides of the lane of the road 122 on which the vehicle runs. The image processing device 48 processes the image 120.

First, the white line candidate point extraction process and the straight line approximation process are sequentially performed as described below to detect the traveling lane of the vehicle 10, and then the vehicle recognition area W _P is set.

In the white line candidate point extraction processing, the candidate points estimated to be the white lines of the lane are extracted. First, (see FIG. 10 (3)) to set the window area W _S having a predetermined width γ suspected of containing white line, this point variations in the brightness of the window area W _S is large (in the vertical direction brightness Maximum point of differential value of
Is extracted as a white line candidate point (edge point). A case where the continuity of the edge points is obtained is shown by a dotted line 132 in FIG. Since the probability that the preceding vehicle 11 exists in the upper and lower areas of the image 120 is low, the range between the upper limit line 128 and the lower limit line 130 that is set in advance is used as the processing target area.

In the next straight line approximation processing, the edge points extracted in the white line candidate point extraction processing are subjected to straight line approximation using the Hough transform, and a straight line 134 along a line estimated to be a white line,
Ask for 136. The straight lines 134 and 136 and the lower limit line 13
An area surrounded by 0 is set as the vehicle recognition area W _P (see FIG. 10 (4)). When the road 122 is a curved road, the vehicle recognition area W _P has the inclination difference between the straight lines 136 and 138 thus obtained (see FIG. 10 (2)).

When the setting of the vehicle recognition area W _P is completed, the detection processing is performed as follows, and the W in the set vehicle recognition area is set.
The presence / absence of the preceding vehicle 11 in _P is determined, and the inter-vehicle distance S _L is calculated when the preceding vehicle 11 is present.

First, in the vehicle recognition area W _P , an edge point is detected in the same manner as the white line candidate point detection processing, and a peak point at a position where the integrated value obtained by laterally integrating the detected edge point exceeds a predetermined value. E _P is detected (see FIG. 10 (5)). Incidentally, when the peak point E _P there are multiple, selects a peak point located below on the image E _P (closer point distance). Window regions W _R and W _L including both ends of horizontal pixel points corresponding to the peak point E _P are set (see FIG. 10 (6)). In the window regions W _R and W _L , vertical continuous points (vertical lines 138R and 138)
When L) is stably detected, it is determined that the preceding vehicle 11 exists.

The detected vertical lines 138R and 138L
Since the lateral spacing S of the vehicle width corresponds to the vehicle width,
Point E_PVehicles of preceding vehicle 11 and own vehicle 10 from the position
Distance S_LIs calculated. For example, the width S of a standard vehicle
Based on o, the width of the vehicle detected from the image
The ratio of the corresponding space S is calculated, and the inter-vehicle distance S is calculated from this ratio. _L
Can be calculated. Lateral direction of the vertical lines 138R and 138L
The vertical distance is a typical value of each of the vertical lines 138R and 138L.
Is it the difference of the X coordinate (for example, average coordinate value or frequent coordinate value)
Can be calculated from

When there is no preceding vehicle 11 in the above, the inter-vehicle distance S _L = 0 is set. Thus, the value of inter-vehicle distance S _L, the preceding vehicle 1 by either S _L = 0 or S _L> 0
It also includes information indicating whether 1 exists in front of the host vehicle 10.

Next, the oncoming vehicle 11 from the image 120
The recognition process of A will be described. First, the preceding vehicle
After the recognition processing, the obtained approximate straight line 132 (oncoming vehicle side)
The correction amount α for correction is set to include. this
The correction is that the oncoming vehicle is near the approximate straight line 132 on the oncoming vehicle side.
The on-vehicle recognition area to be set is set because it has a high probability of being located.
Depending on the size of the
It is located in the vicinity to prevent it from being removed.
It is. A straight line 133 is generated according to the set correction amount α.
Opposite the right side of the straight line 133 (when driving on the left side)
Vehicle recognition area W _PO(See FIG. 11). this
Oncoming vehicle recognition area W_POWithin the inside of the oncoming vehicle 11A
Recognition of the preceding vehicle based on the spot of light from the damp lamp
Similar to the process, the oncoming vehicle 11A is recognized and the inter-vehicle distance is determined.
S_RAsk for.

Here, since the vicinity of the boundary of light and darkness due to the light distribution above and below the headlamp (the position of the cut line) corresponds to the light reaching distance, for other vehicles with a small inter-vehicle distance obtained as described above, By moving the light distribution above and below the headlamp so as to correspond to the inter-vehicle distance, it is possible to irradiate light that does not give glare to other vehicles forward.

After setting the oncoming vehicle recognition area W _PO , an area W _oo including a range between a predetermined upper limit line and a lower limit line at which the existence accuracy of the oncoming vehicle 11A is high is set, and this area W _oo is set. Alternatively, the oncoming vehicle 11A may be recognized and the inter-vehicle distance S _R may be obtained.

Although the white line 124 is detected and the road is specified in the above, without using the white line 124 alone,
It may be detected by a curb formed on the side edge of the road 122. In this case, both the white line and the curb can be detected by changing the detection level of the gradation image.

Here, in a normal four-lamp type headlamp capable of switching between the high-beam side lamp and the low-beam side lamp, the low-beam side lamp is intended to improve the visibility in a relatively wide area near the own vehicle and at the same time as the high-beam side lamp. The purpose of the lamp is to improve visibility in the distance when driving at high speed.
Therefore, the light distribution in the vicinity of the host vehicle when the high beam side lamp is turned on is insufficient. In addition, when the control for improving the visibility on the left and right on a road such as a curve is performed by deflecting the optical axis of the lamp corresponding to the curve, when one valve is broken (so-called one-eye traveling), the irradiation range fluctuates left and right. The driver may misunderstand the front direction of the vehicle. Therefore,
In this embodiment, the judgment criteria shown in Table 1 below are set. That is, the light distribution control A is the light distribution control by the cut line up / down control and the optical axis deflection control during normal traveling when the low beam side lamp is lit, and the light axis deflection is performed when the high beam side lamp is lit without the cut line up / down control. The light distribution control for improving the visibility in the vicinity of the own vehicle by the control is the light distribution control B, and the light distribution control for performing only the up / down control of the cut line when the valve is broken is the light distribution control C.

[0049]

[Table 1]

However, cH: Shade position (height) U: Shade top stage position D: Shade bottom stage position θ: Lamp deflection angle with reference to the straight traveling direction S: Initial angle of each lamp when traveling straight L: Maximum Deflection angle for left curve R: Deflection angle for maximum right curve

In the curve-corresponding optical axis deflection control of this embodiment, one of the low beam side lamps L1 and R is attached to the road shape in front of the vehicle.
Deflect one. That is, on a left-curved road, the left low-beam side lamp L1 is controlled between the initial angle S when going straight and the deflection angle L when maximum left-turning, and the right low-beam side lamp R1 is at the initial angle when going straight. Set to S. On the right curve road, the right low-beam side lamp R1 is controlled between the initial angle S when going straight and the deflection angle R when maximum right turning, and the left low-beam side lamp L1 is at the initial angle when going straight. Set to S. In the case of a straight road, each of the left low-beam side lamp L1 and the right low-beam side lamp R1 is set to the initial angle S when going straight. This relationship is shown in Table 2 below. By this curve-corresponding optical axis deflection control, the visibility in the straight traveling direction of the vehicle is secured and the visibility in the vicinity of the vehicle according to the shape of the road ahead is also improved.

[0052]

[Table 2]

However, θ _L : Deflection angle of the left low beam side lamp L1 with reference to the straight traveling direction θ _R : Deflection angle of the right low beam side lamp R1 with respect to the straight traveling direction

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. When the light control switch 32 is turned on, step 202 of the light distribution control routine shown in FIG. 12 is executed every predetermined time. In step 202, after the image processing start signal is output to the image processing device 48, the inter-vehicle distance S _L between the host vehicle 10 and the preceding vehicle 11 and the inter-vehicle distance S between the host vehicle 10 and the oncoming vehicle 11A, which are determined by the image processing device 48, are output. _The deviation angle φ is read at the same time as _R is read. In the image processing device 48, as described in the description of the image processing, the recognition processing of the preceding vehicle 11 and the oncoming vehicle 11A is performed, and the inter-vehicle distance S _L of the preceding vehicle 11 and the inter-vehicle distance S of the oncoming vehicle 11A are performed. Along with calculating _R , the deviation angle φ is calculated.

Next, by reading the output signal of the beam changeover switch 70 (step 204) and judging whether the beam changeover switch 70 is on or not, the high beam side lamps L2, R2 of the headlamps 18, 20 are turned on. It is determined whether or not it has been done. When the high beam side lamp is turned on, the process proceeds to step 212, and in order to improve the visibility in the vicinity of the own vehicle as described above, the low beam side lamp is turned on and the actuators 88 and 89 are driven to correspond to the light reaching distance. An actuator that sets the shades 44S and 45S at the bottom to maximize the irradiation range and that corresponds to the direction (left and right) of the curve according to the road shape (deviation angle φ corresponding to the gaze position) such as a curved road. 8
By driving 6 and 87, the deflection angle θ (θ _L ,
θ _R ) is controlled (light distribution control B).

On the other hand, when the lamp on the high beam side is not lit, the lamp on the low beam side is lit, and therefore the lamp is detected based on the output signals of the lamp burn-out detection circuits 72 and 74 (for example, by outputting a high level signal). After the disconnection is detected (step 208), it is determined in step 210 whether or not any of the low beam side lamps L1 and R1 is disconnected. If not, step 2
14, the curve-corresponding optical axis deflection control described above is performed to expand the irradiation range in the direction according to the road shape and to prevent glare from affecting other vehicles.
The shades 44S and 45S corresponding to the light reaching distance are controlled by driving 8 and 89 (light distribution control A). If any of the low-beam side lamps L1 and R1 is disconnected, the routine proceeds to step 216, where the low-beam side lamp L
Both 1 and R1 are set to the initial angle S when going straight, and the actuators 88 and 8 are provided so as not to give glare to other vehicles.
The shades 44S and 45S (light reaching distance) are moved by driving 9 and light is emitted to the front of the vehicle (light distribution control C).
Therefore, the visibility of the front of the vehicle is not reduced by deflecting the lamp when traveling with one eye.

As described above, in this embodiment, the low-beam side lamp is deflected in accordance with the road shape even when the high-beam side lamp in which a distant light distribution is set is turned on, so that the vehicle is deflected. Visibility in the vicinity does not deteriorate. In addition, when the lamp on the low beam side is turned on, the lamp is set in the same direction as the straight road without detecting the lamp burnout and deflecting control when the lamp burnout is occurring.Therefore, continue the deflection control when traveling with one eye. The headlamp can be turned on without causing a reduction in visibility in front of the own vehicle due to.

In the above embodiment, the optical axis deflection control of the low beam side lamp is roughly divided into the straight road, the right curve road and the left curve road, but it is the right curve road and the left curve road. Alternatively, three or more classifications may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the invention is applied to the vehicle headlight device having the headlamp whose optical axis and irradiation range can be changed has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the invention can be applied to a vehicle headlight device having a headlamp whose light amount can be changed. Also, the optical axis,
A headlamp device for a vehicle having a headlamp capable of changing at least one of an irradiation range and a light amount, and a headlamp by a combination thereof may be used.

In the above embodiment, the detection of the other vehicle is obtained from the image of the front of the own vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a distance measuring device such as a rangefinder is used. You may make it detect by detecting.

[0061]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, the irradiation direction of the headlamp for near irradiation is determined based on the position of another vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle and the shape of the traveling path, Since at least one of the irradiation range and the brightness is controlled, the visibility in the vicinity of the own vehicle can be improved even when the road such as a road has a complicated shape.
There is an effect.

According to the invention described in claim 2, the disconnection of the lamp for near field irradiation is detected, and when the disconnection is detected, the irradiation direction, the irradiation range and the brightness of the head lamp for near field irradiation are fixed. Since the visibility in front of the vehicle is not deteriorated and the irradiation direction, the irradiation range, and the brightness do not change, it is possible to turn on the headlamp without causing the driver to feel uncomfortable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a front portion of a vehicle as seen obliquely from the front of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a front portion of the vehicle as seen from diagonally behind the driver's seat of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a headlamp to which the vehicle headlight device of the present invention is applicable.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the headlamp when viewed obliquely from the front.

FIG. 5 is an image diagram for explaining a boundary (cut line) between an irradiation region and a non-irradiation region which is displaced by control of an actuator.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a concept of an irradiation range irradiated by light from a headlamp.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a headlamp configuration and a control device to which the vehicle headlight device of the present invention is applicable.

FIG. 8 is an image diagram showing an image in front of the vehicle taken by a camera.

9 is an image diagram for explaining a process of obtaining a gaze position by image processing from the image of FIG.

FIG. 10 is an image diagram for explaining a process of recognizing a preceding vehicle based on an image output by a camera.

FIG. 11 is an image diagram showing an oncoming vehicle recognition area.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a light distribution control main routine of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18 head lamp (vehicle headlight) 22 camera 48 image processing device (driving road condition detection means) 50 control device (control means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A headlight for a vehicle, in which headlamps each comprising a distant irradiation lamp and a near irradiation lamp capable of changing at least one of an irradiation direction, an irradiation range and a brightness are disposed on the left and right sides, respectively. A traveling road condition detecting means for detecting the position of another vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle and the shape of the traveling road in front of the own vehicle, and the vehicle based on the detected position of the other vehicle and the detected traveling road shape. A vehicle headlamp device, comprising: a control unit that controls at least one of an irradiation direction, an irradiation range, and a brightness of the near-field irradiation lamp so that a direction in which the vehicle travels is irradiated. 2. A disconnection detecting means for detecting disconnection of the near-field irradiation lamp is further provided, and the control means, when a disconnection of the near-field irradiation lamp is detected, an irradiation direction, an irradiation range, and an irradiation range of the near-field irradiation lamp. The vehicle headlight device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the brightness is set to a predetermined state.