JP2003291871A - Headlight for bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a headlight for a bicycle improving in visibility of bicycle to the third party by using a white LED as a light source in respect of safety in night running. <P>SOLUTION: A solar battery 8 disposed on the top part of an upper case of a battery receives light to generate power, thereby charging a secondary battery 9 built in the headlight. During the day, when a switch button 14 is put in the OFF position, three white LEDs 4 are not lighted or flickered. When the switch button 14 is operated to the ON position, a current is fed from the secondary battery 8 to the white LEDs 4, thereby lighting the white LEDs 4. When the quantity of power stored in the secondary battery 8 is decreased to lower the luminance, the switch button 14 is operated to the BLINK position, an astable circuit 11 of a flickering circuit is operated to feed a current to the three white LEDs 4 to be flickered. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bicycle headlamp using a white LED as a light source, which uses a battery as a power source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the most basic bicycle headlights are those that use a primary battery as a power source and supply current to a light bulb with a switch when it gets dark, or a dynamo for a bicycle. It is common to arrange the lamps facing the wheels, generate electricity by rotating the wheels, and supply current to the light bulb to illuminate.

A secondary battery charged by a solar cell,
There is also a bicycle headlight that has a structure in which a primary battery for backup, which is additionally installed, is used as a power source to light a bulb and illuminate it. FIG. 7 shows a control circuit therefor. In the figure,
The amount of power generated by the solar cells is charged to secondary batteries connected in parallel. A primary battery for backup is also prepared separately.
The headlight bulb is turned on and off by a switch, and when current is supplied from only the secondary battery via the switch, the secondary battery and primary battery are connected in parallel and current is supplied from both power sources. Is selected.

[0004]

When a secondary battery is charged with a solar cell and used as a power source, the electric current consumption of the light bulb is large, and therefore the amount of power generated by the solar cell decreases on a cloudy day.
It was not possible to supply sufficient current, and in the worst case, the bulb could not be turned on, and the visibility of the bicycle was poor and there was a safety problem. In addition, in the case of a battery having a primary battery for backup, the overall shape of the headlight became large. Therefore, the present invention provides a bicycle headlamp that uses a white LED (light emitting diode) having a semi-permanent life as a light source to improve the visibility of the bicycle, from the viewpoint of the safety of the bicycle at night. To aim.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a bicycle headlight according to claim 1 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight, and uses a white LED as a power source battery. The white LED lighting operation or blinking operation is switched according to the amount of stored electricity.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 2 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight.
The lighting operation or blinking operation of the white LED is switched according to the amount of electricity stored in the primary battery, which is the power source.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 3 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight.
The lighting operation or blinking operation of the white LED is switched according to the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery that is charged by the solar battery that is the power source.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 4 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight, and the white LED is used.
The lighting operation or blinking operation of the white LED is switched according to the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery charged by the solar battery arranged above the headlight, which is the power source.

Thus, in the headlight of the present invention, the normal 1
A secondary battery that is charged by a secondary battery or a solar battery placed on top of a sunny headlight, and a white LED that consumes less than 1/10 of the current consumption of a light bulb is selected according to the amount of electricity stored in the battery. Since the LEDs are turned on or off in a blinking manner, the LED can blink even when the amount of power generated by the solar cell is low, such as on a cloudy day, so that the visibility of the bicycle is improved.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 5 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight.
According to the amount of electricity stored in the power supply battery, a switching switch for switching the lighting operation or blinking operation of the white LED is provided on the side surface of the case.

In this way, the switch button is arranged on the side of the headlight so that the driver can easily operate the switch while the vehicle is traveling. Therefore, by operating the changeover switch, when the environment is bright in the daytime, The white LED can be selectively turned on and off when the surroundings become dim or when it is desired to ensure the safety of the bicycle during the day.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 6 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight.
The power storage amount of the power supply battery is compared with the reference value, and the lighting operation of the white LED can be switched to the blinking operation when the storage amount becomes smaller than the reference value.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 7 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight.
And a configuration in which the amount of electricity stored in a secondary battery charged by a solar battery, which is a power source battery, is compared with a reference value, and the lighting operation of the white LED can be switched to a blinking operation from the time when the amount of electricity stored becomes smaller than the reference value. did.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 8 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight.
Of the secondary battery charged by the ordinary primary battery or the solar battery, which is the power source battery, is compared with the voltage that is the reference value, and the white LED is started from the time when the stored amount becomes smaller than the reference value. The lighting operation of was switched to the blinking operation.

In this way, when the amount of electricity stored in the power supply battery decreases and the normal battery life is reached, the amount of electricity stored in the power supply battery becomes smaller than the reference value, so that continuous current supply from the power supply battery to the white LED is cut off. . Then, the white LED is switched to the blinking operation by the operation of the blinking circuit. As a result, battery consumption is saved and battery life is extended to the end voltage of the battery.

A bicycle headlight according to claim 9 of the present invention uses a white LED as a light source of the headlight.
It is a bicycle headlight that switches lighting operation or blinking operation of the white LED according to the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery that is charged by the solar battery, which is the power source battery, and the secondary battery can be charged from an external power source. It is configured to include means for changing.

Since the bicycle headlamp is used outdoors, it is possible that the solar cell may be damaged due to some cause, so that the secondary battery can be charged from an external power source.
It was equipped with an AC adapter, a charging terminal that can be connected to it, and a plug outlet, enabling artificial charging as needed.

A bicycle headlight according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the bicycle headlight according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the blinking operation of the LED is performed by an output of an astable circuit. did.

In this way, since the blinking operation can be performed without contact using a simple astable circuit, a sufficiently stable operation can be ensured even when used in a dusty place, and maintenance and inspection becomes easy.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The configuration of an embodiment of a bicycle headlamp of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, using an example in which a secondary battery charged by a solar cell is used as a power source. Figure 1 (A)
2A is a side sectional view of the headlight of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a front sectional view thereof, and FIG. 2A is a plan view of the headlight of the present invention.
(B) shows a side view.

In the figure, 1 is a battery upper case, 2
Is a battery lower case, 3 is a head cap, 4 is a white light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as white LED), 5 is a front reflector, 6 is a head cap set screw,
Reference numeral 7 is a transparent solar cell cover, and 8 is a solar cell located on the upper surface of the headlight. Here, white L is used as the light source of the headlight.
The reason for using the ED is that the current consumption is 1/10 that of a light bulb.
This is because

Reference numeral 9 denotes three 2 for charging the power generation amount of the solar cell.
Secondary battery, 10 is a printed circuit board, 11 is a control circuit including a blinking circuit, 12 is a bracket holder, 13 is a handle mounting bracket, 14 is a switch button, and 15 is a switch operated by a switch button 14.

A secondary battery 9 is housed inside a battery upper case 1 and a battery lower case 2, and a solar cell 8 is arranged above the battery upper case 1. Then, three white LEDs 4 housed in the front reflector 5 are arranged at the front part of the battery case.

Further, the switch button 14 is arranged on the side portion of the headlight so that the switch operation can be easily performed while the driver is traveling. Then, the lower battery case 2 is held by a bracket holder 12, and is clamped and held by a handle mounting bracket 13 on a bicycle handle (not shown).

Next, the lighting control of the bicycle headlamp will be described with reference to the headlamp control circuit. FIG. 3 is one embodiment of the control circuit, and shows a type in which a secondary battery charged by a solar battery is used as a power source and a white LED is manually operated to switch between lighting operation and blinking operation. Here, the same components as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals. Reference numeral 11 is an astable multivibrator (hereinafter referred to as an astable circuit) which is a blinking circuit, and oscillates repeatedly on and off alternately by a time constant determined by a resistor and a capacitor.

In the bicycle headlight of the present invention, the solar cell 8 arranged on the upper part of the battery upper case 1 receives light to generate electricity while the bicycle is parked or running and is exposed to sunlight. Then, the secondary battery 9 built in the headlight is charged.

First, since the environment is bright in the daytime, the switch button 14 provided on the side of the headlight is in the OFF position,
That is, when the switch 15 is at the OFF contact, the three white L
No current is supplied to the ED 4 from the secondary battery 9,
Since no current is supplied to the astable circuit 11 from the secondary battery 9, the white LED 4 does not light up or blink.

Next, when the surroundings become dark and the white LED 4 is turned on, when the switch button 14 is operated to the ON position, that is, when the switch 15 is switched to the ON contact, the white LED 4 receives current from the secondary battery 8. Is supplied, white LE
D4 lights up. On the other hand, the astable circuit 11 has a secondary battery 8
Since no current is supplied from the astable circuit 11, the astable circuit 11 does not operate.

The lighting light of the white LED 4 is reflected by the front reflector 5 and illuminates the light forward, so that the white L
The ED4 can be illuminated with considerable brightness, and the visibility of the bicycle can be secured.

Next, the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery 8 decreases,
When the illuminance decreases, when the switch button 14 is operated to the BLINK position in order to switch the white LED 4 to the blinking operation in order to ensure the safety of the bicycle, that is, when the switch 15 is switched to the BLINK contact, the white LED 4 is not displayed. Although the current is not directly supplied from the secondary battery 9, the current is supplied from the secondary battery 9 to the non-stable circuit 11, so the non-stable circuit 11 of the blinking circuit operates, and the non-stable circuit 11 operates through the non-stable circuit 11. Electric current is supplied to the individual white LEDs 4 to start blinking.

The light of the white LED 4 is reflected by the front reflector 5 to irradiate the light forward, and the secondary battery 9 charged by the power generation of the solar cell 8 consumes 1/10 of the current as compared with a light bulb. The white LED 4 below can be blinked to extend the battery life. Since the LED 4 can blink even when the amount of power generated by the solar cell 10 is small, such as on a cloudy day, the visibility of the bicycle can be ensured.

As described above, by selectively lighting and blinking the white LED 4 according to the power generation of the solar cell 8 and the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery 9, it is possible to secure the lighting or blinking of the white LED 4 when riding a bicycle at night. Therefore, the visibility of the bicycle at night can be improved.

Next, the control circuit shown in FIG. 4 is an embodiment of a type in which lighting operation and blinking operation are switched automatically.
Although the present invention can be applied regardless of the type of power supply battery, an embodiment of a type using a secondary battery charged by a solar battery as a power supply will be described here. Here, the same components as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Reference numeral 17 is a comparator, 18 is a Zener diode that is a source of generating a reference voltage, and 19 is an on / off transistor.

First, since the environment is bright in the daytime, the switch button 14 provided on the side of the headlight is in the OFF position,
That is, when the switch 15 is at the OFF contact, the three white L
No current is supplied to the ED 4 from the secondary battery 9,
Since no current is supplied to the astable circuit 11 from the secondary battery 9, the white LED 4 does not light up or blink.

Next, when the surroundings become dim and the white LED 4 is turned on, when the switch button 14 is operated to the ON position, that is, when the switch 15 is switched to the ON contact, the white LED 4 will be displayed as described later. The current is supplied from the secondary battery 8 directly or via the astable circuit 11, and the white LE
D4 lights up or blinks. On the other hand, the astable circuit 11 also has 2
Since current is supplied from the secondary battery 8, the astable circuit 11 starts operating.

More specifically, in this state, the terminal voltage of the secondary battery 9, that is, an amount proportional to the charged amount is divided by the resistor and is input to one terminal of the comparator 17 as the voltage V1.
On the other hand, the other terminal of the comparator 17 has a Zener diode 1
The reference voltage Vr obtained in 8 is supplied and compared.

FIG. 5A shows the relationship between the comparison voltage and the battery life. Since the voltage V1 is higher than the reference voltage Vr, that is, V1> Vr until the time T1, the comparator 17 outputs a positive signal, and the transistor 19 is turned on.
A current is directly supplied from the secondary battery 8 to each white LED 4. Therefore, regardless of the operation of the astable circuit 16, the white L
The ED 4 continues the lighting operation.

Since the lighting light of the white LED 4 is reflected by the front reflector 5 and irradiates the light to the front, white L
The ED4 can be illuminated with considerable brightness, and the visibility of the bicycle can be secured.

Next, the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery 8 decreases,
When the normal battery life T1 is reached, V1 <Vr, so
A negative signal is output from the comparator 17 and the transistor 19
Is turned off, and the direct current supply from the secondary battery 8 to the three white LEDs 4 is cut off. Instead, astable circuit 1
1 is operating, the white LED 4 is an astable circuit 11
A current is supplied via the switch to switch to blinking operation.

Referring to the relationship between the battery voltage and the battery life in FIG. 5B, the voltage V of the secondary battery 9 corresponding to the time T1
Up to p, the three white LEDs 4 continue lighting operation, but after the time T1, the white LED 4 is switched to blinking operation, so that battery consumption is saved. When the white LED 4 finishes lighting at the battery end voltage Ve of T2, the time T3 until the battery life reaches the battery end voltage Ve as shown by the dotted line
Will be extended to.

Next, in order to ensure the safety of the bicycle, white L
Since the ED4 blinks, if the blinking operation is selected from the beginning, when the switch button 14 is operated to the BLINK position, that is, when the switch 15 is switched to the BLINK contact, the white LED 4 receives the current directly from the secondary battery 9. Although not supplied, the astable circuit 11 is supplied with current from the secondary battery 9, so that the astable circuit 11 of the blinking circuit operates and current is supplied to the white LED 4 to constantly blink.

In this way, the light of the white LED 4 is reflected by the front reflector 5 to irradiate the light forward, and the secondary battery 9 charged by the power generation of the solar cell 8 consumes 1/10 of the electric current as compared with the light bulb. The white LED 4 below can be blinked to extend the battery life. Since the LED 4 can blink even when the amount of power generated by the solar cell 10 is small, such as on a cloudy day, the visibility of the bicycle can be ensured.

As described above, the white LED 4 is automatically turned on and off according to the amount of electricity generated by the solar cell 8 and the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery 9, so that the white LED 4 can be used at night when riding a bicycle.
Since it is possible to secure lighting or blinking of ED4,
The visibility of the bicycle at night can be improved. Further, since the lighting operation is automatically switched to blinking, it is possible to judge the degree of consumption of the secondary battery.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a control circuit provided when the solar cell is damaged. 20 is an AC adapter, 2
1 is a charging terminal and a plug. The circuit configuration for switching the lighting operation and the blinking operation by the automatic operation is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. Since the bicycle headlight is used outdoors, it is possible that the solar cell may be damaged for some reason. In preparation for that time, an AC adapter 20, a charging terminal connectable to the AC adapter 20, and a plug outlet 21 are provided so that the secondary battery can be charged from an external power source, and artificial charging is possible as necessary.

[0045]

As described above, the bicycle headlight according to the present invention is a secondary battery charged by a normal battery or a solar battery, consumes less than 1/10 of the current of a light bulb, and has a semi-permanent life. Since the white LED is used as a light source and lighting or blinking is selectively performed according to the amount of electricity stored in the power supply battery, the battery life is extended and the white LED blinks even when the amount of power generated by the solar cell is low, such as on a cloudy day. Therefore, the visibility of the bicycle can be improved.

Further, by automatically using the lighting and blinking of the white LED depending on the power generation of the solar battery and the amount of electricity stored in the secondary battery, it is possible to secure the lighting or blinking of the white LED when riding a bicycle at night. Therefore, the visibility of the bicycle at night can be improved. Further, since the lighting operation is automatically switched to blinking, it is possible to judge the degree of consumption of the secondary battery.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a side surface and a front surface of a headlight of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view and a side view of a headlight of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control circuit diagram of the headlamp of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is another control circuit diagram of the headlamp of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between comparative voltage and battery life, and battery voltage and battery life.

FIG. 6 is another control circuit diagram of the headlamp of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a control circuit diagram of a conventional headlamp.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Battery upper case 2 Battery lower case 3 head cap 4 White LED 5 front reflector 6 Head cap set screw 7 solar cell cover 8 solar cells 9 Secondary battery 10 printed circuit boards 11 Control circuit 12 bracket holder , 13 Handle mounting bracket 14 switch button 15 switch 17 Comparator 18 Zener diode 19 transistors 20 AC adapter 21 Charging terminal and plug outlet

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) F21W 101: 10 F21Y 101: 02 F21Y 101: 02 F21M 3/02 DG

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A bicycle headlight, characterized in that a white LED is used as a light source of the headlight, and a lighting operation or a blinking operation of the white LED is switched according to an amount of electricity stored in a power supply battery of the white LED. . 2. The bicycle headlight according to claim 1, wherein the power battery is a primary battery. 3. The power supply battery is charged by a solar battery 2.
The bicycle headlight according to claim 1, which is a secondary battery. 4. The bicycle headlight according to claim 3, wherein the solar cell is disposed above the headlight. 5. The bicycle headlight according to claim 1, wherein a switch for switching the lighting or blinking operation of the LED is provided on a side surface of the case. 6. A white LED is used as a light source of a headlight, the amount of electricity stored in a power supply battery of the white LED is compared with a reference value, and the white LED is turned on from the time when the amount of electricity stored becomes smaller than the reference value. A bicycle headlight characterized by switching to blinking operation. 7. The power supply battery is charged by a solar battery 2.
The bicycle headlight according to claim 6, which is a secondary battery. 8. The bicycle headlight according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the amount of stored electricity and the reference value of the power source battery to be compared are voltages, respectively. 9. A white LED is used as a light source of a headlight, and the white LED is turned on or blinked according to the amount of electricity stored in a secondary battery charged by a solar battery which is a power source of the white LED. A bicycle headlight for switching, comprising: means for charging the secondary battery from an external power source. 10. The bicycle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the blinking operation of the LED is performed by an output of an astable circuit.