JP2015138738A - Vehicle lamp and reflector therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the design of a vehicle lamp and suppress light the distribution of which is uncontrollable, even if present, on the light distribution of the overall lamp.SOLUTION: A vehicle lamp 1 comprises: a light source 40; and a reflector 10 reflecting light emitted from the light source 40 forward and distributing the light. The reflector 10 includes, in rear of the light source 40, a plurality of mirror elements 12 arranged in a two-dimensional array to be spaced apart from the adjacent elements 12 in a front view; and non-reflective sections 13 provided between the mirror elements 12 so as to fill the gaps between the mirror elements 12, and preventing the light emitted from the light source 40 from being reflected forward.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp and a reflector thereof.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicular lamp using a reflector. The inner surface of the reflector is a reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface is formed by arranging concave and convex surfaces in a checkered pattern.

JP 2001-167614 A

By the way, with the technique of patent document 1, it seems that the reflective surface of a reflector is divided into the lattice-like blocks, and these blocks seem to be arranged without gaps. Such a design lacks novelty.
Moreover, since the convex surface and the concave surface are arranged in a checkered pattern, there is a possibility that the light distribution reflected by a certain block of the reflecting surface may not be fully controlled and may be incident on another block. May adversely affect the light distribution.
Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to improve the design of the vehicular lamp and to suppress the influence of the light on the light distribution of the entire lamp even if there is light that cannot be controlled.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a vehicular lamp including a light source and a reflector that reflects the light emitted by the light source forward and distributes the light. A vehicular lamp characterized by having a plurality of mirror elements arranged in a two-dimensional array on the rear side of the light source with an interval between adjacent ones when viewed from the front.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the reflector further includes a non-reflecting portion that is provided between the mirror elements so as to fill the space between the mirror elements and does not reflect light emitted by the light source forward. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular lamp is provided.

  The invention according to claim 3 is such that the reflector protrudes forward to a body part provided in a box shape, a cup shape or a bowl shape so that the front surface is open, and a rear wall part inside the body part. And a plurality of convex portions arranged in a two-dimensional array with an interval between adjacent ones when viewed from the front, and the non-reflective portion is between the convex portions when viewed from the front. The vehicular lamp according to claim 2, wherein the vehicular lamp is a groove provided in the rear wall portion so as to be recessed backward from a front top surface of the convex portion.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the vehicular lamp according to claim 3, wherein the side surface and the bottom surface of the groove are dark.

  The invention according to claim 5 is a vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is used for a headlamp, a fog lamp, a daytime running lamp, a cornering lamp, or a signal lamp.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a reflector for a vehicle lamp that reflects light emitted by a light source forward and distributes the light, an interval is provided between adjacent ones on the rear side of the light source when viewed from the front. A reflector for a vehicle lamp comprising a plurality of mirror elements arranged in a two-dimensional array.

According to the present invention, when the light source is turned on, the light is reflected forward by the mirror element. Therefore, when viewed from the front of the lamp, the mirror element looks bright and the space between the mirror elements appears dark. Therefore, the shining part looks like a two-dimensional array, and the dark part between adjacent blocks of the two-dimensional array pattern is clearly seen by the spacing between mirror elements. Therefore, the design of the vehicular lamp is improved, and the design is also innovative.
When the light source is turned off, the mirror elements look like a two-dimensional array of mirrors when viewed from the front of the lamp, and the adjacent mirror elements appear to be separated. Therefore, the design of the vehicular lamp is improved, and the design is also innovative.
Since the distance is between the mirror elements, even if the light distribution of the light reflected by a certain mirror element cannot be controlled, the light distribution control impossible light travels between the mirror elements, and the light distribution control is impossible. The influence of light on the light distribution of the entire lamp can be suppressed.

It is a front view of a vehicle lamp. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the said vehicle lamp. It is a horizontal sectional view of the vehicular lamp.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated using drawing. However, since the embodiments described below are provided with various technically preferable limitations for carrying out the present invention, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples. Absent.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a vehicular lamp 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a surface along II-II shown in FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction of the arrow. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the surface along III-III shown in FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction of the arrow.

  The vehicle lamp 1 includes a headlamp (for example, a headlight for passing, a headlight for traveling, a switching headlight for traveling / passing), a fog lamp, a daytime running lamp, a cornering lamp, and a signal lamp (for example, Tail lamp, stop lamp, tail lamp / stop lamp combined use lamp, high mount stop lamp, turn signal lamp) etc. The vehicular lamp 1 may be assembled to the lamp unit so as to be close to another lamp unit, and a headlamp, a fog lamp, a daytime running lamp, a cornering lamp, or a signal lamp may be constructed by a combination thereof. The vehicular lamp 1 may be assembled in another lamp unit, and the combination thereof may be a rear combination lamp or a front combination lamp.

  The vehicular lamp 1 is a so-called reflector type lamp. That is, the vehicular lamp 1 includes the reflector 10 and a plurality of light sources 40, 40,..., And the light emitted by the light sources 40, 40,. Light is distributed spatially. When the virtual screen is directly opposed to the vehicular lamp 1, a desired light intensity distribution along the virtual screen is obtained, and a bright portion based on the light distribution of the vehicular lamp 1 is formed on the virtual screen. It is the reflector 10 and the light sources 40, 40,... That determine the shape and light distribution of the bright part, and the reflector 10 and the light sources 40, 40,... Are designed according to the type and application of the vehicular lamp 1. .

  Although not shown, the reflector 10 and the light sources 40, 40,... Are accommodated in the housing. The front surface of the housing opens, the front opening of the housing is closed by a transparent outer lens (that is, a transparent cover), and the outer lens is fixed to the housing. If the vehicular lamp 1 is a headlamp or a fog lamp, the assembly of the reflector 10 and the light sources 40, 40,... Is attached to the housing via the aiming mechanism, and the optical axis is adjusted by the aiming mechanism. preferable.

  The light source 40 is a light emitting diode, an inorganic electroluminescent element, an organic electroluminescent element, a laser diode, or other semiconductor light emitting element. The light source 40 is surface-mounted on the circuit board 41, the circuit board 41 is fixed to the reflector 10, and the light source 40 is disposed in front of the front surface of the reflector 10. Specifically, the circuit board 41 is attached to the upper end of the reflector 10, the circuit board 41 protrudes forward from the upper end of the reflector 10, the light source 40 is mounted on the lower surface of the circuit board 41, and the light source 40 faces downward. The optical axis of the light source 40 extends downward from the light source 40.

  When viewed from the front, these light sources 40, 40,... Are arranged in the left-right direction with an interval between adjacent ones. It is preferable that a light shielding portion (for example, an extension) is provided in front of the light sources 40, 40,... And the light sources 40, 40,. Then, the direct light emitted forward from the light sources 40, 40,... Is shielded by the light shielding portion, and the light sources 40, 40,.

  The reflector 10 has a plurality of mirror elements 12, 12,. When viewed from the front, these mirror elements 12, 12,... Are arranged in a two-dimensional array, more specifically in a matrix (lattice). Further, the mirror elements 12, 12,... Are arranged with an interval between adjacent ones, and the mirror elements 12, 12,. Since the mirror elements 12, 12,... Are arranged in a matrix with an interval between adjacent ones, the non-reflective portion 13 is formed in a net shape. The mirror elements 12, 12,... Are arranged along a curved surface having a concave front side.

  The curved surface along the array of these mirror elements 12, 12,... Is a composite curved surface composed of a plurality of curved surfaces. Specifically, the composite curved surface along the array of these mirror elements 12, 12,... Is a composite curved surface formed by arranging a plurality of concave curved surfaces 11, 11,. The concave curved surfaces 11, 11,... Are set below the light sources 40, 40,. The concave curved surfaces 11, 11,... Are formed in a semi-dome shape so as to cover the respective light sources 40, 40,... From below or behind the respective light sources 40, 40,. Are surrounded by concave curved surfaces 11, 11,. For example, the concave curved surfaces 11, 11,... Are a parabolic concave surface, an elliptical concave surface, a hyperboloid concave surface, a spherical concave surface, an aspheric concave surface, or a cylindrical curved concave surface. A parabolic concave surface is a concave surface based on a parabolic surface, an elliptical concave surface is a concave surface based on an elliptical surface, and a hyperboloid concave surface is a concave surface based on a hyperboloid, A spherical concave surface is a concave surface based on a spherical surface, an aspherical concave surface is a concave surface based on an aspherical surface, and a columnar concave surface is a concave surface based on a column surface (for example, a parabolic column surface). It is.

  A reference axis Ax of the concave curved surface 11 extends forward from the light source 40. The concave curved surface 11 has a focal point or a focal line, the focal point of the concave curved surface 11 is located at or near the light source 40, the focal line of the concave curved surface 11 extends in the left-right direction, and intersects the reference axis Ax at or near the light source 40. To do. The concave curved surface 11 is a rotationally symmetric surface around the reference axis Ax or a free curved surface based thereon, or a concave curve (focusing on the light source 40 or its vicinity) on the vertical section along the reference axis Ax. Or a free-form surface based on it.

  The mirror elements 12, 12,... Are small concave mirrors, convex mirrors, or plane mirrors. All of the mirror elements 12, 12,... Need not be any of a concave mirror, a convex mirror, or a plane mirror, and any one of a concave mirror, a convex mirror, or a plane mirror is selected for each mirror element 12, 12,.

  The mirror elements 12, 12,... Reflect light emitted from the light source 40 forward and deflect the light by reflection. The direction of the light reflected by the mirror elements 12, 12,... Is designed for each of the mirror elements 12, 12,. Become. The compound curved surface along the array of mirror elements 12, 12,... Is a compound paraboloid (the compound paraboloid is a concave curved surface 11, 11,... Is a parabolic concave surface or a parabolic column surface concave surface. In other words, the beam of light reflected by these mirror elements 12, 12,... Approximates to parallel light as a whole, and is suitable for distant illumination or distant signals.

  Since the mirror elements 12, 12,... Are mirrors, the reflectivity of the mirror elements 12, 12,. On the other hand, the non-reflecting portion 13 is not a mirror, and the reflectance of the non-reflecting portion 13 is sufficiently low, and the reflectance of the non-reflecting portion 13 is sufficiently lower than the reflectance of the mirror elements 12, 12,. The non-reflecting portion 13 does not reflect light, and absorbs, transmits, or attenuates light. For example, the non-reflective part 13 is a dark color part (for example, black part), a transparent part, or a space part, and the light emitted by the light source 40 is not reflected forward by the non-reflective part 13.

The mirror elements 12, 12,... And the non-reflecting portion 13 will be described in more detail.
The mirror elements 12, 12,. More specifically, the main body portion 20 is formed in a box shape, a cup shape, or a bowl shape with an open front surface, and the mirror elements 12, 12,. The rear wall 21 is provided on the (rear side). The front surface of the rear wall portion 21 is formed to be uneven. That is, a plurality of convex portions 22, 22,... And a groove 23 are formed on the front surface of the rear wall portion 21. These convex portions 22, 22,... Are formed so as to protrude forward. As seen from the front, these convex portions 22, 22,. Is provided. And the groove | channel 23 is formed so that it may dent back from the front side top surface of convex part 22,22, ....

  A metal reflection film (for example, a silver metal deposition film, a metal sputtering film, or a metal plating film) 25 is formed on the front top surface of the projections 22, 22,..., Thereby the mirror elements 12, 12,. Are provided on the front top surfaces of 22, 22,. As described above, since the mirror elements 12, 12,... Are arranged along the concave curved surface, the front top surfaces of the convex portions 22, 22,... Are also arranged along the concave curved surface.

  Between the convex portions 22, 22,... Is a groove 23 as a space, whereby the non-reflecting portion 13 is provided. The side surface (the peripheral surface of the convex portion 22) and the bottom surface of the groove 23 are dark (for example, black). For example, the side surface and the bottom surface of the groove 23 are dark-colored (for example, black-colored) or AR (Anti Reflection) -coated, or the main body 20 is made of dark-colored (for example, black) resin.

  The front opening of the main body 20 may be blocked by a colorless transparent or colored transparent cover (so-called inner lens), or such a cover may not be provided. When the vehicular lamp 1 is a headlamp, such a cover is not provided or the cover is colorless and transparent. When the vehicular lamp 1 is a signal lamp, the cover functions as a color filter, and the lighting color of the vehicular lamp 1 may be determined by the color of the cover.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) If the light sources 40, 40,... Emit light, the light is reflected forward by the mirror elements 12, 12,..., So that the mirror elements 12, 12,. The non-reflecting part 13 appears dark. Since the shining portion looks like a lattice, the lattice pattern can be clearly seen by the non-reflective portion 13 that looks dark. Therefore, the design of the vehicular lamp 1 is improved, and the design is also innovative. In particular, when the intensity of the light sources 40, 40,... Is low and the vehicular lamp 1 is a signal lamp, this design is effective because it is easy to visually recognize that the bright portions are arranged in a grid pattern.

(2) Since the non-reflecting part 13 is the groove 23, the light emitted by the light sources 40, 40,... Passes through the concave curved surfaces 11, 11,. No surface reflection can occur. Therefore, it is more emphasized that the non-reflective portion 13 looks darker and the bright portions appear to be arranged in a lattice pattern. Further, since surface reflection does not occur, the light distribution of the reflected light from the mirror elements 12, 12,... Is not adversely affected. In particular, since the bottom surface and side surface of the groove 23 are antireflective treated with black or the like, the light that has traveled into the groove 23 hardly reflects on the bottom surface and side surface of the groove 23, so that the non-reflective portion 13 looks darker, The influence on the light distribution of the reflected light of the mirror elements 12, 12,.

(3) When the light sources 40, 40,... Are turned off, the mirror elements 12, 12,... Look like a grid-like mirror when viewed from the front of the lamp, and the neighboring grids appear to be separated, The design of the vehicular lamp 1 is improved, and the design is also innovative.

(4) Since the non-reflecting part 13 is the groove 23, it seems that there exists a three-dimensional feeling or a depth feeling. Therefore, the design of the vehicular lamp 1 is improved, and the design is also innovative.

(5) Since the groove 23 which is the non-reflective portion 13 exists between the mirror elements 12, 12,..., The light distribution cannot be controlled even if the light distribution of the light reflected by the mirror element 12 cannot be controlled. As the light travels to the groove 23, it is possible to suppress the influence of light that cannot be distributed on the light distribution of the entire lamp.

[Modification]
Hereinafter, modified examples will be described. The modifications described below may be applied in combination.

(1) The installation direction of the light source 40 is not limited to downward, upward, leftward, rightward, backward, diagonally downward, right diagonally downward, diagonally upward left, diagonally downward left, diagonally upward backward, diagonally downward, backward It may be diagonally right or backward diagonally left. The installation location of the light source 40 is not limited to the upper end of the reflector 10, and may be the lower end, the left end, the right end, or the like of the reflector 10. That is, the installation direction and the installation position of the light source 40 are such that light emitted by the light source 40 is reflected forward by the inner surface of the reflector 10. It is preferable to change the direction of the concave curved surface 11 along the arrangement of the mirror elements 12, 12,... According to the installation direction and the installation position of the light source 40. For example, if the installation direction of the light source 40 is upward, the concave curved surface 11 is formed in a semi-dome shape so as to cover the light source 40 from above the light source 40, and the light source 40 is surrounded by the concave curved surface 11 from the rear to the top. It has been broken.

(2) The number of light sources 40 may be singular. In that case, the curved surface along the arrangement of the mirror elements 12, 12,... May not be a complex curved surface but a single curved surface formed of a single concave curved surface 11.

(3) The shape of the curved surface along the arrangement of the mirror elements 12, 12,... May be changed as appropriate, and the light beam reflected by the mirror elements 12, 12,. .

(4) In the case where the vehicular lamp 1 is a passing headlamp, the reflected light from the mirror element 12 is distributed obliquely upward in the forward direction using any one of the mirror elements 12, 12,. A light distribution may be obtained.

(5) The light source 40 may be a light emitting source of a bulb instead of a semiconductor light emitting element. That is, if the bulb is a halogen bulb, an incandescent bulb, a discharge lamp (for example, a high-intensity discharge lamp (HID), a high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp, etc.) and the bulb is a halogen bulb or an incandescent bulb, the light source 40 is a filament ( If the bulb is a discharge lamp, the light source 40 is a discharge part. When the light source 40 is a light emission source of a bulb, the bulb is attached to the reflector 10 so as to penetrate the reflector 10, and the light source 40 is disposed in front of the front surface of the reflector 10.

(6) The mirror elements 12, 12,... May be arranged in a radial or annular lattice shape (circular mesh shape) with an interval between adjacent ones. Further, the mirror elements 12, 12,... May be arranged in a honeycomb shape with an interval between adjacent ones.

(7) The surface along the arrangement of the mirror elements 12, 12,... May be a concave surface or a flat surface.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle lamp 10 Reflector 12 Mirror element 13 Non-reflective part 20 Main body part 21 Rear wall part 22 Convex part 23 Groove 40 Light source

Claims (6)

A light source;
A reflector that reflects the light emitted by the light source forward and distributes the light;
In a vehicle lamp comprising:
The reflector is
A vehicular lamp characterized by having a plurality of mirror elements arranged in a two-dimensional array at intervals on the back side of the light source when viewed from the front. The reflector is
The non-reflecting part which is provided between the said mirror elements so that it may fill between the said mirror elements seeing from the front, and does not reflect the light emitted by the said light source ahead, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Vehicle lamps. The reflector is
A main body provided in a box shape, cup shape or bowl shape so that the front surface is open;
A plurality of convex portions formed so as to protrude forward on the inner rear wall portion of the main body portion, and arranged in a two-dimensional array with an interval between the neighbors when viewed from the front;
Further comprising
The non-reflective portion is a groove provided in the rear wall portion so as to be buried between the convex portions when viewed from the front and recessed backward from the front top surface of the convex portion. The vehicular lamp according to claim 2. 4. The vehicular lamp according to claim 3, wherein a side surface and a bottom surface of the groove are dark. The vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the vehicular lamp is used for a headlamp, a fog lamp, a daytime running lamp, a cornering lamp, or a signal lamp. In a reflector for a vehicle lamp that reflects light emitted by a light source forward and distributes the light,
A reflector for a vehicular lamp, comprising a plurality of mirror elements arranged in a two-dimensional array at a rear side of the light source and spaced from each other when viewed from the front.

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