JP6370533B2 - Light distribution control method and light distribution control device for vehicle headlamp - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a light distribution technique for a headlamp of a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a light distribution control method and a light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp capable of ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) light distribution control. Is.

  While the lighting effect of the front area of the host vehicle is enhanced by the headlamp of the automobile, the dazzling of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the front vehicle) existing in the front area of the host vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle in the front area. ADB light distribution control has been proposed as one of the methods for obtaining a light distribution that prevents the above. In this ADB light distribution control, a vehicle is detected by a vehicle position detection device, the amount of light in a region where the detected vehicle ahead is present is reduced or turned off, and the other wide region is brightly illuminated. In recent years, this ADB light distribution control has also been applied to headlamps that use light-emitting elements such as LEDs as light sources, and illuminates the front area of the host vehicle by combining the irradiation areas of a plurality of LEDs as light sources. When the front vehicle is detected, the illumination area corresponding to the detected front vehicle is dimmed or turned off. In the following description, dimming and extinguishing of the irradiation area are collectively referred to as dimming.

  In such ADB light distribution control, if there is a difference between the detection position of the preceding vehicle in the vehicle position detection device and the actual illumination area dimmed by the headlamp, the preceding vehicle is irradiated with light and is dazzled. Sometimes. Or it may fade over an area | region larger than necessary, and the visibility of a front area | region may fall. In particular, in a system that performs ADB light distribution control, a mounting position error of a vehicle position detection device for detecting a preceding vehicle, a calculation error when detecting the vehicle position in the vehicle position detection device, a lamp optical axis of a headlamp Since there are various errors such as the setting error of the illumination area accompanying the setting error, it is difficult to make the deviation between the detection position of the preceding vehicle and the illumination area of the headlamp zero. With respect to this problem, in Patent Document 1, a detection margin for detecting a preceding vehicle is set, and the detection output is made redundant by this detection margin, thereby reducing an error between the detection of the preceding vehicle and the illumination area. There has been proposed a technique for preventing dazzling with respect to the vehicle ahead based on the above.

JP 2009-220649 A

  Since the technique of Patent Document 1 sets a margin for each illumination area as a detection margin when detecting the vehicle position and identifying the illumination area where the vehicle ahead is present, when identifying the illumination area In this case, the detected vehicle position needs to be processed with reference to the margins of the plurality of illumination areas. Therefore, the process for setting a margin for each illumination area becomes complicated. In particular, in the patent document, the first and second margins are set for each illumination area, so that the processing is further complicated. Also, it has been proposed to change the margin width according to the detected change speed of the detection position of the preceding vehicle, but in that case, it is necessary to change each margin for a plurality of illumination areas. Processing is also complicated. For this reason, in the technique of Patent Document 1, it takes time to specify the illumination area, and the highly responsive ADB arrangement that dims the specified illumination area to prevent dazzling the front vehicle existing in the illumination area. This is a problem when realizing light control.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a highly responsive ADB light distribution control by simplifying the processing in the ADB light distribution control that detects a vehicle ahead and identifies an illumination area, and dimmes the identified illumination area. A light control method and a light distribution control device are provided.

The light distribution control method of the present invention performs illumination with a desired light distribution pattern by arranging a plurality of illumination areas in the left-right direction with a headlamp, and detects the vehicle position of a preceding vehicle and corresponds to the detected vehicle position A light distribution control method for selectively dimming the plurality of illumination areas, wherein a corrected vehicle position is set by adding a margin in the left-right direction with respect to the vehicle position, and the front side based on the corrected vehicle position The lighting area to which the vehicle belongs is detected, the detected lighting area is dimmed, the position change of the vehicle position with respect to the own vehicle in the left-right direction is detected, and the margin is increased or decreased according to the change amount of the position change with respect to time. It is characterized by doing.

A light distribution control device according to the present invention includes a headlamp that illuminates a front light area with a desired light distribution pattern by arranging a plurality of illumination areas that illuminate the front area, and a front vehicle that detects a vehicle position of the front vehicle. A light distribution control device comprising a detection means and a light distribution control means for selectively dimming the plurality of illumination areas corresponding to the detected vehicle position, wherein the light distribution control means detects the vehicle position detected A corrected vehicle position is set by adding a margin in each of the left and right directions, and an illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is detected based on the corrected vehicle position, the detected illumination area is dimmed, and the vehicle with respect to the host vehicle The present invention is characterized in that a position change in the left-right direction of the position is detected, and the margin is increased or decreased according to an amount of change of the position change with respect to time.

In the light distribution control device of the present invention, the light distribution control unit increases the direction of the margin vehicle position changes according to the change amount with respect to time of the position change becomes large. Further, the light distribution control means preferably increases the speed when the margin is increased to be higher than the speed when the margin is decreased.

  According to the present invention, by setting a margin for the detected vehicle position, various errors that occur during ADB light distribution control are absorbed by the margin, and appropriate ADB light distribution control can be realized. Also, a corrected vehicle position is obtained by setting a margin for the detected vehicle position, and the corrected vehicle position is compared with a plurality of illumination areas to obtain each illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs, and the dimming of the obtained illumination area is controlled. Therefore, it is not necessary to set a margin for each of the plurality of illumination areas, the processing for dimming the illumination areas can be simplified, and quick and highly responsive ADB light distribution control can be realized. In addition, by appropriately controlling the margin value and the speed of increase / decrease according to the movement state of the vehicle ahead in the left / right direction, the illumination area can be set to a lit state or unlit state in a preferred form.

The schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of a headlamp provided with the light distribution control apparatus of this invention. Each light distribution pattern figure of a low beam, a high beam, and ADB. The schematic front view of a LED array package. The conceptual structure and ADB light distribution pattern figure of an ADB lamp unit. The schematic diagram explaining ADB light distribution control (no margin). The schematic diagram explaining ADB light distribution control (with a margin). The schematic diagram explaining margin control.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of an automobile headlamp to which the ADB light distribution control of the present invention is applied. The left head lamp L-HL and the right head lamp R-HL disposed on the left and right of the front part of the body of the automobile have substantially the same configuration, and a low beam lamp unit LoL, a high beam lamp unit HiL, and an ADB lamp unit AL are included in the lamp housing 1. Is arranged. Although the details of the low beam lamp unit LoL and the high beam lamp unit HiL are omitted, each lamp unit is configured as a lamp unit using an LED (light emitting diode) as a light source, and when the vehicle is lit (emitted), Is irradiated with a low beam light distribution pattern PLo shown in FIG. 2A and a high beam light distribution pattern PHi shown in FIG. 2B.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of the LED array package 23 configured as a light source of the ADB lamp unit AL. The irradiation lens 22 and the LED array package 23 are housed in the unit housing 21 of the ADB lamp unit AL. A plurality of LED packages 23 are mounted on the base substrate 230, here, eight one-chip type LEDs (light emitting diodes) 231 to 238 are arranged in a line in the horizontal direction. These LEDs 231 to 238 are individually configured to emit and extinguish light and to change the luminous intensity by a light emitting circuit not shown in the drawing.

  As shown in the schematic plan configuration of the ADB lamp unit AL in FIG. 4, the light emitted from each of the LEDs 231 to 238 is incident on the irradiation lens 22, and the irradiation lens 22 causes the ADB light distribution pattern PADB to enter the front area of the host vehicle. It is designed to perform light irradiation. The upper part of FIG. 4 is a light distribution pattern diagram of the ADB light distribution pattern. The light from each LED 231 to 238 illuminates predetermined illumination areas A1 to A8, and these illumination areas A1 to A8 are adjacent to each other. A part of the area to be overlapped overlaps to form an ADB light distribution pattern PADB that is elongated in the horizontal direction (left-right direction). As shown in FIG. 2C, the ADB light distribution pattern PADB is illuminated by each of the eight LEDs 231 to 238 in the region above the cut-off line of the low beam light distribution pattern PLo shown in FIG. The light distribution pattern in which the regions A1 to A8 are arranged in the horizontal direction is obtained.

As shown in FIG. 1, a master lamp ECU 2 is disposed in the left head lamp L-HL, and a slave lamp ECU 3 is disposed in the right head lamp R-HL. The master lamp ECU 2 turns on the low beam lamp unit LoL, the high beam lamp unit HiL, and the ADB lamp unit AL of the left headlamp L-HL based on various control signals input through a CAN (Controller Area Network) line 100 of the automobile. A lighting control signal for controlling the lamp unit is generated, and the lamp units LoL, HiL, AL are controlled based on the lighting control signal. The slave lamp ECU 3 is connected to the master lamp ECU 2 by LIN (Local
The lighting of the low beam lamp unit LoL and the high beam lamp unit HiL of the right headlamp R-HL is controlled based on the lighting control signal input through the Interconnect Network) line 201. On the other hand, the ADB lamp unit AL of the right headlamp R-HL is connected to the master lamp ECU3 of the left headlamp L-HL via a LIN line 200, and the ADB lamp unit of the left headlamp L-HL is connected by the master lamp ECU2. Lighting is controlled simultaneously with AL.

  A vehicle ECU 4 is connected to the CAN line 100 to which the master lamp ECU 2 is connected. The vehicle ECU 4 generates a lighting control signal for controlling lighting of the lamp units of the headlamps L-HL and R-HL based on a lighting signal from a lamp switch in a driver's seat of an automobile (not shown). Output to the CAN line 100. In addition, an image pickup device 5 that is arranged on a part of the vehicle, here an upper part of the front window of the vehicle and picks up an area in front of the vehicle is connected to the CAN line 100, and an image signal picked up by the image pickup device 5 Is output to the CAN line 100, the vehicle ECU 4 detects the position of the forward vehicle existing in the front area of the vehicle and the moving state thereof based on the image signal, and outputs the detected information to the CAN line 100.

  In the headlamp having this configuration, when the high-beam light distribution control or the low-beam light distribution control is set by switching of a switch or the like by the driver, the high-lamp lamp unit HiL and the low-beam lamp unit LoL of the left headlamp L-HL by the master lamp ECU 2. Is controlled to light up. At the same time, in the right headlamp R-HL, the high beam lamp unit HiL and the low beam lamp unit LoL are controlled to be turned on by the slave lamp ECU3 that has received a signal from the master lamp ECU2. As a result, illumination is performed with the low beam distribution pattern PLo and the high beam distribution pattern PHi shown in FIGS.

  On the other hand, when the ADB light distribution control is set by the driver, the vehicle ECU 4 detects the forward vehicle existing in the front area of the automobile based on the image signal captured by the imaging device 5 and uses the vehicle position information as the CAN line 100. Output to. The master lamp ECU 2 provided in the left headlamp L-HL acquires vehicle position information of the preceding vehicle through the CAN line 100, performs a required calculation based on this vehicle position information, and generates an ADB lighting control signal. Based on the generated ADB lighting control signal, lighting of the left and right head lamps L-HL and R-HL of the ADB lamp units AL is controlled. At this time, when the preceding vehicle is not detected, all the eight LEDs 231 to 238 of the ADB lamp unit AL are turned on. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2C, an ADB light distribution pattern PADB in which eight illumination regions A1 to A8 are arranged over the entire left and right regions above the cut-off line of the low beam light distribution pattern PLo is obtained. This ADB lighting control is performed by the master lamp ECU 2 so that the ADB lamp units AL of the left and right headlamps are simultaneously turned on. Therefore, the ADB lamp units of the left and right headlamps will be described together without distinguishing them.

  On the other hand, when a forward vehicle is detected, the master lamp ECU 2 determines the detected forward vehicle CAR based on the vehicle position information of the forward vehicle input from the CAN line 100, as shown in FIG. The right end position RP and the left end position LP are detected. The right end position and the left end position are actually obtained as angles formed with respect to the straight traveling direction of the host vehicle. In the description here, the left and right end positions are shown as the left and right coordinate positions. Then, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the master lamp ECU 2 uses the detected left end position LP and right end position RP of the front vehicle CAR of the eight illumination areas A1 to A8 constituting the ADB light distribution pattern PADB. Each of the left boundary position LB and the right boundary position RB is compared. That is, the left and right end positions LB and RB of the forward vehicle CAR are compared with the left and right boundary positions LB and RB of the eight illumination areas A1 to A8, and the illumination area to which the forward vehicle CAR belongs is detected from this, and the detected illumination area The LED corresponding to is extinguished. In the example of FIG. 5B, the left and right end positions LP and RP of the forward vehicle CAR are present between the right boundary position RB of the illumination area A5 and the left boundary position LB of the illumination area A7. The LED 236 in the illumination area A6 to be turned off is extinguished and the other LEDs are turned on. Thereby, while the illumination area A6 to which the preceding vehicle CAR belongs is shielded to prevent dazzling with respect to the preceding vehicle CAR, the other areas A1 to A5 and A7 to A8 that are not dazzled are illuminated, Forward visibility is improved.

  In this ADB light distribution control, the left and right end positions LP and RP of the front vehicle CAR are compared with the left and right boundary positions LB and RB of the illumination areas A1 to A8, so that only the area necessary for preventing the dazzling of the front vehicle CAR is shielded. This is effective in improving visibility. However, if the lamp optical axis of the ADB lamp unit AL and the horizontal position of the imaging optical axis of the imaging device 5 do not completely match, the detected left and right end positions LP and RP of the preceding vehicle CAR and each illumination area A1 An error in the horizontal direction occurs between the left and right boundary positions LB and RB of .about.A8. This error is as described in (Background Art), and this error causes dazzling to the vehicle ahead in the ADB light distribution control, or the light shielding area is enlarged more than necessary and causes a decrease in visibility. ing. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, margins are set on the left and right with respect to the left and right boundary positions of the plurality of illumination areas. However, since the margin of each of the plurality of illumination areas is set in the technique of Patent Document 1, processing for setting a margin at the left and right boundary positions of each illumination area, and the set left and right boundary positions Computation processing such as processing for comparing the left and right end positions of the preceding vehicle becomes complicated. In particular, in the process for changing the margin width, it is necessary to change the left and right boundary positions for each of the plurality of illumination areas, and these processes become complicated.

  In this embodiment, the master lamp ECU 2 sets margins for the left and right end positions of the front vehicle CAR acquired through the CAN line 100. That is, as shown in FIG. 6A, a left margin Lm having a required width is set on the left side of the left end position LP of the acquired forward vehicle CAR, and a position biased to the left side by this left margin Lm is set as a corrected left end position aLP. To do. Similarly, a right margin Rm having a required width is set on the right side of the right end position RP of the acquired forward vehicle CAR, and a position deviated to the right side by the right margin Rm is set as a corrected right end position aRP. In this embodiment, the left margin Lm and the right margin Rm are set to the same value, and these margins are used in the vehicle ECU 4 and the master lamp ECU 2 in the vehicle mounting position error of the imaging device 5 for detecting the forward vehicle CAR. It is set based on various errors such as a calculation error when detecting a vehicle position, a setting error of an illumination area accompanying a setting error of a headlight, particularly a lamp optical axis of the ADB lamp unit AL, and these errors cause FIG. This is set as a margin necessary to prevent the front vehicle from being dazzled when the ADB light distribution control described in the above is performed.

  That is, after setting the corrected left end position aLP and the corrected right end position aRP, the master lamp ECU 2 sets the corrected left end position aLP and the corrected right end position aRP as shown in FIG. 6B. Compared with the left end boundary position LB and the right end boundary position RB of .about.A8, the illumination region to which the corrected left end position aLP and the corrected right end position aRP belong is detected. Then, the LED corresponding to the illumination area to which the corrected left end position aLP and the corrected right end position aRP belong is turned off. In FIG. 6B, illumination areas A5 and A6 to which the corrected left end position aLP belongs and illumination areas A6 and A7 to which the corrected right end position aRP belongs are detected, and the illumination areas A5 to A7 are turned off. Thus, the ADB light distribution pattern PADB is light-distributed to the ADB light distribution pattern PADB in which the illumination areas A5 to A7 are turned off to become a light-shielding area and the other illumination areas are turned on.

  Thus, the corrected left end position aLP and the corrected right end position aRP with margins added to the left and right end positions LP and RP of the front vehicle CAR are obtained, and the illumination area to which the corrected left and right end positions belong is detected and selected. By performing ADB light distribution control that is turned off and used as a light shielding area, the mounting position error of the imaging device 5 described above, the calculation error in the ECUs 2 and 4, the setting error of each illumination area that constitutes the ADB light distribution pattern, and the like. Even when it exists, this error is absorbed and dazzling with respect to the front vehicle CAR by the illumination light from the ADB lamp unit AL can be prevented. On the other hand, the illumination area excluding the front vehicle CAR is turned on by the ADB lamp unit AL, and the visibility of the front area in the host vehicle is improved. In FIG. 6B, the light-shielding area is enlarged compared to FIG. 5B, which is very effective from the viewpoint of preventing dazzling with respect to the preceding vehicle, but the effect on visibility is somewhat reduced. In general, since the area where the vehicle ahead is present is illuminated by the illumination lamp of the vehicle ahead, the decrease in visibility due to this can be ignored.

  In this embodiment, the master lamp ECU 2 constantly monitors the change in the vehicle position of the preceding vehicle input in time series through the CAN line 100, that is, the change in the left-right direction position of the preceding vehicle CAR with respect to the own vehicle. Yes. Therefore, if the position of the front vehicle CAR changes to the left and right, the corrected left end position aLP and the corrected right end position aRP also change accordingly, so that the light shielding area of the illumination area of the ADB light distribution pattern PADB is changed to the left and right. Thus, appropriate ADB light distribution control can be realized following the change in the position of the left and right vehicles in front.

Furthermore, the master lamp ECU 2 monitors the vehicle position of the preceding vehicle CAR, and at the same time changes the margin in the direction in which the position has been changed in accordance with the amount of change of the vehicle position with respect to time, that is, the position change speed in the left-right direction. Execute the process. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the forward vehicle CAR is moved to the right at a high speed as indicated by a broken line, processing is performed even if the corrected right end position aRP exceeds the left end boundary LBn of the illumination area An. The delay in turning off the illumination area An is delayed, and the front vehicle CAR may be dazzled by the illumination light of the illumination area An during that time. Therefore, in this case, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the master lamp ECU 2 detects that the forward vehicle CAR has moved to the right side at a high speed, the right margin is immediately increased from Rm to Rmn (Rm <Rmn). . As a result, the corrected right end position aaRP is displaced further to the right side than the normal correction right end position aRP, and the corrected right position aaRP of the forward vehicle CAR quickly becomes in the situation belonging to the left end boundary position LB of the illumination area An. The area An is quickly turned off and the dazzling of the forward vehicle CAR is surely prevented. The same applies to the case where the preceding vehicle CAR moves in the left direction at a high speed. In this case, the left margin is increased.

  Here, the master lamp ECU 2 increases the margin on the position change side as described above when the position of the preceding vehicle changes at high speed in either the left or right direction, but the margin on the opposite side increases or decreases as described above. The value may be held or reduced without doing so. In this way, without increasing the margin on the opposite side, by holding or reducing a predetermined value, it can be turned on at a suitable timing in the opposite illumination area with less risk of dazzling, This is effective for improving visibility.

  Furthermore, when increasing the left and right margins following the position change of the vehicle ahead, the increase speed and rate of increase are made larger than the predetermined value, and when reducing, the reduction speed and rate of decrease are made higher than the predetermined value. You may control to make it small. For example, when the right margin is increased when the preceding vehicle moves in the right direction, the right margin is increased quickly and at a large increase rate to set the corrected right end position. As a result, the corrected right end position belongs to the right illumination area at an earlier timing, the right illumination area is quickly turned off, and dazzling with respect to the preceding vehicle is reliably prevented. On the other hand, when reducing the margin on the opposite side where the position of the preceding vehicle has changed, the reduction speed may be slowed and the reduction ratio may be reduced. The lighting area on the left side of the preceding vehicle is controlled to be turned off and on as the position of the preceding vehicle changes to the left.However, by reducing the left margin and reducing the reduction rate, the lighting area is slowly Will be lit. As a result, it is possible to prevent a part of the front area of the host vehicle from being suddenly switched from the extinguished state to the bright state, and the occupant of the host vehicle is dazzled by the ADB light distribution of the host vehicle, or a sense of incongruity is caused. Can be prevented.

  The increase or decrease of the margin may be increased or decreased in proportion to the position change speed of the preceding vehicle. In other words, the margin is increased or decreased in proportion to the speed at which the vehicle ahead changes position. Alternatively, a predetermined threshold is set for the left and right position change speed of the vehicle ahead, and when the position change speed exceeds this threshold, the margin is increased to a preset value, or the threshold value is increased. Reduce when the value falls below the value. Note that the minimum value of the margin is set based on the above-described various errors, and is not set smaller than this value.

  As described above, in the light distribution control device of the embodiment, the corrected left end position and the corrected right end position obtained by adding margins to the detected left end position and right end position of the preceding vehicle are set, and the corrected left end position and the corrected right end position are set. It is only necessary to compare the left end position and the right end position of the plurality of illumination areas. Further, even when the margin is changed as the vehicle ahead moves in the left-right direction, only the left and right margins need be changed to change the corrected left end position and the corrected right end position. Therefore, as in Patent Document 1, there is no need to detect the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs in consideration of the margins set on the left and right of each of the plurality of illumination areas. Processing for changing each margin of the area is also unnecessary. Thereby, the process in ADB light distribution control can be simplified, and the quick ADB light distribution control which followed the position change of the front vehicle is realizable.

  In this embodiment, the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is extinguished and the light shielding area is formed. However, the light intensity of the illumination area may be reduced to make the light shielding area. It goes without saying that this reduced luminous intensity is a luminous intensity that does not cause dazzling with respect to the vehicle ahead even when illuminated.

  Further, in the embodiment, the case where there is one forward vehicle has been described. However, when there are a plurality of forward vehicles including a preceding vehicle and an oncoming vehicle, the plurality of forward vehicles are grouped together as a group of forward vehicles. And detecting the left end position and right end position of this group of forward vehicles, and setting a margin for each of the left end position and the right end position. Further, when changing the margin, the left margin and the right margin may be controlled based on the movement direction in the left-right direction of the left end position and the right end position and the change in the position. Therefore, the left and right margins may be increased when the front vehicle group of one group expands to the left and right, and the left and right margins may be reduced when the front vehicle group contracts to the left and right. However, even in this case, there is no reduction below the predetermined margin.

  In this embodiment, the master lamp ECU 2 detects an error in the straight traveling direction of the host vehicle from an image signal of the front area imaged by the imaging device 5, particularly an image of a road or a fixed object on the road existing in the front area. It is also possible. That is, the direction of the imaging optical axis of the imaging device 5 and the lamp optical axis of the ADB lamp unit AL are set based on the straight traveling direction (axle) of the automobile. For this reason, if an error occurs with respect to the straight direction of the actual automobile, an error also occurs in the direction of the imaging optical axis and the lamp optical axis. For example, if the error of the imaging optical axis with respect to the axle is ± α and the error of the lamp optical axis with respect to the axle is ± β, the error of the lamp optical axis with respect to the imaging optical axis is ± (α + β) at the maximum. Further, since the setting error ± γ of the axle itself is added, the error of the lamp optical axis with respect to the axle is ± (α + β + γ) at the maximum. Therefore, it is necessary to set the left and right margins Lm and Rm with respect to the preceding vehicle to a value that compensates ± (α + β + γ), and the shading area when the ADB light distribution control is performed becomes unnecessarily large. It becomes an obstacle to improve.

  Here, the direction in which the vehicle actually travels, that is, the straight traveling direction, can be detected by image analysis for a road fixed object or the like present in the image captured by the image capturing device 5. The error between the shaft and the correct straight direction of the car can be detected. In other words, an error of α + γ can be detected for α described above. Therefore, when the master lamp ECU 2 detects the left and right end positions LP and RP of the front vehicle, by correcting this error α + γ, the error of the lamp optical axis with respect to the correct straight traveling direction can be suppressed to ± β as a result. It is possible to reduce the margins Lm and Rm.

  Here, the straight direction of the automobile may be detected by a biaxial or triaxial acceleration sensor, and the axle and the lamp are corrected by performing the correction as described above based on the detection output of the acceleration sensor provided in the automobile. The margin based on the error with the optical axis can be suppressed. When an acceleration sensor is used when detecting the straight direction, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, if the acceleration sensor 6 is integrated into the LED array package 23 of the ADB lamp unit AL, the acceleration sensor and the lamp light are integrated. Since the axes are directed in the same direction, the error ± β ′ of the lamp optical axis with respect to the correct straight direction detected by the acceleration sensor can be used to suppress the mounting error ± β to ± β ′, and the margins Lm and Rm described above. Can be further reduced.

  In the embodiment described above, since the ADB light distribution pattern is configured by the eight illumination areas A1 to A8, the light shielding area that prevents the front vehicle from being dazzled is controlled in units of illumination areas. Therefore, depending on the positional relationship between the vehicle ahead and the boundary of the illumination area, the light shielding area may become larger than the margin. In such a case, it is preferable to execute control to increase the luminous intensity of the illumination area that is turned on adjacent to the preceding vehicle. That is, by increasing the luminous intensity of the illumination area, the illumination area is expanded in the left-right direction, so that the light-shielding area with the vehicle ahead is narrowed, and the visibility in the area can be improved. For example, in the case of FIG. 6B, if the current applied to the LEDs 234 and 238 corresponding to the illumination areas A4 and A8 is increased to increase the luminous intensity of the illumination areas A4 and A8, the substantiality of these illumination areas A4 and A8. Since the typical illumination area is enlarged in the left-right direction, the light shielding area can be narrowed.

  In this embodiment, an ADB light distribution pattern is configured by forming eight illumination areas with eight LEDs. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this ADB light distribution pattern. The number and the pattern shape of each illumination area can be arbitrarily set.

  The present invention can be applied to ADB light distribution control in which an ADB light distribution pattern is configured by a plurality of illumination areas and the lighting state of each illumination area is controlled corresponding to the detected forward vehicle.

1 Lamp housing 2 Master lamp ECU
3 Slave lamp ECU
4 Vehicle ECU
5 Imaging device 6 Acceleration sensor 21 Unit housing 22 Irradiation lens 23 LED array package 100 CAN line 200, 201 LIN lines 231 to 238 LED
241 to 248 Unit reflector R-HL Right headlamp L-HL Left headlamp LoL Low beam lamp unit HiL High beam lamp unit AL ADB lamp units A1 to A8 Illumination area LP, aLP (front vehicle) left end position, corrected left end position RP, aRP (front vehicle) right end position, corrected right end position LB, RB (lighting area) left end boundary position, right end boundary position

Claims (4)

A plurality of illumination areas are arranged in the left-right direction by a headlight to perform illumination with a desired light distribution pattern, detect a vehicle position of a preceding vehicle, and select the plurality of illumination areas corresponding to the detected vehicle position. A light distribution control method for selectively dimming, wherein a corrected vehicle position is set by adding a margin in the left-right direction with respect to the vehicle position, and an illumination area to which a preceding vehicle belongs is detected based on the corrected vehicle position The vehicle is characterized in that the detected illumination area is dimmed, a change in position of the vehicle position in the left-right direction relative to the host vehicle is detected, and the margin is increased or decreased according to a change amount of the position change with respect to time. Light distribution control method for headlamps. A headlamp that illuminates with a desired light distribution pattern by arranging a plurality of illumination areas that illuminate the forward area, forward vehicle detection means that detects the vehicle position of the forward vehicle, and the detected vehicle position Correspondingly, a light distribution control device comprising a light distribution control means for selectively dimming the plurality of illumination areas, wherein the light distribution control means adds a margin in the left-right direction with respect to the vehicle position. The corrected vehicle position is set, the illumination area to which the preceding vehicle belongs is detected based on the corrected vehicle position, the detected illumination area is dimmed , and the position change in the left-right direction of the vehicle position with respect to the own vehicle is detected. A light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp, wherein the margin is increased or decreased according to a change amount of the position change with respect to time.   The light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 2, wherein a margin in a direction in which the vehicle position changes is increased as a change amount with respect to time of the position change increases.   4. The light distribution of the vehicle headlamp according to claim 3, wherein the light distribution control means changes a speed at which the margin is increased at a higher speed than a speed at which the margin is decreased. Control device.

Images