JPH07114804A - Headlamp device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a safe headlamp device for a vehicle which can be used in common regardless of the kind of vehicles. CONSTITUTION:In a lamp body 1, a reflecting plate 2 and a discharge lamp 3 such as a metal halogen lamp are housed in a front part 1a, and a lighting circuit part 4 to control lighting of the discharge lamp 3 is housed in a rear part 1b, and a male connector 7a to supply electric power is arranged in a rear end part. The front part 1a is formed almost in a horn shape following the external shape of the reflecting plate 2 to house an external shape, and the rear part 1b is formed almost in a rectangular parallelepiped corresponding to an external shape of a block of the lighting circuit part 4 to house an external shape, and the whole external shape of the lamp body 1 is made to look like a shield beam lamp.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a vehicle headlight device, there is one using a high-intensity discharge lamp such as a metal halide lamp (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 4-149901 and 4-160701).
No.). Among them, the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-149901 has a structure in which a lighting circuit unit for controlling lighting of a discharge lamp is housed in a case attached to the outer rear part of the lamp body. The device shown in No. 160701 has a structure in which a lighting circuit unit is housed in a lamp body.

[0003]

In the above conventional example, when the lighting circuit section is attached to the outside of the lamp body as in the former case, since the lighting circuit section is exposed to the outside air, it is necessary to perform sufficient treatment such as waterproofing on the case. was there. Further, in the latter structure in which the lighting circuit unit is housed in the lamp body, the structure of the protective case provided for waterproofing the lighting circuit unit is simplified.

However, if the external shape of the lamp body changes depending on the type of vehicle to be mounted, it is necessary to change the shape of the lighting circuit section, the surrounding mounting method, etc., and the shape of the lamp body depends on the left and right arrangement positions. Since they are different, there is a limit to the communalization of parts in the structure of the above-mentioned conventional example, which causes a drawback such as an increase in cost of the entire system.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the inventions of claims 1 and 2 can be commonly used regardless of the vehicle type, and is safe before vehicle use. A lighting device is provided.

In addition to the above-mentioned object, the object of the invention of claim 3 is to control the light distribution, and to share the power source and wiring of the lighting circuit unit and the driving and controlling means, and to distribute the light. (EN) It is possible to provide a vehicle headlight device that does not need to increase the number of discharge lamps for control.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention of claim 1, a discharge lamp, a reflector for reflecting the light of the discharge lamp, and a lighting circuit section for controlling the lighting of the discharge lamp are provided. The discharge lamp and the reflector are housed in the front part, the lighting circuit part is housed in the rear part, the front part is provided with optical means for transmitting and distributing light, and the rear part is provided with the power supply connection means of the lighting circuit part and the lamp body. The front shape of the lamp body has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the reflector, and the rear shape of the lamp body has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the lighting circuit section.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the lamp body is housed in a case inside a vehicle.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided drive means for performing light distribution control by moving at least one of the discharge lamp and the reflector, and control means for controlling the drive means, and the control means is integrated with the lighting circuit section. It was installed in.

[0008]

According to the invention of claim 1, the discharge lamp, the reflector, and the lighting circuit section for controlling lighting are housed in the lamp body, and the shape of the front portion of the lamp body is made to correspond to the outer shape of the reflector plate. The shape of the lamp and the shape of the rear part of the lamp correspond to the outer shape of the lighting circuit, so the entire device can be handled as a single component. Since the lighting circuit section is housed inside the lamp body, it is only necessary to connect a low-voltage power supply to the power supply connection means provided at the rear part of the lamp body.
Safe without the risk of electric shock.

Since the entire apparatus can be mounted as a unit, the work in the vehicle manufacturing process is simplified. According to the invention of claim 2, since the lamp body is housed in the case inside the vehicle, it can be handled as a more versatile part by housing in the case whose shape can be determined in the shape of the vehicle. .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the driving means for controlling the light distribution by moving at least one of the discharge lamp and the reflecting plate and the control means for controlling the driving means are provided. The light distribution can be controlled by moving the discharge lamp and the reflector, and since the control means is integrally provided in the lighting circuit section, the power source of the control means and the power source of the lighting circuit section can be shared. In addition, since the light distribution control can be performed by controlling the driving means, it is not necessary to switch the number of discharge lamps, so that it is not necessary to increase the number of discharge lamps, and the installation space for the device is small. I'm done.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a lighting circuit portion for housing a reflector 2 and a discharge lamp 3 such as a metal halogen lamp in a front portion 1a and controlling lighting of the discharge lamp 3 in a rear portion 1b. 4 is accommodated, and a lamp body 1 having a male connector 7a as a power source connecting means at the rear end is used.

The reflector 2 is composed of a parabolic mirror or the like that determines the light distribution as a headlamp, and the lamp body 1 has an outer shape of a front portion 1a for accommodating the reflector 2 which is the outer shape of the reflector 2. It has a substantially horn shape corresponding to the outer shape, and a cover 5 made of a light-transmitting material is integrally provided on the front surface portion serving as a light emitting surface. The surface of the cover 5 may be diffused, condensed, cut, or the like by using a transparent material such as glass. Especially if it is a condenser lens, it can be configured as a projector type,
In this case, the light-reflecting reflector 2 may not be used.

Further, the lamp body 1 is made into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped corresponding to the outer shape of the block of the lighting circuit section 4 which accommodates the outer shape of the rear portion 1b, and the outer shape of the entire lamp body 1 is combined with the outer shape of the front portion 1a. Is similar to the shape of a shielded beam lamp. If the front surface of the cover 5 has a circular shape as in the present embodiment, it is easy to handle in terms of light distribution, storage, etc., but the shape is not particularly limited to a circular shape, and is a versatile shape. Board 2
It is sufficient to match the outer shape of.

An insertion port 2a for inserting the discharge lamp 3 from the outside of the reflection plate 2 is provided at the rear end of the reflection plate 2, and the discharge lamp 3 mounted in the socket 6 has the insertion port 2a.
When it is inserted into the reflection plate 2 via the flange 3, the flange 3c formed at the base of the base 3a contacts the opening peripheral edge of the insertion port 2a, and the arc tube 3b is arranged at a fixed position in the reflection plate 2. It

The lighting circuit section 4 comprises an inverter 4a and an igniter 4b as shown in FIG.
Thus, the direct current supplied from the battery Ba is converted into an alternating voltage, and power is supplied to the discharge lamp 3 through the socket 6. Then, at the time of starting or restarting, a high voltage is applied to the discharge lamp 3 through the socket 6 by the igniter 4b so that the starting lamp is lit.

Power is supplied from the battery Ba to the lighting circuit section 4 by the female connector 7 connected to the male connector 7a.
b, the power supply line 8, and the switch SW. Thus, in the case of the device of the present embodiment, the electric connection to the vehicle side is only the connection of the battery Ba, and the connection portion between the discharge lamp 3 and the lighting circuit portion 4 is inside the lamp body 1, and therefore, there is no electric shock. There is no fear and no protection circuit is required.

Furthermore, since the entire device can be treated as a single part like a shield beam lamp and the shape of the lamp body is the same, it can be used for both left and right of the headlight and can be used for various vehicle types. Can be achieved. Moreover, since it can be mounted on the vehicle as one part or one unit, the mounting work in the vehicle manufacturing process becomes easy. Even when the rear portion 1b of the lamp body 1 is detachable from the front portion 1a and the discharge lamp 3 is replaced, the female connector 7b is removed from the male connector 7a to supply power to the lighting circuit unit 4. If stopped, it is safe because high voltage is not generated by the lighting circuit unit 4.

Further, a spare discharge lamp, an igniter or the like may be housed in the lamp body 1 so that it can be easily replaced when trouble occurs. (Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, when the device of the embodiment 1 is mounted on a vehicle, a lamp housing case 9 designed from the viewpoint of the exterior design of the vehicle is provided. Since it is housed in the lamp body housing case 9 that is determined by the shape of the vehicle, the entire apparatus can be handled as a more versatile part.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lamp body storage case 9 does not have to completely store the entire lamp body 1, and as the light-transmitting front cover 10 of the lamp body storage case 9, it is a vehicle. Anything that does not impair the design of In this case, it is necessary to take measures to prevent the inner surface of the front cover 10 of the lamp housing case 9 from being contaminated and the transmittance being lowered due to moisture, for example, airtightness between the lamp body 1 and the lamp housing case 8. Become.

(Embodiment 3) In this embodiment, two lamps 1A and 1B are housed in a lamp housing case 9 to form a two-sided headlamp. In the case of the configuration of the present embodiment, the shape of the lamp body storage case 9 is different between the left and right headlamps, but the lamp body itself can be commonly used for the left and right four lamps.

(Embodiment 4) In this embodiment, the light distribution is switched between a traveling beam and a passing beam by moving the discharge lamp 3 in the front-back direction.
As shown in FIG. 7, the reflector 2, the discharge lamp 3, and the lighting circuit unit 4 are housed in the lamp body 1 as in the first embodiment.
A motor (not shown) for moving the discharge lamp 3 back and forth together with the socket 6, a drive gear 11a, a ratchet 11
The drive unit 11 composed of b and the control circuit 12 for controlling the motor of the drive unit 11 are housed. When the drive gear 11a is rotationally driven by the motor, the ratchet 11b of the drive unit 11 linearly moves forward or backward in accordance with the rotation direction.
3, the discharge lamp 3 and the socket 6 are moved forward or backward with linear movement.

The control circuit 12 is provided integrally with the lighting circuit section 4 and also serves as a power source for the inverter 4a.
A control signal is sent to the control circuit 1 by switching the switch SW _0.
2, the direction of rotation of the motor of the drive unit 11 can be switched, the discharge lamp 3 can be moved back and forth, and the beam can be switched between a beam for traveling and a beam for passing by an oncoming vehicle. There is.

Since the socket 6 moves back and forth, the lighting circuit portion 4 and the socket 6 are connected to each other through the electric wire 13 having a sufficient length. However, in this embodiment, the power source is shared by the circuit of the lighting circuit unit 4 and the control circuit 12, and a switching signal between the traveling beam and the passing beam can be given to the control circuit 12 through the same signal line. Therefore, it is possible to realize a small and inexpensive headlight illumination device having a beam switching function. Further, since the light distribution is switched by the movement of the discharge lamp 3, the number of lamps can be reduced as compared with the case of switching the beam by switching the number of lamps, for example. Further, since the control circuit 12 and the drive unit 11 are housed in the lamp body 1 and the number of lamps can be reduced, the mounting space in the vehicle can be reduced and the vehicle design becomes easy.

(Fifth Embodiment) In the fourth embodiment, the control circuit 12 is integrated with the lighting circuit unit 4 and the driving unit 11 is provided separately. However, the arrangement position of the lighting circuit unit 4 and the socket 6 are different from each other.
Since the space for moving is on the same axis, the length of the rear portion 1b of the lamp body 1 becomes long. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control circuit 12 and the driving unit 11 are integrated with the lighting circuit unit 4 into a block, and this block is arranged below the socket 6, and the length dimension of the rear portion 1b is shortened.

In the fourth and fifth embodiments, the discharge lamp 3 is moved, but the reflection plate 2 may be moved. Further, both the discharge lamp 3 and the reflection plate 2 may be moved. That is, it is sufficient if the relative distance between the discharge lamp 3 and the reflector 2 can be changed. Further, in the fourth and fifth embodiments having the above-mentioned beam switching structure, the light of the discharge lamp 3 can be effectively used if the cover 5 on the front surface of the lamp body 1 is composed of a lens.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the discharge lamp, the reflector, and the lighting circuit section for controlling lighting are housed in the lamp body, and the front shape of the lamp body is the outer shape of the reflector plate. Since the rear shape of the lamp is made to correspond to the outer shape of the lighting circuit part, the entire device can be handled as one component, so the left and right arrangements and each vehicle type Since the lighting circuit section is housed inside the lamp body, only the low-voltage power supply is connected to the power supply connection means provided at the rear part of the lamp body, and there is no danger of electric shock and it is safe. There is an effect that there is, and since the entire device can be mounted as a unit, there is an effect that the work in the vehicle manufacturing process becomes simple.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the lamp body is housed in the case inside the vehicle, it can be housed in the case whose shape can be determined according to the design of the vehicle. The effect is that it can be handled as an expensive component. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the discharge lamp and the reflecting plate are provided with the driving means for controlling the light distribution by moving at least one of the discharge lamp and the reflecting means, the discharge lamp, The light distribution can be controlled by moving the reflecting plate, and since the control means is integrally provided in the lighting circuit section, the power source of the control means and the power source of the lighting circuit section can be shared and the light distribution can be performed. Since light control can be performed by controlling the driving means, it is not necessary to switch the number of discharge lamps, the number of discharge lamps can be reduced, and the number of signal lines for control can be reduced, resulting in a small size. It is possible to realize a headlight device having a beam switching function that is inexpensive and inexpensive, and it is possible to reduce the space in the vehicle because the headlight device can be downsized. Therefore, it is possible to easily design the vehicle. That.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention. (B) is a perspective view same as the above.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram including a configuration of an electric circuit of the above.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 4 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of the above.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram including a configuration of an electric circuit of the above.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Lamp 1a Front 1b Rear 2 Reflector 3 Discharge Lamp 4 Lighting Circuit 5 Cover 6 Socket 7a Male Connector 7b Female Connector 8 Lead Wire

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shino Kato 1048, Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Hideki Hamada, 1048, Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshiro Nakamura 1048 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A discharge lamp, a reflector for reflecting the light of the discharge lamp, a lighting circuit section for controlling the lighting of the discharge lamp,
These discharge lamps and reflectors are housed in the front part, the lighting circuit part is housed in the rear part, the front part is provided with optical means for transmitting and distributing light, and the rear part is provided with the power supply connection means of the lighting circuit part and the lamp body. The vehicle headlight is characterized in that the front shape of the lamp body corresponds to the outer shape of the reflector and the rear shape of the lamp body corresponds to the outer shape of the lighting circuit section. Lighting device. 2. The vehicle headlight device according to claim 1, wherein the lamp body is housed in a case inside the vehicle. 3. A drive means for controlling light distribution by moving at least one of a discharge lamp and a reflector, and a control means for controlling this drive means, the control means being provided integrally with a lighting circuit section. The vehicle headlight device according to claim 1, wherein the headlight device is a vehicle headlight device.