JP2013257947A - Vehicular lamp fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

In a vehicular lamp that controls light distribution of light emitted from an LED with a light guide, a light emitting surface emits light more uniformly than in the past.
A vehicular lamp 1 includes an LED 3 having an optical axis Ax, and a light guide 4 that is disposed in front of the LED 3 in the optical axis Ax direction and controls light distribution from the LED 3. The light guide 4 is formed on the surface on the LED 3 side, and has a first incident surface 411 for allowing light emitted from the LED 3 to enter the light guide 4. The first incident surface 411 is centered on the intersection of the cross section including the optical axis Ax and the surface orthogonal to the vertical direction in each of the vertical direction orthogonal to the optical axis Ax direction and each cross section parallel to the optical axis Ax direction. The two first circular arcs L1 formed on both sides in the vertical direction so as to be curved in a concave shape while moving away from the intersecting line as it goes rearward in the optical axis Ax direction, and the two first arcs on the intersecting line It is formed in a shape having a second arc line L2 that makes an intersection of the arc lines L1.
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of vehicle lamps mounted on a vehicle are known in which light emitted from a light source is distributed by a light guide. In this type of vehicular lamp, in general, light emitted from a light source is incident on the light guide while being collimated by an incident surface (light incident portion) of the light guide. It is possible to easily perform light distribution control in an optical component after the light body (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

JP 2012-28155 A JP 2012-59374 A JP 2011-40351 A JP 2011-175817 A

  By the way, in recent vehicle lamps, many LEDs (light emitting diodes) having excellent environmental performance have been proposed and put into practical use. In general, light emitted from an LED has strong directivity having a light intensity of Lambertian distribution, and light emitted from the emission surface in the normal direction (direction along the optical axis) has the highest intensity. The intensity becomes lower as the emission angle with respect to the optical axis becomes larger.

  For this reason, when the light source is an LED in a vehicular lamp provided with the above-described light guide, light having a strong directivity emitted from the LED is simply converted into parallel light through the incident surface of the light guide. Of the light emitting surface (outgoing surface) of the light body, the portion corresponding to the optical axis of the LED emits light more strongly than the other portions, resulting in, for example, linear stripes, etc., causing the light emitting surface to emit light uniformly. I can't.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a vehicular lamp that performs light distribution control of light emitted from an LED by a light guide, and makes a light emitting surface emit light more uniformly than in the past. An object is to provide a vehicular lamp that can be used.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
An LED having an optical axis along a predetermined optical axis direction;
A light guide that is disposed forward of the LED in the optical axis direction and controls light distribution of the light emitted from the LED;
In a vehicle lamp comprising:
The light guide is
An incident surface that is formed on the LED-side surface and allows light emitted from the LED to enter the light guide;
An exit surface for emitting light incident on the light guide from the entrance surface;
Have
The incident surface is an intersecting line between the surface including the optical axis and perpendicular to the optical axis orthogonal direction in each of the optical axis orthogonal direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction and each cross section parallel to the optical axis direction. Centered on the two sides of the first arc line formed on both sides of the optical axis orthogonal direction so as to bend in a concave shape while moving away from the intersection line toward the rear in the optical axis direction, and on the intersection line It is formed in the shape which has the 2nd circular arc line which attaches the intersection of the said 2 1st circular arc line.

  According to the present invention, the light incident surface of the light guide for allowing the light emitted from the LED to enter the light guide is light in the optical axis orthogonal direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction and in each cross section parallel to the optical axis direction. Both sides of the optical axis orthogonal direction so as to be curved in a concave shape while being away from the intersection line toward the rear in the optical axis direction, centering on the intersection line between the plane including the axis and orthogonal to the optical axis orthogonal direction and the cross section Are formed in a shape having two first arc lines formed on the second axis line and a second arc line that rounds the intersection point of the two first arc lines on the intersection line. In a cross section parallel to the optical axis direction, the light emitted from the LED can be made to enter the light guide while being suitably diffused. Therefore, compared with the conventional case where the light emitted from the LED is simply collimated and is incident on the light guide, the portion corresponding to the optical axis of the LED on the light exit surface of the light guide is more than the other portions. Strong light emission can be suppressed, and as a result, the emission surface (light emission surface) can emit light more uniformly.

It is a front view of the vehicular lamp in an embodiment. It is sectional drawing in the II-II line of FIG. It is (a) perspective view of the light-incidence part of the light guide in embodiment, (b) It is a front view. (A) It is sectional drawing in the III-III line of FIG.3 (b), (b) It is sectional drawing in the IV-IV line of FIG.3 (b). (A) It is a figure which shows the light ray locus in the cross section of Fig.4 (a), (b) It is a figure which shows the light ray locus in the cross section of FIG.4 (b). It is a front view which shows the modification of the vehicle lamp in embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a vehicular lamp 1 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
In the following description, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, and “lower” refer to the direction viewed from the vehicular lamp 1 unless otherwise specified.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicular lamp 1 includes a housing (not shown) whose front surface is open, and a transparent outer lens 2 that covers the front opening of the housing. A plurality of LEDs 3,..., A light guide 4, a texture plate 5, and an inner lens 6 are accommodated in the lamp chamber formed by the housing and the outer lens 2.

  Among these, the plurality of LEDs 3,... Are mounted side by side along the vertical direction with their respective optical axes Ax directed leftward along the left-right direction, and are mounted on a common substrate 30. Each LED 3 emits light having a light intensity of Lambertian distribution substantially radially to the left about the optical axis Ax. That is, the intensity of the light emitted from each LED 3 becomes lower as the emission angle with respect to the optical axis Ax becomes larger.

The light guide 4 has a U-shaped main surface that opens to the left and is formed in a plate shape that is orthogonal to the front-rear direction. For the plurality of LEDs 3,. Hereinafter, it is arranged in front of the optical axis Ax direction (that is, leftward). The light guide 4 has a plurality of light incident portions 41 for allowing light emitted from the plurality of LEDs 3 to enter the light guide 4 at the right end, and a rear surface thereof has a plurality of reflection dots (see FIG. (Not shown) and the front surface is an emission surface 43. The light guide 4 distributes the light emitted from the plurality of LEDs 3,... So that the light enters the light guide 4 from the plurality of light incident portions 41,. Control.
Among these, the some light-incidence part 41, ... is provided corresponding to several LED3, ..., and is arranged in parallel by the up-down direction so that each may oppose each LED3.

3A and 3B are a perspective view and a front view of the light incident portion 41 of the light guide 4, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are III-III lines in FIG. 3B. , IV-IV is a cross-sectional view.
As shown in these drawings, the right end portion of the light guide 4 is formed in a shape that bulges to the right with a uniform cross section in the vertical direction, and extends in a plane orthogonal to the vertical direction. 4a is provided in a portion facing each LED 3, and a portion including the groove 4a is a light incident portion 41.
The light incident portion 41 has a first incident surface 411, a second incident surface 412, and a reflective surface 413 in the groove 4a.

Among these, the first incident surface 411 is an intersection line (light) between the surface including the optical axis Ax and orthogonal to the vertical direction in each cross section parallel to the optical axis Ax direction (that is, the horizontal direction) and the vertical direction. In the cross section including the axis Ax, it is formed on both sides in the vertical direction so as to be gently curved in a concave shape with the optical axis Ax) as the center and away from the intersection line toward the rear (that is, to the right) in the optical axis Ax direction. The first arc lines L1 and L1 thus formed and a second arc line L2 that makes an intersection of the two first arc lines L1 and L1 on the intersecting line are formed. In the present embodiment, each first arc line L1 is formed at R1.6, and the second arc line L2 is formed at R0.6 or less. In the present embodiment, the second arc line L2 enters the light guide 4 with light having an emission angle θv up to 40 ° with respect to the optical axis Ax in a cross section parallel to the optical axis Ax direction and the vertical direction. Each first arc line L1 causes light having an emission angle θv in a range parallel to the optical axis Ax direction and the vertical direction to enter the light guide 4 in the range of 40 ° to 80 °. It is formed as follows.
Further, the first incident surface 411 has, in each cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction, the optical axis Ax direction such that the point on the intersection line between the plane including the optical axis Ax and parallel to the vertical direction and the cross section becomes the apex. It is formed in a convex shape that bulges backward. In the present embodiment, the first incident surface 411 is formed so that light having an emission angle θh up to 50 ° with respect to the optical axis Ax in the cross section perpendicular to the vertical direction is incident on the light guide 4. ing.
The first incident surface 411 formed in this way slightly diffuses the light emitted from the opposing LED 3 in the vertical direction in a cross section parallel to the vertical direction and the horizontal direction (that is, a cross section orthogonal to the front and rear direction) (for example, one side) 5), and in a cross section perpendicular to the vertical direction, the light is made parallel light substantially along the optical axis Ax or is slightly diffused in the front-rear direction and is incident on the light guide 4 (FIG. 5A). , (B)).

  The second incident surface 412 is a surface erected from both side ends in the front-rear direction of the first incident surface 411 to the rear in the optical axis Ax direction. The second incident surface 412 has a cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction, and out of the light emitted from the opposing LEDs 3, the light that goes to the side in the front-rear direction from the first incident surface 411 enters the light guide 4. Incident light (see FIG. 5B). In the present embodiment, the second incident surface 412 is formed so that light having an emission angle θh in a cross section perpendicular to the vertical direction is incident in the light guide 4 within a range of 50 ° to 70 °. This increases the amount of light incident on the light guide 4 by about 5 to 10%.

  The reflecting surface 413 is a surface that is inclined so as to spread from the front end (right end) of the second incident surface 412 toward the front in the optical axis Ax direction and outward in the front-rear direction (direction away from the optical axis Ax). The reflecting surface 413 internally reflects the light incident from the second incident surface 412 into the light guide 4 to the front in the direction of the optical axis Ax while making it parallel light substantially along the optical axis Ax (FIG. 5B). reference).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the texture plate 5 and the inner lens 6 are respectively formed in a front view shape (a U-shape) similar to the light guide 4, and the light guide 4 in this order from the rear side. Is placed in front of. The texture plate 5 and the inner lens 6 emit light emitted forward from the light exit surface 43 of the light guide 4 forward while appropriately diffusing in the vertical direction and / or the horizontal direction.

  In the vehicular lamp 1 having the above configuration, when a plurality of LEDs 3,... Are lit, the light emitted from each LED 3 faces the LED 3, as shown in FIGS. The light enters the light guide 4 through the light incident portion 41.

Specifically, of the light emitted from the LED 3, the light incident on the first incident surface 411 of the light incident portion 41 is slightly diffused in the vertical direction through the first incident surface 411 in a cross section orthogonal to the front-rear direction. In the cross section perpendicular to the vertical direction, the light enters the light guide 4 while being parallel light substantially along the optical axis Ax.
On the other hand, of the light emitted from the LED 3, the light that goes to the side in the front-rear direction with respect to the first incident surface 411 is incident on the light guide 4 through the second incident surface 412, and then is reflected on the optical axis by the reflecting surface 413. While being parallel light substantially along Ax, it is internally reflected forward in the direction of the optical axis Ax.

  Thus, the light emitted substantially radially from each LED 3 is diffused in the up-down direction (that is, the width direction of the light guide 4) through the light incident portion 41 and also in the front-back direction (that is, the thickness direction of the light guide 4). The light enters the light guide 4 while being condensed. Thereby, the light emitted from the LEDs 3,... Enters the light guide 4 so as to spread evenly over the entire area of the light guide 4.

  Light that has entered the light guide 4 from the light incident portion 41 is reflected forward by the reflecting surface 42 on the rear surface of the light guide 4 while being guided leftward while spreading in the light guide 4 in the vertical direction. After that, the light is emitted forward from the light emitting surface 43 on the front surface of the light guide 4.

The light emitted forward from the emission surface 43 of the light guide 4 is further diffused through the texture plate 5 and the inner lens 6 and then irradiated forward through the outer lens 2.
Thus, when the vehicular lamp 1 is viewed from the front, the emission surface 43 (or the embossed plate 5 or the inner lens 6) of the light guide 4 emits light over the entire surface.

As described above, according to the vehicular lamp 1, the light is emitted from the LED 3 by the first incident surface 411 having the two first arc lines L1 and L1 and the second arc line L2 in the cross section orthogonal to the front-rear direction. It is possible to make the light enter the light guide 4 while suitably diffusing light in the vertical direction. Therefore, compared to the conventional case where the light emitted from the LED is simply collimated and is incident on the light guide body, the portion corresponding to the optical axis Ax of the LEDs 3,. It is possible to suppress the emission of light more strongly than other portions, and as a result, the emission surface 43 (light emission surface) can emit light more uniformly.
Furthermore, since the light emitted from each LED 3 is suitably diffused in the vertical direction, the plurality of LEDs 3,... The vertical interval can be increased. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of LEDs 3,... Required for causing the light exit surface 43 of the light guide 4 to emit light over the entire surface, thereby reducing power consumption.

  Moreover, in each cross section orthogonal to the vertical direction, the first incident surface 411 of the light guide 4 is such that the point on the line of intersection between the plane including the optical axis Ax and parallel to the vertical direction is the vertex. Since it is formed in a convex shape that bulges rearward in the direction of the optical axis Ax, the light emitted from the LED 3 substantially radially is diffused in the vertical direction (that is, the width direction of the light guide 4) as described above. In the front-rear direction (that is, the thickness direction of the light guide 4), the light enters the light guide 4 through the first incident surface 411 while being condensed as parallel light to the left. Therefore, the light condensed in the thickness direction of the light guide 4 can be guided with a sufficient amount of light to the back (left end) of the light guide 4, and as a result, the emission surface 43 of the light guide 4. Can be emitted more uniformly.

  In addition, the light incident portion 41 of the light guide 4 includes a second incident surface 412 erected from both side ends of the first incident surface 411 in the front-rear direction to the rear in the optical axis Ax direction, and the second incident surface 412. And a reflecting surface 413 that is inclined so as to spread outward in the front-rear direction from the tip toward the front in the optical axis Ax direction, and is directed to the side in the front-rear direction from the first incident surface 411, that is, the first incident surface In 411, what cannot be incident on the light guide 4 can be incident on the light guide 4 to contribute to the light emission of the exit surface 43, and the luminous flux utilization factor can be improved.

  The embodiments to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the light guide 4 is formed in a U-shape when viewed from the front, and light is emitted by the LEDs 3,... Disposed on the right side of the light guide 4, but as shown in FIG. May be formed, for example, in an L-shape when viewed from the front, or may be emitted by LEDs 3,. Furthermore, the light guide 4 may have a freely curved shape such as a crescent shape.

  Further, the shape of the light incident portion 41 (the first incident surface 411, the second incident surface 412 and the reflecting surface 413) of the light guide 4 is diffused in the vertical direction according to various conditions such as the characteristics of the LEDs 3,. You may adjust suitably so that a degree and the light collection degree to the front-back direction may become appropriate.

1 Vehicle lamp 2 Outer lens 3 LED
Ax Optical axis θh Emission angle (Emission angle in a cross section perpendicular to the vertical direction)
4 Light Guide 41 Light Incident Section 411 First Incident Surface (Incoming Surface)
L1 1st circular arc line L2 2nd circular arc line 412 2nd incident surface 413 Reflective surface 42 Reflective surface 43 Output surface 5 Wrinkle plate 6 Inner lens

Claims (5)

An LED having an optical axis along a predetermined optical axis direction;
A light guide that is disposed forward of the LED in the optical axis direction and controls light distribution of the light emitted from the LED;
In a vehicle lamp comprising:
The light guide is
An incident surface that is formed on the LED-side surface and allows light emitted from the LED to enter the light guide;
An exit surface for emitting light incident on the light guide from the entrance surface;
Have
The incident surface is an intersecting line between the surface including the optical axis and perpendicular to the optical axis orthogonal direction in each of the optical axis orthogonal direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction and each cross section parallel to the optical axis direction. Centered on the two sides of the first arc line formed on both sides of the optical axis orthogonal direction so as to bend in a concave shape while moving away from the intersection line toward the rear in the optical axis direction, and on the intersection line A vehicular lamp characterized by being formed into a shape having a second arc line that rounds the intersection of the two first arc lines.   In each cross section orthogonal to the optical axis orthogonal direction, the incident surface includes the optical axis such that a point on the intersection line between the plane including the optical axis and parallel to the optical axis orthogonal direction and the cross section is the apex. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular lamp is formed in a convex shape that bulges rearward in the direction. The light guide is
From the both ends of the second optical axis orthogonal direction orthogonal to both the optical axis direction and the optical axis orthogonal direction on the incident surface, it is erected rearward in the optical axis direction, emitted from the LED, and from the incident surface A second incident surface for allowing the light directed to the side in the direction perpendicular to the second optical axis to enter the light guide,
It is formed in a shape that is inclined so as to spread outward from the tip of the second incident surface toward the front in the optical axis direction, and the light that has entered the light guide from the second incident surface is internally forward in the optical axis direction A reflective surface to reflect;
The vehicular lamp according to claim 2, further comprising: A plurality of the LEDs are juxtaposed along the optical axis orthogonal direction,
The light guide is formed in a long shape along the direction orthogonal to the optical axis and has the incident surface in each of the light guides facing the plurality of LEDs. The vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The light guide is
The optical axis orthogonal direction is a width direction, and is formed in a plate shape having a thickness direction that is a second optical axis orthogonal direction orthogonal to both the optical axis direction and the optical axis orthogonal direction,
The vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the emission surface is formed on one main surface of the light guide.

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