WO2022172783A1 - Vehicular lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

In this vehicular lamp comprising a light guide plate, the configuration of the light guide plate is simplified, the degree of freedom of the pattern shape of a light-emitting pattern is enhanced, and a light guide body is easily designed and manufactured. The vehicular lamp comprises: a light source 1 (11); and a light guide plate 2 (light guide body) which has a front surface and a rear surface and guides light from the light source to the inside thereof, wherein the light guide plate 2 has, on the rear surface, a plurality of light reflection steps 3 which reflect the light guided to the inside and emits the light from the front surface, and a desired light-emitting pattern is formed by the light reflected from the light reflection steps 3 and emitted from the front surface of the light guide plate 2. In addition, the plurality of light reflection steps 3 include a plurality of first light reflection steps 31 which reflect, toward a desired direction, light guided into the light guide plate 2. The directions of light reflected from the plurality of first reflection steps 31 and emitted from the light guide plate 2 are different from each other.

Description

vehicle lamp

The present invention relates to lamps installed in vehicles such as automobiles, and more particularly to lamps using light guides, which are vehicular lamps in which different light emission patterns are visually recognized when viewed from a plurality of different directions.

A lamp using a light guide has been proposed as one of the lamps for automobiles. This lamp is arranged such that the front surface of the light guide faces the outer surface of the automobile body, and light reflecting steps of a required pattern are formed on the rear surface of the light guide. Then, when the light from the light source enters the inside of the light guide, part of the light guided inside the light guide is reflected in the light reflecting step, and the reflected light is emitted from the surface of the light guide. . As a result, the lamp functions as a light emitting pattern corresponding to the pattern shape of the light reflecting steps.

In Patent Document 1, in this type of lamp, a light emitting pattern that differs when viewed from different directions is realized by arranging a convex lens on the surface of a light guide and utilizing the light refraction effect of this convex lens. A visible lamp has been proposed, and it is possible to enhance the design effect of the lamp.

JP 2018-63890 A

The lamp of Patent Document 1 can be said to be a technology using a so-called lenticular lens, in which convex lenses are formed on the front surface of the light guide and light reflecting steps are formed on the back surface. Each of them must be processed, which complicates the structure and makes it difficult to manufacture. In addition, since the light reflection step must be arranged at a position corresponding to the convex lens, the arrangement position of the light reflection step is restricted, and the pattern shape of the light emission pattern formed by the light reflection step is free to design. It is difficult to design for forming a light reflection step at a predetermined position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp that simplifies the structure of a light guide, increases the degree of freedom in the pattern shape of the light emission pattern, and facilitates the design and manufacture of the light guide. .

The present invention comprises a light source and a light guide body having a front surface and a back surface for guiding light from the light source inside, and the light guide body reflects the light guided inside on the back surface and emits it from the front surface. A vehicular lamp in which a desired light emission pattern is formed by light reflected in the plurality of light reflection steps and emitted from the surface of the light guide body, wherein the plurality of light The reflecting step includes a plurality of first light reflecting steps for reflecting the light guided inside the light guide in a desired direction, and the light is reflected by the plurality of first light reflecting steps and emitted from the light guide. It is a configuration in which the direction of the light emitted is different.

In the present invention, the light reflecting step may further include a second light reflecting step of reflecting the light guided inside the light guide in a non-directional state and emitting the light from the surface. The light emission pattern formed by the first light reflection step and the light emission pattern formed by the second light reflection step may be combined to form a light emission pattern.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first light reflecting step is configured as a cylindrical or prismatic recess, the bottom surface of which is configured as a reflecting surface, and the plurality of first light reflecting steps emitting light in different directions are , the angles of the reflecting surfaces of the light guides are different. In addition, the second light reflecting step is composed of a spherical or conical concave portion, the bottom surface of which is configured as a reflecting surface.

According to the present invention, even if the surface of the light guide is flat, when the viewing position with respect to the lamp moves, a different light emission pattern can be viewed accordingly. As a result, there is no need to form projections, lenses, etc. on the surface of the light guide, and it is not necessary to form projections, lenses, etc. at predetermined and accurate positions, thereby simplifying the structure of the light guide. It is possible to easily design and manufacture the light guide plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an external view of a part of an automobile in which the present invention is applied to a rear combination lamp, and a schematic perspective view of a part of the rear combination lamp. Front view of the tail lamp. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2; It is a figure explaining one unit pattern of a light reflection step, (a) is a front view, (b) is an enlarged view of the B section of (a). FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining light reflection forms in a first light reflection step and a second light reflection step; FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the form of first light reflection steps in a plurality of step rows; 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams for explaining a technique for setting the inclination angle of the first light reflection step; FIG. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram explaining that the light emission patterns visually recognized differ when the viewer moves.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an automobile CAR in which the present invention is applied to a left rear combination lamp L-RCL arranged on the rear left side of the vehicle body. The left rear combination lamp L-RCL includes a tail lamp TL, a turn signal lamp TSL, and a backup lamp BUL, and the present invention is applied to the tail lamp TL. Since the right rear combination lamp R-RCL is bilaterally symmetrical to the left rear combination lamp L-RCL, the left rear combination lamp L-RCL will be representatively described below.

Fig. 1 also shows a schematic perspective view of the state in which the left rear combination lamp L-RCL has been removed from the vehicle body of the automobile CAR. The left rear combination lamp L-RCL includes a lamp body 101 attached to the rear left corner of the vehicle body of the automobile CAR, and a lamp body 101 curved in a convex shape at least in the horizontal direction following the curved shape of the rear left corner. The lamp housing 100 comprises a transparent translucent cover 102 attached to the front opening 11 of the lamp housing 100 . The interior of the lamp housing 100 is divided into a plurality of regions, and the tail lamp TL, turn signal lamp TSL, and backup lamp BUL are integrally incorporated in each region. Since the configurations of the turn signal lamp TSL and the backup lamp BUL are not particularly limited, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

The tail lamp TL is configured as a lamp unit including a light source section 1 and a plate-shaped light guide (hereinafter referred to as a light guide plate) 2 . FIG. 2 is a front view of this lamp unit, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III--III. The light source unit 1 includes an LED (light emitting diode) 11 that emits red light when power is supplied. The LED 11 is attached to a support substrate 12 attached to the lamp body 101 with its light emitting surface facing downward. installed in the Although not shown, the support substrate 12 includes a light emitting circuit for emitting light from the LED 11 . As a result, power is supplied to the LED 11 through the light emitting circuit, and red light is emitted downward from the light emitting surface when the LED 11 emits light.

The light guide plate 2 is made of a transparent resin that transmits light, such as PMMA (acrylic) resin. It is formed as a convexly curved plate member of substantially uniform thickness. The light guide plate 2 is positioned below the light source section 1 and attached to the lamp body 101 . Here, of both plate surfaces of the light guide plate 2, the surface facing the front side of the tail lamp TL is referred to as a front surface 21, and the opposite surface is referred to as a back surface 22. As shown in FIG.

In addition, the light guide plate 2 is formed in a trapezoidal shape with a lower side longer than the upper side, and the upper end surface 23 of the light guide plate 2 is opposed to the light emitting surface of the LED 11 . An incident lens 24 is formed on the upper end surface 23 to allow the light emitted from the LEDs 11 to enter efficiently. The light enters the light guide plate 2 evenly, and is guided from the upper area to the lower area over almost the entire area of the light guide plate 2 .

Furthermore, on the rear surface 22 of the light guide plate 2, light reflecting steps 3, the details of which will be described later, are formed in a required pattern. As shown in FIG. 3, the light reflecting step 3 is configured as a micro-sized recess formed by recessing the back surface 22 of the light guide plate 2 into a desired shape. When the tail lamp TL is turned on, that is, when the LED 11 emits light, the light guided inside the light guide plate 2 is reflected by the concave bottom surface of the light reflecting step 3 as indicated by the arrow in FIG. The light is emitted from the surface 21 of the light plate 2 . The light emitted from the surface 21 passes through the translucent cover 102 and is emitted in the front direction of the tail lamp TL, and is used as the illumination light of the tail lamp TL.

Therefore, when the tail lamp TL is turned on, almost the entire surface of the light guide plate 2 emits red light with low brightness when viewed from the front of the lamp. The high-intensity light emission pattern composed of the plurality of light reflecting steps 3 is visually recognized by the light emitted from the light, and the design of the tail lamp TL is improved. In this embodiment, the tail lamp TL also serves as a stop lamp, and when the vehicle decelerates or stops, the red light emitted by the LED 11 is increased in intensity, and emits light with a higher luminance than when the tail lamp is lit. It is designed to emit light as a pattern.

In this embodiment, the light emitting pattern 4 formed by the light reflecting steps 3 is composed of five unit patterns 41 to 45 each having a flat trapezoidal frame shape formed by a plurality of light reflecting steps 3, as shown in FIG. It is configured as light emitting patterns 4 arranged in a direction (vertical direction in the figure, the same applies hereinafter). These five unit patterns 41 to 45 are gradually shortened in size in the horizontal direction (horizontal direction in the figure, the same applies hereinafter) from top to bottom, but have substantially the same basic pattern shape.

FIG. 4(a) is a front view of one unit pattern 43 out of the five unit patterns 41-45. The unit pattern 43 is formed in a trapezoidal frame shape by an upper side portion 4u and a lower side portion 4d extending in the horizontal direction, and a left side portion 4l and a right side portion 4r inclined at both ends thereof. The upper side portion 4u and the lower side portion 4d are configured as linear regions having a required width dimension in the vertical direction. The left side portion 4l and the right side portion 4r are formed as tapered regions in which the width dimension in the horizontal direction gradually increases from the lower end portion to the upper end portion.

In addition, the light reflecting steps 3 are composed of steps of different forms, namely, the light reflecting steps 31 arranged on the left side 4l and the right side 4r, and the light reflecting steps 32 arranged on the upper side 4u and the lower side 4d. It is Here, the light reflecting steps 31 arranged on the left side 4l and the right side 4r are called first light reflecting steps, and the light reflecting steps 32 arranged on the upper side 4u and the lower side 4d are called second light reflecting steps. .

FIG. 4(b) is an enlarged view of part B of FIG. 4(a), showing a part of the first light reflecting step 31 on the left side 4l and the second light reflecting step 32 on the lower side 4d. there is The first light reflecting step 31 is formed as a step shape that reflects light in a required direction in the horizontal direction, that is, as a light reflecting step that performs light reflection having directivity in the horizontal direction. Here, it is formed as a columnar recess in which the column axis is inclined in a horizontal direction or at a required angle with respect to the horizontal direction, in other words, as a cylindrical recess.

As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 5(a), the first light reflecting step 31, which is a cylindrical recess, has a vertical direction V on its peripheral surface when the light L guided from above is projected. , the light is reflected in a divergent state to some extent, but in the horizontal direction H, the light is reflected in a state in which divergence of the light L is suppressed and has directivity. Although illustration is omitted, if the first light reflecting step 31 is configured to perform reflection with directivity in the horizontal direction, it may be a triangular or quadrangular prism that performs light reflection with directivity in both the horizontal and vertical directions. may be formed as recesses in the

On the other hand, the second light reflecting step 32 shown in FIG. 4(b) is a step that reflects light divergently in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and is formed as a spherical concave portion here. As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 5(b), the second reflected light step 32, which is a spherical concave portion, is projected on the spherical surface in the vertical direction V when the light L guided from above is projected. It is a configuration in which light is reflected in a divergent state in each of the horizontal directions H. FIG. Although not shown, the second light reflecting step 32 may be formed as a conical concave portion as long as the light is divergently reflected in the vertical direction V and the horizontal direction H.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), the first light reflection steps 31 are arranged in a plurality of rows upward to the right and upward to the left in the left side portion 4l and the right side portion 4r, respectively. The arrangement constitutes the tapered region described above. In the upper side portion 4u and the lower side portion 4d, the second light reflecting steps 32 are arranged vertically and horizontally in a matrix or according to a predetermined rule, and this arrangement constitutes the above-described linear region.

In addition, the first light reflecting steps 31 of the left side portion 4l and the right side portion 4r are configured in step shapes each having required light reflecting characteristics. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the left side portion 4l, a plurality of first light reflection steps 31 are arranged in a row inclined upward to the right, and the rows are arranged in a plurality of rows in a substantially horizontal direction. It is Here, for the sake of convenience, the first step row C1 to n-th step row Cn (n is positive) in descending order from the outside in the vehicle width direction (left side in the figure) to the inside in the vehicle width direction (right side in the figure) on the ramp. integer). The first step row C1 to the n-th step row Cn are arranged close to each other at their lower ends, but are arranged such that the interval between them gradually increases toward the upper right corner.

The first light reflecting steps 31 arranged in this manner are formed in cylindrical recesses so that the plurality of first light reflecting steps forming the same step row reflect the guided light in the same direction. The direction of the reflective surface is set. That is, the plurality of first light reflecting steps 31 constituting each step row C* (* is 1 to n) are formed so as to reflect light in the same direction and emit from the surface of the light guide plate. . On the other hand, between the step rows C*, the directions of the reflecting surfaces of the cylindrical recesses are set so that the directions in which guided light is reflected are different.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the form of each first light reflection step 31 of part of the step trains Ci, Ci+1, Ci+2 (i is a natural number). As shown in FIG. 3, when the light guided inside the light guide plate 2 is projected from above onto the first light reflection steps 31 of each step row, the light reflected by each light reflection step 31 are oriented at specific angles in the horizontal direction with respect to the front direction of the lamp, and then emitted from the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2 .

That is, the inclination angle θti formed by the longitudinal axis (pillar axis) of the cylindrical recess forming the first light reflecting step 31 of the step row Ci on the outer side in the vehicle width direction with respect to the horizontal line H (horizontally extending line) is is larger than the inclination angle θti+1 reflected by the first light reflecting step 31 of the step row Ci+1 on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. Similarly, the inclination angle θti+1 of the first light reflection step 31 of the step row Ci+1 is made larger than the inclination angle θti+2 of the first light reflection step 31 of the step row Ci+2 on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. there is

Assuming that the angle formed by the light emitted from the light guide plate 2 after being reflected by the first light reflection step 31 of each step row with respect to the front direction of the lamp is the emission angle, in this example, the step row Ci on the outside in the vehicle width direction is the emission angle θoi of the light D2 reflected by the first light reflection step 31 of the step row Ci+1 on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. Greater than 1. Similarly, the emission angle θoi+1 of the light D2 reflected by the step row Ci+1 on the outside in the vehicle width direction is the emission angle θoi of the light D3 reflected by the step row Ci+2 on the inside in the vehicle width direction. Greater than +2.

In this embodiment, as can be seen from FIG. 4(b), the first light reflecting step 31 is provided in some step rows arranged at or near the innermost side in the vehicle width direction, for example, the step row Cn. is an angle inclined in the opposite direction. In the step row composed of the first light reflecting steps 31 having such a reverse inclination, the light is reflected inward in the vehicle width direction with respect to the front direction of the lamp. The direction of the light reflected by all the step rows C* is directed to the area that satisfies the light distribution characteristics required for the tail lamp TL.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram for explaining one method of designing the inclination angle of the first light reflecting step 31 in each step row. FIG. 7(a) is a front view of the semi-cylindrical cylindrical recess forming the first light reflecting step 31, and the inclination angle θti of the column axis A with respect to the horizontal line H is designed. As shown in FIG. 7(b), the optical path R1 of the incident light Lin which is incident from the upper end surface 23 of the light guide plate 2 and guided inside the light guide plate 2 is set. A reflection point P1 projected and reflected on the first light reflection step 31 is set.

On the other hand, the reflected light path R2 of the output light Lout directed from the reflection point P1 to the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2 and refracted by the surface 21 is set. In setting the reflected light path R2, the refractive index of the resin forming the light guide plate 2 is taken into consideration, and the emission angle of the emission light Lout emitted from the surface is set to a predetermined angle θoi. At this time, by setting the output angle θoi in a state in which the reflected optical path R2 of the output light Lout is projected onto the horizontal XY plane F, it is possible to accurately set the output angle θoi in the horizontal direction.

Then, the angle θtt formed by the incident optical path R1 and the outgoing optical path R2 at the reflection point P1 is obtained, and the perpendicular T that bisects this angle θtt is obtained. By calculating the angle at which the columnar axis A is perpendicular to the perpendicular T, the tilt angle θti is obtained. Note that the method described here is just an example, and the tilt angle can be calculated by various other methods, so the present invention is not limited to this method.

Here, since the light from the LED 11 is guided downward from the upper side while the light from the LED 11 is diverged, the direction of the light incident on each of the first light reflecting steps 31 is not constant. Further, in this embodiment, the light guide plate 2 has its front and rear surfaces curved in the horizontal direction following the left and right curved surfaces of the rear part of the vehicle body, so the inclination angle of each first light reflecting step 31 is not necessarily from the front direction of the lamp. It doesn't match the viewing angle. Therefore, the inclination angles of the first light reflecting steps 31 of the same step row C* may not always be exactly the same.

In the above description, an example of the first light reflecting step 31 on the left side portion 4l has been described. Each row of steps is composed of a plurality of first light reflection steps 31 . However, in the right side portion 4r, as can be seen from FIG. 4(a), each step row is arranged upward to the left or vertically upward. Also, the number of the first light reflecting steps 31 forming each step row is smaller than that of the left side portion 4l.

Although there is such a difference in configuration between the left side portion 4l and the right side portion 4r, the number of step sequences forming the right side portion 4r is the same as that of the left side portion 4l. Further, although not shown in the drawings, the emission angle θoi of the light emitted from the light guide plate 2, which is reflected by a plurality of step rows aligned in the vehicle width direction of the right side portion 4r, is the same as that of the light emitted from the left side portion 4l. It is made the same as the output angle θoi of a plurality of step rows aligned in the direction. That is, the exit angle of the Xth step row Cx from the left in the left side portion 4l and the exit angle of the Xth step row Cx from the left in the right side portion 4r are set to be equal.

In the rear combination lamp having the above configuration, when the LED 11 of the light source section 1 is powered and emits light, the light emitted from the light emitting surface of the LED 11 enters the incident lens 24 of the upper end surface 23 of the light guide plate 2 as shown in FIG. The light is incident on the light guide plate 2 through the light guide plate 2, and is guided downward inside the light guide plate 2 in a slightly divergent state. The guided light is guided to all the light reflection steps 3 formed on the rear surface of the light guide plate 2, that is, the first light reflection steps 31 and the second light reflection steps 32, and is reflected at each. The reflected light is emitted from the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2 .

As a result, as shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 8, when a viewer visually recognizes the rear combination L-RCL from behind the automobile CAR, the respective light reflecting steps 31 and 32 emit light in a point-like or slightly spread planar shape. In addition, a light emission pattern 4 in which the light reflection patterns of the light reflection steps 31 and 32 are combined is visually recognized. In this example, a light emission pattern 4 in which five trapezoidal unit patterns 41 to 45 are arranged vertically is visually recognized.

Then, when the viewer moves to a predetermined angular position in the left-right direction with respect to the front direction of the tail lamp TL, the visually recognized pattern shape changes. That is, the direction of the light emitted from the light guide plate 2 differs between the right side portion 4r and the left side portion 4l of the unit pattern. Therefore, the light emitted from the step rows arranged on the left side of the right side portion 4r and the left side portion 4l enters the field of view of the viewer M1 who views from the leftmost angular position. That is, the light emission pattern by these step rows is visually recognized.

The viewer M2, who has moved to the right side of the tail lamp TL, can see the light emitted from the step trains arranged at positions slightly to the right of the right side portion 4r and the left side portion 4l compared to the position of the viewer M1. , and the light emission pattern by these step sequences is visually recognized. Further, the viewer M3, who has moved to the right side of the tail lamp TL, sees the light emitted from the step rows arranged slightly to the right of the right side portion 4r and the left side portion 4l. is visible.

That is, in the case of the configuration example of the left side portion 4l shown in FIG. 4B, for example, the viewer M1 visually recognizes the light emission pattern of the step sequence C1, and the viewer M2 visually recognizes the light emission pattern of the step sequence C5. , the viewer M3 can visually recognize the light emission pattern by the step sequence C8. At this time, since the light emitted from the other step rows does not enter the eyes of the viewer, the light emission pattern by the other step rows is not visually recognized.

Here, the light reflected by each first light reflection step 31 has the reflection characteristics shown in FIG. Therefore, the light from adjacent first light reflecting steps 31 is partially overlapped with each other. In particular, there is a partial overlap in the vertical direction. As a result, the light emission patterns of the first light reflecting step 31 of the step train are connected to each other, and are visually recognized as a fine oblique light emission pattern that is inclined at a required angle.

On the other hand, for the upper side portion 4u and the lower side portion 4d of the unit patterns 41 to 45, the second light reflecting step 32, which constitutes each of the linear regions, has directivity of reflection as shown in FIG. Since it is small, it is emitted toward a wide area at least in the horizontal direction. Therefore, regardless of the movement of the viewer, almost all of the light from the second light reflecting steps 32 enters the viewer's eye and is viewed as a thick linear pattern extending in the horizontal direction.

In this way, when the viewer moves to a different position with respect to the front of the tail lamp TL, each of the visually recognized unit patterns 41 to 45 does not change in the light emission patterns of the upper side portion 4u and the lower side portion 4d, but the left side portion 4l and the left side portion 4l. The light emission pattern of the right side portion 4r is changed. In this embodiment, as the viewer moves from the side of the tail lamp TL to the front side, the inclination of the linear light emission pattern of the left side portion 4l and the right side portion 4r increases. In other words, the inclination angle of the oblique side of the trapezoidal frame shape increases, and the shape of each unit pattern is visually recognized as changing. Since this change in shape is substantially the same in all of the five unit patterns 41 to 45 arranged in the vertical direction, visibility as if the shape of the light emission pattern 4 has changed can be obtained.

Also, when the car is moving, a viewer outside will see parts of the lamp that appear to be moving and parts that appear to be still, and the observed shape changes. This makes it easier for the viewer to notice and recognize the lamp, and to confirm the lamp with certainty.

Since the first light reflecting steps 31 on the left side 4l and the right side 4r of the unit pattern are formed by cylindrical recesses, the light is reflected by the reflecting surfaces formed by the circumferential surfaces thereof, as shown in FIG. 5(a). The emitted light is slightly diverged in the vertical direction. Therefore, the reflected light from the first light reflecting steps 31 on the left side 4l and the right side 4r enters the eyes even if the height positions of the eyes of the viewers are different, and even the viewers with different heights can see the light emission pattern. Visual recognition becomes possible. The second light reflection steps 32 of the upper side portion 4u and the lower side portion 4d also diverge in the vertical direction, so the same is true.

As described above, even if the surface 21 of the light guide plate 2 is configured to be flat, when the viewing position with respect to the tail lamp TL moves, a different light emission pattern can be visually recognized by the first light reflecting step 31 accordingly. Therefore, it is not necessary to form convex portions on the surface of the light guide plate 2 as in Patent Document 1, and the configuration of the light guide plate 2 can be simplified. Further, along with this, there is no need to form the light reflection steps 31 and 32 formed on the back surface 22 of the light guide plate 2 at accurate positions corresponding to the convex portions on the front surface, which facilitates the design and manufacture of the light guide plate 2. can be done in

When the first light reflecting step 31 is configured as a prismatic concave portion such as a triangular or square column, the reflected light has a certain degree of directivity in the vertical direction. The range is narrower than the cylindrical recess. However, the directivity in the vertical direction suppresses the divergence of light, so that the viewer perceives a brighter light emission pattern.

In the embodiment, the light guide plate is configured such that the front and back surfaces are curved in the horizontal direction. In addition, if an optical system such as a lens with light convergence is provided between the LED as the light source and the light guide plate, the light can be guided in parallel inside the light guide plate. The shape may be square. Also, in this case, since the direction of light incident on the plurality of first light reflection steps is the same, it is possible to easily calculate and form the setting of the angle of the reflection surface.

In the embodiment, an example of a light emission pattern in which trapezoidal frame-shaped unit patterns are combined is shown, but the shape is not limited to this. Moreover, even when the trapezoidal frame-like pattern is formed, it is not necessary to make the shape of the light reflection steps, particularly the number and arrangement of the step rows, the same on the left side and the right side. Furthermore, the light emitting pattern formed in the first light reflecting step may not be linear, and may be formed in a plane having a desired shape. In this case, the step train composed of the plurality of first light reflecting steps described in the embodiment is configured as a step group in which the plurality of first light reflecting steps are arranged in a plane. In this way, by forming a planar pattern in which light step groups having different light emitting directions by the first light reflecting step are mixed, the planar shape of the light emitting pattern that is visually recognized is changed, so that a design effect can be obtained. can be higher.

The present invention is not limited to application to the tail lamps described in the embodiments, and can be applied to any lamp using a light guide plate. Also, the type of light source and the shape of the light guide plate can be changed as appropriate. For example, it may be used as a lamp for indicating that automatic operation is in progress. In this case, it can be made to glow in turquoise. Moreover, it is good also as a welcome lamp by making it blink. In this case, when a person approaches the car, a new way of showing the car can be achieved by blinking and changing the appearance.

This international application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-019456 filed on February 10, 2021, which is Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-019456. The entire contents of this International Application are incorporated by reference.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention have been presented for purposes of illustration. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms described. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations and modifications are possible in light of the above description.

1 light source unit 2 light guide plate (light guide)
3 Light reflection step 4 Light emission pattern 11 LED (light source)
12 support substrate 21 front surface 22 back surface 23 upper end surface 24 incident lens 31 first light reflection step 32 second light reflection steps 41 to 45 unit pattern (light emission pattern)
CAR Automobile TL Tail lamp (vehicle lamp)
C1~Cn step sequence (step group)

Claims (9)

A light source and a light guide having a front surface and a back surface for guiding the light from the light source inside, and the light guide has a back surface that reflects the light guided inside and emits the light from the front surface. A vehicular lamp, wherein light reflecting steps are formed, and a desired light emission pattern is formed by light reflected in the plurality of light reflecting steps and emitted from the surface of the light guide, wherein the plurality of lights The reflecting step includes a plurality of first light reflecting steps for reflecting the light guided inside the light guide in a desired direction, and the light reflected by the plurality of first light reflecting steps is reflected from the light guide. A vehicular lamp characterized by emitting light in different directions. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light reflecting step includes a second light reflecting step for reflecting the light guided inside the light guide in a non-directional state and emitting the light from the surface. The vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein the light emission pattern formed by the first light reflection step and the light emission pattern formed by the second light reflection step are combined to form a light emission pattern. The first light reflecting step is configured as a cylindrical or prismatic concave portion, the bottom surface of which is configured as a reflecting surface, and the plurality of first light reflecting steps emitting light in different directions are respectively formed on the light guide. 4. A vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the angles of the reflecting surfaces are different. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the second light reflecting step is configured by a spherical or conical concave portion, the bottom surface of which is configured as a reflecting surface. The light reflecting steps are each configured as a plurality of step groups each composed of a plurality of first light reflecting steps, and the direction of light emitted from the first light reflecting steps in the same step group is the same, but different step groups. 6. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the directions of light emitted from the first light reflecting step are different. The vehicle lamp according to claim 6, wherein the step group is configured as a plurality of step rows in which a plurality of first light reflecting steps are linearly arranged. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein in the first light reflecting step, the direction of light emitted from the light guide plate is changed at least horizontally. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the light guide member is formed in a plate shape having a curved back surface and a front surface following the curved surface of the vehicle body in which it is arranged.

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