JP4420199B2 - Lighting control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting control device suitable for turning on / off lighting of a meter display and various accessory devices provided on an instrument panel in a vehicle, for example, at the same timing.

The instrument panel of the vehicle is provided not only with a meter display (so-called combination meter) for displaying the vehicle speed, engine speed, etc., but also with an operation panel for an accessory device such as an air conditioner (A / C) or an audio device. . Also, these meter displays and operation panels for accessory devices are exclusively equipped with illumination devices for night illumination, and are usually controlled to be turned on / off (lighted / extinguished) by operating column switches (for example, patents). Reference 1). Moreover, the electric power supplied to the said illuminating device is switched using a chopper circuit, and the illuminance is also adjusted.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-59066

  However, among the lighting devices described above, the lighting system itself (for example, a backlight such as a light emitting diode) is controlled by a computer, such as a combination meter or an audio device, and a lamp incorporated in an A / C panel. Like the (valve), there are some that are simply turned on / off by controlling the power supply via the power relay. For this reason, even if the lighting system is turned on / off (on / off) by operating the column switch, the computer-controlled lighting system (CPU control component) and a non-CPU control lighting component such as a lamp Deviations are likely to occur in the on / off timing.

  For example, in the CPU control component, although the response speed of the light emitting diode itself used as the backlight is fast, it takes time until the CPU itself detects the on / off of the column switch and turns on / off the light emitting diode. On the other hand, in the case of a lamp (bulb) that is a non-CPU controlled illumination component, the response to on / off of power supply is slow, and it takes time to reach a stable light emission state. Furthermore, when the illuminance is switched using a dimmer (rheostat), it takes time to start the dimmer. Due to the difference in reaction delay between the dimmer and each lighting part, for example, when it is turned on, only a part of the lighting part of the instrument panel seems to be brightly lit for a moment. There is.

  In general, therefore, a delay time is set for a CPU-controlled lighting component with a built-in CPU, and the on / off timing of the lighting system (light emitting diode) is adjusted. However, it is difficult to delay-control the on / off timing of non-CPU controlled lighting components. Therefore, it has been difficult to align the illumination timing of the entire instrument panel in which CPU-controlled illumination components and non-CPU-controlled illumination components are mixed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the object thereof is to provide a plurality of lights, for example, arranged on an instrument panel of a vehicle in which CPU-controlled lighting parts and non-CPU-controlled lighting parts are mixed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a lighting control device having a simple and highly practical configuration that can align the lighting / light-off timing of equipment.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the illumination control device according to the present invention is a mixture of CPU-controlled illumination components and non-CPU-controlled illumination components, for example, integrated management of illumination of the entire instrument panel of a vehicle, As stated in the claims
<a> a first lighting device (a non-CPU control component such as a bulb) that is driven to light by receiving power from the battery;
<b> a second lighting device (CPU control component) that is powered and driven by computer control (CPU control) in response to power from the battery;
<c> Lighting control means (for example, a power relay) that controls on / off of power supply from the battery to the first lighting device and the second lighting device;
<d> Dimming means (switching means such as rheostat) for controlling the amount of electric power supplied from the battery to the first lighting device and the second lighting device, respectively, and adjusting the light emission intensity;
<e> timing adjusting means for aligning an on / off timing of each control to the first illumination device and the second illuminating device of the operation of the lighting control means and said light control means in response to the light switch on and off (CPU).

  Preferably, when the first lighting device and the second lighting device are turned on, the timing adjustment unit turns on the lighting control unit after operating the dimming unit when the first lighting device and the second lighting device are turned on. Configured as a thing. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the timing adjusting unit stops the operation of the dimming unit after turning off the lighting control unit when turning off the first lighting device and the second lighting device. Configured to let

Incidentally, for example, as described in claim 4, the dimming unit switches power supplied to the first lighting device and the second lighting device at a predetermined period and adjusts the amount of supplied power. Become.
In the case of providing such light control means, as described in claim 5, when the timing adjustment means turns on the first lighting device and the second lighting device, the first lighting device and the second lighting device. The light control means is operated so that the light emission intensity with the lighting equipment is substantially minimized, and then the lighting control means is turned on to supply power to the first lighting equipment and the second lighting equipment. You may comprise the operation | movement of a light control means as what controls so that the emitted light intensity of a said 1st lighting apparatus and a said 2nd lighting apparatus may rise to a target value.

Further, in the timing adjustment means, when the first lighting device and the second lighting device are turned off, the light emission intensity of the first lighting device and the second lighting device is set in the timing adjusting means. You may comprise so that the said lighting control means may be turned off after operating the said light control means so that it may become substantially the minimum.
Preferably, the lighting control unit, the dimming unit, and the timing adjustment unit are implemented as functions of a second lighting device control unit that controls lighting of the second lighting device.

  According to the lighting control device having the above-described configuration, the lighting control means for controlling on / off of the power supply to the first lighting device (non-CPU control component) and the second lighting device (CPU control component), and the amount of supplied power Since each operation of the light control means for controlling the light emission intensity by controlling the light intensity is controlled by the timing adjustment means, for example, after the light control means generally having a time delay is started up, the lighting control means Since electric power can be supplied to the first lighting device (non-CPU control component) and the second lighting device (CPU control component) all at once, the lighting timing can be effectively aligned. . Further, when the light is turned off, the lighting control means is turned off to turn off the first lighting device (non-CPU control component) and the second lighting device (CPU control component) all at once, and then the light control means is turned off. Therefore, the light-off timing can be aligned without regard to the light control means and the time delay.

  Further, when turning on the first lighting device and the second lighting device, the dimming means is operated so that the emission intensity of the first lighting device and the second lighting device is substantially minimized, and then After the lighting control means is turned on to supply power to the first lighting device and the second lighting device, the operation of the dimming means is performed, and the emission intensity of the first lighting device and the second lighting device is a target value. The first lighting device (non-CPU control component) and the second lighting device (CPU control component) reach a predetermined illumination intensity regardless of the rising operation delay of the light control means. It is possible to align the timing.

  Further, when turning off the first lighting device and the second lighting device, after controlling the operation of the dimming means so that the respective emission intensities of the first lighting device and the second lighting device are substantially minimized, By turning off the lighting control means, the first lighting device (non-CPU control component) and the second lighting device (CPU control component) are substantially simultaneously turned off and then the power supply is stopped. Therefore, the turn-off timing can be made uniform regardless of the power supply stop timing.

  That is, according to the illumination control device according to the present invention, even when the first illumination device (non-CPU control component) and the second illumination device (CPU control component) are mixed, the first illumination device and the first illumination device. Since the operation of the lighting control means for controlling the on / off control of the power supply to the two illumination devices and the operation of the dimming means for controlling the amount of supplied power are controlled, the first illumination is performed regardless of the difference in operation delay. The lighting / extinguishing timing of the device (non-CPU control component) and the lighting / extinguishing timing of the second lighting device (CPU control component) can be effectively aligned. In addition, such effects as being able to manage these lighting / lighting timings in an integrated manner can be achieved.

Hereinafter, an illumination control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
This illumination control device is, for example, an illumination system (second illumination device; CPU control component) such as a meter display (so-called combination meter) provided on an instrument panel of a vehicle or a computer-controlled light emitting diode incorporated in an audio device. In addition, a lamp (first lighting device; non-CPU control component) provided on an operation panel or the like of the air conditioner (A / C) is suitable for lighting / extinguishing control in response to an on / off operation of a column switch. Is.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a lighting control apparatus according to the first embodiment, in which 10 is a meter panel, 20 is an A / C panel, 30 is an audio device, and 40 is a display device that displays navigation information and the like. The meter panel 10 basically receives an electric power supply (+ B) from a battery (not shown) and generates a predetermined internal voltage (Vcc), and operates by receiving an electric power supply from the internal power supply 11. A CPU 12 and a meter 13 that receives an instruction from the CPU 12 and displays a vehicle speed, an engine speed, and the like are provided. Further, the meter panel 10 is driven to emit light by receiving power from the battery via a transistor 14 that is turned on in response to a control signal from the CPU 12 to illuminate the meter panel 10 from the back side, for example. A light emitting diode (LED) 15 is provided as a backlight.

  The audio device 30 and the display device 40 also receive power supplied from the battery to generate a predetermined internal voltage, and CPUs 32 that operate by receiving power supplied from the internal power supplies 31 and 41. 42, and further receives light driving voltage (ILL +) output from the meter panel 10 through transistors 33 and 43 which are turned on by receiving control signals from the CPUs 32 and 42, and drive to emit light. Then, light emitting diodes 34 and 44 are provided as backlights for illuminating the operation panel and display from the back side.

  Incidentally, the A / C panel 20 for controlling an air conditioner provided with a changeover switch, an operation lever and the like (not shown) is usually provided with a lamp (bulb) 21 for illuminating the panel surface and the like, and the instrument panel. Are provided with other lighting components such as a lamp 50 and a light emitting diode 60. The lamps (bulbs) 21 and 50 and the light emitting diode 60 are driven to emit light in response to the illumination driving voltage (ILL +) output from the meter panel 10 in the same manner as the light emitting diodes 34 and 44 described above. ing. These illumination components including the light emitting diode 15 of the meter panel 10 described above constitute a so-called indoor illumination system.

  Now, the illumination control unit 1 basically detects on / off of the illumination column switch 2 and further detects the brightness of the outside light to turn on / off the indoor illumination system described above (lighting / extinguishing). ) And at the same time, the on / off (lighting / extinguishing) of the vehicle width lamp 3 provided in the vehicle main body is also controlled. In particular, the illumination control unit 1 controls the power supply from the battery to the vehicle width lamp 3 by directly turning on / off the power relay 4, thereby controlling the vehicle width lamp 3 to be turned on / off.

  However, for the indoor illumination system described above, the illumination control unit 1 turns on / off each of the CPUs 12, 32 and 42 of the meter panel 10, the audio device 30 and the display device 40 via the communication bus 5, respectively. A command is given. The power relay 16 provided on the meter panel 10 is turned on / off by the CPU 12 of the meter panel 10, and the power (+ B) from the battery is supplied to the illumination driving voltage (ILL +) via the power relay 16. ) To supply power to the A / C panel 20, the audio device 30, the display device 40, the other lamp (bulb) 50 and the light emitting diode 60.

  The CPU 12 of the meter panel 10 generates a PWM signal that is turned on / off at a predetermined duty ratio, and uses the PWM signal to drive the transistor 14 described above by switching. By the switching control of the transistor 14, the light emitting diode 15 of the meter panel 10 is driven to light at a predetermined duty ratio, and the light emission intensity (brightness) is adjusted.

  At the same time, the CPU 12 switches the external output control transistor 17 using the PWM signal, and the A / C panel 20, the audio device 30, the display device 40, and other lamps (bulbs) are connected via the transistor 17. ) 50 and the light emitting diode 60 are supplied with the negative side illumination drive voltage (ILL−) paired with the illumination drive voltage (ILL +) described above. In other words, the CPU 12 performs on / off control of the transistor 17 to ground the A / C panel 20, the audio device 30, the display device 40, the other lamp (bulb) 50, and the ground line (ILL−) of the light emitting diode 60. Control whether or not to do.

  By such on / off control of the ground line (ILL−), the lamp 21 and the other lamps 50 to which the illumination driving voltage (ILL +) of the A / C panel 20 is applied are driven to drive at a predetermined duty ratio. And is lit at a predetermined brightness. Further, the CPUs 32 and 42 in the audio device 30 and the display device 40 take in the voltage change of the ground line (ILL-) accompanying the on / off of the transistor 17 as the above-described PWM signal, and switch the transistors 34 and 44 according to the PWM signal. By driving, each of the light emitting diodes 34 and 44 is driven to emit light with a predetermined brightness.

  As described above, the ground line (ILL−) for the A / C panel 20, the audio device 30, the display device 40, the other lamp (bulb) 50 and the light emitting diode 60 is collectively controlled using the transistor 17. Instead of this, as shown in FIG. 2, a transistor 17a that selectively grounds the ground line for each of the A / C panel 20, the audio device 30, the display device 40, the other lamp (bulb) 50, and the light emitting diode 60. , 17b, 17c, and 17d can be individually provided, and the transistors 17a, 17b, 17c, and 17d can be switched and controlled using the PWM signal output from the CPU 12 described above.

  In this way, the illumination drive power supply (ILL +) is supplied to the A / C panel 20, the audio device 30, the display device 40, the other lamp (bulb) 50 and the light emitting diode 60 through the power relay 16 incorporated in the meter panel 10. This embodiment is a lighting control device configured to control on / off of the lighting (lighting control means) and to switch the ground of the ground line (ILL-) using the PWM signal (dimming means). The characteristic feature is that, under the control of the CPU 12 incorporated in the meter panel 10, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the above-described ground line (ILL-) is first switched and controlled during lighting control. After starting the output of the PWM signal [Step S1], the illumination drive voltage (ILL +) is output [Step S1]. S2] On the other hand, at the time of the extinction control, first, the supply of the illumination drive voltage (ILL +) is stopped [Step S5], and then the output of the PWM signal (ILL−) is stopped [Step S6]. .

  In this way, the illumination panel power supply (ILL +) is supplied from the meter panel 10 to the A / C panel 20, the audio device 30, the display device 40, the other lamps (bulbs) 50, and the light emitting diodes 60, and the ground line (ILL). According to the illumination control device that controls the switching of −), each of the CPUs 32 and 42 of the audio device 30 and the display device 40 detects the PWM signal supplied from the meter panel 10 and passes through a predetermined time delay. Since the above-described illumination drive power supply (ILL +) is supplied all at once after preparations for switching the transistors 33 and 43 are made, it is possible to make the lighting timings of the lamps 21 and 50 and the light-emitting diodes 34, 44, and 60 uniform. It becomes. At this time, if there is a delay in the response time until the lamp 21 is lit compared to the lighting response time of the light emitting diodes 34, 44, for example, the CPUs 12, 32 of the meter panel 10, the audio device 30, and the display device 40. , 42 by delay-controlling the switching operation start timing of the transistors 14, 33, 43, respectively, it is easy to adjust the lighting timing. Therefore, it is possible to easily align the lighting timing with simple adjustment.

  In addition, when the transistors 33 and 43 are switched, when the lights are turned off, the supply of the illumination driving power source (ILL +) is stopped all at once, so that the lamps 21 and 50 and the light emitting diodes 34, 44, and 60 are turned off at the same timing. It becomes possible. In particular, in the meter panel 10, the lighting of the light emitting diode 15 can be stopped only by stopping the switching drive of the transistor 14 simultaneously with the turning-off operation of the power relay 16 under the control of the CPU 12. Accordingly, it is possible to turn off all the lighting components at once, regardless of whether the CPUs 12, 32, 42 of the meter panel 10, the audio device 30, and the display device 40 are operating.

  That is, in the illumination control device according to the present invention, the light emitting diodes 15, 34, 44 are non-CPU control components such as the lamp (bulb) 21 or are driven to emit light under the control of the CPUs 12, 32, 42. Regardless of the CPU control component, the supply of the illumination drive power supply (ILL +) to these light emitting components (lamp and light emitting diode) and the output of the PWM signal (ILL−) defining the light emission intensity The on / off control is performed at the same time, and these on / off control timings are ordered as described above. As a result, the light-emitting components (lamps and light-emitting diodes) incorporated in the instrument panel 10 and the A / C panel 20 provided on the instrument panel are turned on / off all at the same time. It becomes possible. Accordingly, it is possible to perform illumination control without a sense of incongruity according to the operation of the column switch 2.

  By the way, when the lighting / extinguishing timings of the lamps 21 and 50 and the light-emitting diodes 34, 44, and 60 cannot be accurately aligned, the following control is also useful. That is, in this case, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), at the time of lighting control, a PWM signal (ILL−) with a duty ratio set to about 0 to 3% is first output [Step S11]. Thereafter, the illumination drive power supply (ILL +) is supplied [step S12]. The lamps 21 and 50 and the light-emitting diodes 34, 44, and 60 are driven to emit light in such a state that the emitted light cannot be visually recognized. Thereafter, the duty ratio of the aforementioned PWM signal (ILL-) is gradually increased to a duty ratio at which a desired light emission intensity can be obtained [step S13].

  If such a control form is adopted, after all of the lamps 21 and 50 and the light emitting diodes 34, 44 and 60 are driven with a weak current, the driving current is gradually increased, whereby each of the above lighting components (lamp and light emitting diode). ) At a predetermined emission intensity (brightness). Therefore, even if there is a deviation in the light emission timing, it is possible to align the timing at which the brightness becomes substantially visible, and it is possible to eliminate the variation in lighting timing.

  When the light is turned off, the duty ratio of the PWM signal (ILL-) is first gradually reduced to about 0 to 3% [Step S15], and then the supply of the illumination drive power supply (ILL +) is stopped [Step S16]. Thereafter, the output of the PWM signal (ILL-) itself is stopped [step S17]. If the extinction is controlled in this way, all the drive currents of the lamps 21 and 50 and the light-emitting diodes 34, 44, and 60 are reduced to weak currents, respectively, so that these respective light emission states cannot be substantially visually recognized. It becomes possible to suppress to the extent. As a result, it is apparent that the lighting components (lamps and light emitting diodes) can be turned off all at once, and then turned off completely by stopping the supply of the illumination drive power supply (ILL +). Therefore, the variation in the turn-off timing can be substantially eliminated.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. Here, the supply of the drive power supply (ILL +) to the lighting components (lamp and light emitting diode) and the switching of the ground line (ILL-) are controlled, but it is of course possible to switch the drive power supply (ILL +) itself. is there. However, in this case, since a switching element having a high breakdown voltage is required, it is advantageous to switch the ground line (ILL−) as in the above-described embodiment from the viewpoint of component cost. Further, by varying the duty ratio of the PWM signal described above, it is of course possible to control the light emission intensity (brightness) of the light-emitting component in multiple stages according to the brightness of external light, for example. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the CPU 12, 32, 42 of the meter panel 10, the audio device 30, and the display device 40 may be individually notified of information on the lighting / lighting-off timing via the communication bus 5. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

The schematic block diagram of the illumination control apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The schematic block diagram of the illumination control apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the procedure of the illumination control which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows another procedure of the illumination control which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 Column switch 10 Meter panel 12 CPU
14 transistor 15 light emitting diode 16 power relay 17 transistor (PWM signal)
20 A / C panel 21 Lamp (bulb)
30 Audio equipment 32 CPU
33 Transistor 34 Light-Emitting Diode 40 Display Device 42 CPU
43 transistor 44 light emitting diode

Claims (7)

A first lighting device (21), (50), (60) that is powered and driven by power supplied from the battery;
Second lighting devices (15), (34), (44) that are powered on by computer control in response to power from the battery;
Lighting control means (16) for controlling on / off of power supply from the battery to the first lighting device and the second lighting device;
A dimming means (17) for controlling the amount of power supplied from the battery to the first lighting device and the second lighting device, respectively, and adjusting the light emission intensity thereof;
The operation of the illumination control means and said light control means in response to turning on and off the light switch respectively controlled to the first illumination device and a timing adjusting means for aligning an on / off timing of the second lighting apparatus (12 )
An illumination control device comprising:   2. The illumination according to claim 1, wherein when the first lighting device and the second lighting device are turned on, the timing adjusting unit turns on the lighting control unit after operating the dimming unit. Control device.   The timing adjustment unit is configured to stop the operation of the dimming unit after turning off the lighting control unit when the lighting switch is turned off when turning off the first lighting device and the second lighting device. The lighting control device according to claim 1.   The lighting control device according to claim 1, wherein the dimming unit is configured to switch power supplied to the first lighting device and the second lighting device at a predetermined period to adjust their power supply amount.   The timing adjustment means controls the dimming means so that when the first lighting device and the second lighting device are turned on, the emission intensity of the first lighting device and the second lighting device is substantially minimized. After that, after turning on the lighting control unit and supplying power to the first lighting device and the second lighting device, the dimming unit is operated with the first lighting device and the second lighting device. The illumination control device according to claim 1, wherein the light emission intensity of the light source is controlled to increase to a target value.   The timing adjusting means controls the dimming means so that when the first lighting device and the second lighting device are turned off, the emission intensity of the first lighting device and the second lighting device is substantially minimized. The lighting control device according to claim 1, wherein the lighting control unit is turned off after being operated. The lighting control means, the light control means, and the timing adjustment means are realized as functions of the second lighting device control means (12), (32), (42) for controlling lighting of the second lighting device. The lighting control device according to claim 1.

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