JP6896367B2 - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp, and more particularly to a vehicle lamp including a projection lens for irradiating light emitted from a light source.

As a headlamp (headlight), which is one of the lamps installed in vehicles such as automobiles, a projector-type lamp unit equipped with a projection lens that irradiates the required area in front of the automobile with light emitted from a light source is provided. Is provided. This lamp unit includes a light source, a reflector that reflects the light emitted from the light source, and a projection lens that refracts the light reflected by the reflector toward a required region as main constituent members. It is configured to be integrally assembled as a lamp unit.

The projection lens irradiates light by projecting the light emitting surface of the light source to the front of the automobile. Conventionally, the projection lens is formed by injection molding of a translucent resin, and the lamp unit is formed by a lens holding member called a lens holder. It is assembled. When assembling the projection lens with this lens holder, if the lens holder is resin-molded, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, a flange is provided on the circular peripheral edge of the projection lens having a circular front view. , This flange is welded to the edge of the lens holder and integrated.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-89483

In such a configuration in which the flange of the projection lens is welded to the lens holder, the welded surface is observed from the front side of the lamp unit through the flange of the translucent lens, and the appearance is deteriorated. This is because the welded surface is liable to have uneven welding due to variations in melting and curing of the resin during welding, and the appearance is deteriorated due to the uneven welding. Therefore, it is necessary to dispose a design cover for covering the flange and the welded surface so as not to be exposed from the front side, and the number of component parts of the lamp unit or the headlamp increases.

Further, in this type of lamp unit, when the projection lens is configured as an aspherical lens in order to obtain a desired light distribution, a part of the peripheral edge of the projection lens may not be located on the same surface, and the peripheral edge thereof may not be located. The welded surface of the flange formed on the lens may be a corrugated surface. Therefore, the edge of the lens holder to which the flange is welded must be processed into a shape corresponding to the corrugated surface, which complicates manufacturing. Further, if the accuracy of this processing is low, there will be a portion where the welding surfaces of the flange and the lens holder are not in close contact with each other, and suitable welding will not be performed, resulting in a decrease in mechanical strength of the projection lens and a shift in the position of the optical axis of the lens. Due to these factors, the light distribution performance of the lamp unit deteriorates.

An object of the present invention is to provide a lamp unit for a vehicle provided with a lamp unit which solves a problem derived by welding such a projection lens to a lens holder, improves the appearance, and improves the light distribution performance. It is a thing.

The vehicle lamp of the present invention includes a light source and a projection lens that projects the light emitted from the light source, and the projection lens holds a lens portion that transmits the light of the light source and a lens portion, and at least one. A holder portion that blocks the light of the light source is provided in the portion, and these lens portions and the holder portion are integrally molded. Here, the lens portion is made of a translucent material, the holder portion is made of a translucent material, the lens portion does not have a flange along the peripheral edge, and the lens portion and the holder portion are formed on the peripheral edge. It is molded in two colors, and the front end portion of the holder portion protrudes in the outer radial direction of the lens portion and is further formed into a curved shape continuous with the curved surface shape of the front surface of the lens portion .

For example, the lens portion is made of a translucent material, the holder portion is made of a translucent material, and the lens portion and the holder portion are molded in two colors. Alternatively, the lens portion and the holder portion are integrally molded with a translucent material, and at least a part of the holder portion is covered with a translucent material.

According to the present invention, since the lens portion and the holder portion are not welded in the projection lens, a design cover for covering the welded surface becomes unnecessary, and the number of component parts of the vehicle lamp can be reduced. In addition, processing for welding and assembly by welding are not required, and it is possible to prevent deterioration of the light distribution performance of the vehicle lamp due to factors such as a decrease in the mechanical strength of the projection lens and a deviation in the position of the optical axis of the lens. Further, since the lens portion is not provided with the flange, it is possible to reduce the area occupied by the vehicle lamp when applied to the vehicle lamp and increase the degree of freedom in design.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the optical axis of the first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automobile headlamp. The schematic perspective view which disassembled a part of the lamp unit of Embodiment 1. (A) is a front view and (b) is a side view of the projection lens of the first embodiment. (A) is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3 (a), and (b) is an enlarged view of part B1 of FIG. 4 (a). FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the projection lens of the second embodiment, and FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of a portion B2 of FIG. 5A. (A) is a cross-sectional view of a part of the modified example of the first embodiment, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of a part of the modified example of the second embodiment.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the lamp optical axis of the first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automobile headlamp. The lamp housing 1 is composed of a lamp body 11 having an opening at the front and a front cover 12 made of a translucent resin attached to the opening of the lamp body 11, and the lamp unit 2 is built in the lamp housing 1. Has been done.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a part of the lamp unit 2 disassembled. The lamp unit 2 has a frame 3, to which a light source unit 4, a reflector 5, a movable shade 6, and a projection lens 7, which will be described in detail later, are assembled.

The frame 3 is composed of a frame plate having a light transmitting window 31 in a central region, and the plate surface is directed in the vertical direction and is supported by the lamp body 11. Here, the frame 3 has aiming connecting holes 32, 33, 34 opened at three places, and in these aiming holes 32, 33, 34, the aiming ball shaft A1 and the aiming screw A2 shown by the chain line in FIG. 2 are used. Supported by the aiming mechanism. The frame 3 can be tilted in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction by this aiming mechanism, and the optical axis angle of the lamp unit 2 can be adjusted. Further, the frame 3 also functions as a fixed shade that blocks light that is unnecessary for light distribution, as will be described later.

The light source unit 4 has a heat sink 42, and the light source 41 is mounted on the upper surface of the heat sink 42. The light source 41 is composed of a semiconductor light emitting element, here, an LED (light emitting diode), and a light emitting circuit board 43 for supplying power to the LED 41 is mounted on the upper surface of the heat sink 42, and the LED 41 is mounted on the light emitting circuit board 43. It is mounted with the light emitting surface facing upward. The heat sink 42 is provided with support pieces 44 on the left and right sides of the front end portion (hereinafter, the front side of the lamp unit 2 is referred to as the front side and the rear side side is referred to as the rear side), and the support pieces 44 provide the rear surface of the frame 3. It is fixedly supported on the side by screws (not shown).

The reflector 5 has a spheroidal hood shape whose inner surface is formed as a light reflecting surface, and is supported by the heat sink 42 so as to cover the upper region of the LED 41. When the LED 41 emits light, the light emitted from the LED 41 is reflected toward the front of the lamp unit 2 by the light reflecting surface of the reflector 5 and collected.

The movable shade 6 is composed of an actuator 62 having a solenoid and a shade plate 61 driven by the actuator 62. The actuator 62 is fixedly supported in the lower region of the frame 3 and is driven by a drive current from a shade drive circuit (not shown in the figure). The shade plate 61 is made of a curved plate member, is pivotally supported by a horizontal axis 63 in the lower region of the light transmitting window 31 of the frame 3 so as to be tilted in the front-rear direction, and is in an upright state by the actuator 62. The movement is controlled so that it can be switched to the tilted state.

When the shade plate 61 is in the upright state, it is located in a region that has penetrated into the lower region of the light transmitting window 31, and blocks a part of the light transmitted through the lower region 31. When it is in the tilted state, it is located in a region retracted from the lower region of the light transmitting window 31, and a part of the light is released from shading. As a result, as will be described later, it is possible to switch and control the light distribution pattern of the headlamp irradiated by the projection lens 7 between, for example, high beam light distribution and low beam light distribution.

The projection lens 7 is held by the frame 3 on the front surface side of the frame 3. The projection lens 7 includes a lens portion 71 that transmits light emitted from the LED 41, and a holder portion 72 for holding the lens portion 71 in the frame 3. The length of the holder portion 72 in the direction along the optical axis Lx of the lamp unit 2 is set to a predetermined length, whereby the focus on the rear surface side of the lens portion 71 is set to a position near the shade plate 61. It is held so that it becomes.

FIG. 3A is a front view of the projection lens 7 as viewed from the front, and FIG. 3B is a right side view. Further, FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3A. The lens portion 71 is formed as a circular biconvex lens when viewed from the front, and the convex shape of the front surface 73f is formed as an aspherical surface having a radius of curvature in the vertical direction smaller than a radius of curvature in the horizontal direction. Further, in order to secure a desired light distribution when the light transmitted through the lens portion 71 is irradiated forward, the lower region 73a along the lower peripheral edge of the lens portion 71 is larger than the upper region 73b along the upper peripheral edge. It is extended backward by a predetermined dimension. Therefore, the peripheral edge 74 of the lens portion 71 does not exist on the same elevation perpendicular to the lamp unit optical axis Lx, and has a corrugated shape with respect to the elevation.

The holder portion 72 is composed of a cylindrical body 75 continuous with the peripheral edge 74 of the lens portion 71, and a pair of holding legs 76 extending rearward at two positions on the left and right along the circumference of the cylindrical body 75. ing. A fixed piece 77 formed by bending at a substantially right angle is integrally formed at the rear end of the holding leg 76, and the fixed piece 77 is fixed to the frame 3 with a screw (not shown) to form a holder. The portion 76 is fixed to the frame 3, and the lens portion 71 integrated with the holder portion 72 is held by the frame 3.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72 are integrally configured. In this embodiment, the lens portion 71 is made of a translucent resin such as transparent acrylic, and the holder portion 72 is made of a translucent resin such as black PC (polycarbonate). It is integrally molded. That is, although not shown, the lens portion 71 is molded with the translucent resin by the first molding die of the two-color molding apparatus, and the holder portion 72 is integrally formed with the lens portion 71 by the second molding die with the translucent resin. Is molded.

FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of a portion B1 of FIG. 4A. The inner peripheral surface of the front end of the cylindrical body 75 of the holder portion 72 is integrated with the peripheral edge 74 of the lens portion 71 in a state of being joined from the outer diameter direction. As a result, the front end portion 75a of the cylindrical body 75 is projected in the outer radial direction from the circular peripheral edge of the lens portion 71 by a dimension corresponding to its own wall thickness, and the front end portion 75a has a curved surface shape of the front surface 73f of the lens portion 71. It is formed in a continuous curved surface shape.

In this way, in the projection lens 7, since the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72 are integrally formed by two-color molding, a flange is formed on the peripheral edge 74 of the lens portion 71 and welded to the lens holding portion 72. Is no longer needed. Further, when welding the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72, it is necessary to process the welding surfaces so that they are in close contact with each other without a gap, and in particular, the peripheral edge 74 of the lens portion 71 is the same over the entire circumference as in the embodiment. If the shape is not located on the surface, the processing is difficult, but by integrally molding the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72, such processing becomes unnecessary and the manufacturing becomes easy. Further, the mechanical strength of the projection lens 7 can be improved by the integral molding, and the optical axis of the lens portion 71 can be accurately positioned with respect to the holder portion 72, in other words, the lamp unit optical axis Lx. The optical performance of the lamp unit 2 can be improved.

According to the lamp unit 2 having the above configuration, the light emitted from the LED 41 is emitted directly or is reflected by the reflector 5, and then a part of the light is shielded by the frame 3. The light transmitted through the light transmitting window 31 of the frame 3 is incident on the rear surface of the projection lens 7. At this time, a part of the light transmitted by the shade plate 61 of the movable shade 6 is blocked. A part of the light transmitted through the light transmitting window 31 is incident on the projection lens 7 from the rear, but at this time, the light directed away from the rear surface of the lens portion 71 is emitted from the impermeable resin. It is shielded from light by the holder portion 72, and is prevented from being incident on the lens portion 71 as light leakage. The light incident on the rear surface 73r of the lens unit 71 is refracted and projected onto the front region of the headlamp as a predetermined light distribution.

The front surface 73 of the lens unit 71 is an aspherical lens having a predetermined radius of curvature as described above. Further, the lower region 73a of the front surface 73 of the lens portion 71 is extended rearward with respect to the upper region 73b, and the peripheral edge 74 of the lens portion 71 is formed in a corrugated manner.

The lamp unit 2 is observed from the outside through the front cover 12 of the lamp housing 1, but since there is no welded portion by the flange on the peripheral edge of the projection lens 7 of the lamp unit 2, the welded portion is exposed. There is no. Therefore, although the design cover that covers the welded portion is not arranged, the appearance of the lamp unit 2 or the headlamp can be ensured. Further, since a flange having a required dimension protruding in the outer diameter direction is not required on the peripheral edge of the projection lens 7, the area occupied by the lamp unit 2 when the lamp unit 2 is arranged in the lamp housing 1 can be reduced, and the lamp can be reduced. It is possible to increase the degree of freedom in design.

The front end portion 75a of the cylindrical body 75 of the holder portion 72 is exposed in the peripheral region of the projection lens 7, that is, the peripheral region of the lens portion 71, and the front end portion 75a has a shape continuous with the curved surface on the front surface of the lens portion 71. Therefore, there is no step at the boundary between the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72, and deterioration of the appearance is prevented. A color wheel made of a translucent resin constituting the holder portion 72 is observed in the peripheral region of the lens portion 71, and this color ring serves as an accent in the lamp unit 2 to obtain a design effect. be able to.

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the projection lens 7A of the second embodiment and corresponds to FIG. 3A of the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are given to the portions equivalent to those of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72 of the projection lens 7A are integrally molded with a translucent resin. Then, after being integrally molded, a non-transmissive paint is applied to the surface of the holder portion 72, that is, the outer surfaces of the cylindrical body 75 and the holding legs 76 to form a coating film 78, and the coating film 78 is used to form the holder portion 72. It is covered to have a light-shielding function.

In the second embodiment, since the two-color molding method is unnecessary, the molding step becomes easy. In addition, any method can be adopted as the method for applying the translucent paint, and the degree of freedom in manufacturing is increased. Since the holder portion 72 only needs to block light leakage that affects the light distribution of the headlamp, it is not necessary to apply the area that does not affect the light distribution, and the area covered by the paint film can be appropriately set.

In the second embodiment, the lens portion and the holder portion are integrally molded with the same resin, so that the rear surface 73r of the lens portion 71 is shown in an enlarged view of the B2 portion of FIG. 5 (a) in FIG. 5 (b). It is possible to form a cross-sectional shape of a region along the peripheral edge of the cylindrical body 75, that is, a boundary region to which the inner peripheral surfaces of the front ends of the cylindrical body 75 are joined, as a concave curved surface (R surface) 79 having a predetermined radius of curvature. For example, it is formed on an R surface 79 having a radius of curvature of 0.3 to 2.0 mm.

By configuring the boundary region between the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72 on the R surface 79 in this way, the boundary region between the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72 as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 (b) can be formed. It is avoided that a corner portion is generated along the peripheral edge, and the ridge line generated by the corner portion is prevented from being exposed through the lens portion 71 from the front of the projection lens 7A. If the radius of curvature of the R surface 79 is smaller than 0.3 mm, the effect of preventing exposure is small. On the other hand, if it is larger than 2.0 mm, the area for effectively transmitting the irradiation light in the lens portion 71 is reduced, and the light utilization efficiency is lowered. The R surface 79 may be formed as a free curved surface as long as it is a continuous concave curved surface.

Further, since the boundary region between the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72 is configured as the R surface 79 in this way, when the light emitted by the LED 41 is incident on the rear surface of the lens portion 71, the R surface 79 That is, it is suppressed that the incident light is refracted in an abnormal direction in the peripheral region of the lens portion 71. That is, if a corner portion exists in the boundary region between the lens portion 71 and the holder portion 72 as in the first embodiment, it becomes difficult to control the refraction of light in this boundary region, but in the second embodiment, The refraction of light can be controlled, and the light distribution characteristics of the projected light can be improved.

Each of the projection lenses 7 and 7A of the first and second embodiments may be configured as the projection lenses 7B and 7C shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. In each of these projection lenses 7B and 7C, the front end portion of the cylindrical body 75 of the holder portion 72 is joined to the peripheral edge portion of the rear surface of the lens portion 71. In the projection lens 7B of FIG. 6A, the holder portion 72 is molded in two colors in a state of being joined to the peripheral edge portion of the rear surface of the lens portion 71. The projection lens 7C of FIG. 6B is integrally molded in the same manner. As a result, the holder portion 72 does not protrude toward the outer diameter side of the lens portion 71, and the overall outer diameter dimension of the projection lenses 7B and 7C is suppressed within the outer diameter dimension of the lens portion 71. , The diameter of the projection lens can be reduced.

Further, in these projection lenses 7B and 7C, since the front end surface of the cylindrical body 75 of the holder portion 72 is exposed through the lens portion 71, it is preferable to provide a configuration for avoiding this. For example, in the projection lens 7B, the peripheral region of the front surface 73f of the lens portion 71 is formed on a rough surface 73c such as a textured surface. Separately or in addition to this, the peripheral region of the rear surface 73r of the lens portion 71 is formed on the rough surface 73d such as by embossing. In the projection lens 7C, a coating film 78a coated with a translucent paint is also formed on the peripheral region of the front surface 73 of the lens portion 71.

In the present invention, the cylindrical body of the holder portion is not formed to have a uniform length in the optical axis direction over the entire circumference, but direct light emitted from the LED and light emitted from the LED and reflected by the reflector are used. Any shape may be used as long as it can prevent light from leaking to the outer peripheral region of the lens portion. That is, in the case of the projection lenses 7 and 7B, the holder portion 72 may be molded in two colors in the required shape, and in the case of the projection lenses 7A and 7C, the coating film may be formed in the required region. ..

In the first and second embodiments, the projection lens according to the present invention exemplifies the case where the shape seen from the front is circular, but it may be elliptical, or the opposite edges are cut out in a straight line. It may be circular.

The vehicle lamp of the present invention is not limited to the headlamp of the embodiment, and can be applied to any lamp provided with a projection lens that projects the light of the light source.

1 Lamp housing 2 Lamp unit 3 Frame 4 Light source 5 Reflector 6 Movable shade 7, 7A, 7B, 7C Projection lens 11 Lamp body 12 Front cover 31 Light transmission window 41 Light source (LED)
42 Heat sink 61 Shade plate 62 Actuator 71 Lens part 72 Holder part 73 Front side 74 Periphery 75 Cylindrical body 76 Holding leg 77 Fixed piece 78 Paint film 79 Curved surface (R surface)

Claims (2)

A vehicle lamp including a light source and a projection lens that projects light emitted from the light source. The projection lens holds a lens portion that transmits the light of the light source and the lens portion, and at least a part thereof. The lens portion is made of a translucent material, the holder portion is made of a translucent material, and the lens portion has a flange along the peripheral edge. The lens portion and the holder portion are integrally molded in two colors on the peripheral edge, and the front end portion of the holder portion protrudes in the outer radial direction of the lens portion and is continuous with the curved shape of the front surface of the lens portion. A vehicle lighting fixture characterized by being formed in a curved shape. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 , wherein the lens portion is composed of an aspherical lens, and the peripheral edge of the lens portion does not exist on the same plane over the entire circumference.

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