JPS6336981B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a control device for a retractable headlamp used in a vehicle such as an automobile.

(Prior Art) Some conventional retractable headlamps use a drive motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, and raise and lower the headlamp according to the direction of rotation.

However, once the headlamp enters the raised or lowered state, it is expected to continue operating until the headlamp finishes rising or descends.

For this reason, even if a passing operation is performed while the headlamp is in the process of being lowered, the headlamp remains lit in its lowered position and cannot perform a sufficient passing function.

In addition, there were some cases in which the headlamp did not turn on despite the passing operation during the lowering of the headlamp.

Furthermore, even after the passing operation is completed, the next passing signal may come in, so some devices are designed to delay the lowering of the headlamp, but in this case, even when the headlamp switch is operated to turn off the light, the lowering of the headlamp is delayed. It was unnatural that there was a delay.

In any case, in such a state, the passing operation is not performed according to the driver's intention.

This not only gives a sense of uneasiness to the driver, but is also undesirable when the driver is using the vehicle for the first time or when driving believing that a passing motion has been made.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in an attempt to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and it is possible to raise the headlamp again even when the headlamp is in the middle of lowering, and also to enable the headlamp switch to raise the headlamp again. To provide a control device for a retractable headlamp that allows the headlamp to lower immediately without delay when the headlamp turns off from being lit.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve this object, according to the present invention,
A headlamp that is turned on and off by the operation of a passing switch or a headlamp, a drive motor capable of forward and reverse rotation for raising and lowering the headlamp, and determining the rotation direction of this drive motor,
A selection drive circuit includes a mechanical contact that is linked to the rotation of the drive motor and determines the drive direction for raising or lowering the headlamp, and a rise command signal for the selection drive circuit to drive the drive motor in the direction of the headlamp rise rotation. The circuit sends out a descending command signal to drive the drive motor in the reverse rotation direction, and when the passing switch is turned on, it forms an ascending command signal and continues to form this ascending command signal for a certain period of time. It has a time limit circuit that does not operate when the headlamp switch is turned on or off, and after forming a rise command signal for a certain period of time by this time limit circuit, it forms a fall command signal, and even when forming this fall command signal, The means is equipped with a command signal forming circuit which cuts off the lowering command signal and forms a higher command signal when the passing switch is turned on.

Here, the term "retractable headlamp" includes not only one in which the lamp itself moves up and down or rotates, but also one in which the headlamp is fixed and only the lamp cover moves up and down.

Therefore, in this specification, the terms "headlamp rising" and "headlamp falling" are intended to include and represent both of the above meanings.

(Effects of the Invention) With the configuration as described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a control device for a retractable headlamp that exhibits the following effects.

(1) Even when the headlamp is in the lowered state, if there is a passing operation, the headlamp will rise again, so it can respond to any passing operation.

(2) The above paragraph (1) does not cause the driver to feel dissatisfied or anxious.

(3) During the passing lighting operation, a rising command signal is generated for a certain period of time by the time-limited circuit, so even if the passing lighting operation is repeated at short intervals, stable operation is expected with no vertical movement of the headlamp. .

(4) When the headlamp is turned on and off using the headlamp switch, the time limit circuit is not activated, so the lowering occurs immediately without any delay, and the operation can be performed in the same way as the conventional headlamp turning on and off operation, so there is no special operation. It becomes easy to use.

(Embodiments of the invention) Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the invention.

According to the figure, the headlamp 10 is raised or lowered by a drive motor 11. This motor 11 is capable of forward and reverse rotation depending on the direction in which it is energized.

Also shown in the figure is a selection drive circuit A that determines the direction of rotation of the drive motor 11 and includes a mechanical contact 12 that is linked to the rotation of the drive motor 11, and that determines the direction in which the headlamp 10 is raised or lowered. ing.

The command signal forming circuit B provides a command signal to the selection drive circuit A, and the passing switch 1
7 is turned on, it forms a rising command signal, and after forming this rising command signal, if the next lighting operation of the passing switch 17 is not performed for a certain period of time or more, it forms a lowering command signal for the headlamp 10, Further, when there is a passing operation by the passing switch 17, even if a descending command signal is being formed, this descending command signal is cut off and a rising command signal for the headlamp 10 is generated.

As described above, the selection drive circuit A includes a mechanical contact 12, a diode 13, an up relay 14U, a down relay 14D, and a diode 1 that operate in conjunction with the motor 11.
5, and a selection hold relay 16.

The mechanical contact 12 includes a slider 12A rotated by the motor 11, a lifting stator 12U for rotating the headlamp in the upward direction, and a lowering stator 12D for similarly rotating the headlamp in the downward direction. It is equipped with These stators 12U and 12D are arranged concentrically and have insulator parts (blank parts in the drawing) that do not form current-carrying parts at positions approximately 180 degrees apart from each other, and the sliders are arranged around the center of this circle as an axis. 12A rotates.

Diodes 13U and 13D are connected to this mechanical contact 12.
The anodes of the stators 12U and 12D are respectively connected to supply current from the power supply Vcc in only a certain direction.

The up relay 14U and the down relay 14D determine the direction of rotation of the motor 11 and change the polarity of the supplied voltage in accordance with the upward and downward directions of the headlamp, respectively. In both cases, terminals 14Ua and 14Da on the movable contact side are connected to terminals of the motor 11. In addition, the normally closed contact of up relay 14U and the normally open contact of down relay 14D are each grounded, and the other contact is both connected to the power source.
Connected to Vcc.

Each excitation coil of the relays 14U and 14D has one end connected to the slider 12A of the mechanical contact 12, and the other end is grounded via the contact 16a of the selection/holding relay 16. However, when the relay 16 is not energized, the contact 16a is connected to the down relay 14D as shown in the figure.

The diode 15 is used to hold the relay 16 on its own when the headlamp 10 rises until the rise ends. The selection and holding relay 16 selects the up relay 14U or the down relay 14D, and holds itself when the up relay 14U is selected.

Command signal forming circuit B includes passing switch 1
7, a diode 18, a time limit circuit 19, a command signal forming relay 20, a lower command signal cutoff relay 21, a diode 22, and a headlamp switch 23.

As is well known, the passing switch 17 opens and closes its contacts in response to a passing operation by the driver, thereby causing the headlamp 10 to blink. When this switch 17 is turned on (when a lighting operation is performed), power from the power supply Vcc flows to the ground side via the diode 18 and the switch 17.

The time limit circuit 19 causes the head lamp 10 to rise when a passing operation is performed, but in most cases, the passing operation is not performed only once but is repeated at short time intervals, so the head lamp 10 is lowered immediately after one passing operation. The head lamp 10 is kept in a raised state for a certain period of time to prevent it from turning on, and waits for the on signal for the next passing lighting operation to come in, and if the next passing operation is not performed after a certain period of time, it is made to descend. It is for. That is, this certain period of time is the time required for the headlamp 10 to rise due to the passing lighting operation, plus the time for maintaining this raised state as described above.

Therefore, any time limit circuit having a time constant may be used, such as an integrating circuit using a capacitor or a Schmitt trigger circuit.

Further, the time limit circuit 19 is configured not to operate when the headlamp switch 23 is operated.

The command signal forming relay 20 is energized when the passing switch 17 is in the closed state (on state), and the contact contacts the side opposite to that shown in the figure, and forms the rising command signal US by the power supply Vcc. In other cases, the contacts are in the state shown and form the down command signal DS by the power supply Vcc.

The descending command signal cutoff relay 21 has a relay coil connected in parallel with the relay coil of the command signal forming relay 20, and becomes excited when the time limit circuit 19 operates. When the descending command signal cutoff relay 21 is not excited, the descending command signal DS is transmitted through the diode 13D, mechanical contact 12,
Through down relay 14D and diode 15,
The drive of the selection holding relay 16 is cut off. Therefore, the relay 16 cannot maintain itself. On the other hand, when the descending command signal cutoff relay 21 is energized, the contacts of the relay 21 close, and the selection hold relay 1
6 coil is energized and the rising command signal US
The signal also flows to the selection and holding relay 16 through the above-mentioned path, and this relay 16 is self-held.

The headlamp switch 23 has a diode 22
The headlamp 10 is turned on via the headlamp 10. At this time, the contacts 23a of the switch 23 are simultaneously closed and grounded, stopping the operation of the time limit circuit 19 and energizing the coils of the relays 20 and 21, causing the headlamp 10 to rise and light up. In the illustrated state, the headlamp is off.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the timing chart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, diagram a shows the on state ("1") of the passing switch 17, in which the light is turned on, and the off state ("0"), in which the light goes out.
C indicates the ON state (“1”) and OFF state (“0”) of the corresponding output signal of the time limit circuit 19, and C indicates the rising (UP) and descending (DOWN) states of the headlamp 10 associated with these. ing.

First, the headlamp 10 is not turned on by the headlamp switch 23, and the part 200 in FIG.
Assume that the passing operation shown in is completed and the headlamp is in the process of descending.

Since the passing operation 200 has a time limit T of the time limit circuit 19 as described above, even if the operation is repeated frequently, the lamp does not move up and down each time. Therefore, the time limit T should be set larger than the shortest possible passing interval t.

For this reason, the output of the time limit circuit 19 becomes OFF state "0" after a time T after the passing operation 200 is completed, and the headlamp starts lowering from this time.

The lowering operation is performed as follows.

Since the output of the time limit circuit 19 becomes "0", the relays 20 and 21 are deenergized, and since the relay 16 is also deenergized, the contacts of these relays 20, 21, and 16 are in the state shown in FIG.

Therefore, a descending command signal DS is formed by the command signal forming relay 20, and the diode 13D,
Current flows through the stator 12D, the slider 12A, the relay coil of the relay 14D, and the contact 16a. Therefore, the down relay 14D is energized, and the contacts of the relay 14D are connected to the power supply Vcc side as shown in the figure. On the other hand, the contacts of the output relay 14U are also as shown in the figure, and for example, the polarity of voltage application to the motor 11 is as shown in the figure.

Therefore, the motor 11 rotates the slider 12A of the contact 12 in the direction in which the headlamp descends (eg, arrow D in the figure). At this time, since relay 21 is not energized, relay 16 is also not energized.

Therefore, if there is no passing operation during the lowering of the headlamp, the state of the contacts shown in FIG. ), the power supply stops. At this time, the headlamp is in the fully lowered state.

However, while the headlamp was descending, the
When the pushing operation is performed again as shown in the section 201, the relay 20 is energized and the contact contacts the side opposite to that shown in the figure, forming the ascending command signal US. at the same time,
Relay 21 is energized and its contacts are closed, and therefore relay 16 is also energized so that contact 16a of relay 16 contacts the side opposite to that shown.

On the other hand, the rising command signal US is transmitted through the diode 13U,
The relay coil of the up relay 14U is energized via the lifting stator 12U and slider 12A. The down relay 14D is not energized because the contacts 16a are opposite to those shown, and the contacts are opposite to those shown.

Therefore, the polarity of the supply to the motor 11 is reversed to that shown in the figure, and the motor 11 rotates in the opposite direction to that described above (for example, consider the case where the slider 12A reverses from the position indicated by the dotted line).

Here, since the contacts of relay 21 are closed,
The current to the motor 11 also flows to the relay 16 via the diode 15, causing the relay 16 to self-hold. Therefore, the motor 11 continues to rotate the slider 12A of the mechanical contact 12 until it reaches the insulator portion of the lifting stator 12U.

That is, the headlamp 10 can be raised to perform a passing operation even when it is in the process of being lowered (corresponding to portions 201 in a, b, and c of FIG. 2).

Note that when the headlamp switch 23 is in the on state, the headlamp continues to light up in the same way as described above, so the passing operation can always be performed without any problem. Of course, it is possible that the headlamp switch 23 is turned off and the passing operation is performed while the lamp is descending (for example, the headlamp is turned on in a tunnel and the passing operation is performed immediately after exiting the tunnel), but this is the same as described above. It is.

Furthermore, when the headlamp switch 23 is operated, the time limit circuit 19 is not activated, so the headlamp 10 is raised or lowered immediately in response to the turning on or off operation of the headlamp switch 23, and the response is There are no delays.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but is within the scope of the technical concept of enabling the retractable headlamp to rise again and the subsequent passing operation by performing a passing operation while the retractable headlamp is descending. Any modification is possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 10... Head lamp, 11... Drive motor,
12...Mechanical contact, 14U...Up relay, 1
4D...down relay, 16...selection holding relay, 17...passing switch, 19...time limit circuit, 20...command signal formation relay, 21...down command signal cutoff relay, 23...head lamp switch, A...Selection drive circuit, B...Command signal formation circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A headlamp that is turned on and off by operating a passing switch or a headlamp; a drive motor capable of forward and reverse rotation for raising and lowering the headlamp; a selection drive circuit that includes mechanical contacts linked to the rotation of the drive motor and determines the drive direction for raising or lowering the headlamp; and a rise command signal that causes the selection drive circuit to drive the drive motor in the direction of rotation of the headlamp up and vice versa. This is a circuit that sends out a descending command signal to drive the drive motor in the rotational direction, and when the above-mentioned passing switch is turned on, it forms an ascending command signal and continues to form this ascending command signal for a certain period of time. It has a time limit circuit that does not operate when the lamp switch is turned on or off, and after a rising command signal is generated for a certain period of time by this time limit circuit, a descending command signal is generated. A control device for a retractable headlamp, comprising: a command signal forming circuit that blocks a descending command signal and forms a rising command signal when a single switch is turned on.