JPH0651453B2 - Tail lamp control method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a tail lamp of a vehicle such as an automobile, and in particular, a lamp of this type using an LED light emitting element has excellent visibility and a display function. A diversified driving method is provided.

[Conventional technology]

This type of conventional tail lamp assembly (hereinafter abbreviated as tail lamp) is as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. First, as shown in FIG. There are tail lamps 12 and each of them blinks in response to a driver's operation. Here, there is a system called sequential display as the direction indicator lamp 11 as shown in FIG. ) To (C), the direction indicator lamp 11 is divided into, for example, small sections 11a to 11e, and the control circuit is turned on sequentially toward the turning direction of the automobile from the small sections 11a to 11e. By driving with, the turning direction of the own vehicle is displayed more clearly on the following vehicle. Although not shown here, a backward light, a parking light, etc. may be combined with the tail lamp.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the above-mentioned conventional tail lamps are classified according to their uses as described above, and therefore, the area used for one purpose is small and there is a problem that visibility is poor. In the case of the sequential display, the size of the turn signal lamp 11 becomes large, and the other parts are further downsized so that the visibility is relatively deteriorated. Further, in addition to that, since the small sections 11a to 11e are sequentially lit, the movement is not continuous, and it is hard to say that the turning direction is displayed smoothly. There is also a problem that an unfamiliar driver feels uncomfortable.

[Means for solving problems]

As a concrete means for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a tail lamp assembly for an automobile tail lamp, wherein the tail lamp assembly is an LED emitting at least one color.
Are arranged in a matrix form, and in this tail lamp assembly, an LED of an appropriate emission color and an appropriate position is selected from the LEDs arranged in the matrix form according to the purpose of display and with an appropriate duty ratio. The conventional problem is solved by providing a method for controlling a tail lamp, which is characterized in that driving control units are combined.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 denotes an automobile, and the automobile 1
A tail lamp 2 according to the present invention is provided on the rear surface. At this time, the tail lamp 2 may be provided over the entire rear surface of the automobile 1 as shown in the figure, or may be divided into right and left portions as shown in FIG. According to the design of 1, the choice is free. FIG. 3 shows the structure of the tail lamp 2 in detail. An inner lens for converting light emitted from a plurality of light sources into a uniform surface light source is provided on the inner surface of a lens cover 2a formed of a transparent member such as resin. 2b is provided, and further, a substrate 2c on which a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) 2d are arranged in a matrix is provided on the back surface thereof, and a tail lamp 2 is configured. At this time, the L
The ED 2d may have the same emission color all over the surface,
Different emission colors, for example, red and amber, may be separately provided at arbitrary positions on the substrate 2c, but two emission colors of red and amber are provided on the entire surface. Is preferable due to the current domestic laws and regulations.

What is shown in FIG. 4 is a control unit 3 which is combined with the tail lamp 2, and the control unit 3 has, for example, a direction indicating switch operated by a driver (in the figure, switch = SW is abbreviated).
TS, braking switch BS, light (taillight) switch LS
Are inputted as control inputs, and outputs corresponding to the respective control inputs are outputted to the tail lamp 2.
It should be noted that, as will be described later, at this time, it is also possible to input a control input other than that provided in a conventional automobile as another information input switch OS. Further, other lamps shown in the figure specifically indicate a direction indicator lamp or the like which is provided on the front surface of the vehicle body and operates at the same time, and it is a convenient lamp to drive at the same time. FIG. 5 shows the control unit 3 in more detail. Here, the LEDs 2d arranged in a matrix on the substrate 2c of the tail lamp 2 are specifically shown in an example of 10 rows and 40 columns. Yes, the control unit 3 is driven according to the control input described above. Next, an example of driving will be described, but in order to facilitate understanding, an example outside the country in which the direction indicator light, the tail light, and the brake light may be the same color will be described. First, at night, the tail lights are always turned on. At this time, the light switch LS is turned on by the driver,
By this control input, the microcomputer CPU adjusts the duty ratio of either the row decoder CD or the column decoder LD so that all the LEDs 2d of the 10th row and the 40th column have a brightness that conforms to the relevant regulations. , A row drive transistor CT connected to each of these decoders
r1 to CTR10, column driving transistors LTr1 to LT
Through r40, the tail lamp 2 is lit at a relatively low duty ratio, so that the entire surface of the tail lamp 2 functions as a tail lamp. At this time, when the brake switch BS is operated, the microcomputer CPU immediately By increasing the duty ratio, the brightness of the entire surface of the tail lamp 2 is increased to indicate that braking is performed. Next, when the direction indicating switch TS is operated, the microcomputer CPU reads the arrow-shaped display figure S1 as shown in FIG. 6A from the character generator CG composed of ROM or the like and displays it. Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 6 (B) to 6 (D), this figure is sequentially moved by appropriately driving the row decoder CD and the column decoder LD to indicate the direction of sequential display on the entire surface of the tail lamp 2. To do. At this time, as shown in the figure, the display figure S1 is moved line by line, so that the movement is smooth. At this time, the shape of the display graphic can be any shape as long as the purpose is well understood as shown by the display graphic S2 in FIG. 7, and for example, the LED 2d can be displayed in red or amber. This one-sided tail lamp 2 can be used for two-color light emission, and by switching, the direction lights, the brake lights, and the tail lights have different colors as stipulated in current domestic regulations. It goes without saying that you can do it.

FIG. 8 provides a new function by utilizing the fact that the tail lamps 2 of the present invention are LEDs 2d arranged in a matrix, and the character generator CG is provided with a display figure S3 "shown in the figure, for example. Information for other vehicles such as "during stop due to trouble" is stored, and other display input switch OS is turned on and displayed as needed, so that an appropriate display capable of preventing an accident or the like becomes possible.

FIG. 9 shows a microcomputer C of the control unit 3.
It is a flow chart showing an example of a program installed in the PU, the program is configured to select and display according to the importance of display of various control inputs described above, and hazard display takes precedence over any display. It is displayed, and then in the order of direction indication, braking, taillight, and other information, it is adapted to comply with the related regulations.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the tail lamp control method according to the present invention is such that the tail lamp assembly has a plurality of LEDs arranged in a matrix.
For the assembly, for example, a brake light, a tail light, a turn signal, and the like, the LEDs arranged in the matrix are appropriately selected according to the display purpose of the tail lamp assembly.
The tail lamp control method is characterized in that a control unit that drives at an appropriate duty ratio is combined, so that it is possible to display brake lights, tail lights, turn signals, etc. on the entire tail lamp. In addition to expanding the area, it has an excellent effect of improving visibility as a smooth display especially in the direction indicator light, and by adding a character generator to the drive unit, new display is also possible and communication between vehicles has been conventionally achieved. As mentioned above, it is possible to prevent accidents. Also,
It is also possible to comply with relevant laws and regulations by making the LED a plurality of emission colors.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a method of controlling a tail lamp according to the present invention in a state of being attached to an automobile, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing another embodiment of the same in the state of being attached to an automobile, and FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the tail lamp assembly of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a schematic wiring diagram showing the whole of the same embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a wiring showing the configuration of the control unit. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of display by the control unit of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of display of FIG. 6, and FIG.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing an example of a function added by the present invention, FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a control method according to the present invention,
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a conventional example, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the conventional example. 1 ... Automobile 2 ... Tail lamp assembly 2a ... Lens cover 2b ... Inner lens 2c ... Substrate, 2d ... LED 3 ... Control unit CPU ... Microcomputer CD ... Row decoder, LD ... Column Decoder CG ... Character generator CTr1-CTr10 ... Row drive transistor LTr1-LTr40 ... Column drive transistor BS ... Control switch HS ... Hazard switch LS ... Light switch OS ... Other information input switch TS ... Direction direction Switches S1 to S3 ... Displayed figure

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a tail lamp of an automobile, the tail lamp assembly is an LED of at least one emission color.
Are arranged in a matrix form, and in this tail lamp assembly, an LED of an appropriate emission color and an appropriate position is selected from the LEDs arranged in the matrix form according to the purpose of display and with an appropriate duty ratio. A control method for a tail lamp, characterized in that a driving control section is combined. 2. The tail lamp control method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is provided with a character generator for generating characters and symbols.