JP2001151010A - Dusk auxiliary light control device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To prevent the lighting control of the twilight assist light during high-speed driving, and to maintain the lighting state or the extinguished state immediately before entering the low-speed driving during low-speed driving, thereby preventing the twilight auxiliary light from being turned on. Avoid false lighting / false lighting. SOLUTION: When the external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor 7 is within a lighting illuminance range, a dusk auxiliary light 22 is turned on, and when it is not within a lighting illuminance range, the dusk auxiliary light is turned off. When the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 2 is a low speed equal to or less than a predetermined value, the dusk auxiliary light 22 is kept in the lighting state or the extinguished state immediately before the dusk auxiliary light 22, so that the vehicle is stopped at night at a traffic light,
In a situation where the street light is bright enough to enter the lighting illuminance range, control is performed so that the dusk auxiliary light is not turned on if it has been turned off. When the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is higher than or equal to a predetermined value, the dusk auxiliary light is not turned on, and the dusk auxiliary light is not turned on uselessly on a highway.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a dusk auxiliary light control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle, a headlight is provided at a front portion of the vehicle as a means for securing a field of view during night driving. Various automatic light-on / off control devices that perform lighting control by detecting the ambient illuminance and detecting a decrease in the illuminance have been devised.

[0003] In addition, with respect to the headlight, a front view is ensured by turning on the headlight when driving at night.
When the vehicle is traveling at twilight, where the external illuminance is still bright, it is not possible to confirm that the driver is irradiating with normal luminous intensity of the headlight. For pedestrians walking on sidewalks and roadside belts for the same reason, it is not possible to notice the approach of the vehicle from behind by illuminating the headlights like at night, so the driver should pay close attention to the front. Must pay
It was a heavy burden.

[0004] In view of this point, in recent years, a powerful road surface irradiation at the time of twilight gives a driver psychological security, and a pedestrian can be made aware of approach of a vehicle from an early stage by inclining the optical axis toward the shoulder of the road. Dusk assist lights have been proposed.

Further, when the above-mentioned automatic light-on / off control device is adapted to light-on / off control of a dusk auxiliary light, the conventional automatic light-on / light-off control device turns on the light when the illuminance threshold value becomes darker than that value. Since it is uniquely set to turn off when it becomes brighter, set the upper lighting limit and the lower lighting limit, and turn on only when it is within the illuminance range between them. It does not perform the complicated control to make it.

Therefore, it has been considered that this control is realized by automatically turning on the twilight auxiliary light only when the external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor is within the illumination illuminance range. This is a control method that turns off the dusk auxiliary light if present.

However, when such control is performed, since the vehicle speed is not taken into account, the external illuminance is illuminated even in a traveling situation where the possibility of a pedestrian being on the road side is extremely small, for example, when traveling on a highway. If it is within the illuminance range, the dusk assist light will be turned on uniformly, and there is a possibility that the rear view mirror or the side mirror of a vehicle traveling ahead of the own vehicle on the highway, especially in the left lane, may be illuminated. Conversely, in a situation where a street light is waiting for a traffic light at a bright intersection, if the external illuminance is within the lighting illuminance range only at that location due to the effect of the street light, the dusk auxiliary light that was turned off until then will be erroneously turned on. If the street light is brighter, the external illuminance will be brighter than the upper lighting limit.
There is also a problem that the dusk auxiliary light that had been lit up until then is turned off by mistake.

[0008]

As described above, in the proposed twilight assist light control device, the twilight assist light is turned on even in a situation where it is not necessary to turn on the twilight assist light in accordance with the running condition of the vehicle. There is also a problem that false lighting and false lighting may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a technical problem. In an automatic turning on / off control of a twilight assist light, a twilight assist device which prohibits a transition to a lighting state of the twilight assist light during high-speed driving. It is an object to provide a light control device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a twilight auxiliary light control device which can avoid erroneous turning on / off by maintaining a lighting state or a turning-off state immediately before entering low-speed running during low-speed running. I do.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a twilight auxiliary light control device for illuminating a predetermined direction ahead of a roadside, an illuminance sensor for detecting external illuminance, and a vehicle speed for detecting a vehicle speed. Sensor, the external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor turns on the dusk auxiliary light when it is within a lighting illuminance range between a predetermined lighting upper limit illuminance and a lighting lower limit illuminance, and when it is not within the lighting illuminance range. A controller that turns off the dusk auxiliary light, and holds a lighting state or an extinguished state immediately before the dusk auxiliary light when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is a low speed equal to or lower than a predetermined value. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dusk auxiliary light control device,
A twilight auxiliary light that illuminates a predetermined direction ahead of the roadside, an illuminance sensor that detects an external illuminance, a vehicle speed sensor that detects a vehicle speed, and an external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor has a predetermined upper lighting limit and a lower lighting limit. And lighting the twilight auxiliary light when it is in the lighting illuminance range between, and turning off the dusk auxiliary light when it is not in the lighting illuminance range, and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. A controller for prohibiting the transition of the dusk assist light to a lighting state when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dusk auxiliary light control device,
A twilight assist light that illuminates a predetermined direction ahead of the roadside, an illuminance sensor that detects external illuminance, a vehicle speed sensor that detects a vehicle speed, and an external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor have a predetermined upper lighting limit and a lower lighting limit. Light the dusk auxiliary light when it is in the lighting illuminance range between, and turn off the dusk auxiliary light when it is not in the lighting illuminance range, and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is at a low speed less than or equal to a predetermined value. In some cases, hold the lighting state or extinguished state immediately before the dusk auxiliary light,
When the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is higher than or equal to a predetermined value, the controller includes a controller for prohibiting the transition of the dusk assist light to a lighting state.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the twilight auxiliary light is turned on when the external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor is within the illuminating illuminance range. Since the dusk auxiliary light is turned off, the pedestrian on the road side can be easily seen during the dusk time zone, and the pedestrian can be made aware of the approach of the vehicle. In addition, when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is a low speed equal to or less than a predetermined value, the dusk assist light can be kept in the lighting state or the extinguished state immediately before it. In the situation where it is bright enough to enter the lighting illuminance range, if the twilight auxiliary light has been turned off until then, it will not be turned on incorrectly, and if it is stopped at a traffic light at dusk, the place will be partially shaded by a tree shade at night Even in such a situation, there is no erroneous turning off from the lighting state.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the twilight auxiliary light is turned on when the external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor is within the illuminating illuminance range. Since the light is turned off, the pedestrian on the road side can be easily seen during the twilight time zone, and the pedestrian can be made aware of the approach of the vehicle. In addition, if the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is higher than a predetermined value, the transition of the dusk assist light to the lighting state is prohibited, so that a pedestrian may walk on the roadside like a highway. In a small number of situations, the dusk assist light is not turned on unnecessarily.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the twilight auxiliary light is turned on when the external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor is within the illuminating illuminance range. Since the light is turned off, the pedestrian on the road side can be easily seen during the twilight time zone, and the pedestrian can be made aware of the approach of the vehicle.

In addition, when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is a low speed equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the dusk auxiliary light can be kept in the lighting state or the extinguished state immediately before it, and the vehicle can be stopped at night when waiting for a traffic light. In the situation where the street lights are bright enough to enter the illuminance range, if the twilight auxiliary lights have been turned off until then, they will not be erroneously turned on. Even in a situation where the illuminance is nighttime, there is no erroneous turning off from the lighting state. Furthermore, when the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is higher than or equal to a predetermined value, the transition of the twilight assist light to the lighting state is prohibited, so that there is little possibility that the pedestrian will walk on the roadside like a highway. There is no needless lighting of the dusk auxiliary light in the situation.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an illumination light control device 1 according to the present invention.
As one embodiment, a system configuration of a twilight assist light control device for automatically turning on and off a vehicular twilight assist light is shown. In FIG. 1, an illuminance sensor 1 detects the brightness of the external environment around the vehicle, that is, the external illuminance, and outputs an analog voltage value corresponding to the illuminance. This voltage signal is supplied to an analog / digital converter (A / A /
D) Input to CPU 4 via 3. The vehicle speed sensor 5 detects the speed of the vehicle. The vehicle speed signal is sent to the CPU via an input / output device (I / O) 6 in the control unit 2.
4 is input. The lighting switch 7 is an operation switch for turning on and off a basic headlight (ordinary headlamp: not shown) and other lights, and the automatic control (Auto) of the present invention is set in the switch. . The operation signal of the lighting switch 7 is also transmitted through the I / O 6 to the CPU.
4 is input.

The configuration of the microcomputer 8 in the control unit 2 will be described. Built-in ROM
9, RAM 10, timer 11, A / D3, I / O6 are C
The data is mapped on the memory of the PU 4 and is mutually connected by the data bus 12 and the address bus 13. RO
M9 stores the program shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. The RAM 10 sequentially stores illuminance detection data of the illuminance sensor 1 and vehicle speed data of the vehicle speed sensor 5. The timer 11 performs time measurement described later. The A / D 3 converts the analog voltage output from the illuminance sensor 1 into digital data and stores it. The I / O 6 interfaces the CPU 4 with transistors for driving various loads and transistors for inputting various signals.

Lights controlled by the control unit 2 are a basic headlight (not shown) and a dusk auxiliary light 22 that mainly ensure visibility. This dusk auxiliary light 22
Is driven by a dusk auxiliary light relay 23 which is turned on / off by the microcomputer 8 in the control unit 2.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the basic headlight 21
The dusk assist light 22 is attached to the front of the vehicle C. It has the following light distribution pattern. The basic headlamp 21 is a light distribution pattern A, and the dusk auxiliary light 22 is a light distribution pattern B, for example, spot-irradiating a portion E below the waist of a pedestrian H walking about 20 m ahead on the roadside. Orientation.

Next, the lighting control operation of the twilight assist lamp 22 by the control unit 2 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

The lighting switch 7 is turned on.
When the input is set to Auto, the operation of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 is repeated at a constant cycle. First, the output voltage of the illuminance sensor 1 is A / D converted and stored as the current illuminance I11. Subsequently, the vehicle speed Sp is calculated from the pulse signal output from the vehicle speed sensor 5 and stored in the RAM 10 (step 10).
0, 101).

Next, it is determined whether or not the current vehicle speed Sp is in a range for controlling the dusk assist light 22, that is, whether or not the vehicle speed is in a medium speed range as shown in the tables TB1 and TB2 in FIG. 8 (step 102). , 103). If the vehicle is in the middle speed range, the vehicle speed range flag set in the RAM 10 is turned on.
(Step 104) If the vehicle is not in the middle speed range, the vehicle speed range flag is turned off (Step 105). Here, the medium speed range is set to, for example, 5 to 75 km / h.

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the current external illuminance I11 is within the range for controlling the twilight auxiliary light 22, that is, whether or not the illuminance at twilight shown in the tables TB1 and TB2 in FIG. Steps 106 and 107). Here, when the external illuminance I11 is brighter than the lighting upper limit illuminance,
Alternatively, if the external illuminance I11 is darker than the lower limit of illumination, the illumination illuminance flag set in the RAM 10 is turned off and the extinguishing illuminance flag is turned on (steps 110 and 111). If the external illuminance I11 is within the lighting illuminance range, the lighting illuminance flag is turned on and the lighting illuminance flag is turned off (steps 108 and 109).

<Control During Middle Speed Running> Next, the vehicle speed range flag is tested (step 112). If the vehicle speed Sp is in the middle speed range and the vehicle speed range flag is ON, then the dusk assist light 22 is turned on. It is determined whether the lighting is on (step 11).
3).

In step 113, if the twilight assist lamp 22 is on, it is tested whether the external illuminance I11 has already become darker (or brighter) so as to be lower than the illuminance range, and whether or not it should be turned off is tested. (Step 114). When the vehicle speed Sp is in the middle speed range,
If the external illuminance is darker or brighter than the lighting illuminance range during lighting, if the time count of the light-off timer exceeds a predetermined value (Y in step 115).
(Branch to ES), the dusk auxiliary lamp 22 is turned off, and the turn-off timer is reset to 0 (steps 116 and 117). However, even under this condition, if the count value of the turn-off timer does not exceed a predetermined value, the external illuminance may have just momentarily deviated from the lighting illuminance range for some reason.
The lighting state of the twilight auxiliary lamp 22 is maintained until the light-off timer counts up (NO in step 115).

Although the vehicle speed Sp is in the middle speed range, the external illuminance I1
If 1 is within the lighting illuminance range and the light-off illuminance flag is OFF, the light-off timer is reset to maintain the light-on state (steps 104 and 118).

Although the vehicle speed Sp is in the middle speed range, the dusk auxiliary light 2
If No. 2 is off, the process branches to NO in step 113 to determine whether the lighting illuminance flag is ON (step 119). If the lighting illuminance flag is ON, the lighting control of the twilight auxiliary light 22 is performed if the time count of the lighting timer exceeds a predetermined value (step 12).
1) Reset the lighting timer to 0 (step 12)
2). However, even under this condition, if the time count of the lighting timer does not exceed a predetermined value, the external illuminance may only momentarily enter the lighting illuminance range for some reason. It is still maintained until the lighting timer counts up (NO in step 120).

The vehicle speed Sp is in the middle speed range, but the external illuminance I11 is not within the lighting illuminance range, and the lighting illuminance flag is set to O.
If it is FF, the light-off state is maintained and the lighting timer is reset (steps 119 and 123).

When the vehicle speed Sp is not in the middle speed range, that is, when the vehicle is running at a low speed or at a high speed, the turning on / off control of the dusk auxiliary light 22 is performed according to the flowchart of FIG.

<Control While Stopped or Running at Low Speed> If the vehicle is stopped or running at low speed, the lighting state or the extinguished state immediately before the twilight auxiliary light 22 is maintained.
Only the light-off timer is reset and the process returns to the beginning of the control routine (steps 124 and 132).

<Control During High Speed Running> If the vehicle is running at a high speed, the process branches to YES at step 124 and proceeds to step 1
Proceed to 25. In step 125, the dusk auxiliary light 2
It is determined whether or not No. 2 is lit, and if it is lit, it is determined whether or not the external illuminance I11 is out of the range of the illuminated light. If it is out of the range of the illuminated light, the count value of the light-off timer exceeds a predetermined time. By the way, the dusk assist light 22 is forcibly turned off and the light-off timer is reset to 0 (steps 126 and 1).
27, 128, 129).

On the other hand, if the twilight assist light 22 is off during high-speed driving, the process branches to NO in step 125, the lighting timer is reset, and the lighting control is performed even if the external illuminance falls within the lighting illuminance range. (Step 131).

If the twilight assist lamp 22 is in a lighting state and the external illuminance I11 is within the lighting illuminance range during high-speed running, the process branches to NO in step 126, and the extinguishing timer is reset to turn on the lighting. (Step 13
0).

The control of turning on and off the dusk assist light 22 by the control unit 2 will be specifically described with reference to the timing chart of FIG.

<a>: Transition to lighting state At timing t0, the lighting switch 7 becomes the lighting position Auto, and a series of operations shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 to 6 are started. When the lighting switch 7 is turned on, the dusk auxiliary light 22 is turned off, the vehicle speed is medium speed, and the external illuminance is read as twilight. Therefore, these conditions continue for a certain period of time, and the twilight assist lamp 22 is turned on.

<B>: Prohibition of transition to unlit state → Preventing false light-off during stoppage If the illuminance becomes dark after the twilight auxiliary light 22 is turned on, it is determined at timing t1 that the light is turned off. Since the speed is low, the light-off timer is reset, and the state transition to light-off is not performed.

<C>: Transition to light-off state In the night driving situation where the external illuminance is dark, the light-off timer starts counting at timing t2 when the vehicle speed enters the middle speed range, and after a certain time has been counted, the dusk assist light is turned on. 22 is turned off.

<D>: Prohibition of transition to lighting state → prevention of erroneous lighting when stopping The external illuminance becomes dim again at timing t3, enters the lighting illuminance range, and turns off the twilight auxiliary light 22 to the lighting state. However, since the vehicle speed is low, the lighting timer is reset, and the transition to the lighting state is prohibited.

At the subsequent timing t4, the vehicle speed is in the middle speed range, but the external illuminance is bright, so that the dusk auxiliary light 22 is turned off.

<E>: Prohibition of transition to lighting state → Prevention of false lighting at high speed At timing t5, the external illuminance becomes dim again and enters the lighting illuminance range, and the dusk auxiliary lamp 22 is shifted to the lighting state. However, since the vehicle speed is high, the lighting timer is reset, and the transition to the lighting state is prohibited.

<F>: Transition to lighting state When the external illuminance is in the lighting illuminance range and the vehicle speed falls from the high speed range to the middle speed range at timing t6, the lighting timer starts counting, and after a certain period of time has elapsed. Dusk auxiliary light 22
Lights up.

Thereafter, when the lighting switch 7 is turned off at a timing t7, the control of the dusk auxiliary light is stopped, and the dusk auxiliary light 22 is turned off.

Thus, for example, while the vehicle is running at night and the twilight assist light 22 is in an extinguished state, in a situation where a traffic light waits under a bright street light, the twilight auxiliary light 22 will be turned off unless this control is performed. It will be erroneously turned on, but adopting this control will avoid such erroneous lighting,
The light-off state can be maintained. Further, in a situation where the twilight assist light 22 is turned on, if the external illuminance temporarily becomes dark due to the influence of a street tree or the like, it can be prevented from being erroneously turned off.

Further, if the vehicle is traveling at high speed, for example, in a situation where the vehicle is traveling at high speed at night on a highway equipped with lighting facilities, the dusk auxiliary lamp 22 is not unnecessarily erroneously turned on. It is possible to prevent the preceding vehicle traveling in the side lane from being dazzled by bright light.

In the above embodiment, the dusk auxiliary light control device having both the function of preventing erroneous lighting / extinguishing at low speed running and the function of preventing erroneous lighting at high speed running has been described. Among them, a device having only the function of preventing erroneous lighting / extinguishing during low-speed running or only the function of preventing erroneous lighting during high-speed running may be used.

In the above-described embodiment, the automatic turning on / off of the dusk auxiliary light is performed when the lighting switch 5 is set to Auto. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the case of retrofitting to the headlight control system, the twilight control system may start the automatic control operation at the ON position of the lighting switch of the headlight control system. In this case, the ON / OFF control of the lighting switch is started instead of the Auto position,
This is a condition for canceling the control.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an installation state of a basic headlight and a dusk auxiliary light in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a light distribution pattern of a basic headlight and a dusk auxiliary light in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the first part of turning on and off the dusk assistance light according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an intermediate portion of the turning on / off control of the dusk auxiliary light according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the last part of the on / off control of the dusk auxiliary light according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of the turning on / off control of the dusk auxiliary light according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a table showing a combination of activating or resetting a lighting timer and a lighting timer according to the vehicle speed and the external illuminance in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 illuminance sensor 2 control unit 3 analog / digital converter (A / D) 4 CPU 5 vehicle speed sensor 6 input / output device (I / O) 7 illuminance sensor 8 microcomputer 9 ROM 10 RAM 11 timer 21 headlight 22 light

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Mitsumoto Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., 2nd Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Fujikura 2nd Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsuyoshi Otsuka 2 Takara-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Katsuyuki Arima 2 Takara-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. DA02 DB02 DB06 DC02

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A dusk assist light for illuminating a predetermined direction in front of a roadside, an illuminance sensor for detecting an external illuminance, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed, and an external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor having a predetermined lighting upper limit. The dusk assist light is turned on when in the lighting illuminance range between the illuminance and the lighting lower limit illuminance, and the dusk assist light is turned off when not in the lighting illuminance range, and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor And a controller for maintaining a lighting state or an extinguished state immediately before the dusk auxiliary light when the speed is lower than or equal to a predetermined value. 2. A twilight assist light for illuminating a predetermined direction ahead of a roadside, an illuminance sensor for detecting an external illuminance, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed, and an external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor having a predetermined lighting upper limit. The dusk assist light is turned on when in the lighting illuminance range between the illuminance and the lighting lower limit illuminance, and the dusk assist light is turned off when not in the lighting illuminance range, and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor And a controller for prohibiting the transition of the dusk auxiliary light to a lighting state when the speed is higher than or equal to a predetermined value. 3. A dusk assist light for illuminating a predetermined direction ahead of the roadside, an illuminance sensor for detecting an external illuminance, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed, and an external illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor having a predetermined lighting upper limit. The dusk assist light is turned on when in the lighting illuminance range between the illuminance and the lighting lower limit illuminance, and the dusk assist light is turned off when it is not within the lighting illuminance range, and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is predetermined. If the vehicle speed is lower than the value, the lighting state or the light-off state immediately before the dusk auxiliary light is maintained.If the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is higher than a predetermined value, the dusk auxiliary light is turned on. And a controller for prohibiting the transition to the dusk auxiliary light control device.