JP2009117270A - Lamp for vehicle, and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lamp for a vehicle and a manufacturing method thereof for guiding light emitted from a light source for irradiation, capable of suppressing cost for manufacturing, manufacturing without effecting on design of an appearance, and controlling an irradiation direction of the light. <P>SOLUTION: The lamp 1 for a vehicle for guiding the light from the light source 2 and irradiating, includes the light source 2, a light guide member 10 in which the light from the light source 2 is incident from a light receiving part 11, the light is totally reflected inside and is guided, and the guided light is irradiated from a light emitting part 13 to the outside, and a control means 11a provided on the light receiving part 11 of the light guide member 10, eliminating irradiation of the light in the predetermined direction from the light emitting part 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp that guides light from a light source and emits light in a predetermined direction, and a method for manufacturing the same.

Conventionally, among automobile lamps, for example, a halogen lamp has been the mainstream as a headlight light source. However, in recent years, the use of LEDs (light emitting diodes) as a light source has increased. When this LED is used as a light source, there are advantages such as good directivity of irradiation and quick response to reaching the maximum light amount, and low power consumption and long life.
For this reason, the demand for LEDs as a lamp light source for automobiles is expected to expand in the future.

Further, in automobiles, LEDs are beginning to be adopted not only in headlights but also in various places such as tail lamps and side turn lamps.
In places where a large amount of light is not required, such as a headlight, the LED has low power consumption, and the amount of heat generated can be kept low. For this reason, an optical technique called “light guide” is applied to a vehicular lamp using an LED as a light source, and the LED light may be irradiated in a necessary direction. The light guide is a technology that efficiently reflects light on the inner surface of the material due to a difference in refractive index between air and the material, and efficiently guides the light to a target region.

However, when such a light guiding technique is used, it is necessary to reduce or eliminate irradiation in unnecessary directions by controlling the optical path of light guided from the light source.
In other words, the irradiation in a direction not legally required is not only efficient but also dazzling for passengers and other vehicles.

As a solution to such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a lamp unit 52 (as a side turn lamp) provided in a mirror housing 51 in a side mirror 50 as shown in FIG.
The lamp unit 52 includes a light guide member 53 that is elongated in the left-right direction of the mirror, and a light source 54 such as an LED provided in front of the light incident portion 53a.

In the lamp unit 52, light from the light source 54 enters the light guide member 53 from the incident portion 53a, is guided while being totally reflected in the light guide member 53, and is emitted to the outside from the emission portion 53b.
And in this lamp unit 52, conventionally, in the emission part 53b, the light which goes to an unnecessary direction is controlled so that it may go to the required predetermined direction by the shape of an inner surface and an outer surface.
JP 2007-191059 A

However, in the lamp unit 52 disclosed in Patent Document 1, conventionally, in order to direct unnecessary light in a predetermined direction, it is necessary to perform predetermined processing over a wide area on the inner and outer surfaces of the emitting portion 53b. .
For this reason, there is a problem that labor is required for processing, the cost is increased, and the appearance design is affected.

  The present invention has been made under the circumstances as described above, and in a vehicular lamp that guides and emits light emitted from a light source, the manufacturing cost can be suppressed, and the appearance design is not affected. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp that can be manufactured and that can control the irradiation direction of light, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a vehicle lamp according to the present invention guides light from a light source, and in the vehicle lamp that irradiates, the light source and light from the light source are incident from a light receiving unit, A light guide member that totally reflects incident light internally and guides the guided light from the light emitting part to the outside, and the light receiving part of the light guide member has a predetermined direction from the light emitting part. It is characterized in that a control means for eliminating the light irradiated on is provided.

The light source is preferably a light emitting diode.
The control means may be a refractive lens unit that changes an optical path of light received by the light receiving unit in a predetermined direction within the light guide member.
Alternatively, the control means is preferably a diffusing lens unit that diffuses light received by the light receiving unit in the light guide member.
Alternatively, the control means is preferably a shielding coating portion for preventing light received by the light receiving portion from entering the light guide member.

Thus, by the control means provided in the light receiving section, the optical path of the light incident on the light guide member is changed in a predetermined direction, the light incident on the light guide member is diffused, or the light to the light guide member Is blocked. Thereby, unnecessary light irradiation from a light emission part can be excluded.
Further, by performing control for eliminating unnecessary light in the light receiving portion having a surface area smaller than that of the light emitting portion, processing is facilitated and cost increase can be suppressed.
Furthermore, since it is not necessary to perform processing for controlling the irradiation direction on a portion exposed to the outer surface such as the light emitting portion, it is possible to eliminate the influence on the appearance design.

  In order to solve the above problem, the vehicle lamp manufacturing method according to the present invention traces the optical path in the light guide member in the direction opposite to the course with respect to light irradiated in a predetermined direction from the light emitting unit. Then, the light incident position in the light receiving section is specified, and the control means for removing light emitted in a predetermined direction from the light emitting section is provided at the position of the specified light receiving section.

According to such a method, the position where the control means is provided in the light receiving unit can be easily specified.
Therefore, according to the vehicle lamp manufactured by this method, the optical path of the light incident on the light guide member is changed in a predetermined direction by the control means, or the light incident on the light guide member is diffused, or The incidence of light on the light guide member is blocked. Thereby, unnecessary light irradiation from the light emitting unit can be eliminated.
Further, by performing control for eliminating unnecessary light in the light receiving portion having a surface area smaller than that of the light emitting portion, processing is facilitated and cost increase can be suppressed.
Furthermore, since it is not necessary to perform processing for controlling the irradiation direction on a portion exposed to the outer surface such as the light emitting portion, it is possible to eliminate the influence on the appearance design.

  According to the present invention, in a vehicular lamp that guides and emits light emitted from a light source, the manufacturing cost can be suppressed and the appearance can be manufactured without affecting the appearance design, and the light irradiation direction is controlled. It is possible to obtain a vehicular lamp and a manufacturing method thereof.

Embodiments of a vehicle lamp and a method for manufacturing the same according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a vehicular lamp 1 according to the present invention. The vehicular lamp 1 includes at least an LED (light emitting diode) light source 2 and an elongated light guide member 10 that guides light emitted from the light source 2 in a predetermined direction.
In the present embodiment, the vehicular lamp 1 is provided in a mirror housing (not shown) of a side mirror, for example, as a side turn lamp of an automobile.

  The light guide member 10 is made of, for example, PMMA (acrylic), receives the light from the light source 2 and makes it enter the inside, and has a curved shape according to the shape of the mirror housing. It has a light guide unit 12 that totally reflects light and guides light in a predetermined direction, and a light emitting unit 13 that emits light guided in the light guide unit 12 outward.

Of the light guide member 10, the convex curved surface 12a and the light emitting unit 13 of the light guide unit 12 are provided as outer surfaces along the outer surface of the mirror housing. On the other hand, the concave curved surface 12b of the light guide portion 12 is provided as an inner surface toward the inside of the mirror housing.
Further, the light receiving portion 11 of the light guide member 10 and the light source 2 are provided in the mirror housing.

  In FIG. 1, an optical path of light that enters from the light receiving unit 11 and passes through the light guide member 3 is illustrated. Among these, an example of the necessary light L1 is indicated by a solid line, and an example of the legally unnecessary light L2 is indicated by a broken line. However, the vehicle lamp 1 is devised so as not to generate the optical path indicated by the broken line.

More specifically, as shown in the enlarged view of the light receiving unit 11 in FIG. 2, in order to control the incidence of light from the light source 2 that generates unnecessary light L2, the surface of the light receiving unit 11 has a refractive lens as a control means. A portion 11a is provided.
Thereby, conventionally (when there is no refraction lens part 11a), incident light that generates unnecessary light L2 can be refracted in the refraction lens part 11a and converted into necessary light L1.
Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate an optical path that generates legally unnecessary light L2 in the light guide section 12, and it is possible to irradiate light only from a light emitting section 13 to a (necessary) predetermined area.

  In manufacturing the vehicular lamp 1 according to the present invention, a position where the refractive lens portion 11a as the control means is provided in the light receiving portion 13 is specified. And the refractive lens part 11a is provided in the position.

Next, a method for specifying the position where the light receiving unit 13 is provided with the refractive lens unit 11a as the control unit will be described.
In the light guide member 10, the light incident from the light receiving unit 11 is totally reflected in the light guide unit 12 and guided to the light emitting unit 13. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the light path irradiated outside as the light L <b> 3 is also totally reflected in the light guide unit 12 after being incident from the light receiving unit 11.
And in the light emission part 13, as shown in FIG. 3, the incident angle (alpha) with respect to the tangent T of an outer surface is formed smaller than a critical angle, and the light L3 is irradiated outside.

Therefore, if the light L3 is unnecessary light, the incident position of the light in the light receiving unit 13 can be specified by tracking the light path in the direction opposite to the path in the light guide unit 12.
In actual identification, for example, data related to the shape of the light guide member 10 is input to a computer, and the reflection position of light within the light guide unit 12 and its incident angle and reflection angle are simulated. The incident position of light in the light receiving unit 13 can be obtained.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the optical path of light irradiated in an unnecessary direction is back-tracked in the light guide unit 12 to identify the incident position of the light in the light receiving unit 11, Control means (refractive lens unit 11a) for eliminating unnecessary light at the position is provided.
Thereby, the light irradiated to the exterior from the light emission part 13 is directed to the (necessary) predetermined direction, and the light to an unnecessary direction is excluded.
In addition, by performing control for eliminating unnecessary light in the light receiving unit 12 having a small surface area, processing is facilitated and an increase in cost for manufacturing can be suppressed.
Furthermore, since it is not necessary to process the light guide section 12 and the light emitting section 13 for controlling the irradiation direction, it is possible to eliminate the influence on the appearance design.

In the embodiment described above, the refractive lens unit 11a is provided on the light receiving surface of the light receiving unit 11 as the control means for eliminating unnecessary light L2, and the optical path in the light guiding unit 12 is changed. The said control means in this invention is not limited to the form.
For example, as shown in the enlarged view of the light receiving unit 11 in FIG. 4, a diffusing lens unit 11b may be provided on the light receiving surface as a control unit, and unnecessary light may be excluded by diffusing incident light.
Alternatively, as shown in the enlarged view of the light receiving portion 11 in FIG. 5, a light shielding coating portion 11c may be provided on the light receiving surface as control means so that light does not enter and unnecessary light may be excluded.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the vehicle lamp 1 which concerns on this invention was shown as a side marker lamp provided in a side mirror, other than using a lamp in vehicles, such as a rear lamp, without being limited to the location This can also be applied to the places.

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp that guides light from a light source and emits light in a predetermined direction, and a method for manufacturing the same, and can be suitably used in the manufacturing industry of automobile vehicle parts and the like.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a vehicular lamp according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the light receiving portion of the light guide member in the vehicular lamp of FIG. 1, and is a view showing a refractive lens portion as control means provided in the light receiving portion. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an optical path in the light guide member. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the light receiving unit, and is a diagram illustrating a diffusing lens unit as a control unit provided in the light receiving unit. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the light receiving portion, and is a view showing a shielding coating portion as a control means provided in the light receiving portion. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional lamp unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle lamp 2 Light source 10 Light guide member 11 Light receiving part 11a Refractive lens part (control means)
11b Diffusing lens part (control means)
11c Shield painting part (control means)
12 Light Guide 13 Light Emitting

Claims (6)

In a vehicular lamp that guides and emits light from a light source,
The light source includes a light guide member that receives light from the light source from the light receiving unit, totally reflects the incident light internally, and guides the light from the light emitting unit to the outside. ,
A vehicular lamp, wherein a light receiving portion of the light guide member is provided with a control unit that excludes light emitted from the light emitting portion in a predetermined direction.   The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light source is a light emitting diode.   3. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is a refractive lens unit that changes an optical path of light received by the light receiving unit in a predetermined direction in the light guide member. 4.   3. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is a diffusion lens unit that diffuses light received by the light receiving unit in the light guide member. 4.   3. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is a shielding coating unit for preventing light received by the light receiving unit from entering the light guide member. 4. A method for manufacturing a vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
For the light irradiated in a predetermined direction from the light emitting unit, the light path in the light guide member is traced in the direction opposite to the path to identify the incident position of the light in the light receiving unit,
A method for manufacturing a vehicular lamp, comprising: the control unit configured to exclude light emitted from the light emitting unit in a predetermined direction at the specified position of the light receiving unit.

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