JP2018198153A - Optical unit and vehicle lamp provided with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an optical unit capable of preventing a decrease in optical characteristics due to heat of an optical component while efficiently using light from a light source without causing an increase in cost.
In an optical unit 6 including an LED (light source) 13 and a light guide (optical component) 14 disposed so as to face the LED 13, the light guide 14 is provided on the surface of the light guide 14 facing the LED 13. A heat-resistant member 19 having higher heat resistance than the light body 14 is provided. Here, the heat-resistant member 19 is made of a highly transparent resin or glass, and the heat-resistant member 19 is bonded to the surface of the light guide 14 facing the LED 13. Alternatively, the light guide 14 is formed by resin multicolor molding, and the heat-resistant member 19 is integrally formed on the surface facing the LED 13.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical unit including a light source and an optical component arranged to face the light source, and a vehicular lamp including the optical unit.

  For example, a vehicular lamp includes an optical unit including a light source such as an LED (light emitting diode) and an optical component such as a light guide and an optical lens disposed opposite to the light source in a lamp chamber. There are some (see, for example, Patent Document 1). An example of a conventional optical unit is shown in FIG.

  That is, FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a conventional optical unit. The illustrated optical unit 106 includes an LED 113 that is a light source, a round bar-shaped light guide 114 that is an optical component disposed opposite to the LED 113, and the optical unit 106. A holder 115 that supports the light guide 114 and a heat sink 116 that is a heat radiating member are provided.

  Here, the heat sink 116 includes a rectangular plate-like base portion 116a and a plurality of thin rectangular plate-like heat radiation fins 116b integrally extending at right angles from the back surface of the base portion 116a to the rear (right side in FIG. 6). I have. A substrate 117 is attached to the front surface of the base portion 116a of the heat sink 116, and the LED 113 is mounted on the substrate 117 so that the light emission direction thereof is horizontal front (left side in FIG. 6). ing.

  The holder 115 is integrally formed of an opaque resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate, and has a rectangular box portion 115A having a rear surface and a lower surface opened, and a tapered cylindrical shape extending horizontally from the box portion 115A toward the front. And a cylindrical portion 115B. The holder 115 is attached to the heat sink 116 by attaching the peripheral edge of the opening of the cylindrical portion 115B to the base portion 116a of the heat sink 116, and the light guide is placed in the cylindrical portion 115B of the holder 115. The light guide 114 is horizontally supported by the holder 115 by inserting 114. One end portion (rear end portion) of the light guide 114 on the LED 113 side faces the inside of the box portion 115 </ b> A of the holder 115.

  Here, the light guide 114 is formed in a round bar shape with a transparent resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate having a high light guide property, and one end surface (rear end surface) facing the LED 113 constitutes a flat incident surface. The end surface (front end surface) constitutes an emission surface.

  Thus, in the optical unit 106 configured as described above, when current is supplied to the LED 113 and the LED 113 emits light, the light enters the light guide 114 from the incident surface of the light guide 114. The light guide 114 travels forward while totally reflecting inside the light guide 114, and finally exits from the exit surface of the light guide 114. Therefore, when the optical unit 106 is viewed from the front side, the light guide 114 is It looks bright and shiny. In this case, in order to efficiently use the light emitted from the LED 113 for illumination, it is necessary to increase the energy of the light incident on the inside of the light guide 114 by bringing the incident surface of the light guide 114 as close as possible to the LED 113 that is a light source. is there.

JP2015-008081A

  However, in the conventional optical unit 106 shown in FIG. 6, when the incident surface of the light guide 114 is brought close to the LED 113 beyond the limit, heat conduction generated by the LED 113, convection, heat transfer by radiation, and heat reception by light absorption, The temperature of the incident surface of the light guide 114 or the portion of the holder 115 facing the LED 113 exceeds the heat resistance temperature of the resin that is the material of the light guide 114 or the holder 115, and the incident surface of the light guide 114 is deformed or melted. This causes problems such as deterioration of the optical characteristics and deterioration of the structural strength of the holder 115. In order to solve such a problem, a method in which the light guide body 114 and the holder 115 are made of super engineering plastic having high heat resistance can be considered. However, this method has a problem that the cost cannot be increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to prevent degradation of optical characteristics due to heat of optical components while efficiently using light from a light source without causing an increase in cost. An optical unit that can be used, and a vehicular lamp provided with the optical unit.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is directed to an optical unit including a light source and an optical component disposed opposite to the light source. Is also provided with a heat-resistant member having high heat resistance.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the heat-resistant member is made of a resin or glass having high translucency, and the heat-resistant member is bonded to a surface of the optical component facing the light source. It is characterized by.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a heat-resistant member having higher heat resistance than the holder is provided on a surface of the holder that supports the optical component that faces the light source. .

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, further comprising a heat sink that dissipates heat from the light source, and a heat-resistant member having higher heat resistance than the holder is provided on a surface of the holder that contacts the heat sink. It is provided.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the heat-resistant member is made of resin, glass, metal, or alloy, and the heat-resistant member faces the light source of the holder or / and the It is characterized by being bonded to a surface that contacts the heat sink.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 1, 3 or 4, wherein the optical component or / and the holder is configured by resin multicolor molding, and the heat-resistant member is provided on a surface facing the light source. It is formed integrally.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the heat-resistant member is integrally provided on the surface of the holder by depositing metal on the surface facing the light source. To do.

  The invention according to claim 8 is that a vehicular lamp is configured by accommodating the optical unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in a lamp chamber defined by an outer lens covering the housing and its opening. Features.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the surface (incident surface) facing the light source of the optical component is brought close to the light source in order to increase the utilization efficiency of the light emitted from the light source, the surface (incident surface) is optically Since the heat-resistant member having higher heat resistance than the component is provided, heat conduction to the optical component by heat conduction, convection, and radiation generated by the light source, and heat reception of the optical component by light absorption from the light source are suppressed. For this reason, the temperature of the surface facing the light source of the optical component (incident surface) does not exceed the heat resistance temperature of the optical component, and the deformation or melting of the surface facing the light source of the optical component (incident surface) is prevented. This prevents the deterioration of the optical characteristics.

  Therefore, it is not necessary to use an expensive material such as super engineering plastic with high heat resistance as an optical component, and the optical characteristics of the optical component due to the heat of the optical component while efficiently using the light from the light source without increasing the cost. Can be prevented.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, a surface of the optical component facing the light source is overheated by bonding a heat-resistant member made of a highly transparent resin or glass to the surface facing the light source of the optical component. Is prevented by the heat resistant member, and the optical characteristics of the optical component are prevented from deteriorating.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, since the heat-resistant member having higher heat resistance than the holder is provided on the surface of the holder that supports the optical component of the optical unit, the temperature of this surface is transmitted from the light source. Heating by absorption of heat or light does not exceed the heat resistance temperature of the holder, preventing the holder from being thermally deformed or melted and preventing its structural strength from being lowered.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since the heat-resistant member is also provided on the surface of the holder that supports the light guide that contacts the heat sink, the temperature of the surface exceeds the heat-resistant temperature of the holder due to heat transfer from the heat sink. In this case, the holder is prevented from being deformed or melted and its structural strength is prevented from being lowered.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the heat-resistant member made of resin, glass, metal, or alloy is joined to the surface of the holder facing the light source, so that the surface of the holder facing the light source is overheated. Therefore, the structural strength of the holder can be prevented from being lowered.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, since the optical component and the holder are formed by resin multicolor molding, and the heat-resistant member is integrally formed on the surface facing the light source, the surface facing the light source of the optical component or holder Overheating is prevented by the heat resistant member, and the optical characteristics of the optical component and the structural strength of the holder are prevented from being lowered.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the heat-resistant member is integrally provided on the surface of the holder by vapor-depositing the metal on the surface facing the light source, overheating of the surface facing the light source of the holder is prevented by the heat-resistant member. Peeling and a reduction in the structural strength of the holder are prevented.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, since the vehicular lamp includes the optical unit according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the optical characteristics and structural strength of the vehicular lamp are deteriorated by heat generated by the light source. Is prevented.

It is side sectional drawing of the vehicle lamp which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view of the optical unit which concerns on this invention. It is a sectional side view of the optical unit which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view of the holder of the optical unit concerning the present invention. (A), (b) is a side view of the entrance plane part of the light guide of the optical unit which concerns on this invention. It is a sectional side view of the conventional optical unit.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Vehicle lamp]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to the present invention. The illustrated vehicular lamp 1 is used as a headlamp disposed on the left and right of a front portion of a vehicle and has a basic configuration. Since these are the same on the left and right, only one vehicle lamp 1 will be described below.

  A vehicular lamp 1 used as a headlamp is configured by housing optical units 5 and 6 in a lamp chamber 4 defined by a housing 2 and a transparent outer lens 3 covering a front opening thereof. Here, one optical unit 5 is used as a traveling beam lamp or a passing beam lamp, and includes an LED 7 that is a light source, and an optical lens 8 that is an optical component disposed opposite to the LED 7, A cylindrical holder 9 that holds the optical lens 8 and a heat sink 10 that is a heat radiating member are included.

  The optical unit 5 is supported on the housing 2 by upper and lower adjustment bolts 11 penetrating the housing 2, and the optical axis of the optical unit 5 is adjusted by turning these adjustment bolts 11. An extension 12 is arranged around the optical unit 5.

  Thus, in the optical unit 5 configured as described above, when current is supplied to the LED 7 that is a light source from a power source (not shown) such as a battery, the LED 7 emits light, and the light is emitted in front of the vehicle (FIG. 1). The light distribution is controlled by traveling to the left) and passing through the optical lens 8, and is then transmitted through the transparent outer lens 3 and emitted to the front of the vehicle to be used for illumination in front of the vehicle.

  The other optical unit 6 is disposed in the lamp chamber 4 at a location near the outer lens 3 diagonally below and forward of the one optical unit 5, and this optical unit 6 is used as a DRL (Day Running Lamp). It is.

  Here, details of the optical unit 6 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[Optical unit]
2 is a perspective view of the optical unit according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the optical unit, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the holder, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are views of the incident surface portion of the light guide. It is a side view.

  The optical unit 6 used as the DRL includes an LED 13 that is a light source, a round bar-shaped light guide 14 that is an optical component disposed opposite to the LED 13, a holder 15 that supports the light guide 14, and a heat dissipation member. It is comprised including the heat sink 16 which is.

  Here, the heat sink 16 is made of an aluminum alloy or the like having a high heat dissipation property, and has a rectangular plate-like base portion 16a and the rear side of the base portion 16a to the rear (right side in FIGS. 2 and 3). A plurality of thin rectangular plate-like (six in the illustrated example (see FIG. 2)) radiating fins 16b integrally extending at right angles are provided. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a rectangular substrate 17 is attached to the front surface (front surface) of the base portion 16a of the heat sink 16, and the light emission direction of the LED 13 is on the substrate 17. It is mounted so as to be in the horizontal front (left side in FIG. 3).

  The holder 15 is integrally formed of an opaque resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a rectangular box portion 15A having a rear surface and a lower surface opened, and a forward side from the box portion 15A. It is comprised with the cylindrical part 15B of the taper cylindrical shape extended horizontally toward. The holder 15 is attached to the heat sink 16 by binding the peripheral edge of the opening of the cylindrical portion 15B to the base portion 16a of the heat sink 16, and the light guide is placed in the cylindrical portion 15B of the holder 15. By inserting 14, the light guide 14 is supported horizontally by the holder 15. One end portion (rear end portion) of the light guide body 14 on the LED 13 side faces the inside of the box portion 15 </ b> A of the holder 15. As shown in FIG. 4, four ribs 15a extending long in the front-rear direction project integrally at an equal angular pitch (90 ° pitch) in the circumferential direction on the inner periphery of the tapered cylindrical tube portion 15B of the holder 15. The light guide 14 is inserted into the inside of the tapered cylindrical tube portion 15B by these ribs 15a and supported horizontally.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the surface of the holder 15 facing the LED 13, specifically, the inner cylindrical portion 15 </ b> B of the box portion 15 </ b> A facing the LED 13 is opened. The surrounding ring-shaped portion (the hatched portion in FIGS. 3 and 4), the surface of each rib 15a facing the LED 13 (the hatched portion in FIG. 4), and the base portion 16a of the heat sink 16 of the box portion 15A. Heat-resistant members 18 having higher heat resistance than the material (acrylic or polycarbonate) of the holder 15 are respectively provided on the U-shaped portions (hatched portions in FIG. 4) to be joined to each other.

  Here, the heat-resistant member 18 is made of resin, glass, metal, or alloy having high translucency, and is bonded to the above-described surface of the holder 15 facing the LED 13, or the holder 15 is molded in multiple colors. The holder 15 is integrally formed on the surface facing the LED 13. Alternatively, the heat-resistant member 18 is integrally provided on the surface of the holder 15 by depositing metal on the surface facing the LED 13.

  The light guide 14 is formed in a round bar shape with a transparent resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate having a high light guide property, and one end facing the LED 13 faces the box portion 15 </ b> A of the holder 15. And the one end surface (rear end surface) which opposes LED13 of this light guide body 14 comprises the flat incident surface, and the other end surface (front end surface) comprises the output surface.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 with hatching, the material (acrylic or polycarbonate) of the light guide 14 is formed on the incident surface facing the LED 13 of the light guide 14. Is provided with a heat-resistant member 19 having a higher heat-resistant temperature.

  Here, the heat-resistant member 19 is made of a highly transparent resin, glass, metal, or alloy, and is joined to the incident surface of the light guide 14 facing the LED 13 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5B, the light guide body 14 is integrally formed on the incident surface of the light guide body 14 by multicolor molding.

  Thus, in the optical unit 6 configured as described above, when current is supplied to the LED 13 from a power source (not shown) such as a battery and the LED 13 emits light, the light is transmitted from the incident surface of the light guide 14. The optical unit 6 is incident on the inside of the light guide 14, proceeds forward while being totally reflected inside the light guide 14, and finally exits from the exit surface of the light guide 14 to the outside. When viewed from above, the light guide 14 appears bright and shiny. Here, in the present embodiment, in order to efficiently use the light emitted from the LED 13 for illumination, the energy of the light incident on the inside of the light guide 14 with the incident surface of the light guide 14 as close as possible to the LED 13 that is a light source. Try to increase.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, even if the incident surface facing the LED 13 of the light guide 14 is close to the LED 13 in order to increase the utilization efficiency of the light emitted from the LED 13 as described above, the light guide is guided to the incident surface. Since the heat-resistant member 19 having higher heat resistance than that of the body 14 is provided, heat transfer to the light guide 14 by conduction, convection, and radiation of heat generated by the LED 13 and heat reception by the light guide 14 by absorption of light from the LED 13 are performed. It is suppressed by the heat-resistant member 19. For this reason, the temperature of the incident surface facing the LED 13 of the light guide body 14 does not exceed the heat resistance temperature of the light guide body 14, and the incident surface of the light guide body 14 is prevented from being deformed or melted. The deterioration of characteristics is prevented.

  Therefore, it is not necessary to use an expensive material such as super engineering plastic with high heat resistance as the light guide body 14, and the light guide body 14 can be used efficiently while utilizing the light from the LED 13 without increasing the cost. It is possible to prevent deterioration of optical characteristics due to heat.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the surface of the holder 15 that supports the light guide 14 that faces the LED 13 and the surface that contacts the heat sink 16 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) have a heat resistance higher than that of the holder 15. Since the member 18 is provided, the temperature of the surface does not exceed the heat-resistant temperature of the holder 15 due to heat transfer from the LED 13 or heat absorption and heat transfer from the heat sink 16, and the holder 15 is thermally deformed or melted. Is prevented, and the structural strength is prevented from lowering.

  And in the vehicle lamp 1 shown in FIG. 1 provided with the optical unit 6 which has the above effect, the fall of the optical characteristic and structural strength by the heat | fever which LED13 of the optical unit 6 generate | occur | produces is prevented.

  In the above, the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to one optical unit 6 provided in the vehicular lamp 1 shown in FIG. 1 has been described, but the present invention is also applied to the other optical unit 5. Of course, the same effect as described above can be obtained. Further, the installation position of the optical unit is not limited at all.

  In the above embodiment, an LED is used as a light source. However, another semiconductor light emitting element such as an LD (laser diode) can be used as the light source.

  Furthermore, the light emitting unit according to the present invention can be applied not only to the DRL but also to any other lighting device other than the vehicle lamp and the vehicle lamp such as a position lamp and a turn lamp. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle lamp 2 Housing 3 Outer lens 4 Lamp chamber 5, 6 Optical unit 7 LED (light source)
8 Optical lenses (optical components)
9 Holder 10 Heat sink 11 Adjustment bolt 12 Extension 13 LED (light source)
14 Light guide (optical component)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Holder 15A Holder box part 15B Holder cylinder part 15a Holder rib 16 Heat sink 16a Heat sink base part 16b Heat sink radiating fin 17 Substrate 18, 19 Heat-resistant member

Claims (8)

In an optical unit comprising a light source and an optical component disposed opposite to the light source,
An optical unit, wherein a heat-resistant member having higher heat resistance than the optical component is provided on a surface of the optical component facing the light source.   The optical unit according to claim 1, wherein the heat-resistant member is made of a highly transparent resin or glass, and the heat-resistant member is bonded to a surface of the optical component that faces the light source.   The optical unit according to claim 1, wherein a heat-resistant member having higher heat resistance than the holder is provided on a surface of the holder that supports the optical component that faces the light source.   4. The optical unit according to claim 3, further comprising a heat sink that dissipates heat from the light source, and a heat-resistant member having higher heat resistance than the holder is provided on a surface of the holder that contacts the heat sink.   The heat-resistant member is made of resin, glass, metal, or alloy, and the heat-resistant member is bonded to a surface of the holder that faces the light source and / or a surface that contacts the heat sink load. The optical unit described.   5. The optical unit according to claim 1, wherein the optical component or / and the holder is formed by resin multicolor molding, and the heat-resistant member is integrally formed on a surface facing the light source. .   5. The optical unit according to claim 3, wherein the heat-resistant member is integrally provided on the surface of the holder by vapor-depositing a metal on the surface facing the light source. 8. A vehicular lamp comprising: the optical unit according to claim 1 housed in a lamp chamber defined by a housing and an outer lens covering an opening of the housing.

Images