JP2024118069A - Vehicle lighting device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicular light body device capable of efficiently emitting light from an entire region of an emission surface of a light guide member.SOLUTION: A vehicular light body device includes a light source and a light guide member 11. The light guide member 11 includes an incidence part 17, an emission wall 18, an intermediate light guide wall 19, a first reflection surface 20, and a second reflection surface 21. One end side of the emission wall 18 directed to a vehicle front-back direction is an emission surface. The first reflection surface 20 internally reflects the light made incident on the incidence part 17 as first parallel light directed to the other end side of the emission wall 18 radially. The second reflection surface 21 is sectioned into a plurality of surface elements 21a by a plurality of step parts 22 whose step part ridge lines 22r extend in a direction intersecting with a contour line along the contour of the emission wall 18. The plurality of surface elements 21a disposed at a position separated in a vehicle width direction from the first reflection surface 20 along the contour line are sectioned by the step parts 22 whose step part ridge lines 22r are inclined at a fixed angle with respect to the contour line in a vehicle front-back direction view.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lighting device.

There are known vehicle lighting devices, such as turn signal lamps and brake lamps, that guide light emitted from a light source, such as an LED, to an exit surface via a light-guiding member as parallel light directed in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The vehicle lighting device described in Patent Document 1 includes a light source and a light guide member, and the light guide member has an exit surface facing the vehicle longitudinal direction formed so as to substantially follow the contour of the lighting device. The light guide member includes an entrance portion where light is incident from the light source, an exit wall that extends along the vehicle longitudinal direction and has an exit surface at the tip end side in the extension direction, and an intermediate light guide wall that guides the light incident on the entrance portion to the base end side of the exit wall. The entrance region of the intermediate light guide wall is provided with a first reflection surface that internally reflects the light incident on the entrance portion as a first parallel light toward the base end side of the exit wall. In addition, the base end side of the exit wall is provided with a second reflection surface that internally reflects the first parallel light guided by the intermediate light guide wall as a second parallel light toward the tip end side of the exit wall. The exit surface of the light guide member is provided with an uneven diffusing portion for diffusing the light emitted to the outside in multiple directions.

The light-guiding member's exit wall has contour portions that extend along the vehicle width direction above and below the first reflecting surface, and the second reflecting surface is separated into a plurality of surface elements by a plurality of steps. The step ridge of each step that separates the plurality of surface elements extends in a direction that intersects with the contour line along the contour of the exit wall. Each surface element reflects the first reflected light that is emitted in the radial direction from the first reflecting surface to the front side of the exit wall as a second parallel light. Here, if the center of the first reflecting surface is referred to as the radiation center when viewed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, each step ridge of the second reflecting surface is inclined so that one end faces the radiation center.

This vehicle lighting device is capable of emitting light emitted from the light source to the outside from the emission surface as parallel light that roughly follows the contour due to internal reflection by the first and second reflecting surfaces of the light-guiding member. In the case of this vehicle lighting device, parallel light that follows the vehicle's fore-and-aft direction is emitted to the emission surface, so that it is visually recognized from the outside as a bright linear light that roughly follows the contour.

JP 2012-243734 A

In the vehicle lighting device described in Patent Document 1, the second reflection surface of the light guide member is composed of multiple surface elements, and the step ridges of the steps that divide each surface element are inclined so as to face the radiation center. This means that each step ridge is inclined at a different angle with respect to the upper and lower contour lines, and the inclination becomes greater (approaching horizontality) the further away from the first reflection surface in the vehicle width direction. For this reason, between the multiple surface elements located in a position away from the first reflection surface in the vehicle width direction, a dead space that is approximately triangular when viewed in the vehicle front-rear direction is created where no surface element can be formed. Therefore, in the case of the vehicle lighting device described in Patent Document 1, in the dead space where no surface element exists, the first parallel light cannot be emitted to the front side emission surface of the emission wall, and an area where little second parallel light is emitted is created on the emission surface of the emission wall.

The present invention aims to provide a vehicle lighting device that can efficiently emit light from the entire area of the light-guiding member's emission surface.

In order to solve the above problems, the vehicle lighting device according to the present invention employs the following configuration.
That is, the vehicle lighting device according to the present invention includes a light source and a light guiding member that guides light incident from the light source to an exit surface facing a vehicle longitudinal direction, the light guiding member including an entrance portion into which light from the light source is incident, an exit wall having a contour portion extending substantially along a vehicle width direction at least one of above and below the entrance portion, one end side facing the vehicle longitudinal direction being the exit surface, an intermediate light guiding wall that guides the light incident on the entrance portion to the other end side of the exit wall facing the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a first parallel light guiding wall that is disposed in an entrance region of the intermediate light guiding wall and directs the light incident on the entrance portion to the other end side of the exit wall. The present invention is characterized in that the second reflective surface is partitioned into a plurality of surface elements by a plurality of steps whose step ridgelines extend in a direction intersecting a contour line along the contour portion, and the surface elements arranged along the contour line at a position spaced apart from the first reflective surface in the vehicle width direction are partitioned by the steps whose step ridgelines are inclined at a certain angle with respect to the contour line when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

In the above configuration, when light is emitted from the light source, the light is input to the incident portion of the light-guiding member. The light input to the incident portion is guided to the other end of the exit wall as a first parallel light through the intermediate light-guiding wall by internal reflection by the first reflecting surface. The first parallel light guided to the other end of the exit wall is guided to one end of the exit wall as a second parallel light through the exit wall by internal reflection by each surface element of the second reflecting surface, and is emitted to the outside from the exit surface. At this time, the multiple surface elements arranged at a position spaced apart from the first reflecting surface in the vehicle width direction along the contour line are partitioned by a step whose step ridgeline is inclined at a certain angle with respect to the contour line when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Therefore, the multiple surface elements in this region maintain a shape that reflects the first parallel light radially reflected from the first reflecting surface toward the exit surface as a second reflected light, while not creating a dead space between the surface elements that does not contribute to the generation of the second reflected light when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

When a center line in the vehicle width direction passing through the center of the first reflecting surface is used as a reference, the surface element that is positioned within a range in which the central angle centered on the center of the first reflecting surface does not exceed a predetermined angle may be shaped such that the width in the direction along the contour line gradually increases from the side of the first reflecting surface toward the side where the contour line is located when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

As long as the central angle around the center of the first reflecting surface does not exceed a predetermined angle, the number of steps that divide the surface element can be reduced, and the light guide loss at the steps can be reduced. Therefore, when this configuration is adopted, the light emitted from the light source can be efficiently guided to the light exit surface.

In the vehicle lighting device according to the present invention, a plurality of surface elements arranged along a contour line at a position spaced apart in the vehicle width direction from the first reflecting surface are partitioned by a step having a step ridgeline inclined at a certain angle with respect to the contour line when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Therefore, the surface elements in this region maintain a shape that reflects the first parallel light radially reflected from the first reflecting surface as the second reflected light toward the exit surface, while not creating a dead space between the surface elements that does not contribute to the generation of the second reflected light when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction.
Therefore, when the vehicle lighting device according to the present invention is employed, light can be efficiently emitted from the entire area of the emission surface of the light guide member.

1 is a front view of a vehicle lighting device according to an embodiment; 1 is a partially cutaway front view of a vehicle lighting device according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. FIG. FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 4 . FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that in the appropriate places on the drawings, there is an arrow FR pointing forward of the vehicle, an arrow UP pointing upward of the vehicle, and an arrow LH pointing to the left side of the vehicle.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a turn signal lamp 1 which is one embodiment of a vehicle lamp, and Fig. 2 is a front view showing a part of the turn signal lamp 1 in a cutaway manner. Also, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the turn signal lamp 1 taken along line III-III in Fig. 1.
The turn signal lamp 1 shown in the drawings is a turn signal lamp arranged on the front right side of a motorcycle. The turn signal lamp 1 is equipped with a lamp unit 12 including a light emitting element 10 such as an LED as a light source, and a light guiding member 11 made of a transparent resin material such as acrylic resin. The lamp unit 12 is arranged inside a lamp housing 13.

The lamp housing 13 includes a base 13a attached to the vehicle body and a unit housing 13b extending outward in the vehicle width direction from the base 13a. The unit housing 13b opens toward the front of the vehicle, and the lamp unit 12 is housed in the opening 13c. The opening 13c of the unit housing 13b is formed in a generally polygonal shape that is elongated in the vehicle width direction when viewed from the front (a generally pentagonal shape formed by combining a triangle shape with the outer end of a rectangular shape that extends elongated in the vehicle width direction) toward the vehicle width direction. The front side of the opening 13c of the lamp housing 13 is closed by an outer lens 14 that is attached to the front of the unit housing 13b.

As shown in FIG. 3, the outer lens 14 has a generally flat lens main wall 14a disposed in front of the opening 13c, and a peripheral wall 14b protruding rearward from the peripheral edge of the lens main wall 14a. The outer lens 14 is fixed to the lamp housing 13 in this state by a concave-convex engagement, screw fastening, or the like, with the end face of the peripheral wall 14b being abutted against the peripheral edge of the opening 13c of the lamp housing 13. The outer lens 14 is formed from a transparent resin material that allows light to pass through.

The lighting unit 12 includes the light-emitting element 10 described above, a substrate 15 on which the light-emitting element 10 is mounted on the front surface, the light-guiding member 11 described above, and a shielding cover 16 that shields the area at the center of the front surface of the light-guiding member 11 where no light guiding is required.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the light guide member 11, Fig. 5 is a side view of the light guide member 11, Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a part of Fig. 4, and Fig. 7 is a front view of the light guide member 11.
The light guide member 11 includes an incident portion 17 into which light is incident from the light emitting element 10, an exit wall 18 disposed substantially along a portion (upper side 13cu, inclined sides 13ci, 13cj, and lower side 13cl) of the opening 13c of the unit housing portion 13b, and an intermediate light guide wall 19 that guides the light incident into the incident portion 17 to the base side (the other end side) of the exit wall 18. The tip surface of the exit wall 18 facing the vehicle front side is an exit surface 50 that emits the light incident into the incident portion 17 from the light emitting element 10 to the vehicle front side. The exit surface 50 is provided with a diffusion portion 51 having a fine uneven shape for diffusing the light to be emitted to the vehicle front side in multiple directions.

The intermediate light-guiding wall 19 is slightly smaller than the opening 13c of the unit housing section 13b and is formed in a shape similar to the opening 13c when viewed from the front. The intermediate light-guiding wall 19 is a light-guiding wall that stands upright with its front surface facing directly ahead of the vehicle. The incident portion 17 is located in the central region of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 when viewed from the rear. The incident portion 17 bulges in a truncated cone shape from the rear surface of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 toward the rear of the vehicle.

Also, as shown in FIG. 3, abutment seat 40 that abuts against the front surface of the substrate 15 is protrudingly provided on the rear surface of the intermediate light guide wall 19. The substrate 15 is supported by a support rib 39 protruding into the unit accommodating portion 13b of the lamp housing 13, and the abutment seat 40 of the intermediate light guide wall 19 abuts against the front surface of the substrate 15 in this state. Also, a boss portion 41 that penetrates the substrate 15 and the intermediate light guide wall 19 is protrudingly provided in the unit accommodating portion 13b of the lamp housing 13. A screw hole (not shown) is formed on the end surface of the boss portion 41. The shaft portion of a screw 42 that penetrates the shielding cover 16 from the front side is screwed into the screw hole. The shielding cover 16 is fastened to the boss portion 41 by the screw 42, and the intermediate light guide wall 19 is pressed against the substrate 15, thereby fixing the light guide member 11 to the lamp housing 13.

The exit wall 18 rises from the periphery of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 toward the front of the vehicle. The direction in which the exit wall 18 rises is approximately perpendicular to the extension direction of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19. In this embodiment, the exit wall 18 rises from the periphery of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 toward the front of the vehicle, except for the side on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. The exit wall 18 has a curved or bent contour shape so as to surround the outer region of the entrance portion 17 in the vehicle width direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the exit wall 18 has a contour portion OL1 that extends linearly approximately along the vehicle width direction above and below the entrance portion 17, and contour portions OL2 and OL3 that curve and extend downward or upward at each end region on the outer and inner sides in the vehicle width direction.

The tip region of the exit wall 18, which rises from the peripheral portion of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 toward the front of the vehicle, protrudes toward the front of the vehicle beyond the front end surface of the unit accommodating portion 13b of the lamp housing 13, as shown in FIG. 3. In other words, a portion of the outer side surface of the exit wall 18 faces the inner surface of the peripheral wall 14b of the outer lens 14, which is located further forward of the unit accommodating portion 13b.

The entrance region (front region of the entrance portion 17) of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 is provided with a first reflection surface 20 that internally reflects the light that is incident on the entrance portion 17 as a first parallel light L1 that travels toward the base end of the exit wall 18. The first reflection surface 20 is formed of a curved surface of revolution that is recessed toward the rear of the vehicle in a substantially conical shape with respect to the front surface of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19. The curved surface of revolution that constitutes the first reflection surface 20 is a curved surface of revolution about an axis o that passes through the centers of the entrance portion 17 and the light-emitting element 10 (or in the vicinity of each center). The light that is incident on the entrance portion 17 from the light-emitting element 10 is radially internally reflected (total reflected) by the substantially conical first reflection surface 20 and travels inside the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 toward the base end side of the exit wall 18 as the first parallel light L1.
An axis o passing through each center (or near each center) of the incident portion 17 and the light emitting element 10 coincides with a radiation center that radially reflects the incident light from the incident portion 17 when the first reflecting surface 20 is viewed from the front of the vehicle. Hereinafter, the center of the first reflecting surface 20 when viewed from the front of the vehicle may be referred to as the "radiation center o."

The entrance area on the base end side of the exit wall 18 (the outer end area of the intermediate light guide wall 19) is provided with a second reflecting surface 21 that internally reflects the first parallel light L1 that reaches the entrance area as a second parallel light L2 toward the tip end side of the exit wall 18 (toward the front of the vehicle). The second reflecting surface 21 reflects the light (first parallel light L1) that is internally reflected evenly in the radial direction from the substantially conical first reflecting surface 20 as the second parallel light L2 toward the front of the vehicle on the outer periphery side of the intermediate light guide wall 19. For this reason, the second reflecting surface 21 is not a single continuous surface, but is divided into multiple surface elements 21a in the direction along the outer periphery of the intermediate light guide wall 19.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, when the light guide member 11 is viewed from the rear, the line along the upper and lower contour portions OL1 of the exit wall 18 is called the contour line 18L, and the lines along the respective contour portions OL2, OL3 on the outer and inner sides of the contour portion OL1 in the vehicle width direction are called the contour line 18La. The second reflecting surface 21 is divided into a plurality of surface elements 21a by a plurality of steps 22 extending in a direction in which the step ridge line 22r intersects with the contour lines 18L, 18La. Each surface element 21a divided by the steps 22 reflects the first parallel light L1 (see FIG. 3) that has traveled radially from the first reflecting surface 20 toward an area on the exit surface 50 located in front of each surface element 21a as the second parallel light L2 (see FIG. 3).

The multiple surface elements 21a of the second reflecting surface 21 arranged on the base end side of the exit wall 18 are arranged along the contour lines 18L and 18La of the exit wall 18, as shown in Figures 4 to 7. The surface elements 21a-1 arranged directly above and directly below the radiation center o of the first reflecting surface 20 are formed in an isosceles trapezoid shape whose width narrows toward the radiation center o of the first reflecting surface 20. The surface element 21a-2 arranged adjacent to the outer side of the surface element 21a-1 in the vehicle width direction is formed in a trapezoid shape whose entire shape is distortedly inclined toward the outer side of the vehicle width direction. Furthermore, the surface element 21a-3 arranged adjacent to the outer side of the surface element 21a-2 in the vehicle width direction is formed in a trapezoid shape whose entire shape is further distortedly inclined toward the outer side of the vehicle width direction. The surface elements 21a-1, 21a-2, and 21a-3 have gradually narrower widths at the portions in contact with the contour line 18L in this order. The other surface elements 21a, which are positioned further outboard in the vehicle width direction than surface element 21a-3, are formed in a generally rectangular shape with a narrower width in the direction along the contour line 18L than surface elements 21a-1 to 21a-3.

Furthermore, the surface element 21a-4 arranged adjacent to the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the surface element 21a-1 arranged directly above and below the radial center o of the first reflecting surface 20 is formed into a trapezoid shape that is distortedly inclined inward in the vehicle width direction as a whole. Furthermore, the surface element 21a-5 arranged adjacent to the inner side in the vehicle width direction of this surface element 21a-4 is formed into a trapezoid shape that is further distortedly inclined inward in the vehicle width direction as a whole. The surface elements 21a-1, 21a-4, and 21a-5 have gradually narrower widths at the portions that contact the contour line 18L in this order. The other surface elements 21a arranged more inward in the vehicle width direction than the surface element 21a-5 are formed into a substantially rectangular shape whose width in the direction along the contour line 18L is narrower than the surface elements 21a-4 and 21a-5.

In the direction along the contour line 18L, the surface elements 21a-1 to 21a-5 of the exit wall 18 located close to the first reflecting surface 20 are partitioned by steps 22 whose step ridge lines 22r extend toward the radial center o. In other words, the inclination angle of the step ridge lines 22r of each step 22 in this region relative to the contour line 18L of the exit wall 18, which extends roughly along the vehicle width direction, is not constant, but varies from position to position.

The surface elements 21a-1 to 21a-5 in this region are generally trapezoidal in shape, with the width gradually increasing in the direction along the contour line 18L from the first reflecting surface 20 side (the side of the radiation center o) toward the side where the contour line 18L is located, when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction. As shown in Figures 4 and 6, the surface elements 21a formed in this generally trapezoidal shape are positioned within a range in which the central angle around the radiation center o does not exceed a predetermined angle α, when the center line c in the vehicle width direction that passes through the radiation center o (center) of the first reflecting surface 20 is used as a reference. The predetermined angle α is preferably, for example, 45°.

In contrast, in the direction along the contour line 18L, the multiple surface elements 21a of the exit wall 18 that are located at a position away from the first reflecting surface 20 (for example, a position where the central angle centered on the radiation center o exceeds the predetermined angle α) have adjacent step ridges 22r that do not face in the direction of the radiation center o. All surface elements 21a in this area are partitioned by steps 22 with the step ridges 22r inclined at a constant angle with respect to the contour line 18L when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, the inclination angle of the step ridge 22r in this region (the inclination angle with respect to a vertical line perpendicular to the contour line 18L) is larger than the inclination angle of the radial line from each position on the contour line 18L in this region toward the radiation center o. In other words, the inclination angle of the step ridge 22r in this region remains constant and does not change (gradually decrease) even if the intersection position with the contour line 18L is displaced in a direction away from the first reflection surface 20. Therefore, when the light-guiding member 11 is viewed in the vehicle front-rear direction, no dead space that does not contribute to the generation of the second parallel light L2 is formed between adjacent surface elements 21a. However, each surface element 21a in this region is formed in a curved shape that can reflect the light radially guided from the first reflection surface 20 to the front of the vehicle as the second parallel light L2.
In addition, in Figs. 4 and 6, the step 22 and step edge 22r in this region are denoted by the reference symbols 22A and 22Ar in order to distinguish them from the step 22 and step edge 22r in other regions.

In Figure 6, the change in unevenness of the cut surface when the multiple surface elements 21a and the step portion 22 are cut in a direction perpendicular to the axis o is shown by a chain line 60. As shown by this chain line 60, in the direction along the contour line 18L, the bending angle between the multiple surface elements 21a-s of the exit wall 18 located away from the first reflecting surface 20 and the adjacent step portion 22A gradually narrows toward the outside in the vehicle width direction.

Furthermore, the multiple surface elements 21a arranged on each of the contour portions OL2, OL3 on the outer and inner sides in the vehicle width direction of the exit wall 18 are partially defined by step portions 22 whose step ridge lines 22r are inclined at a certain angle with respect to the contour line 18L when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and the remaining portions are partially defined by step portions 22 whose step ridge lines 22r extend toward the direction of the radiation center o when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The step portions 22 arranged in this region have their step ridge lines 22r facing toward the direction of the radiation center o in the portion where no dead space that does not contribute to the generation of the second parallel light L2 occurs between adjacent surface elements 21a when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction.

The turn signal lamp 1 configured as described above can irradiate the light emitted from the light-emitting element 10 to the outside of the vehicle in the following manner.

When light is emitted from the light-emitting element 10 on the substrate 15, the light is input to the incident portion 17 of the light-guiding member 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the light input to the incident portion 17 is guided radially through the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 as first parallel light L1 toward the base end side of the exit wall 18 by internal reflection (total reflection) by the first reflecting surface 20 of the light-guiding member 11. At this time, the first parallel light L1 is guided to the base end side of the entire area of the exit wall 18 that extends approximately along the outer edge of the intermediate light-guiding wall 19.

The first parallel light L1 travels in the radial direction centered on the radiation center o and is internally reflected by each surface element 21a of the second reflecting surface 21 on the base end side of the exit wall 18. The light internally reflected by each surface element 21a is guided as second parallel light L2 toward the exit surface 50 on the tip side of the exit wall 18. The light guided to the exit surface 50 is diffused in multiple directions by the diffusion section 51 and emitted toward the front of the vehicle. The light thus emitted is visible from the front of the vehicle through the outer lens 14.

Furthermore, as described above, there is no dead space between the surface elements 21a of the second reflecting surface 21 that is located along the contour line 18L and away from the first reflecting surface 20, which does not contribute to the generation of the second parallel light L2. Therefore, the light guided to the base end side of the exit wall 18 by the intermediate light-guiding wall 19 is guided as the second parallel light L2 evenly from the surface elements 21a to the exit surface 50 over the entire area along the contour line 18L of the exit wall 18. As a result, an approximately equal amount of light is emitted from the exit surface 50 over the entire area.

Effects of the embodiment
In the turn signal lamp 1 of this embodiment, the multiple surface elements 21a of the second reflecting surface 21 arranged at a position separated from the first reflecting surface 20 along the contour line 18L are partitioned by a step 22 in which a step ridge line 22r is inclined at a certain angle with respect to the contour line 18L when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Therefore, the multiple surface elements 21a in this region maintain a shape that reflects the first parallel light L1 radially reflected from the first reflecting surface 20 as the second parallel light L2 toward the emission surface 50, while not creating a dead space between the surface elements 21a that does not contribute to the generation of the second parallel light L2 when viewed in the vehicle longitudinal direction.
Therefore, when the winker lamp 1 of this embodiment is adopted, light can be efficiently emitted from the entire area of the emission surface 50 of the light-guiding member 11 .

In the turn signal lamp 1 of this embodiment, the surface elements 21a (21a-1 to 21a-5) located in a range in which the central angle about the radiation center o of the first reflecting surface 20 does not exceed the predetermined angle α are shaped so that the width in the direction along the contour line 18L gradually increases from the first reflecting surface 20 side toward the side where the contour line 18L is located when viewed in the vehicle front-rear direction. For this reason, in a range in which the central angle about the radiation center o of the first reflecting surface does not exceed the predetermined angle α, the number of steps 22 that define the surface elements 21a can be reduced, and light guiding loss at the steps 22 can be reduced.
Therefore, when the turn signal lamp 1 of this embodiment is adopted, the light emitted from the light-emitting element 10 can be efficiently guided to the light exit surface 50 .

In particular, when the above-mentioned predetermined angle α is set to 45° as in the example of this embodiment, the inclination angle (inclination angle with respect to the vertical line) of the step edge line 22Ar at a certain angle located in a range exceeding the predetermined angle α can be made sufficiently small. Therefore, when this configuration is adopted, dead space that does not contribute to the generation of the second parallel light L2 is less likely to occur on the exit wall 18.

As described above, the turn signal lamp 1 (vehicle lighting device) of this embodiment can increase the visibility of the light emitted to the outside, thereby stabilizing the quality of the turn signal lamp 1 (vehicle lighting device) and making it possible to contribute to Goal 7 of the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all."

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various design modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, the above embodiment illustrates a turn signal lamp 1 disposed on the front right side of a motorcycle as an example of a vehicle lighting device, but the vehicle lighting device is not limited to this. The vehicle lighting device may be a turn signal lamp disposed on the front left side of the vehicle or a turn signal lamp disposed on the rear of the vehicle. Furthermore, the vehicle lighting device is not limited to a turn signal lamp, and may be a brake lamp, a width light, or any other type of lighting device that irradiates light to the front or rear of the vehicle.

The vehicle to which the vehicle lighting device is applied is not limited to motorcycles, but may be other types of vehicles such as three-wheeled vehicles and four-wheeled vehicles. The vehicle lighting device can also be installed in vehicles that do not have a driving source such as an engine or motor.

The light source of the vehicle mounted device is not limited to an LED, and may be any other type of light source than an LED as long as it can introduce light into the incident portion of the light guide member. Furthermore, the number of light sources is not limited to one, and two or more light sources may be provided.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the exit wall 18 of the light-guiding member 11 has a shape having upper and lower contour portions OL1 extending substantially along the vehicle width direction, and contour portions OL2, OL3 that are inclined and connected to the outer and inner ends of the contour portion OL1 in the vehicle width direction. However, the contour shape of the exit wall 18 of the light-guiding member 11 is not limited to this. The exit wall 18 of the light-guiding member 11 may have a shape having a contour portion 18L that extends substantially along the vehicle width direction at least on one side above and below the entrance portion 17. For example, the exit wall 18 may have a shape having only a contour portion 18L that extends linearly substantially along the vehicle width direction on the upper side or lower side of the entrance portion 17.

1... turn signal lamp (vehicle lamp), 10... light emitting element (light source), 11... light guide member, 12... lamp unit, 13... lamp housing, 13a... base, 13b... unit storage section, 13c... opening, 13cu... upper edge, 13ci, 13cj... inclined edges, 13cl... lower edge, 14... outer lens, 14a... lens main wall, 14b... peripheral wall, 15... substrate, 16... shielding cover, 16a... reflective surface cover section, 17... incident section, 18... exit wall, 18L, 18La... contour line, 19... intermediate guide Light wall, 20...first reflection surface, 21...second reflection surface, 21a, 21a-1, 21a-2, 21a-3, 21a-4, 21a-5, 21a-s...surface element, 22, 22A...step, 22r, 22Ar...step ridge, 23...arc surface, 39...support rib, 40...contact seat, 41...boss, 42...screw, 50...emission surface, 51...diffusion section, c...center line in the vehicle width direction, L1...first parallel light, L2...second parallel light, L3...reflected light, o...axis (radiation center), OL1, OL2, OL3...contour section

Claims (2)

A light source;
a light guiding member that guides the light incident from the light source to an exit surface facing the front-rear direction of the vehicle,
The light guiding member is
an incident portion to which light is incident from the light source;
an exit wall having a contour portion extending substantially along a vehicle width direction at least one of above and below the incident portion, and one end side facing a vehicle front-rear direction is the exit surface;
an intermediate light guiding wall that guides the light incident on the incident portion to another end side of the exit wall that faces the vehicle front-rear direction;
a first reflecting surface disposed in an incident region of the intermediate light-guiding wall, for radially internally reflecting the light incident on the incident portion as a first parallel light beam directed toward the other end side of the exit wall;
a second reflecting surface that is disposed on the other end side of the exit wall and that internally reflects the first parallel light as a second parallel light toward the one end side of the exit wall;
the second reflecting surface is divided into a plurality of surface elements by a plurality of steps each extending in a direction in which a step ridgeline intersects with a contour line along the contour portion,
A vehicle lighting device characterized in that the surface elements arranged along the contour line at a position spaced apart in the vehicle width direction from the first reflective surface are partitioned by the step, whose ridgeline is inclined at a constant angle with respect to the contour line when viewed in the vehicle fore-and-aft direction. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the surface elements positioned within a range in which the central angle centered on the center of the first reflecting surface does not exceed a predetermined angle when a center line in the vehicle width direction passing through the center of the first reflecting surface is used as a reference, have a shape in which the width in the direction along the contour line gradually increases from the side of the first reflecting surface toward the side where the contour line is located when viewed in the vehicle front-rear direction.

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