The present application claims foreign priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. P.2005-027030, filed on Feb. 2, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp characterized in that: the efficiency of utilizing light emitted by a light source is high; the size of the vehicle headlamp is small; and the headlamp is capable of emitting a large quantity of light.
2. Related Art
Disclosed in JP-A-05-159603 a projector type lighting device unit that projects light to a front side of a vehicle.
The projector type lighting device unit irradiates the front side of the lighting device unit with light as follows. Light emitted by a light source, which is arranged in a vicinity on an optical axis extending in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle, is condensed and reflected by a reflector to the front side being concentrated upon the optical axis. The reflected light is irradiated to the front side of the lighting device unit via a projection lens provided in a front portion of the reflector. In the case where a light distribution pattern having a cutoff line in an upper end portion is formed by the lighting device unit, a shade is arranged in a vicinity of a rear side focus of the projection lens. A portion of the reflected light sent from the reflector is shaded by the shade so that the cutoff line is formed.
However, in the vehicle headlamp of JP-A-05-159603, the light emitted by the light source is once reflected by the reflector before the light is incident upon the projection lens, and the reflected light is condensed and incident upon the projection lens. Therefore, when the light is reflected on the reflector, a luminous intensity of the light is attenuated and a quantity of light is reduced. In addition, in the vehicle headlamp of JP-A-05-159603, the light, which is emergent from the light source and reflected on a lower half portion of the reflector, is shaded by the shade for forming the cutoff line. Therefore, only a substantial half of the quantity of the light incident upon the reflector is projected by the projection lens at the most. Accordingly, the efficiency of utilizing light emitted by the light source is low in the vehicle headlamp. It can be said that the light emitted by the light source is not effectively utilized.
One or more embodiments of the present invention provide a vehicle headlamp in which an efficiency of utilizing light emitted by a light source is high; the size of the vehicle headlamp is small; and the vehicle headlamp can emit a large quantity of light.
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, a vehicle headlamp is provided with a light source bulb including a light source for emitting light; a reflector for reflecting the light from the light source; a sub-reflector for reflecting light, which has been reflected by the reflector, onto a front side; and a projection lens for directly projecting the light from the light source onto the front side.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle headlamp may be further provided with a shade, for shading a part of the light emitted by the light source, provided on the light source bulb. The shade is arranged in a vicinity of a rear side focus of the projection lens.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, the shade may include an inclined portion corresponding to a shape of an inclined portion on a cutoff line of a light distribution pattern projected onto the front side.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, a longitudinal direction of the light source bulb may be substantially parallel with a width direction of a vehicle.
Moreover, in accordance with,one or more embodiments of the present invention, the light source may be positioned on a central axis of the projection lens.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle headlamp may be further provided with a reflector support member provided in a lower portion of the reflector; and an opening formed in the reflector support member. A reflecting face of the reflector has a first focus at a position in a vicinity of the light source and a second focus in a vicinity of the opening.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, the light source bulb may be inclined with respect to the vehicle width direction.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, a longitudinal direction of the light source bulb may be inclined to an upper side at a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal face including the vehicle width direction, and the predetermined angle may correspond to an angle of inclination of an inclined portion on a cutoff line of a light distribution pattern projected onto the front side.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, the sub-reflector may have an oblique cutoff line formation face for forming an inclined portion on a cutoff line, which is projected onto the front side, by obliquely reflecting an image of the light source.
Moreover, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle headlamp may be further provided with a reflector support member provided in a lower portion of the reflector; and a first opening and a second opening both formed in the reflector support member. A reflecting face of the reflector includes a first reflecting region having a focus in a vicinity of the first opening, and a second reflecting region having a focus in a vicinity of the second opening.
According to the headlamp of one or more embodiments of the present invention, light emitted by the light source is not reflected by the reflector but directly irradiated to the front side via the projection lens. Therefore, a luminous intensity of light is not attenuated on the reflecting face of the reflector. Accordingly, it becomes possible to irradiate a large quantity of light to the front side. Further, according to the vehicle headlamp of one or more embodiments of the present invention, not only light is irradiated to the front side via the projection lens but also the light incident upon the reflector is reflected to the sub-reflector and irradiated to the front side by the sub-reflector. Therefore, it is possible to recover the light, which is not incident upon the projection lens, and to project it to the front side. Due to the foregoing, it is possible to compose a vehicle headlamp in which the light emergent from the light source can be recovered as much as possible so as to enhance the utilizing efficiency and an optical system, the light quantity of which is large, is composed.
In addition, according to the headlamp of one or more embodiments of the present invention, the reflector is not needed for the component to compose the optical system which guides light to the projection lens. Accordingly, it is possible to shorten the length of a lighting device unit in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle. Therefore, the size of the vehicle headlamp can be reduced. Even in the case where the reflector is provided in the lighting device, when the position of the second focus is located at a position under the position of the first focus, it is possible to shorten the length of the reflector in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Due to the foregoing, even in the case where the reflector is provided in the lighting device, it is possible to propose a vehicle headlamp, the length in the longitudinal direction of which is shorter than that of the conventional vehicle headlamp.
Further, in the structure, light incident upon the projection lens is directly incident upon the projection lens without being reflected on the reflector. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the size of the shade. Light incident upon the reflector is not shaded by the shade but reflected toward the sub-reflector. After that, the light is irradiated to the front side being reflected by the sub-reflector. Accordingly, an area exclusively occupied by the shade can be remarkably reduced as compared with that of the conventional structure. Further, light not incident upon the projection lens can be recovered and projected to the front side. Due to the foregoing, it is possible to,compose a vehicle headlamp in which the light emergent from the light source can be recovered as much as possible so as to enhance the utilizing efficiency and compose an optical system, the light quantity of which is large.
In addition, in the vehicle headlamp of one or more embodiments of the present invention, a shade for shading a portion of the light emitted by the light source may be arranged on the light source bulb.
The shape may have an inclined portion, the shape of which corresponds to the shape of the cutoff line of the light distribution pattern projected to the front side. In this case, it is possible to form a light distribution pattern having a cutoff line in which an inclined portion is formed when light emitted by the light source is appropriately shaded by the shade.
In the case of a light source bulb having a shade in which no inclined portion is formed, the light source bulb may be obliquely attached. Even in this case, it is possible to form a light distribution pattern having a cutoff line in which an inclined portion is provided.
It is possible to form an oblique cutoff line formation face on the sub-reflector and to form a light distribution pattern having a cutoff line in which an inclined portion is formed by light reflected by the oblique cutoff line formation face.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.
Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, explanations will be made into a vehicle head lamp according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The headlamp 10 for vehicle use of this embodiment is composed as follows. There is provided a lighting device unit 20 for emitting light into the lighting chamber 10a which is defined by the lamp body 12 and the cover 14 having a light transmitting property attached to the lamp body 12 so that the cover 14 can cover a front face opening of this lamp body 12. In the periphery of the lighting unit 20, the extension 13 is arranged.
The lighting device unit 20 is tiltably attached to the lamp body 12 via the aiming mechanism 50. The aiming mechanism 50 is composed in such a manner that one end portions of a plurality of aiming screws 17, 17 are attached to the brackets 18, 18, which are provided on the outer surface 20a of the lighting device unit 20, via the nuts 19, 19 and the other end portions of the plurality of aiming screws 17, 17 are fixed to the lamp body 12 side. This aiming mechanism 50 provided for making a fine adjustment of the attaching angle of the lighting device unit 20 with respect to the lamp body 12. When the attaching angle of the lighting device unit 20 is finely adjusted, an optical axis of light emergent from the lighting device unit 20 can be adjusted.
The lighting device unit 20 is a mono-focus projector type lighting device unit. As shown in
As shown in
This shade 23 includes an upper end edge 23a, the shape of which corresponds to the shape of the cutoff line of the light distribution pattern irradiated to the front side. Specifically, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As a result, as shown in
The projection lens 28 directly projects light emergent from the light source 22a of the light source bulb 22 provided in the reflector 24. As shown in
The reflector support member 26 is provided in a lower portion of the reflector 24. The reflector support member 26 is fixed to a lower end face of the reflector 24 in such a manner that the reflector support member 26 closes a lower portion of the reflector 24 with the base body 26a, the shape of which is formed into a substantially elliptical plate shape corresponding to the lower end face of the reflector 24. The sub-reflector 30 protruding from the base body 26a is formed being integrated with the reflector support member 26.
The sub-reflector 30 is a reflecting member for reflecting light, which has been reflected by the reflecting face 24a of the reflector 24, to the front side. An opening 27 is formed in the base body 26a of the reflector support member 26. A second focus P2 of the reflector 24 is positioned in the vicinity of this opening 27. Light reflected on the reflecting face 24a of the reflector 24 is condensed in the vicinity of the second focus P2 close to this opening 27 and incident upon the sub-reflector 30 and reflected by the sub-reflector 30 to the front side.
As shown in
Next, the light distribution pattern projected to the front side by the headlamp 10 for vehicle use of this embodiment will be specifically explained below. The light distribution pattern of this embodiment corresponds to a left light distribution in the case where a vehicle is driven on the left.
In this embodiment, as shown in
First of all, the first light distribution pattern 41 shown in
Next, the second light distribution pattern 42 shown in
Next, the third light distribution pattern 43 shown in
Next, the fourth light distribution pattern 44 shown in
As described above, in this embodiment, when the first to the fourth light distribution pattern 41 to 44 are overlapped on each other, the light distribution pattern 50 shown in
As explained above, the headlamp 10 for vehicle use of this embodiment includes: a light source bulb 22 having a light source 22a from which light is emergent; a reflector 24 for reflecting light emergent from the light source 22a; a sub-reflector 30 for reflecting light reflected on the reflector 24; and a projection lens 28 for directly projecting light of the light source to the front side, wherein these light source bulb 22, reflector 24, sub-reflector 30 and projection lens 28 are arranged in the light chamber 10a composed of the lamp body 12 and the lens cover 14.
As described above, according to the headlamp 10 of the present embodiment, light emitted by the light source 22a is not reflected by the reflector but directly irradiated to the front side via the projection lens 28. Therefore, light is not attenuated on the reflecting face of the reflector. Accordingly, it becomes possible to irradiate a large quantity of light to the front side. Further, according to the headlamp 10 of the present embodiment, not only light is irradiated to the front side via the projection lens 28 but also the light incident upon the reflector 24 is reflected to the sub-reflector 30 and irradiated to the front side by the sub-reflector 30. Therefore, it is possible to recover the light which is not incident upon the projection lens 28, and it is possible to project it to the front side. Due to the foregoing, it is possible to compose a vehicle headlamp in which the light emergent from the light source can be recovered as much as possible so as to enhance the utilizing efficiency and compose an optical system, the light quantity of which is large.
According to the headlamp 10 of the present embodiment, the reflector is not needed for the component to compose the optical system which guides light to the projection lens 28. Accordingly, it is possible to shorten the length of the lighting device unit 20 in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle and the size of the headlamp 10 for vehicle use can be reduced. In this embodiment, the reflector 24 is provided in the lighting device, however, when the position of the second focus P2 is located at a position under the position of the first focus P1, it is possible to shorten the length of the reflector 24 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Due to the foregoing, even in the case where the reflector 24 is provided in the lighting device, it is possible to propose a headlamp 10 for vehicle use, the length in the longitudinal direction of which is shorter than that of the conventional vehicle headlamp.
In the headlamp 10 of the present embodiment, the shade 23 for shading a portion of the light emergent from the light source 22a is arranged on the light source bulb 22b, and the shade 23 is located in the vicinity of the rear focus P3 of the projection lens 28. Further, the shade 23 has an inclined portion 23b, the shape of which corresponds to the shape of the cutoff line of the light distribution pattern projected to the front side. Accordingly, it is possible to form a light distribution pattern in which the light emergent from the light source 22a is appropriately shaded by the shade 23 and the inclined portion is formed on the cutoff line.
In the head lamp 10 for vehicle use of the present embodiment, light incident upon the projection lens 28 is directly incident upon the projection lens 28 without reflecting on the reflector 24. Therefore, when the shade 23 is arranged in the vicinity of the light source 22a, the size of the shade 23 can be reduced. Light incident upon the reflector 24 is not interrupted by the shade 23 but reflected toward the sub-reflector 30 and then irradiated to the front side. Accordingly, an area exclusively occupied by the shade 23 can be remarkably reduced as compared with that of the conventional structure. Further, light not incident upon the projection lens 28 can be recovered and projected to the front side. Due to the foregoing, it is possible to compose a headlamp 10 for vehicle use in which the light emergent from the light source 22a can be recovered as much as possible so as to enhance the utilizing efficiency and compose an optical system, the light quantity of which is large.
Next, referring to
The vehicle headlamp of this embodiment includes a lighting device unit 120 in which the light source bulb 122 and the reflector 124 are provided instead of the light source bulb 22 and the reflector 24 of the first embodiment.
The light source bulb 122 is a discharging bulb such as a metal halide bulb. In this discharging bulb, light is emitted by the light source 122a composed of a discharging light emitting portion provided inside the bulb tube 122b. As shown in the enlarged view of
This shade 123 includes an upper end edge 123a, the shape of which corresponds to the shape of the cutoff line of the light distribution pattern irradiated to the front side. In this embodiment, the upper end edge 123a of the shade 123 is formed so that it can be substantially parallel with the axial direction of the light source bulb 122.
The reflector 124 is a reflecting member having a substantially ellipsoidal reflecting face 124a inside. The reflector 124 reflects light, which is emergent from the light source 122a of the light source bulb 122 provided inside the reflector 124, by the reflecting face 124a on the inner diameter side.
As shown in
The holder 125a holds the light source bulb 122 so that the longitudinal direction (the axial direction) of the light source bulb 122 can form an angle of α (a predetermined angle) to the upper side with respect to the horizontal face including the width direction of a vehicle. Due to the foregoing, the upper end edge 123a of the shade 123 of the light source bulb 122 can be inclined by the angle of α with respect to the horizontal face.
Since the light source bulb 122 is inclined, the light emergent from this light source 122a is projected by the projection lens 28 while an image of the light source 122a is being inverted under the condition that the image is inclined. Accordingly, as shown in
As explained above, even when the shade 23, the shape of which corresponds to the shape of the cutoff line, is provided in the light source bulb 122 like the first embodiment, it is possible to form an inclined portion of the cutoff line when the light source bulb. 122 is arranged being inclined with respect to the vehicle width direction like this embodiment.
Next, referring to FIGS. 11 to 14F, a vehicle headlamp of a third embodiment of the present invention will be explained below.
Instead of the reflector 24 and the reflector support member 26 of the first embodiment, the vehicle headlamp of the present embodiment includes a lighting device unit 220 having a reflector 224 and a reflector support member 226.
The reflector 224 is a reflecting member having a substantially ellipsoidal reflecting face 224a inside. The reflector 224 reflects light, which is emergent from the light source 222a of the light source bulb 222 provided inside the reflector 224, by the reflecting face 224a on the inner diameter side. In the reflector 224, the opening 224b, the sectional shape of which is substantially circular, is formed on the front side. The projection lens 28 is attached to the reflector 224 so that this opening 224b can be covered with the projection lens 28.
As shown in
The reflector support member 226 is provided in a lower portion of the reflector 224. The reflector support member 226 is fixed to a lower end face of the reflector 224 in such a manner that the reflector support member 226 closes a lower portion of the reflector 224 with the base body 226a, the shape of which is formed into a substantially elliptical plate shape corresponding to the lower end face of the reflector 224. The sub-reflector 230 protruding from the base body 226a is formed below the reflector support member 226 being integrated with the reflector support member 226.
The sub-reflector 230 is a reflecting member for reflecting light, which has been reflected by the reflecting face 224a of the reflector 224, to the front side. As shown in
The reflecting face 224a of the reflector 224 is divided into the first reflecting region and the second reflecting region, that is, one portion of the reflecting face 224a is the first reflecting region for reflecting light to the fourth focus P4 provided in the vicinity of the first opening 227 and the other portion of the reflecting face 224a is the second reflecting region for reflecting light to the fifth focus P5 provided in the vicinity of the second opening 228. That is, the first reflecting region composes an elliptical reflecting optical system in which the light source 222a is one focus and the fourth focus P4 is the other focus. The second reflecting region composes an elliptical reflecting optical system in which the light source 222a is one focus and the fifth focus P5 is the other focus. The reflecting face 24a can be arbitrarily divided into the first reflecting region and the second reflecting region. For example, the reflecting face 24a may be divided into two reflecting regions by a certain boundary. Light reflected on the reflecting face 24a of the reflector 24 passes through the first opening 227 or the second opening 228 and is incident upon the sub-reflector 230 and reflected to the front side by the sub-reflector 230.
As shown in
Four reflecting faces 231 arranged on the central side project light under the condition that light is somewhat diffused to the front side. The light distribution pattern, which is made by the four reflecting faces 232 provided on one side of the reflecting face 231 being adjacent, is overlapped on the light distribution pattern formed by the reflecting faces 231. On these two light distribution patterns, the light distribution pattern, which is made by the reflecting faces 233 and 234 being adjacent onto the other side of the reflecting face 231, is further overlapped.
The reflecting face 233 is arranged forming an angle with respect to the reflecting faces 231 and 232. The reflecting face 234 is formed in such a manner that an upper and a lower portion of the reflecting face 233 are filled by the reflecting face 234. The reflecting face 233 is a reflecting face for forming an inclined portion on the cutoff line. An image of the light source 222a, a portion of which is shaded, is incident upon the reflecting face 233 through the second opening 228. When the image is obliquely incident to the front side, an inclined portion can be formed.
Explanations will be specifically made into a light distribution pattern formed by this lighting device unit 220.
In this embodiment, as shown in
First of all, the first light distribution pattern 241 shown in
Next, the second light distribution pattern 242 shown in
Next, the third light distribution pattern 243 shown in
Next, the fourth light distribution pattern 244 shown in
Next, the fifth light distribution pattern 245 shown in
As described above, in the present embodiment, when the first to the fifth pattern 241 to 245 are overlapped on each other, the light distribution pattern 250 shown in
As explained above, the inclined portion of the cutoff line may be formed by the reflecting face of the sub-reflector 230. When the inclined portion of the cutoff line is formed, as described above, it becomes possible to provide a vehicle headlamp capable of forming a light distribution pattern having a cutoff line provided with an inclined portion without using a special light source bulb or paying attention to an attaching angle of the light source bulb.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the described preferred embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover all modifications and variations of this invention consistent with the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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P. 2005-027030 | Feb 2005 | JP | national |