Patent Application
20220299181
This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-044623, filed on 18 Mar. 2021, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight device.
As a vehicle headlight device, a device has been proposed which inhibits a pedestrian from being dazzled and suitably allows a driver to visually perceive the pedestrian (for example, see Patent Document 1). The vehicle headlight device disclosed in Patent Document 1 detects the distance to the pedestrian by way of a pedestrian detection sensor and reduces an amount of illumination to the upper body of the pedestrian depending on the detected distance.
However, accidents tend to occur more frequently due to failure to notice a pedestrian in front of a vehicle on a straight road section. It is necessary to prevent such failure to notice the pedestrian, but the current vehicle headlight devices do not provide sufficient measures, especially under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and is to provide a vehicle headlight device capable of preventing or reducing failure to notice a pedestrian by a driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
(1) A vehicle headlight device (for example, a vehicle headlight device 1 to be described below) including: a first light irradiator (for example, a first light irradiator 4 to be described below) that irradiates light from a light source (for example, a planar-emission-type light source 11 to be described below) at a first magnification (for example, a first magnification m1 to be described below) in a form of a first radiation pattern (for example, a first radiation pattern P1 to be described below) in which a bright region (for example, a bright region 15 to be described below) and a dark region (for example, a dark region 16 to be described below) are alternately repeated; and a second light irradiator (for example, a low beam irradiator 5 and/or a high beam irradiator 6 to be described below) that irradiates light from a light source (for example, a planar-emission-type light source 11a to be described below) at a second magnification (for example, a second magnification m2 to be described below) in a form of a second radiation pattern (for example, a second radiation pattern P2 to be described below) in which an entire region is a bright region, wherein directivity of the light radiated from the first light irradiator overlaps with directivity of the light radiated from the second light irradiator, and the first magnification is smaller than the second magnification.
(2) In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the first radiation pattern is a stripe pattern (for example, a stripe pattern P1 to be described below) in which the bright region and the dark region are arranged in parallel.
(3) In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the first radiation pattern is a grid-like pattern in which the bright region having a grid shape is formed in the dark region.
(4) In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the first radiation pattern is a checkered pattern (for example, a checkered pattern P1b to be described below) in which the bright region having a rectangular shape and the dark region having a rectangular shape are arranged in a checkered pattern.
(5) In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the first radiation pattern is a rhombic checkered pattern (for example, a rhombic checkered pattern P1c to be described below) in which the bright region having a rhombic shape and the dark region having a rhombic shape are arranged in a checkered pattern.
(6) In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the first light irradiation unit includes a DMD having a micromirror group corresponding to the first radiation pattern.
(7) In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the first light irradiation unit includes a predetermined planar-emission-type light source and a light shielding mask having a pattern corresponding to the first radiation pattern.
(8) In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the second light irradiation unit is a low beam irradiator and/or a high beam irradiator of an own vehicle.
In the vehicle headlight device of (1), the pedestrian appears to flicker from the driver according to the first radiation pattern and the driver instantaneously recognizes the presence of the distant pedestrian, using the light that reaches a long distant at a low magnification from the first light irradiator in a form of the first radiation pattern in which the bright region and the dark region are alternately repeated. Further, using light spreading over a wide region at a high magnification from the second light irradiator in a form of the second radiation pattern in which the entire region is a bright region, the short-distance field of view is illuminated with high illuminance as seen from the driver. Thus, it is possible to prevent or reduce the failure to notice the pedestrian by the driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
In the vehicle headlight device of (2), when the pedestrian is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern, which is a stripe pattern in which the bright region and the dark region are arranged in parallel, the driver can instantaneously recognize the presence of the pedestrian by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
In the vehicle headlight device of (3), when the pedestrian is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern, which is the grid-like pattern in which the grid-like bright region is formed in the dark region, the driver can instantaneously recognize the presence of the pedestrian by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
In the vehicle headlight device of (4), when the pedestrian is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern, which is the checkered pattern in which the rectangular bright region and the rectangular dark region are arranged in a checkered pattern, the driver can instantaneously recognize the presence of the pedestrian by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
In the vehicle headlight device of (5), when the pedestrian is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern, which is the rhombic checkered pattern in which the rhombic bright region and the rhombic dark region are arranged in a checkered pattern, the driver can instantaneously recognize the presence of the pedestrian by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
In the vehicle headlight device of (6), when the light is radiated in the form of the first radiation pattern from the DMD including the micromirror group corresponding to the first radiation pattern in the first light irradiator, the pedestrian appears to flicker to the driver, and the presence of the distant pedestrian is instantaneously recognized according to the first radiation pattern. It is possible to prevent or reduce the failure to notice the pedestrian by the driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
In the vehicle headlight device of (7), when the light is radiated in the form of the first radiation pattern from the first light irradiator including the predetermined planar-emission-type light source and the light shielding mask having the pattern corresponding to the first radiation pattern, the pedestrian appears to flicker from the driver, and the presence of the distant pedestrian is instantaneously recognized according to the first radiation pattern. It is possible to prevent or reduce the failure to notice the pedestrian by the driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (8), the presence of the distant pedestrian is instantaneously recognized by the light radiated from the first light irradiator, while the relatively short-distance field of view is illuminated with high illuminance and the pedestrian is clearly recognized by the light radiated from the second light irradiators.
As will be described below, the first light irradiator 4 irradiates light from a light source 11 at a first magnification m1 in a form of a first radiation pattern P1 in which a bright region 15 and a dark region 16 are alternately repeated. The low beam irradiator 5 irradiates a predetermined low beam light distribution region with light. The high beam irradiator 6 irradiates a predetermined high beam light distribution region with light. Hereinafter, the vehicle 2 including the vehicle headlight devices 1 is appropriately referred to as an own vehicle 2.
The second light irradiator has substantially the same configuration as the first light irradiator 4, and irradiates forward at a second magnification m2 with light emitted from a planar-emission-type light source 11a using a lens 13a having a focal distance f2. Light is radiated from the first light irradiator 4 in a form of the first radiation pattern P1 (expressed by a “patterned light distribution” in the drawing) in which the bright region 15 and the dark region 16 are alternately repeated, and light is radiated from the low beam irradiator 5 and/or the high beam irradiator 6 which are the second light irradiators, in a form of a second radiation pattern P2 in which the entire region is a bright region. The second radiation pattern is a so-called “uniform light distribution”.
In this case, the first light irradiator 4 irradiates light from the light source 11 at the first magnification m1, which is relatively low, that is, with a narrower beam than normal low beam and high beam. The low beam irradiator 5 and/or the high beam irradiator 6, which are the second light irradiators, radiate light from the light source 11a at the second magnification m2, which is relatively high, that is, with a beam having a predetermined spread of a normal low beam and a predetermined spread of a normal high beam.
At this time, directivity of the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4 overlaps with directivity of the light radiated from the second light irradiator 5 or 6. In other words, an irradiation region of the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4 does not completely overlaps an irradiation region of the light radiated from the second light irradiator 5 or 6, but an optical axis of the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4 substantially overlaps with an optical axis of the light radiated from the second light irradiator 5 or 6.
In a short-distance field of view 8 seen from a driver of the vehicle 2, there is no great difference between illuminance due to the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4 and illuminance due to the light radiated from the second light irradiator 5 or 6, and the short-distance field of view 8 is illuminated with high illuminance by the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4 and the second light irradiator 5 or 6. Therefore, the driver clearly and visually confirms a pedestrian 10 who has entered the short-distance field of view 8 on a road on which the vehicle 2 runs.
On the other hand, in a long-distance field of view 9 as seen from the driver of the vehicle 2, the light radiated from the second light irradiator 5 or 6 is diffused and thus illuminance thereof is reduced, but illuminance of the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4 with the narrower beam is maintained. In particular, the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4 has the first radiation pattern P1 in which the bright region 15 and the dark region 16 are alternately repeated. Therefore, the pedestrian 10, who has entered the long-distance field of view 9 on the road on which the vehicle 2 runs, appears to flicker from the driver according to the first radiation pattern, and the presence of the pedestrian 10 is instantaneously recognized. This makes it possible to prevent or reduce the failure to notice pedestrians by the driver over the region from the short-distance field of view 8 to the long-distance field of view 9 on the road on which the vehicle 2 runs.
Then, mental action is induced, the mental action being caused by perception of the object finding by visual confirmation, that is, recognition→discrimination→prediction. From the recognition to the prediction, even when the visually confirmed object is not in the form of matching based on past experience, visually confirmed object is accurately grasped. The elapsed time from the visual confirmation to determination is a mental reflection time in which no action is taken yet.
The person, who is the driver of the vehicle, takes action based on the determination. The action includes shifting his/her foot from an accelerator pedal to a brake pedal (shifting time) and pressing the brake pedal (brake pedal-pressing time). Until the action is taken from the beginning of the visual confirmation, the braking of the vehicle still does not work, and during this time, the vehicle runs idle (idle running time).
When the action of pressing the brake pedal is performed, a braking operation actually occurs in response to such action on a brake system of the vehicle (braking time). In the braking time, main braking (main braking time) is reached after a transient time immediately after the operation.
In order for the driver to visually confirm an object (which may be a pedestrian) on the road, to apply braking to the vehicle, and to ensure the safety of the pedestrian sufficiently, it is necessary to quickly perform early object finding and accurate grasping of the object by the visual conformation.
The inventive idea of the present invention is to promote the early object finding and the accurate grasping of the object as described above using the vehicle headlight device 1 described with reference to
The light shielding mask 12 includes a shielding pattern corresponding to the first radiation pattern P1. In
The configuration of the first light irradiator 4 in the vehicle headlight device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of the embodiment of the present invention, the following effects are obtained.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (1), the driver easily recognizes the presence of the distant (the long-distance field of view 9 as seen from the driver of the vehicle 2) pedestrian 10 by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern, using the light that reaches a long distant at a low magnification from the first light irradiator 4 in a form of the first radiation pattern P1 in which the bright region 15 and the dark region 16 are alternately repeated. Further, using light spreading over a wide region at a high magnification from the low beam irradiator 5 and/or the high beam irradiator 6, which are the second light irradiators, in a form of the second radiation pattern P2 in which the entire region is a bright region, the short-distance field of view 8 as seen from the driver is illuminated with high illuminance. Thus, it is possible to prevent or reduce the failure to notice the pedestrian 10 by the driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (2), when the pedestrian 10 is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern P1, which is a stripe pattern in which the bright region 15 and the dark region 16 are arranged in parallel, the driver can easily recognize the presence of the pedestrian 10 by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (3), when the pedestrian 10 is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern P1a, which is the grid-like pattern in which the grid-like bright region 15 is formed in the dark region 16, the driver can easily recognize the presence of the pedestrian 10 by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (4), when the pedestrian 10 is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern P1b, which is the checkered pattern in which the rectangular bright region 15 and the rectangular dark region 16 are arranged in a checkered pattern, the driver can easily recognize the presence of the pedestrian 10 by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (5), when the pedestrian 10 is irradiated with the light of the first radiation pattern P1c, which is the rhombic checkered pattern in which the rhombic bright region 15 and the rhombic dark region 16 are arranged in a checkered pattern, the driver can easily recognize the presence of the pedestrian 10 by appearing to flicker according to the first radiation pattern.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (6), flickering appears by the light radiated in the form of the first radiation pattern P1 from the DMD including the micromirror group corresponding to the first radiation pattern P1 in the first light irradiator 4, the pedestrian 10, who has entered the long-distance field of view 9, appears to flicker as seen from the driver of the vehicle 2. Thus, the presence of the distant pedestrian 10 is instantaneously recognized from the driver. It is possible to prevent or reduce the failure to notice the pedestrian by the driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (7), flickering appears by the light radiated in the form of the first radiation pattern P1 from the first light irradiator 4 including the predetermined planar-emission-type light source 11 and the light shielding mask 12 having the pattern corresponding to the first radiation pattern P1, and thus the pedestrian 10, who has entered the long-distance field of view 9, appears to flicker as seen from the driver of the vehicle 2. Thus, the presence of the distant pedestrian 10 is instantaneously recognized from the driver. It is possible to prevent or reduce the failure to notice the pedestrian by the driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime and rainy weather.
According to the vehicle headlight device 1 of (8), the presence of the distant pedestrian is instantaneously recognized by the light radiated from the first light irradiator 4, and the relatively short-distance field of view 8 is illuminated with high illuminance and the pedestrian 10 is clearly recognized by the light radiated from the low beam irradiator 5 and/or the high beam irradiator 6 which are the second light irradiators of the own vehicle 2.
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. Within the scope of the present invention, the detailed configuration may be changed as appropriate. For example, a camera may be provided in which an irradiation region of the radiated light of the vehicle headlight device 1 is a field of view to be captured, and the pedestrians and other objects may be detected by the information processing system based on the output of the camera.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-044623 | Mar 2021 | JP | national |
