This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-018311, filed on 8 February, 2022, 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 whereby a driver can visually check for pedestrians well, while suppressing dazing of pedestrians (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). The vehicle headlight device of Patent Document 1 configures so as to reduce the illumination amount on the upper body of pedestrians according to the distance to the pedestrian acquired from a pedestrian detection sensor.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No.2013-184614
However, there is a tendency for accidents increasing due to overlooking a pedestrian in front of a vehicle in a straight road. Although it should be made such overlooking of pedestrians does not occur, the existing vehicle headlight devices are not sufficient means under adverse conditions such as nighttime or rain at night in particular.
The present invention has been made taking account of the above such situation, and has an object of providing a vehicle headlight device which can improve overlooking of pedestrians by a driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime or rain at night.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a vehicle headlight device (for example, the vehicle headlight device 1 described later) includes: a left-side photoirradiator (for example, the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L as the left-side photoirradiator described later) provided at a left side of a vehicle so as to irradiate light onto a predetermined light distribution region (for example, the light distribution region 16 described later) of the vehicle (for example, the vehicle 2 described later) in a first irradiation pattern in which a bright region (for example, the bright region a1 described later) and a dark region (for example, the dark region a2 described later) are alternately repeated; and a right-side photoirradiator (for example, the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R as the right-side photoirradiator described later) provided at a right side of the vehicle so as to irradiate light onto the light distribution region in a second irradiation pattern in which a bright region and a dark region are alternately repeated.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle headlight device as described in the first aspect, the first irradiation pattern and the second irradiation pattern are identical irradiation patterns (for example, the irradiation pattern Pf described later).
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle headlight device as described in the first aspect, the first irradiation pattern (for example, the first irradiation pattern Pf1 described later) is an irradiation pattern such that first bright regions (for example, the first bright regions all described later) are arranged in parallel, and the second irradiation pattern (for example, the second irradiation pattern Pf2 described later) is an irradiation pattern such that second bright regions (for example, the second bright regions a12 described later) which intersect the first bright region are arranged in parallel.
With the vehicle headlight device according to the first aspect, by at least any of the irradiation light of the first irradiation pattern from the left-side photoirradiator or the irradiation light of the second irradiation pattern from the right-side photoirradiator, the light/dark pattern in which the bright part and dark part are alternately repeated moves within the silhouette of the moving pedestrian. The presence of the pedestrian during movement is thereby easily recognized from the driver. Overlooking of pedestrians by the driver can be improved even under adverse conditions such as nighttime or rain at night.
With the vehicle headlight device according to the second aspect, the first irradiation pattern and second irradiation pattern are the same irradiation pattern. For this reason, the phase difference at the position of the pedestrian depending on the interval of projection positions between the irradiation light from the left-side photoirradiator and the irradiation light from the right-side photoirradiator is clearly recognizable without causing a mistake due to different irradiation patterns. Therefore, an aspect of the light/dark pattern in which the bright part and dark part are alternately repeated is clearly seen within the silhouette of the moving pedestrian. The presence of the pedestrian during movement is thereby much more reliably recognized from the driver.
With the vehicle headlight device according to the third aspect, the first irradiation pattern is an irradiation pattern such that the first bright regions are arranged in parallel, and the second irradiation pattern is an irradiation pattern such that the second bright regions intersecting the first bright regions are arranged in parallel. For this reason, the phase difference at the position of the pedestrian according to the interval of projection positions between the irradiation light of the first irradiation pattern from the left-side photoirradiator and the irradiation light of the second irradiation pattern from the right-side photoirradiator is clearly recognized without one irradiation pattern causing a mistake due to the other irradiation pattern. Therefore, an aspect of the light/dark pattern in which the bright part and dark part are alternately repeated is clearly seen within the silhouette of the moving pedestrian. The presence of the pedestrian during movement is thereby much more reliably recognized from the driver.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained while referencing the drawings. It should be noted that light distribution area in the following explanation is the irradiation area of light, and irradiation pattern is an irradiation shape of light in the light distribution area.
The turn signal lamp 3 is a normal lamp of this type. In an irradiation pattern in which a bright area and dark area are alternately repeated, the pattern irradiation lamp 4 irradiates this irradiation pattern in the light distribution region of the vehicle. The low beam lamp 5 irradiates light in a predetermined light distribution area of a low beam. The high beam lamp 6 irradiates light in a predetermined light distribution area of a high beam. It should be noted that the vehicle 2 equipped with the vehicle headlight device 1 is abbreviated as one’s own vehicle 2 as appropriate hereinafter.
It should be noted that, in practice, between the light emitter drive circuit 411 and surface emitting element 412 of the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L, and between the light emitter drive circuit 421 and surface emitting element 422 of the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R are arranged to be separated, and are linked by a harness. By configuring in this way, between the light emitter drive circuit and surface emitting element are thermally isolated.
The light emitter drive circuit 411 of the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L supplies the element drive signal Eds to the surface emitting element 412 in response to the startup command signal Scs supplied from the lamp control ECU which is not illustrated. The surface emitting element 412 emits light in response to the element drive signal Eds. By the emission of the surface emitting element 412, the left-side irradiation light PLL of the first irradiation pattern is irradiated towards the light distribution region 16 described later, through the shading mask 413 and projection optical system 414.
The light emitter drive circuit 421 of the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R supplies the element drive signal Eds to the surface emitting element 422 in response to the startup command signal Scs supplied from the lamp control ECU which is not illustrated. The surface emitting element 422 emits light in response to the element drive signal Eds. By the emission of the surface emitting element 422, the right-side irradiation light PLR of the second irradiation pattern is irradiated toward the light distribution region 16, through the shading mask 423 and projection optical system 424. It should be noted that the first irradiation pattern and second irradiation pattern are the same irradiation pattern, as mentioned above.
The general visual property of a person exhibits a tendency whereby shapes are clearly visible but reaction to movement is delayed, in the center field of view 8. The left peripheral field of view 9 and right peripheral field of view 10 exhibit a tendency whereby shapes are vague, but reaction to movement is fast, i.e. sensitivity to motion is high. The vehicle headlight device 1 of the present invention is based on the idea of actively using the aforementioned such visual property of a person.
As in
As in
The inventors, etc. have already proposed technology which quickly captures the presence of a pedestrian 15, by irradiating light from the vehicle headlight device 1 in a stripe-like or grid-like irradiation pattern in which a bright area and dark area are alternately repeated. When irradiating light in the aforementioned such irradiation pattern, acting as if irradiating light which effectively blinks, the presence of the pedestrian 15 is obviously recognized in the peripheral field of view (left-peripheral field of view 9 in
The inventors, etc. further obtained knowledge in the course of repeating experiments that, in the case of the pedestrian 15 moving, there is a problem in that the bright region and dark region do not relatively move within the silhouette of the pedestrian 15, and a phenomenon occurs whereby the driver is hardly aware of the pedestrian 15. In one embodiment of the present invention, this problem is solved by projecting the irradiation light of the irradiation pattern Pf from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R, as in
In other words, from the left-side irradiation light PLL from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and the right-side irradiation light PLR from the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R, irradiation lights of the same irradiation pattern Pf are projected so as to intersect at the target region 15a assumed in front of the vehicle 2. The shape of the irradiation pattern Pf is decided by the shading mask 413 of the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and the shading mask 423 of the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R; however, both assume a shape in which the bright region a1 and dark region a2 are alternately repeated.
Although the aforementioned explains a case in which the irradiation patterns Pf from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R are the same, the present invention can assume another embodiment differing from this.
Even if an irradiation pattern in which the bright region and dark region are alternately repeated as mentioned above, in the case of the pedestrian 15 being during movement, a phenomenon occurs in which bright regions and dark regions do not relatively move within the silhouette of the pedestrian 15, and the driver is hardly aware of the pedestrian 15. Regarding this phenomenon, first, a case of an embodiment in which the irradiation patterns Pf from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R will be explained by referencing
In the case of the irradiation pattern Pf of
In addition, the light/dark pattern 20 moves within the silhouette 21 of the pedestrian 15, and the bright part 18 repeatedly crosses the eye 22 of the pedestrian 15. For this reason, the pedestrian 15 receives stimulus from the flickering of light, and obviously recognizes the presence of the vehicle 2. Therefore, it is possible to improve overlooking of the pedestrian 15 by the driver even under adverse conditions such as nighttime or rain at night, and possible for the pedestrian 15 to be quickly aware of the approach of the vehicle 2.
In contrast, in the case of irradiating the pedestrian 15 during movement with the irradiation light of the irradiation pattern Ps from a single pattern irradiation lamp, unrelated to the present invention in
In addition, the light/dark pattern 20 does not move within the silhouette 21 of the pedestrian 15, and the dark part 19 may continue to remain at a position of the eye 22 of the pedestrian 15. For this reason, the pedestrian 15 does not receive stimulus from the flickering of light, and is hardly aware of the existence of the vehicle 2.
However, due to always viewing the direction of the same angle as viewing the vehicle 2a from the vehicle 2 (45 degrees in case of
When considering such a collision course phenomenon, a phenomenon similar thereto is considered to occur for the light/dark pattern 20 of the irradiation pattern Ps from the single pattern irradiation lamp on the pedestrian 15 in
In contrast, when projecting the left-side irradiation light PLL from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and the right-side irradiation light PLR from the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R so that the phases of the irradiation patterns overlap and intersect in the target region 15a assumed ahead of the vehicle 2, the optical axis of the left-side irradiation light PLL and right-side irradiation light PLR differ in angles of tilt in a plan view. Therefore, either one of the left-side irradiation light PLL and right-side irradiation light PLR is an irradiation pattern of a phase deviating from the phase exhibiting the aforementioned such collision course phenomenon. For this reason, synchronization between the aforementioned such relative displacement of the light/dark pattern 20 within the silhouette 21 of the pedestrian 15 and the displacement of the silhouette 21 itself of the pedestrian 15 can be avoided, and the problem such as that explained referencing
In particular, in the case of the light/dark pattern 20 of the irradiation patterns Ps of the left-side irradiation light PLL and right-side irradiation light PLR being the same, since the phase of the same light/dark pattern 20 shift within the silhouette 21 of the pedestrian 15, visual recognition of the irradiation pattern Ps of either one of the left-side irradiation light PLL and right-side irradiation light PLR is not inhibited by the irradiation pattern Ps of the other one of the left-side irradiation light PLL and right-side irradiation light PLR, and is recognized as movement of the same irradiation pattern Ps.
In contrast, in the case of the other embodiment of the present invention as in
The configuration of the pattern irradiation lamp 4 in the headlight device for vehicles 1 of the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment of
According to the headlight device for vehicles 1 of the present embodiment, the following effects are exerted.
(1) The headlight device for vehicles 1 includes the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L as the left-side light irradiator provided on the left side of the vehicle 2 so as to irradiate light in a predetermined light distribution region 16 of the vehicle 2 in a first irradiation pattern in which the bright region and dark region are alternately repeated; and the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R as the right-side light irradiation provided on the right side of the vehicle irradiating light in the light distribution region 16 in the second irradiation pattern in which the bright region a1 and dark region a2 are alternately repeated. By at least any of the irradiation light of the first irradiation pattern from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L or the irradiation light of the second irradiation pattern from the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R, the light/dark pattern 20 in which the bright part 18 and dark part 19 are alternately repeated moves within the silhouette 21 of the moving pedestrian 15. The presence of the pedestrian 15 during movement is thereby easily recognized from the driver. Overlooking of pedestrians by the driver can be improved even under adverse conditions such as nighttime or rain at night. In addition, it is possible to cause the pedestrian 15 to quickly notice the presence of the vehicle 2 by configuring for the irradiation light to enter the eye 22.
(2) With the vehicle headlight device 1, the first irradiation pattern and second irradiation pattern are the same irradiation pattern Pf. The phase difference at the position of the pedestrian 15 depending on the interval of projection positions between the left-side irradiation light PLL from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and the right-side irradiation light PLR from the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R is clearly recognizable without causing a mistake due to different irradiation patterns. Therefore, an aspect of the light/dark pattern 20 in which the bright part 18 and dark part 19 are alternately repeated is clearly seen within the silhouette 21 of the moving pedestrian 15. The presence of the pedestrian 15 during movement is thereby much more reliably recognized from the driver.
(3) With the vehicle headlight device 1, the first irradiation pattern Pf1 is an irradiation pattern such that the first bright regions all are arranged in parallel, and the second irradiation pattern Pf2 is an irradiation pattern such that the second bright regions a12 intersecting the first bright regions all are arranged in parallel. The phase difference at the position of the pedestrian 15 according to the interval of projection positions between the irradiation light of the first irradiation pattern Pf1 from the left-side pattern irradiation lamp 4L and the irradiation light of the second irradiation pattern Pf2 from the right-side pattern irradiation lamp 4R is clearly recognized without one irradiation pattern causing a mistake due to the other irradiation pattern. Therefore, an aspect of the light/dark pattern 20 in which the bright part 18 and dark part 19 are alternately repeated is clearly seen within the silhouette 21 of the moving pedestrian 15. The presence of the pedestrian 15 during movement is thereby much more reliably recognized from the driver.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2022-018311 | Feb 2022 | JP | national |