Vehicle lamp

Abstract

A vehicle headlamp 10 is provided with an upper stage light source unit 20, a middle stage light source unit 40, a lower stage light source unit 60. The upper stage light source unit 20, the middle stage light source unit 40, the lower stage light source unit 60 are provided at a lamp body 14 constituting a lamp member by way of a support member 15, and a light distribution pattern for low beam is formed on a front side of a vehicle by overlapping light from the respective light source units 20, 40, 60. The middle stage light source unit 40 is supported to be able to change the optical axis independently from the other light source units 20, 60.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vehicle headlamp according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along a line II-II of the vehicle headlamp according to the exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a first subunit (second subunit) provided at an upper stage light source unit.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a third subunit provided at a middle stage light source unit.

FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b) illustrate horizontal sectional views of the third subunit (fourth subunit).

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a lower stage light source unit.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing a fifth subunit of the lower stage light source unit.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view showing a sixth subunit of the lower stage light source unit.

FIG. 9 is a top view of the lower stage light source unit.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a light distribution pattern for low beam formed by the vehicle headlamp of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a light distribution pattern for high beam formed by the vehicle headlamp of the embodiment.

FIGS. 12( a) to 12(d) illustrate schematic sectional views showing a relationship between the third subunit and a light distribution pattern.

FIGS. 13( a) to 13(d) illustrate other schematic sectional views showing the relationship between the third subunit and the light distribution pattern.

FIGS. 14( a) to 14(h) illustrate views showing a relationship between pivoting movement and a light distribution pattern when a diverging member is provided at a light source unit of a directly emitted type.

FIG. 15 is a control block diagram showing a control related to the vehicle headlamp of the embodiment and switching ON/OFF thereof.

FIG. 16 is a table showing a pattern of controlling to switch ON/OFF by a switch ON/OFF controller.

FIGS. 17( a) to 17(d) illustrate schematic views showing examples of realizing light distribution patterns in AFS.

FIGS. 18( a) to 18(c) illustrate schematic views showing examples of realizing light distribution patterns in AFS.

Claims

1. A vehicle headlamp comprising: a plurality of light source units, each light source unit including a light source and an optical member for irradiating light from the light source along an optical axis; anda lamp member that supports the plurality of light source units, wherein a light distribution pattern for a low beam is formed on a front side of a vehicle by overlapping lights from the respective light source units;wherein at least one of the plurality of light source units is an optical axis variable light source unit supported by the lamp member so as to be able to change the optical axis independently from the other optical axes of the other light source units.

2. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis variable light source unit forms a light converging region having a skewed cutoff line in the light distribution pattern for the low beam.

3. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis variable light source unit changes a position of the light converging region between a center of the front side of the vehicle and a side of the front side of the vehicle by moving the optical axis substantially in a horizontal direction.

4. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis variable light source unit is a light source unit of a directly emitting type, wherein a projecting lens is provided as the optical member, the light source is arranged at a vicinity of a focal point of the projecting lens, and light from the light source is directly irradiated to the front side.

5. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis variable light source unit is a light source unit of a reflecting type including a projecting lens and a reflector for reflecting light from the light source to a vicinity of a focal point of the projecting lens as the optical members for irradiating light reflected from the reflector to the front side.

6. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis variable light source unit is constituted to be able to increase or reduce an outputted light amount.

7. A vehicle headlamp comprising: a plurality of light source units, each light source unit including a light source and an optical member for irradiating light from the light source along an optical axis; anda lamp member that supports the plurality of light source units, wherein a light distribution pattern for a low beam is formed on a front side of a vehicle by overlapping lights from the respective light source units;wherein at least one of the plurality of light source units is an optical axis variable light source unit pivotably supported by the lamp member to move the optical axis substantially along a horizontal face;wherein the optical axis variable light source unit is provided with a diverging member for diverging light emitted from the light source between the projecting lens and the light source; andwherein light is diverged by the diverging member when the optical axis variable light source unit is pivoted and the optical axis is moved to irradiate light to a side of the front side of the vehicle from a position of irradiating light from a center of the front side of the vehicle.

8. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 7, wherein the diverging member is a prism diverging lens in which a wall thickness thereof along a direction of propagating light is thickened as being remote from the optical axis.

9. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 7, wherein the diverging member is a step diverging lens formed with a plurality of steps.

10. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 7, wherein the optical axis variable light source unit forms a light converging region having a skewed cutoff line in the low beam light distribution pattern.