This application claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012.179008 filed on Aug. 10, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated by herein in their entirety.
The present disclosure relates to vehicular illumination lamps capable of enhancing productivity.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2009-224303, a vehicular illumination lamp is proposed which includes a translucent member and a light source that causes light rays to be incident on the translucent member from the rear side of the translucent member. The front surface of the translucent member is formed so as to reflect incident light to produce reflected light, where incident light includes each light ray from the light source that is incident on the front surface of the translucent member. The rear surface of the translucent member is formed so as to receive the reflected light as incident light, to reflect the reflected light as re-reflected light, and to emit the re-reflected light to the front of the translucent member.
Specifically, in this vehicular illumination lamp, a part of the front surface of the translucent member is subjected to a vapor deposition (i.e., a mirror finish) in order to internally reflect the right rays from the light source, and most of the rear surface of the translucent member is subjected to a vapor deposition (i.e., a mirror finish) in order to internally reflect the reflected light from the front surface of the translucent member. With this structure, each light ray from the light source is emitted to the front of the translucent member by using the internal reflection at the front and rear surfaces of the translucent member.
In the foregoing vehicular illumination lamp, the front and rear surfaces of the translucent member need to be subjected to the vapor deposition. This requires a special facility for the vapor deposition, and additionally requires a special process using the special facility.
The present invention was developed in view of the problem of the related art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular illumination lamp can be manufactured more easily, in order to enhance productivity.
In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, a vehicular illumination lamp includes: a translucent member; and a light source that causes light rays to be incident on the translucent member from a rear side of the translucent member, wherein a front surface of the translucent member is formed so as to reflect incident light to produce reflected light when the light rays from the light source are incident on the front surface of the translucent member as the incident light, and a rear surface of the translucent member is formed so as to receive the reflected light as incident light and is formed so as to reflect the reflected light to a front of the translucent member as re-reflected light, and at least one of the front surface and the rear surface of the translucent member is shaped so as to totally reflect the incident light on the at least one of the front surface and the rear surface of the translucent member in an entire region capable of receiving the incident light. Preferred modes of claim 1 are as described in claim 2 and the subsequent claims.
According to some implementations, at least one of the front surface and the rear surface of the translucent member is shaped so as to totally reflect the incident light on the at least one of the front surface and the rear surface of the translucent member in the entire region capable of receiving the incident light. Thus, internal reflection can be caused by the total reflection without using a vapor-deposited film. This can reduce the number of locations that need be subjected to a vapor deposition as compared to conventional examples. Accordingly, the vehicular illumination lamp can be manufactured more easily, and can enhance productivity.
In some implementations, each of the front surface and the rear surface of the translucent member is shaped so as to totally reflect the incident light on that surface in the entire region capable of receiving the incident light in that surface. Thus, internal reflection can be caused by the total reflection at the front and rear surfaces of the translucent member without using a vapor-deposited film, and no vapor deposition need be performed on any location in order to cause internal reflection. This can further reduce the complexity of the vehicular lamp, and can further enhance productivity.
In some implementations, the front surface of the translucent member is shaped so that the light rays from the light source are incident on the front surface at a predetermined incident angle equal to or larger than a critical angle in the entire region capable of receiving the incident light in the front surface, and the rear surface of the translucent member is designed in shape so that at least in a vertical cross section including the light source, a tilt angle α is “α<90°−2β−γ” when the reflected light from the front surface of the translucent member is incident on the rear surface of the translucent member at the tilt angle α with respect to a vertical direction, where β represents the critical angle, and γ represents a shift angle of the re-reflected light with respect to a horizontal direction. Thus, internal reflection can be specifically caused by the total reflection at the front and rear surfaces of the translucent member, and no vapor deposition need be specifically performed on any location on the front and rear surfaces of the translucent member in order to cause internal reflection.
In this case, “90°” is included as a reference value (i.e., a maximum value) in the conditional expression “α<90°−2β−γ” because a balanced equation can be formed by including α, 2β, and γ within the angular range of 90° with respect to the direction in which light is emitted from the translucent member (i.e., the horizontal direction). This is condition expression, α is the tilt angle of the reflected light from the front surface of the translucent member with respect to the vertical direction, 2β is the angle that causes total reflection, and γ is the shift angle (i.e., the refraction angle) of the re-reflected light with respect to the direction in which the re-reflected light is emitted to the outside of the translucent member (i.e., the horizontal direction). The term “−2β refers to the sum of the incident angle and the reflection angle when the total reflection occurs, and has been included in order to account for conditions where total reflection occurs. The term “−γ” is included because the shift angle (refraction angle) of the re-reflected light, with respect to the direction in which the re-reflected light is emitted to the outside of the translucent member, needs to be added if the direction in which the re-reflected light is emitted to the outside of the translucent member is the horizontal direction.
In some implementations, the front surface of the translucent member is shaped so as to totally reflect the light rays from the light source in the entire region capable of receiving the incident light in the front surface. Thus, internal reflection can be specifically caused by the total reflection at the front surface of the translucent member, and no vapor deposition need be performed on any location on the front surface of the translucent member in order to cause internal reflection.
In some implementations, the front surface of the translucent member is designed in shape so that the light rays from the light source are incident on the front surface of the translucent member at a predetermined incident angle equal to or larger than a critical angle in the entire region capable of receiving the incident light in the front surface. Thus, the light rays from the light source can be specifically totally reflected by the front surface of the translucent member, and no vapor deposition need be specifically performed on any location on the front surface of the translucent member in order to cause internal reflection.
In some implementations, the rear surface of the translucent member is shaped so as to totally reflect the reflected light from the front surface of the translucent member in the entire region capable of receiving the incident light in the rear surface. Thus, the re-reflected light can be emitted to the front of the translucent member by total reflection at the rear surface of the translucent member, and no vapor deposition need be performed on any location on the rear surface of the translucent member in order to cause internal reflection.
In some implementations, the rear surface of the translucent member is designed in shape so that, at least in a vertical cross section including the light source, a tilt angle α is “α<90°−2β−γ” when the reflected light from the front surface of the translucent member is incident on the rear surface of the translucent member at the tilt angle α with respect to a vertical direction, where β represents a critical angle, and γ represents a shift angle of the re-reflected light with respect to a horizontal direction. Thus, internal reflection can be specifically caused by the total reflection at the rear surface of the translucent member, and no vapor deposition need be specifically performed on any location on the rear surface of the translucent member in order to cause internal reflection.
Other aspects, features and advantages will be readily apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying the claims.
Examples of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In
As shown in
As shown in
The entire front surface 19 of the translucent member 15, which is formed as a rotating body type, serves as a region capable of receiving incident light from the light-emitting portion 12. The front surface 19 is formed so as to totally reflect light rays Li from the light-emitting portion 12 to produce reflected light Lo. Specifically, the front surface 19 is formed so that each light ray Li from the LEDs 14 is incident on the front surface 19 at a predetermined incident angle equal to or larger than a critical angle. When each light ray from the light-emitting portion 12 is incident on the front surface 19 of the translucent member 15 as incident light, each light ray Li is totally reflected, and the reflected light Lo travels substantially outward in the radial direction of the translucent member 15 (see
More specifically, as shown in
Of the rear surface 16 of the translucent member 15, the entire rear peripheral surface portion 18 is formed as a rotating body type, and due to its shape described above, serves as a region capable of receiving the reflected light Lo from the front surface 19 of the translucent member. The rear peripheral surface portion 18 is designed so that all of the reflected light Lo from the front surface 19 of the translucent member is incident on the rear peripheral surface portion 18 of the rear surface 16 of the translucent member. The rear peripheral surface portion 18 of the rear surface 16 of the translucent member is shaped so as to totally reflect the reflected light Lo from the front surface 19 of the translucent member to produce re-reflected light Loo. Specifically, as shown in
This will be described in detail with reference to
It should be understood that in order to cause total reflection only at the rear surface 16 of the translucent member and not at the front surface 19 of the translucent member, the angle α need not be such an angle that causes total reflection at the front surface 19 of the translucent member, and need only satisfy the above conditional expression.
In such a vehicular illumination lamp 1, as shown in
Accordingly, when emitting light to the front of such a vehicular illumination lamp 1, light can be internally reflected by the front surface 19 and the rear surface 16 of the translucent member 15 by total reflection without using a vapor-deposited film. Thus, no vapor deposition need be performed on any location in order to cause internal reflection. This eliminates the need for a special facility for the vapor deposition, and thus eliminates the need for a special process using the special facility. As such, the vehicular illumination lamp 1 is easier to manufacture, and can enhance productivity.
The second embodiment shows a vehicular illumination lamp in which the front surface 19 of the translucent member 15 is formed as a non-rotating body. The front surface 19 of the translucent member 15 is formed as a non-rotating body because forming the front surface 19 of the translucent member as a rotating body may create an impression that the vehicular illumination lamp has a round design, which may be undesirable in certain circumstances.
As in the first embodiment, in such a translucent member 15 as well, the front surface 19 is formed so that the incident angle of each light ray Li from the LEDs 14 is a predetermined angle equal to or larger than the critical angle. Each light ray Li is thus totally reflected, and the reflected light Lo travels substantially outward in the radial direction of the translucent member 15. However, since the front surface 19 is formed as a non-rotating body, the front surface 19 reflects each light ray Li so that the reflected light Lo is bent toward a vertical cross section (shown by chain line) L, extending through the light-emitting portion 12, with respect to each light ray Li as viewed from the front (
It should be understood that such reflected light (i.e. totally reflected light) Lo from the front surface 19 also subsequently travels toward the rear peripheral surface portion 18 of the rear surface 16 of the translucent member, and is totally reflected by the rear peripheral surface portion 18. The re-reflected light Loo passes through the front surface 19 of the translucent member and the front cover 3 and is emitted to the front of the vehicular illumination lamp 1.
In this example, the rear surface 16 of the translucent member can be formed not only as a rotating body but also as a non-rotating body. In that case, the rear surface 16 of the translucent member is shaped so as to be located farther away from the rear surface 16 of the translucent member formed as a rotating body as the bend angle of the reflected light Lo described above increases. Each light ray Li from the LEDs 14 is emitted toward the front of the translucent member 15 by such a rear peripheral surface portion 18 and the front surface 19 of the translucent member.
Although various embodiments are described above, the present disclosure describes the following features applicable in some implementations.
(1) Instead of totally reflecting light from both the front surface 19 and the rear peripheral surface portion 18 of the translucent member 15, light is totally reflected only by one of them, namely the front surface 19 of the translucent member, and the reflected light from the front surface 19 of the translucent member is reflected again by the rear peripheral surface portion 18 of the translucent member 15 by using a vapor-deposited film. This can enhance the productivity of the vehicular illumination lamp as compared to the case where a vapor-deposited film is used in both the front surface 19 and the rear surface 16 of the translucent member 15.
(2) Instead of totally reflecting light from both the front surface 19 and the rear peripheral surface portion 18 of the translucent member 15, light is totally reflected only by one of them, namely the rear peripheral surface portion 18 of the translucent member 15, and the reflected light from the front surface 19 of the translucent member is reflected again by the front surface 19 of the translucent member 15 by using a vapor-deposited film. This can also enhance the productivity of the vehicular illumination lamp as compared to the case where a vapor-deposited film is used in both the front surface 19 and the rear surface 16 of the translucent member 15.
In this case, the angle α formed by the vertical line L1 and the reflected light at the front surface 19 of the translucent member need not be such an angle that causes total reflection from the front surface 19 of the translucent member, and need only satisfy the conditional expression “90°−α−γ21 2β” at least in a vertical cross section including the light source in the rear peripheral surface portion 18.
Other implementations are within the scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012179008 | Aug 2012 | JP | national |