1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
Based on automotive design demands, vehicular lamps with novel light emitting surfaces have been proposed for marker lamps, such as tail lamps and turn signal lamps in particular. The development of vehicular lamps that use semiconductor light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) has also been advancing in recent years.
A known example of such a vehicular lamp having a novel light emitting surface includes, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2008-10227, a light emitting element; a reflector that has a reflective surface for reflecting light emitted from the light emitting element forward of the lamp; and a plate-like light guide which is disposed on the front side of the reflector and to which the light emitted from the light emitting element enters from its one side surface and exits forward from the other side surface. In this vehicular lamp, light that is emitted from the light emitting element and near the optical axis of the light emitting element enters the light guide, and light that is emitted from the light emitting element and but is not near the optical axis is projected onto the reflective surface of the reflector. This lamp is thus called to provide a novel design.
However, in the vehicular lamp described above, a plurality of light emitting elements are provided at positions staggered in the vehicle width direction and in the vehicle longitudinal direction. This complicates the shapes of the parts such as a substrate on which the light emitting diodes are mounted, and therefore, there is a room for improvement in the assembly of the substrate and the light emitting diodes.
The present invention was devised in light of the foregoing circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a new vehicular lamp that achieves a novel design by using a semiconductor light
To solve the problem described above, the vehicular lamp according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
In the vehicular lamp of the present invention described above, the plurality of light guide portions are luminous by the first emission light, and at least a portion of the second emission light is radiated from the area between the plurality of light guide portions. Accordingly, when this vehicular lamp is viewed from the front, it appears as if the plurality of light guide portions and the area therebetween are luminous in different ways, thus providing a design (or appearance) that is new to vehicular lamp.
The vehicular lamp of the present invention may further include a single substrate that has a surface on which the plurality of first semiconductor light emitting elements are mounted. These first semiconductor light emitting elements may each be disposed such that the center axis of a light emitting surface of each of them corresponds to a second direction that substantially vertically intersects the radiation direction and the first direction, and the first emission light may include light that is on the center axis of the light emitting surface of the first semiconductor light emitting element. The plurality of light guide portions may each include therein an internal reflecting portion that internally reflects, in the radiation direction, the first emission light entering therein. With these structures, the substrate having thereon the plurality of first semiconductor light emitting elements can be used in common for all the plurality of first semiconductor light emitting elements, and a space for disposing the first semiconductor light emitting elements and the substrate can be downsized.
The first reflecting portion may include a reflective surface that is disposed rearward (or in the back) of the internal reflecting portion in the radiation direction and follows the shape of the internal reflecting portion of the light guide portions. Thus, the first reflecting portion and the internal reflecting portion of the light guide portion can be placed close together, which shortens the depth (or the length in the radiation direction) of the vehicular lamp.
The vehicular lamp of the present invention may further include: second semiconductor light emitting elements that are disposed more rearward than (or in the back of) the first semiconductor light emitting elements in the radiation direction; and a second reflecting portion that reflects, in the radiation direction, third emission light that is emitted from the second semiconductor light emitting elements. Each of the light guide portions may include an incident portion through which at least a portion of the third emission light reflected by the second reflecting portion enters and may be configured such that the light entering from the incident portion is guided in the radiation direction. Thus, any desirable light distribution pattern can be easily set.
The second reflecting portion may be disposed more rearward than the first reflecting portion in the radiation direction, and the first reflecting portion may include a cutout portion that is formed so as to enable at least a portion of the third emission light that is reflected by the second reflecting portion to enter into the light guide portion through its incident portion. Thus, even if the second reflecting portion and the first reflecting portion are disposed overlapping spacedly in the radiation direction, at least a portion of the third emission light reflected by the second reflecting portion can enter the light guide portion.
As seen from the above, according to the present invention, a new vehicular lamp that achieves a novel design (or illuminating appearance) using a semiconductor light emitting element as a light source can be provided.
Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals are used for like or corresponding structural elements, members, and processes shown in the drawings, and duplicate descriptions are omitted as appropriate. The embodiments are not intended to limit the invention but are to exemplify the invention. All of the features and the combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.
A vehicular lamp described below is a lamp that has the functions of both a day running lamp (DRL) and a clearance lamp (CLL), and the vehicular lamp according to the present invention is not limited to this combination of functions and may include the functions of a tail lamp and a stop lamp, for example.
A vehicular lamp 10 according to the shown embodiment includes a light guide unit 12 and a case unit 14.
The first light guide portions 16 each have a front surface 16b that is inclined when viewed form the side or in the direction of W, and a plurality of projecting portions 16d are formed in a regularly-arranged pattern on the top surfaces of the front surface 16b and on the upper surface 16c. The projecting portions 16d diffuse and emit light that is outwardly radiated after passing through the inside of the first light guide portions 16.
A first opening portion 14e is formed in the bottom plate 14a so as to be under the first reflector 20 and in the rear portion of the respective positioning portions 14d (thus a total of six (6) first opening portions 14e are formed in the bottom plate 14a (so as to correspond to the six (6) first light guide portions 16)). First semiconductor light emitting elements 24 are respectively disposed in a laterally spaced manner under the six (6) locations where the first opening portions 14e are formed. The plurality of (or six) first semiconductor light emitting elements 24 are mounted on a single substrate described later.
Furthermore, a second opening portion 14f is formed in the bottom plate 14a so as to be under the second reflector 22 and at each of three laterally separated locations of the bottom plate 14a. Second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 are respectively disposed in a laterally spaced manner under the three (3) locations where the second opening portions 14f are formed. The plurality of (or 3) second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 are mounted on a single substrate described later.
First emission light L1 that is emitted from the first semiconductor light emitting element 24, which is disposed under the first light guide portion 16, enters the first light guide portion 16. As descried above, the first light guide portions 16 are provided in a plurality of numbers so that they are spaced in a first direction (direction indicated by the arrow W in
Second emission light L2 that is emitted from the first semiconductor light emitting element 24 but does not enter the first light guide portion 16 is reflected in the radiation direction by the corresponding segmented reflecting portion 28 of the first reflector 20. The segmented reflecting portions 28 that function as a first reflecting portion are configured such that at least a portion of the reflected second emission light L2 passes through and radiates from an area (area R shown in
As seen from the above description, in the vehicular lamp 10 according to the shown embodiment, the plurality of first light guide portions 16 are luminous due to the first emission light L1, and at least a portion of the second emission light L2 is radiated from the areas R between the plurality of first light guide portions 16. Accordingly, when the vehicular lamp 10 is viewed from the front, it appears as if the plurality of first light guide portions 16 and the areas R therebetween are luminous in different ways, thus providing a new design of an illuminating vehicular lump.
The first semiconductor light emitting element 24 is disposed such that the center axis C1 of its light emitting surface is aligned with a second direction that longitudinally intersects the radiation direction (direction of the arrow F) and the first direction (direction indicated by the arrow W in
The segmented reflecting portion 28 of the first reflector 20 includes the reflective surface that is positioned rearward of (or in the back) the internal reflecting portion 34 in the radiation direction and follows the shape of the internal reflecting portion 34. In other words, the internal reflecting portion 34 of the first light guide portion 16 is provided so as to follow the outer surface of the corresponding segmented reflecting portion 28 of the first reflector 20. Thus, the segmented reflecting portion 28 and the internal reflecting portion 34 of the first light guide portion 16 can be placed close together, which shortens the depth (in the front-rear direction) of the vehicular lamp 10.
The vehicular lamp 10 according to the shown embodiment described above further includes, as described above, the second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 that are disposed more rearward than the first semiconductor light emitting elements 24 in the radiation direction, and it also includes the segmented reflecting portions 30 of the second reflecting portion, and this second reflecting portion reflects third emission light L3 that is emitted from the second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 in the radiation direction. Each of the first light guide portions 16 includes an incident portion 16f (see
It should be noted that the plurality of second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 are mounted at regular lateral intervals on the same surface of a single second substrate 36 shown in
The segmented reflecting portions 30 of the second reflector 22 are disposed more rearward than the segmented reflecting portions 28 of the first reflector 20 in the radiation direction. The segmented reflecting portions 28 each include a cutout portion 28b that is formed so as to enable at least a portion of the third emission light L3 reflected by the corresponding segmented reflecting portion 30 to enter from the incident portion 16f of the first light guide portions 16. Thus, even if the segmented reflecting portions 30 of the second reflector 22 and the segmented reflecting portions 28 of the first reflector 20 are disposed overlapping when viewed from the front as shown in
Also, in the vehicular lamp 10 of the shown embodiment, light that entered and passed through the first light guide portion 16 and is emitted from the internal reflecting portion 34 reenters the first light guide portion 16 due to the presence of the segmented reflecting portion 28. Therefore, the efficiency with which the light emitted from the first semiconductor light emitting element 24 is utilized as radiated light from the vehicular lamp 10 can be improved.
As described above, the vehicular lamp 10 according to the shown embodiment lights the plurality of first semiconductor light emitting elements 24 to function as, for example, a DRL, so that the front surfaces 16b and the upper surfaces 16c of the first light guide portions 16 can emit light, and at the same time light can also be radiated from the areas R that are between the plurality of first light guide portions 16. In addition, the vehicular lamp 10 according to the shown embodiment lights the plurality of second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 to function as, for example, a CLL, whereby the upper surfaces 18a of the second light guide portions 18 can emit light and the front surfaces 16b of the first light guide portions 16 can also emit light using the third emission light L3 that enters the first light guide portions 16 through its incident portions 16f.
In the present invention, the first semiconductor light emitting elements 24 and the second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 can be selected as appropriate, depending on the required function, from light emitting elements such as white, blue, amber, and/or red LEDs. For example, a white or blue LED is suitable if the first semiconductor light emitting elements 24 are used as the light source of a DRL. Similarly, a white LED is suitable if the second semiconductor light emitting elements 26 are used as the light source of a CLL. Moreover, if the vehicular lamp 10 is used as a tail and stop lamp (T&SL), red and amber LEDs are suitable as the first semiconductor light emitting elements 24 and the second semiconductor light emitting elements 26.
As seen from the above, the vehicular lamp 10 of the present invention can provide a novel design of illuminating vehicular lumps while having different lighting functions by controlling the lighting of the first semiconductor light emitting elements 24 and/or the second semiconductor light emitting elements 26.
In the vehicular lamp 10 according to the shown embodiment, the first light guide portion 16 and the second light guide portion 18 can be formed of a light transmissive resin that is colored by the same color system as the emission color of the LEDs used.
In addition, the light emitting elements used in the shown embodiment are not limited to LEDs, and other light emitting elements such as electroluminescence (EL), laser diodes (LD) can be used. Moreover, the vehicular lamp 10 according to the shown embodiment is not limited to a DRL or a CLL, and it can also be applied to a marker lamp or an auxiliary lamp that uses a light emitting element as the light source.
In the description above, the term “forward” refers to the radiation direction of light and is not necessarily based on the front and rear of a vehicle. In other words, if the vehicular lamp 10 is used as a tail and stop lamp (T&SL), the vehicle rearward direction is the “forward”.
The present invention is described above with reference to an embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and examples that suitably combine and/or substitute the constitution of the embodiment are also included in the present invention. In addition, various modifications such as suitable changes to the combination and process sequence of the embodiment and design changes based on the knowledge of persons having ordinary skill in the art can be added to the embodiment, and embodiments with such added modifications are also included in the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2011-079434 | Mar 2011 | JP | national |