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EP-4737794-A1 - VEHICLE LAMP

EP4737794A1EP 4737794 A1EP4737794 A1EP 4737794A1EP-4737794-A1

Abstract

To provide a vehicle lamp capable of suppressing generation of a relatively strong contrast (at a boundary) between an overlapping portion and a periphery thereof. A vehicle lamp (1) includes a light source (31 to 33); a reflector (41 to 43) that is configured to reflect light emitted from the light source (31 to 33); a projection lens (5) that is configured to project the light reflected by the reflector (41 to 43) to form light distribution patterns; and a plurality of irradiation mechanisms (10 to 13) that are configured to form the light distribution patterns. The plurality of irradiation mechanisms (10 to 13) are arranged side by side in a vehicle width direction, each of the plurality of irradiation mechanisms (10 to 13) including the light source (31 to 33), the reflector (41 to 43), and the projection lens (5). The projection lens (5) includes irradiation surface portions (51 to 53) corresponding to the respective irradiation mechanisms (10 to 13). Lower end portions of the respective light distribution patterns emitted from the respective irradiation surface portions (51 to 53) are projected to positions different from each other in an up-down direction (Y).

Inventors

  • Onoma, Kei

Assignees

  • Ichikoh Industries, Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240626

Claims (14)

  1. A vehicle lamp comprising: a light source; a reflector that is configured to reflect light emitted from the light source; a projection lens that is configured to project the light reflected by the reflector to form light distribution patterns; and a plurality of irradiation mechanisms that are configured to form the light distribution patterns, wherein the plurality of irradiation mechanisms are arranged side by side in a vehicle width direction, each of the plurality of irradiation mechanisms comprising the light source, the reflector, and the projection lens, the projection lens comprises irradiation surface portions corresponding to the irradiation mechanisms respectively, and lower end portions of the respective light distribution patterns emitted from the respective irradiation surface portions are projected to positions different from each other in an up-down direction.
  2. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein lens focal positions of the irradiation surface portions are set to positions different from each other in the up-down direction.
  3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein each of the lens focal positions in each of the irradiation mechanisms is set within a setting distance between each of the light sources and a front end position of each of the reflectors on a front side of a vehicle, or within a distance corresponding to the setting distance, the distance extending from each of the light sources toward a rear side of the vehicle.
  4. The vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein the light sources are provided on a plane surface of a substrate.
  5. The vehicle lamp according to claim 4, wherein the reflectors form a reflector member integrally and facing surfaces of the reflector member and the substrate are formed such that at least portions thereof that contact each other are plane surfaces.
  6. The vehicle lamp according to claim 5, wherein the reflector member integrally comprises a lens frame for the projection lens at a front end position on a front side of a vehicle.
  7. The vehicle lamp according to claim 6, wherein an upper end surface of the reflector member is the facing surface of the reflector member, and upper end positions of the reflectors are set based on a position of the facing surface of the reflector member in the up-down direction.
  8. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein upper end positions of the reflectors are set to positions different from each other in the up-down direction.
  9. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of irradiation mechanisms comprise a light-collecting mechanism that is configured to form a light-collecting pattern in the light distribution pattern and a diffusion mechanism that is configured to form a diffusion pattern in the light distribution pattern, the projection lens is integrally formed with a light-collecting surface portion as the irradiation surface portion that corresponds to the light-collecting mechanism and is configured to form the light-collecting pattern and a diffusion surface portion as the irradiation surface portion that corresponds to the diffusion mechanism and is configured to form the diffusion pattern, and the light source and the reflector in the light-collecting mechanism correspond to the light-collecting surface portion on a one-to-one basis, and the light sources and the reflectors in the diffusion mechanism correspond to the diffusion surface portion on a one-to-many basis.
  10. The vehicle lamp according to claim 9, wherein the vehicle lamp comprises the light-collecting mechanisms and at least one diffusion mechanism, the light-collecting mechanisms and the diffusion mechanism are arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction, and the diffusion mechanism is disposed between the light-collecting mechanisms.
  11. The vehicle lamp according to claim 10, wherein each of the reflectors comprises a curved reflective surface having an elliptical base geometry, each of the reflective surfaces comprises a first focal point set at or near a center position of each of the corresponding light sources and a second focal point set in a vicinity of a light source side of each of the corresponding light-collecting surface portions or the diffusion surface portion of the projection lens, and each of the reflectors in the diffusion mechanism is disposed closer to a front side of a vehicle than each of the reflectors in the light-collecting mechanism.
  12. The vehicle lamp according to claim 10, wherein each of the reflectors comprises a curved reflective surface having an elliptical base geometry, each of the reflective surfaces comprises a first focal point set at or near a center position of each of the corresponding light sources and a second focal point set in a vicinity of an emission surface side of each of the corresponding light-collecting surface portions or the diffusion surface portion of the projection lens, and each of the reflectors in the diffusion mechanism is disposed closer to a front side of a vehicle than each of the reflectors in the light-collecting mechanism.
  13. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein in the diffusion mechanism, a length in an optical axis direction of the reflective surface of the reflector on which a lens focal position of the diffusion surface portion is set is larger than lengths in the optical axis direction of the reflective surfaces of the remaining reflectors.
  14. The vehicle lamp according to claim 13, wherein each of the light-collecting surface portions is a convex lens, and the diffusion surface portion is a concave lens on at least one of an incident surface and an emission surface of the projection lens.

Description

[Technical Field] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle lamp. [Background Art] A vehicle lamp is configured such that a light distribution pattern is formed using a projection lens having three inner curved surfaces, a light source and a reflective surface correspond to the inner curved surface on a one-to-one basis, and a focal point of each light source corresponds to one inner curved surface (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Literature] [Patent Literature 1] JP6981608 B2 [Summary of Invention] [Problem to be solved] In the above-described vehicle lamp, for example, when light transmitted through the respective inner curved surfaces is overlapped using the projection lens having three inner curved surfaces, a relatively strong contrast may occur (at a boundary) between the overlapping portion and the periphery thereof. Accordingly, the vehicle lamp may give a sense of discomfort to an occupant due to the relatively strong contrast. The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicle lamp that can suppress generation of a relatively strong contrast (at a boundary) between an overlapping portion and the periphery thereof. [Solution to Problem] A vehicle lamp of the present disclosure includes a light source; a reflector that is configured to reflect light emitted from the light source; a projection lens that is configured to project the light reflected by the reflector to form light distribution patterns; and a plurality of irradiation mechanisms that are configured to form the light distribution patterns. The plurality of irradiation mechanisms are arranged side by side in a vehicle width direction and each of the plurality of irradiation mechanisms includes the light source, the reflector, and the projection lens. The projection lens includes irradiation surface portions corresponding to the irradiation mechanisms respectively. Lower end portions of the respective light distribution patterns emitted from the respective irradiation surface portions are projected to positions different from each other in an up-down direction. [Effects of Invention] With the vehicle lamp of the present disclosure, it is possible to suppress generation of a relatively strong contrast (at a boundary) between the overlapping portion and the periphery thereof. [Brief Description of Drawings] [FIG. 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory view illustrating a vehicle lamp as an embodiment according to the present disclosure.[FIG. 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating the vehicle lamp when viewed from the front (a front side in a front-rear direction).[FIG. 3] FIG. 3 is an exploded explanatory view illustrating a configuration of the vehicle lamp.[FIG. 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory view illustrating an end surface taken along line I-I in FIG. 2.[FIG. 5] FIG. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating an end surface taken along line II-II in FIG. 2.[FIG. 6] FIG. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which a positional relationship among each light source, a reflector member, and a projection lens is viewed from above (an upper side in an up-down direction), and is a schematic explanatory view illustrating each focal position.[FIG. 7] FIG. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which a positional relationship between each surface portion and an incident surface of the projection lens is viewed from the back (a rear side in the front-rear direction), and is a schematic explanatory view illustrating each focal position on each surface portion.[FIG. 8] FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of the reflector member, and is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which a length relationship between each diffusion light source and each diffusion reflector is viewed from above (the upper side in the up-down direction), and is a schematic explanatory view illustrating each focal position.[FIG. 9] FIG. 9 is a schematic explanatory view illustrating a positional relationship of respective light-collecting focal positions in the up-down direction.[FIG. 10] FIG. 10 is an explanatory view illustrating a state in which a positional relationship among each light source, the reflector member, and the projection lens is viewed from above (the upper side in the up-down direction), and is a schematic explanatory view illustrating a front-rear relationship of the respective focal positions.[FIG. 11] FIG. 11 is a schematic explanatory view illustrating a traveling light distribution pattern formed through three light-collecting mechanisms and one diffusion mechanism.[FIG. 12A] FIG. 12A is a schematic explanatory view illustrating a state in which light reflected by a first light-collecting reflector is transmitted through a first light-collecting surface portion.[FIG. 12B] FIG. 12B is a schematic explanatory view illustrating a state in which light reflected by a second light-collecting reflector is transmitted through