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JP-2026075320-A - Vehicle lighting

JP2026075320AJP 2026075320 AJP2026075320 AJP 2026075320AJP-2026075320-A

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a vehicle lighting device that can be miniaturized while preventing an increase in the number of parts, even when a light-receiving element for anomaly detection is provided. [Solution] The laser light scanning mechanism 4 comprises a laser light source 2, a wavelength conversion member 3, a laser light scanning mechanism 4 that scans the laser light BL irradiated from the laser light source 2 toward the wavelength conversion member 3 to form a light distribution pattern WL corresponding to the scanning range of the laser light BL, a projection lens 5 that projects the light distribution pattern WL, and a light receiving element 6. The laser light scanning mechanism 4 includes a movable mirror part 4a using MEMS technology and a cover lens 4b that covers the front side of the mirror part 4a. The laser light BL reflected by the mirror part 4a is irradiated toward the wavelength conversion member 3, and the light receiving element 6 receives the laser light BL' reflected by the cover lens 4b. [Selection Diagram] Figure 2

Inventors

  • 三橋 勇樹

Assignees

  • スタンレー電気株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20241022

Claims (7)

  1. A laser light source that emits laser light, A wavelength conversion member that emits light that is excited and wavelength-converted by irradiation with the aforementioned laser light, A laser beam scanning mechanism that scans the laser beam irradiated toward the wavelength conversion member to form a light distribution pattern corresponding to the scanning range of the laser beam, A projection lens that projects the light of the aforementioned light distribution pattern toward the front of the vehicle, The system includes a light-receiving element that detects a portion of the laser light emitted from the laser light source, The laser light scanning mechanism includes a movable mirror section using MEMS technology and a cover lens that covers the front side of the mirror section, and irradiates the laser light reflected by the mirror section toward the wavelength conversion member. The light-receiving element is a vehicle light fixture that receives laser light that has been reflected by the cover lens from the laser light source.
  2. The mirror portion is positioned opposite the laser light source and is tilted with respect to the optical axis of the laser beam emitted from the laser light source. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the cover lens is arranged such that the surface facing the laser light source is inclined at a different angle with respect to the optical axis than the mirror portion.
  3. A circuit board on which the laser light source and the photodetector are mounted on one side, The circuit board comprises a heat sink attached to one side of the circuit board, The heat sink includes a reflective surface on which the wavelength conversion member is provided. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the reflective surface reflects the light of the light distribution pattern toward the projection lens.
  4. The heat sink is provided with an opening, The light-receiving element is provided facing outward from the opening, as described in claim 3 for a vehicle light fixture.
  5. The holder comprises the projection lens and the laser light scanning mechanism, The vehicle light fixture according to claim 3, wherein the heat sink and the holder are integrally assembled with their peripheries butted together.
  6. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 5, further comprising a flexible wiring board for electrically connecting the laser light scanning mechanism and the circuit board.
  7. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1, further comprising an abnormality detection unit that detects abnormalities in the laser light source or the laser light scanning mechanism based on the detection result of the laser light received by the light-receiving element.

Description

This invention relates to a vehicle lighting device. In recent years, there are lighting devices that use laser light sources such as laser diodes (LDs) that can produce high-brightness and high-power light, and obtain illumination light by irradiating a phosphor plate (wavelength conversion material) with the laser light emitted from this laser light source. In such lighting devices, a laser light source emitting blue laser light is combined with a phosphor plate (wavelength conversion component) that emits yellow light (fluorescent light) excited by this blue laser light (excitation light) and whose wavelength is converted. By mixing these blue and yellow lights, white light (illumination light) can be obtained. Furthermore, vehicle lighting fixtures employing such lighting devices are known. In vehicle lighting fixtures, the lighting device is used in vehicle headlights (headlamps) that project two beams forward towards the vehicle: a low beam (passing beam) that forms a low beam light distribution pattern including a cutoff line at the upper end, and a high beam (driving beam) that forms a high beam light distribution pattern above the low beam light distribution pattern (high beam) using a projection lens (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). Specifically, in this vehicle lighting system, laser light irradiation areas corresponding to each light distribution pattern, such as the low-beam and high-beam light distribution patterns mentioned above, are provided within the surface of the phosphor plate. By scanning the laser light using a laser light scanning mechanism such as a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) mirror, illumination light with a light distribution pattern corresponding to the scanning range of the laser light is formed. Furthermore, such vehicle lighting systems can also be equipped with Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB) headlamps, which variably control the light distribution pattern projected forward by scanning a laser beam. ADB is a technology that uses an on-board camera to recognize vehicles ahead, oncoming vehicles, and pedestrians, expanding the driver's forward visibility at night without dazzling other drivers or pedestrians. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-106928 This is a perspective view showing a vehicle light fixture according to one embodiment of the present invention.This is a cross-sectional view of a vehicle light fixture along the line segment A-A shown in Figure 1.Figure 1 is a plan view of the heat sink side of the vehicle light fixture, as seen from the outside.Figure 1 is a plan view of the heat sink side of the vehicle light fixture, seen from the inside.This is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a vehicle lighting device as shown in Figure 1. Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings used in the following explanation, the dimensions of each component may be shown on a different scale to make them easier to see, and the dimensional ratios of each component may not necessarily be the same as in reality. As an embodiment of the present invention, for example, a vehicle lighting device shown in Figures 1 to 5 will be described. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the vehicle light fixture 1. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vehicle light fixture 1 along the line segment A-A shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a plan view of the vehicle light fixture 1 with the heat sink 8 side viewed from the outside. Figure 4 is a plan view of the vehicle light fixture 1 with the heat sink 8 side viewed from the inside. Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the vehicle light fixture 1. Furthermore, in the following diagrams, an XYZ Cartesian coordinate system is set, with the X-axis representing the front-to-back direction of the vehicle light fixture 1, the Y-axis representing the left-to-right direction of the vehicle light fixture 1, and the Z-axis representing the up-to-down direction of the vehicle light fixture 1. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the vehicle lighting device 1 of this embodiment is a vehicle headlamp (headlight) that is mounted on a vehicle and emits illumination light WL towards the front of the vehicle (+X axis direction). The present invention is applied to this headlamp. Specifically, this vehicle lighting device 1 comprises a laser light source 2, a wavelength conversion member 3, a laser light scanning mechanism 4, a projection lens 5, a light receiving element 6, a circuit board 7, a heat sink 8, and a holder 9. In the vehicle light fixture 1 of this embodiment, a structure 20, in which the heat sink 8 and the holder 9 are joined together by screws or the like with their peripheries abutting against each other, is housed inside the light fixture (not shown). The laser light source 2 consists of a laser diode (LD) that emits, for example, blue laser light (with an emission wavelength of approximately 450 nm) as the laser