US-12617338-B2 - Vehicular light system

US12617338B2US 12617338 B2US12617338 B2US 12617338B2US-12617338-B2

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle light system using existing interior lamps and exterior lamps, the interior lamps and the exterior lamps cooperating to provide dramatic illumination. The vehicle light system can include: a lighting control unit that generates and outputs a control signal for controlling the turning on and off of both the exterior lamps and the interior lamps; a light source driving unit that drives the light source of any lamp of the vehicle lamp group on the basis of the control signal provided from the lighting control unit; an in-vehicle device that is mounted on the vehicle and that has a wireless communication function; a portable device that can be carried outside the vehicle by an occupant of the vehicle and that has a wireless communication function with the in-vehicle device; and an in-vehicle network configured to connect the in-vehicle device and the lighting control unit. The lighting control unit acquires positional information for the portable device through the in-vehicle network, and generates and outputs a control signal whereby both the interior lamps and the exterior lamps cooperate to provide lighting when the occupant enters a predetermined range. The commercial value of a vehicle light can thereby be increased.

Inventors

Toshiyuki Okuno
Hiroshi Miura
Hisashi ASAGA

Assignees

STANLEY ELECTRIC CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20221223
Priority Date: 20220111

Claims (14)

1 . A vehicle light system comprising: a vehicle lamp group including an exterior lamp group including a plurality of lamps configured to illuminate an outside of a vehicle, and that include a lamp arranged in a front part of a vehicle and a lamp arranged in a rear part of the vehicle, and an interior lamp group including a plurality of lamps configured to illuminate an inside of the vehicle and that include at least a room lamp and an ambient lamp, wherein each of the lamps is provided with at least one light source; a lighting controller configured to generate and output a control signal for controlling turning on and off of the pluralities of lamps included in the vehicle lamp group; a light source driver configured to receive the control signal output from the lighting controller, and to drive, based on the control signal, the light source of a predetermined lamp among the pluralities of lamps of the vehicle lamp group; an in-vehicle device that is to be mounted on the vehicle and that has a wireless communication function; a portable device that an occupant of the vehicle can bring outside the vehicle and that has a wireless communication function with the in-vehicle device; and an in-vehicle network configured to connect the in-vehicle device and the lighting controller, wherein: the in-vehicle device outputs positional information about the portable device based on wireless communication information with the portable device to the in-vehicle network, the lighting controller configured to acquire the positional information through the in-vehicle network, the lighting controller configured to output a first control signal for controlling the exterior lamp group, and output a second control signal for controlling the interior lamp group, when a distance between the portable device and the vehicle is shorter than a predetermined distance, the light source driver is configured to drive a light source of a predetermined lamp among the plurality of lamps of the exterior lamp group based on the first control signal to bring the vehicle into a first illumination state; and after the vehicle is in the first illumination state, the light source driver is configured to drive a light source of a predetermined lamp among the plurality of lamps of the interior lamp group based on the second control signal to bring the vehicle into a second illumination state, and thereby illuminate the vehicle so as to cause the occupant carrying the portable device to recognize the design of the vehicle, wherein the in-vehicle device outputs information related to a direction of movement of the portable device and a distance between the portable device and the in-vehicle device as positional information about the portable device to the in-vehicle network; the first control signal is a signal for controlling the plurality of lamps so that the plurality of lamps of the exterior lamp group light up starting from a light source of a lamp close to the portable device, and the light sources of the plurality of lamps in the vicinity are controlled so as to be sequentially turned on, in a manner where the light sources light up, starting from the closest and going around the vehicle periphery; and the second control signal is a control signal for controlling a light source of at least either the room lamp or the ambient lamp among the plurality of lamps of the interior lamp group, where in this light source is to be turned on while continuously maintaining a predetermined light intensity.
2 . A vehicle light system comprising: a vehicle lamp group including an exterior lamp group including a plurality of lamps configured to illuminate an outside of a vehicle, and that include a lamp arranged in a front part of a vehicle and a lamp arranged in a rear part of the vehicle, and an interior lamp group including a plurality of lamps configured to illuminate an inside of the vehicle and that include at least a room lamp and an ambient lamp, wherein each of the lamps is provided with at least one light source; a lighting controller configured to generate and output a control signal for controlling turning on and off of the pluralities of lamps included in the vehicle lamp group; a light source driver configured to receive the control signal output from the lighting controller, and to drive, based on the control signal, the light source of a predetermined lamp among the pluralities of lamps of the vehicle lamp group; an in-vehicle device that is to be mounted on the vehicle and that has a wireless communication function; a portable device that an occupant of the vehicle can bring outside the vehicle and that has a wireless communication function with the in-vehicle device; and an in-vehicle network configured to connect the in-vehicle device and the lighting controller, wherein: the in-vehicle device outputs positional information about the portable device based on wireless communication information with the portable device to the in-vehicle network, the lighting controller configured to acquire the positional information through the in-vehicle network, the lighting controller configured to output a first control signal for controlling the exterior lamp group, and output a second control signal for controlling the interior lamp group, when a distance between the portable device and the vehicle is shorter than a predetermined distance, the light source driver is configured to drive a light source of a predetermined lamp among the plurality of lamps of the exterior lamp group based on the first control signal to bring the vehicle into a first illumination state; and after the vehicle is in the first illumination state, the light source driver is configured to drive a light source of a predetermined lamp among the plurality of lamps of the interior lamp group based on the second control signal to bring the vehicle into a second illumination state, and thereby illuminate the vehicle so as to cause the occupant carrying the portable device to recognize the design of the vehicle, wherein: the lamp disposed in the front part of the vehicle includes a lamp provided at a front corner of the vehicle, and a lamp disposed in the rear part of the vehicle includes a lamp provided at a rear corner of the vehicle; and the light source controlled based on the first control signal is a light source of a lamp, among the lamp provided at the front corner of the vehicle and the lamp provided at the rear corner of the vehicle, that is closer to a position of the portable device indicated by the positional information.
3 . The vehicle light system according to claim 2 , wherein: the first control signal is (A) a control signal for gradually increasing a light intensity of a light source of a predetermined lamp among the plurality of lamps of the exterior lamp group from an off state to turn on the light source, or (B) a control signal for turning on a light source of a predetermined lamp among a plurality of lamps of the exterior lamp group from an off-state to a lighting state at a predetermined light intensity, and then gradually decreasing the light intensity; and the second control signal is a control signal for turning on and continuously maintaining, at a predetermined light intensity, a light source of either the room lamp or ambient lamp among the plurality of lamps of the interior lamp group.
4 . The vehicle light system according to claim 2 , wherein: the lighting controller configured to output a third control signal between a period in which the first illumination state is maintained and a period in which the second illumination state is maintained, and the light source driver configured to drive a light source of a predetermined lamp in the vehicle lamp group based on the third control signal to bring the vehicle into a third illumination state.
5 . The vehicle light system according to claim 3 , wherein: the lighting controller configured to output a third control signal between a period in which the first illumination state is maintained and a period in which the second illumination state is maintained, and the light source driver configured to drive a light source of a predetermined lamp in the vehicle lamp group based on the third control signal to bring the vehicle into a third illumination state.
6 . The vehicle light system according to claim 4 , wherein the third control signal is a control signal for controlling driving of at least one light source of the room lamp and the ambient lamp to cause the light source to be turned on by gradually increasing the light intensity.
7 . The vehicle light system according to claim 5 , wherein the third control signal is a control signal for controlling driving of at least one light source of the room lamp and the ambient lamp to cause the light source to be turned on by gradually increasing the light intensity.
8 . The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , wherein the third control signal is a control signal for performing a control operation whereby driving of at least one light source of the room lamp and the ambient lamp causes the light source to be turned on by a gradual increase in the light intensity, after which a predetermined light intensity is maintained in the predetermined lamp, which is turned on by the first control signal, and the lighting state is continued.
9 . The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , wherein the light source of the lamp is an LED.
10 . The vehicle light system according to claim 2 , wherein the light source of the lamp is an LED.
11 . The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , wherein the lamp close to the portable device among the plurality of lamps of the exterior lamp group includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a headlamp, a fog lamp, a cornering lamp, a turn-signal lamp, a lamp configured to illuminate a vicinity of a foot of an occupant, a rear lamp, a license lamp, and a rear tail lamp.
12 . The vehicle light system according to claim 2 , wherein the lamp close to the portable device among the plurality of lamps of the exterior lamp group includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a headlamp, a fog lamp, a cornering lamp, a turn-signal lamp, a lamp configured to illuminate a vicinity of a foot of an occupant, a rear lamp, a license lamp, and a rear tail lamp.
13 . The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , wherein the lamp provided at the rear corner of the vehicle is a lamp capable of illuminating an area in an oblique forward or oblique rearward direction of the vehicle and includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a fog lamp, a cornering lamp, a turn-signal lamp, a lamp configured to illuminate a vicinity of a foot of an occupant, a rear lamp, a license lamp, and a rear tail lamp.
14 . The vehicle light system according to claim 2 , wherein the lamp provided at the rear corner of the vehicle is a lamp capable of illuminating an area in an oblique forward or oblique rearward direction of the vehicle and includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a fog lamp, a cornering lamp, a turn-signal lamp, a lamp configured to illuminate a vicinity of a foot of an occupant, a rear lamp, a license lamp, and a rear tail lamp.

Description

This application is a U.S. National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2022/047532 filed Dec. 23, 2022, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-002385 filed Jan. 11, 2022, the disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD The presently disclosed subject matter relates to lighting control for vehicles, and more particularly, to a vehicle light system that turns on in cooperation with a control device such as a keyless entry system. BACKGROUND ART There is a system in which a key of a door of a vehicle (automobile) is unlocked and locked via remote control by radio or infrared rays, and it is called a keyless entry system. The keyless entry system is configured to transmit a call radio wave from the vehicle and prepare to unlock the door if there is a response from a key held by an operator. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an apparatus provided with a human-detecting sensor that operates with lower power in addition to a keyless entry system. With this apparatus, the vehicle does not emit radio waves when the human-detecting sensor does not sense the approach of a person, and the vehicle transmits the call radio waves for the keyless entry system when the human-detecting sensor detects the approach of a person. As a result, power consumption can be suppressed. As other technologies, a vehicle surroundings monitoring sensor is known. This sensor emits radar radio waves, sound waves, or the like from a vehicle to the surroundings and detects a signal reflected from a surrounding object and thus is useful for improving vehicle safety in various manners, including by preventing contact during parking operation. A vehicle security device that prevents theft damage is also known. For example, Patent Literature 2 proposes a system in which, when an alarm condition such as theft or tampering of a vehicle is detected, a deterrence, with regards to an act of theft, is performed by blowing a horn, lighting of a lamp, or the like, and an alarm signal is transmitted to a portable device of an owner of the vehicle to call attention. On the other hand, many occasions in which a keyless entry system is used are in parking lots where many vehicles are parked. In such a place, it may be difficult to find a vehicle unless one goes near the own parked vehicle. In particular, when similar vehicles are parked in near locations, a key of a door of a vehicle different from that of the vehicle owned by oneself is attempted to be opened, which is a problem. In order to solve such a problem, vehicles equipped with a system for lighting an interior lamp in synchronization with unlocking of a door has also been put into practical use. However, even in such a case, a large number of crowded vehicles are often parked in the parking lot, and thus it is difficult to find the vehicle owned by oneself. Further, in this case, it is conceivable to perform the same operation as in the case of a deterrence with regards to an act of theft by blowing a horn, lighting a lamp, or the like as in the vehicle security device of Patent Literature 2. However, such a case of system activation would involve a deterrence with regards to an act of the theft, and thus there is a high risk of erroneously determining that a security problem such as theft has occurred. CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-295523Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H07-165019 SUMMARY Technical Problem A problem to be solved by the presently disclosed subject matter is that there is no mechanism whereby the vehicle can give an impression of appearing to welcome the occupant, instead of lighting a lamp that is recognized as a warning display such as that used in deterrence with regards to an act of the theft. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a specific aspect according to the presently disclosed subject matter is to provide a vehicle light system that allows the vehicle itself to be recognized via light sources including an interior lamp and an outdoor vehicle lamp being activated in a vehicle body in a predetermined manner, this system not only making it easier for an occupant to find the vehicle in a parking lot, for example, but also providing an illumination that can show the vehicle design appealingly to an occupant. Solution to Problem One aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter is, [1] a vehicle light system comprising:a vehicle lamp group including an exterior lamp group including a plurality of lamps configured to illuminate an outside of a vehicle, and that include a lamp arranged in a front part of a vehicle and a lamp arranged in a rear part of the vehicle, and an interior lamp group including a plurality of lamps configured to illuminate an inside of the vehicle and that include at least a