US-12624815-B2 - Vehicle lamp

US12624815B2US 12624815 B2US12624815 B2US 12624815B2US-12624815-B2

Abstract

A vehicle lamp comprising: a light source; a light guide which includes: a first plate-shaped light guide section, which includes an emission surface directed toward the light irradiation direction and a surface opposite to the emitting surface, on which a lens cut for extracting light is formed; a second plate-shaped light guide section, which extends from one edge of the first plate-shaped light guide section toward the light source and guides the light emitted from the light source to the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide section; and an incident surface, which is provided at the end of the second plate-shaped light guide section facing the light source and into which the light emitted from the light source enters.

Inventors

Takaaki ONOTSUKA

Assignees

STANLEY ELECTRIC CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20250320
Priority Date: 20240321

Claims (3)

1 . A vehicle lamp comprising: a light source; a light guide which includes: a first plate-shaped light guide portion, which comprises an emission surface directed toward the light irradiation direction and an opposite surface on which a lens cut for extracting light is formed; a second plate-shaped light guide portion, which extends from one edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion toward the light source and guides the light emitted from the light source to the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion; and an incident surface, which is provided at an end of the second plate-shaped light guide portion facing the light source and into which the light from the light source enters; wherein the second plate-shaped light guide portion includes one side surface, which is disposed on one side with respect to the optical axis of the light source, and the other side surface, which is disposed on the other side with respect to the optical axis of the light source, the one side surface includes a first side surface, which is disposed close to the incident surface, and a second side surface, which is disposed far from the incident surface, the first side surface extends from one side of the incident surface toward the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, intersects with the optical axis of the light source when viewed in a plate-thickness direction of the second plate-shaped light guide portion, and is a first total reflection surface that totally reflects, toward the other side surface, the relatively bright light on one side with respect to the optical axis of the light source, among the light from the light source that has entered from the incident surface, the second side surface extends, when viewed in the plate-thickness direction of the second plate-shaped light guide portion, from one side of the incident surface along the optical axis of the light source to one side of the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, so that light from the light source that has entered from the incident surface is guided within the second plate-shaped light guide portion directly to the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion without being incident on the second side surface, the other side surface is a second total reflection surface that totally reflects, toward one edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, the totally reflected light from the first total reflection surface, the relatively bright light on one side with respect to the optical axis of the light source among the light from the light source that has entered from the incident surface is first totally reflected by the first total reflection surface and then, in this order, totally reflected by the second total reflection surface, after which the light enters the first plate-shaped light guide portion through the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, is guided within the first plate-shaped light guide portion, where it is totally reflected by a lens cut formed on the opposite surface of the emission surface, and is emitted from the emission surface, and the relatively bright light on the other side with respect to the optical axis of the light source among the light from the light source that has entered from the incident surface enters the first plate-shaped light guide portion through the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, is guided within the first plate-shaped light guide portion, where it is totally reflected by a lens cut formed on the opposite surface of the emission surface, and is emitted from the emission surface.
2 . The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 , wherein the light source includes at least two light sources that emit different light colors and are arranged in the thickness direction of the second plate-shaped light guide portion.
3 . The vehicle lamp according to claim 1 , wherein the light source includes at least two light sources that emit different light colors and are arranged in a direction intersecting the thickness direction of the second plate-shaped light guide portion.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2024-045517, filed on Mar. 21, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. BACKGROUND ART The present disclosure relates to a vehicle lamp. A vehicle lamp is known, which includes a plurality of light sources arranged in a row at regular intervals from the inner side to the outer side in the vehicle width direction, and a light guide disposed in front of the plurality of light sources, and is configured to guide light from the plurality of light sources by the light guide (for example, see Patent Literature 1). [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2018-120683 SUMMARY However, in Patent Literature 1, when a Lambertian light distribution light source arranged in a concentrated manner at one location is used as the light source, the light emitted from the Lambertian light distribution light source is relatively bright near the optical axis and becomes relatively dim as the distance from the optical axis increases. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is difficult to cause the light guide to emit light uniformly (or substantially uniformly). This disclosure has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicle lamp capable of allowing a light guide to emit light uniformly (or substantially uniformly) even when a Lambertian light distribution light source arranged in a concentrated manner at one location is used as the light source. A vehicle lamp according an example aspect of the present disclosure includes: a light source; a light guide which includes: a first plate-shaped light guide portion, which comprises an emission surface directed toward the light irradiation direction and an opposite surface on which a lens cut for extracting light is formed; a second plate-shaped light guide portion, which extends from one edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion toward the light source and guides the light emitted from the light source to the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion; and an incident surface, which is provided at an end of the second plate-shaped light guide portion facing the light source and into which the light from the light source enters; wherein the second plate-shaped light guide portion includes one side surface, which is disposed on one side with respect to the optical axis of the light source, and the other side surface, which is disposed on the other side with respect to the optical axis of the light source, the one side surface includes a first side surface, which is disposed close to the incident surface, and a second side surface, which is disposed far from the incident surface, the first side surface is a first total reflection surface that totally reflects, toward the other side surface, the relatively bright light on one side with respect to the optical axis of the light source, among the light from the light source that has entered from the incident surface, the other side surface is a second total reflection surface that totally reflects, toward one edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, the totally reflected light from the first total reflection surface, the relatively bright light on one side with respect to the optical axis of the light source among the light from the light source that has entered from the incident surface is first totally reflected by the first total reflection surface and then, in this order, totally reflected by the second total reflection surface, after which the light enters the first plate-shaped light guide portion through the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, is guided within the first plate-shaped light guide portion, where it is totally reflected by a lens cut formed on the opposite surface of the emission surface, and is emitted from the emission surface, and the relatively bright light on the other side with respect to the optical axis of the light source among the light from the light source that has entered from the incident surface enters the first plate-shaped light guide portion through the edge of the first plate-shaped light guide portion, is guided within the first plate-shaped light guide portion, where it is totally reflected by a lens cut formed on the opposite surface of the emission surface, and is emitted from the emission surface. With this configuration, even when a Lambertian light distribution light source arranged in a concentrated manner at one location is used as the light source, it is possible to allow a light guide to emit light uniformly (or substantially uniformly). In the above vehicle lamp, the light source may include at least two light sources that emit different light colors and are arranged in the thickness direction of the second plate-shaped light guide portion. In the above vehicle lamp, the light source may