JPS5871230A - Headlight control unit for car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the driver of a preceding car from being dazzled by detecting the red light of the tail lamp of the preceding car and automatically switching the head lamp to the lower beam when the signal level exceeds a preset level. CONSTITUTION:Suppose that there is a preceding car within the detection distance range on the same traffic lane, a tail lamp sensor 19 detects the red light of the tail lamp of the preceding car. When the output level exceeds a preset level, the output of the recognition circuit 20 of the preceding car is set to H, turns on a transistor 17 through an OR gate 15 and an AND gate 11, actuates a relay 5, and lights the lower beam 2. Simultaneously the output turns off a transistor 18 through an inverter 16 and an AND gate 12, demagnetizes a relay 6, and lights off the upper beam 3. As a result, the head lamp light of a succeeding car is reflected on a reflector glass of the preceding car and a driver is prevented from being dazzled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a dual-purpose headlight control device 1t that detects the red light of the taillight of a preceding vehicle and automatically changes the lower beam VcL; IJ of the headlamp. do.

At night, when passing an oncoming vehicle, the headlamp's optical axis is switched to a lower beam, and the light is controlled to avoid dazzling the oncoming vehicle. Similarly, when a preceding vehicle and a following vehicle are driving on the same lane, and the following vehicle's headlights are set to upper beam, the light from the Hella 1 lamp will be reflected by the rearview mirror of the preceding vehicle, causing the driver of the preceding vehicle to There is a problem in that it dazzles. Therefore, it is necessary to switch the headlamp to the lower beam in such cases as well, but in the past, each driver could switch the headlamp to the lower beam each time by operating a hand-operated lever or a foot-operated daimer switch. Usually, the beams are switched, and there are problems in that it is easy to forget the beam switching operation, and the operation itself is troublesome.

Hop: -J2L; Hill 11, + & xl
z /7N d No+ -y -/
x+ , < f s−+ recommendation L1 opposing i1j
Kawa's headlight control device is also seen, such as the Oncoming II+, which automatically switches to the lower beam in response to the headlights of an oncoming vehicle to avoid dazzling the oncoming vehicle when passing, but Kone is a highly bright oncoming vehicle. Since it operates by receiving the headlight light of a car, it is impossible to be sensitive to the low brightness of the tail lamp light of the vehicle ahead. Even if you forcefully set the detection level to be sensitive to the tail lamp light of the vehicle in front, it will detect not only the tail lamp light of the vehicle in front, but also all surrounding light, such as street lights.

It is also activated by reflected VC from advertising lights, markings around the road, guardrails, etc., and it is impossible for the tail lamp to flow.

By adopting the configuration described in the claims, the present invention automatically switches the headlamp to the lower beam in response to the tail lamp light of the preceding vehicle, and the head lamp light of the following vehicle is reflected by the rearview mirror of the preceding vehicle. In addition, there is provided a headlight control device for a vehicle that does not dazzle the driver of a preceding vehicle.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

In addition to the beam switching function based on the tail lamp light of the preceding vehicle, which is the object of the present invention, the illustrated example also incorporates the conventionally well-known beam switching function based on the headlight light of an oncoming vehicle, and the automatic lighting function at dusk and nighttime. This figure shows an example of a sophisticated automotive Hera 1 light control device.

In the figure, 1 indicates a tail lamp, 2 indicates a lower beam of a headlamp, and 3 indicates an upper beam of a headlamp, and each rung is configured to be turned on and off by relays 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Reference numeral 7 denotes an ambient light sensor that detects the brightness of the outside world, and at dusk, the twilight identification circuit 8 outputs an output of "1°", activates the relay 4 via the transistor 9, and automatically turns on the tail lamp 1. When the surrounding area becomes extremely dark, the night identification circuit 10 also outputs.
-"", and sends the output to AND game) 11.12 and lower beam 2 and upper beam 3 of the headlamp.
This will bring the light to a state where it can be lit.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a conventionally known headlamp sensor for detecting the headlamp light of an oncoming vehicle; 14 a headlamp sensor 14 for identifying the headlamp light of an oncoming vehicle when the output signal level of the headlamp sensor 13 exceeds a predetermined value; be. A, N via the output of the opposing +1 identification circuit 14 and the inverter 16
It is connected to D gate 12. Therefore, when the output of the oncoming vehicle identification circuit 14 is "0", that is, when there is no oncoming vehicle, the AND gate 12 becomes the output "1"', the relay 6 is operated via the transistor 18, and the upper beam 3 of the Hella 1 lamp is activated. is lit.When the output of the oncoming vehicle identification circuit 14 is 1'', that is, when the oncoming vehicle approaches, the A
The ND gate 11 becomes an output ``°1'''', the relay 5 is operated via the transistor 17, the lower beam 2 of the headlamp is turned on, and the upper beam 3 is turned off. The circuit described above is a conventionally well-known light control device that has an automatic lighting function for lamps and a beam switching function based on the headlamp light of an oncoming vehicle.

tail lamp sensor for detecting the red color y6 of the lamp, 2
Reference numeral 0 designates a preceding vehicle identification circuit which monitors the output signal level of the tail lamp sensor 19 and determines that a preceding vehicle is present when the output signal level is below a predetermined level. The tail lamp sensor 19 is a 6L sensor that selectively detects only the red light of the tail lamp of the preceding vehicle.
The configuration is as shown in the figure. The tail lamp sensor 19 illustrated in FIG. 2 is located deep inside the cylindrical case 21 and is a photodiode.

A photo-sensing cell 22 such as a phototransistor or CaS is provided, and a red filter 23 and a condensing lens 24 are arranged in front of the photo-sensing cell 22 to prevent only red light from passing through. With this configuration, directivity is provided by the cylindrical case 21 and the condensing lens 24, and only red light can be selected by the red filter 23, so the tail lamp sensor 19 can be installed on the front bumper or front fender of a car. By arranging it in a certain area and facing the direction of vehicle travel, it is possible to reliably detect only the red tail lamp light of a preceding vehicle traveling on the same lane. In order to make the directivity of the tail lamp sensor 19 sharper, the front edge of the cylindrical case 21 is extended further forward, and the condenser lens 24 and the light sensing cell 22 are connected to the cylindrical case 21.
It is only necessary to configure the structure so that it is located deeper inside. In addition, in the tail lamp sensor 19 having the above-described configuration, if the light sensing cell 22 having optical characteristics that particularly sensitively responds to only red light is used, the red filter 23 can be omitted.

In the above configuration, when driving at night and there are no oncoming vehicles, as is clear from the above,
The tail lamp 1 and the upper beam 3 of the headlamp are turned on. In such a driving state, if a preceding vehicle is present within the detection distance range on the same lane, the tail lamp sensor 19 detects the red light from the tail lamp of the preceding vehicle. If the output level of the tail lamp sensor 19 is equal to or higher than a preset level, the preceding vehicle identification circuit 20
It is determined that the preceding vehicle is present, and the output changes from "O" to "1".

The output “L” of this preceding 11j identification circuit 20 is OR
)f- gate 15 to ANI)'7+- gate 11, and AND gate 11 thereby outputs 11 L I
+, activates the relay 5 via the transistor 17, and turns on the lower beam 2 of the headlamp.

At the same time, the °′1″′ signal of the preceding j1j identification circuit 20 becomes O.
The signal is sent to the inverter 16 via the R gate 15, and the signal is inverted to become a 0'0'' signal, which is sent to the AND gate 12. Therefore, transistor 18 is turned off,
The relay 6 is restored and the upper beam 3 is turned off.

As a result, if there is a vehicle in front, the headlights are automatically switched from upper beam 3 to lower beam 2,
Since the light from the following vehicle does not directly illuminate the preceding vehicle, the light from the following vehicle does not reflect on the rearview mirror of the preceding vehicle and dazzle the driver of the preceding vehicle.

Next, when the preceding vehicle disappears or the preceding vehicle is located outside the detection distance range, the preceding vehicle identification circuit 20
The output becomes "0°" and the Heller lamp is automatically switched from the lower beam 2 to the upper beam 3 again.

Since the present invention operates in configuration 1 as explained above, it is possible to detect the red light of the tail lamp of the preceding vehicle and automatically switch the head lamp of the own vehicle from the upper beam to the lower beam, thereby detecting the red light of the tail lamp of the preceding vehicle. The headlamp light is no longer reflected on the rearview mirror of the vehicle in front and dazzles the driver of the vehicle in front, which has the effect of greatly improving vehicle driving safety. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram of an embodiment of a headlight control device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram showing an example of a tail lamp sensor used in the device of the present invention. 1: tail lamp, 2: headlamp lower beam,
3: Upper beam of headlamp, (ll) 4.5.6: Relay, 7: Ambient light sensor, 8: Twilight identification circuit, 10: Night identification circuit, 11.12=ANDr-t, 13: Headlamp sensor, 14: Oncoming vehicle identification circuit,
15: Ort gate, 16: Inverter, 19: Tail lamp sensor, 20: Leading vehicle identification circuit. Patent applicant Toyota Motor Corporation Agent Osamu Kawa Yoshito Tatsuya Fuji (12)

Claims (1)

[Claims] Equipped with a tail lamp sensor that detects the red light of the tail lamp of the preceding vehicle, and a beam switching control circuit that automatically switches the head lamp from the upper beam to the lower beam when the output signal level of the sensor is equal to or higher than a preset level. A vehicle headlight control device f', f characterized by: