Vehicle light system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11745642-B2
Application number	US-202117198599-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2021
Priority date	Mar 16, 2020
Publication date	Sep 5, 2023
Grant date	Sep 5, 2023

Abstract

A present invention provide a vehicle light system which prevents low-beam headlights from being forgotten to turn on while a vehicle is traveling and is able to turn off the low-beam headlights when it is not necessary, a rotation position of a light switch includes an AUTO position, a SMALL position, and an OFF position, the light switch includes a momentary mechanism which returns a position to the AUTO position when the position is changed to the OFF position or the SMALL position, lights include the low-beam headlights and position lights, the AUTO position allows the low-beam headlights and the position lights to turn on or off depending on a brightness outside the vehicle, and a light control unit turns off the low-beam headlights and turns on the position lights when the rotation position is set to the AUTO position, the brightness outside the vehicle is lower than a predetermined value, a speed is lower than a first predetermined speed, and the rotation position is then changed to the SMALL position or the OFF position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A light system for a vehicle, comprising:
a combination switch set to a rotation position to be rotationally changed for switching modes of a light that provides illumination outside;
a photosensor configured to detect brightness outside the vehicle; and
a speed sensor configured to detect a speed of the vehicle; wherein
the rotation position includes an AUTO position, a SMALL position, and an OFF position;
the combination switch includes a mechanism which returns the rotation position to the AUTO position when the rotation position is changed to the OFF position or the SMALL position,
the light includes a low-beam headlight and a position light, and
the AUTO position allows the low-beam headlight and the position light to turn on or off depending on the brightness outside the vehicle detected by the photosensor,
the light system further comprising:
a light control unit configured to turn off the low-beam headlight and to turn on the position light when
the rotation position is set to the AUTO position,
the brightness outside the vehicle detected by the photosensor is lower than a predetermined value,
the speed detected by the speed sensor is lower than a first predetermined speed, and
the rotation position is then changed to the SMALL position or the OFF position.

2. The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , wherein
the light control unit turns on the low-beam headlight when the speed detected by the speed sensor increases to a second predetermined speed or higher while the low-beam headlight is turned off and the position light is turned on, the second predetermined speed is equal to or higher than the first predetermined speed.

3. The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a travel distance calculation unit which detects a distance traveled by the vehicle since the low-beam headlight is turned off when the brightness detected by the photosensor is lower than a predetermined value, wherein
the light control unit turns on the low-beam headlight when the distance detected by the travel distance calculation unit reaches a predetermined distance while the low-beam headlight is turned off and the position light is turned on.

4. The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , wherein
the light control unit turns on the low-beam headlight when the rotation position is changed to the SMALL position while the low-beam headlight is turned off and the position light is turned on.

5. The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a function of receiving a signal from a parking brake sensor that detects on and off of a parking brake of the vehicle and receiving a signal from a park-range sensor that detects on and off of a park range of the vehicle, wherein
the light control unit turns off the low-beam headlight and turns on the position light when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied while the low-beam headlight is turned off and the position light is turned on: a condition that the speed detected by the speed sensor is equal to or higher than a third predetermined speed; and a condition that the parking brake sensor and park-range sensor detect the parking brake and the park range turning off respectively and when the rotation position is then changed to the OFF position, and
the third predetermined speed is lower than the first predetermined speed.

6. The vehicle light system according to claim 5 , wherein
the light control unit turns off the low-beam headlight and position light when: the rotation position is the AUTO position; the brightness detected by the photosensor is lower than the predetermined value; the speed detected by the speed sensor is lower than the third predetermined speed; at least one of the parking brake sensor and the park-range sensor detects on; and the rotation position is then changed to the OFF position.

7. The vehicle light system according to claim 5 , wherein
the light control unit turns on the position light and turns off the low-beam headlight when the speed detected by the speed sensor increases to a fourth predetermined speed or higher while the low-beam headlight and the position light are turned off, and
the fourth predetermined speed is equal to or higher than the third predetermined speed and is lower than the first predetermined speed.

8. The vehicle light system according to claim 5 , wherein
the light control unit turns on the position light and turns off the low-beam headlight when the parking brake sensor and park-range sensor detect the parking brake and the park range turning off respectively while the low-beam headlight and the position light are turned off.

9. The vehicle light system according to claim 5 , wherein
the light control unit turns on the low-beam headlight and position light when the rotation position is changed to the OFF position while the low-beam headlight and position light are turned off.

10. The vehicle light system according to claim 1 , wherein
the light control unit turn on the low-beam headlight and the position light when the brightness detected by the photosensor is lower than the predetermined value and the speed sensor is detected to have failed.

11. The vehicle light system according to claim 5 , wherein
the light control unit turns on the low-beam headlight and the position light when the brightness detected by the photosensor is lower than the predetermined value and at least one of the parking brake sensor and park-range sensor is detected to have failed.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shimada Manabu
• Iwamoto Shigeto
• Maeda Keisuke
• Mai Takashi

Classifications

• H05B47/17

  Operational modes, e.g. switching from manual to automatic mode or prohibiting specific operations · CPC title

• B60Q1/085 Primary

  due to special conditions, e.g. adverse weather, type of road, badly illuminated road signs or potential dangers (B60Q1/10, B60Q1/12, B60Q1/1423 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60Q1/0076

  Switches therefor (B60Q1/1446, B60Q1/343, B60Q1/40 take precedence) · CPC title

• H05B47/11

  by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light · CPC title

• H05B47/115

  by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings · CPC title