Vehicle lighting fixture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016238209-A1
Application number	US-201615001971-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 20, 2016
Priority date	Jan 21, 2015
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle lighting fixture can include a plurality of light sources; a plurality of optical deflectors provided to correspond to the light sources, the optical deflector configured to include a mirror part; a screen member configured to form a luminance distribution assigned to each optical deflector with the scanning light by the mirror part of the optical deflector; an optical system configured to project the luminance distributions on the screen member to thereby form a predetermined light distribution pattern; a changing unit configured to change the luminance distribution assigned to each of the optical deflectors; and a control unit configured to control the light sources and the optical deflectors so that the optical deflectors each can form the respective luminance distributions assigned to the respective optical deflectors on the screen member. The changing unit can change the respective luminance distributions assigned to the respective optical deflectors at a prescribed timing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A vehicle lighting fixture configured to form a predetermined light distribution pattern, the vehicle lighting fixture comprising:
a plurality of light sources; a plurality of optical deflectors provided to correspond to the plurality of light sources, the optical deflector configured to include a mirror part that can scan with light from a corresponding one of the light sources; a screen member configured to form a luminance distribution assigned to each of the optical deflectors with the scanning light by the mirror part of the optical deflector; an optical system configured to project the luminance distributions formed on the screen member to thereby form the predetermined light distribution pattern; a changing unit configured to change the luminance distribution assigned to each of the optical deflectors; and a control unit configured to control the plurality of light sources and the plurality of optical deflectors so that the plurality of optical deflectors each can form the respective luminance distributions assigned to the respective optical deflectors on the screen member, wherein the changing unit is configured to change the respective luminance distributions assigned to the respective optical deflectors at a prescribed timing.

2 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 1 , wherein the changing unit is configured to change the luminance distributions assigned to the respective optical deflectors to luminance distributions with different sizes from each other among the optical deflectors and that are luminance distributions different in size from those previously assigned to the respective optical deflectors before the predetermined timing.

3 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 1 , wherein
the plurality of optical deflectors includes a first optical deflector, a second optical deflector, and a third optical deflector, and the changing unit is configured to change the luminance distributions formed by the respective optical deflectors to a first luminance distribution having a first size, a second luminance distribution having a second size smaller than the first size and configured to overlap the first luminance distribution, and a third luminance distribution having a third size smaller than the second size and configured to overlap the second luminance distribution.

4 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 2 , wherein
the plurality of optical deflectors includes a first optical deflector, a second optical deflector, and a third optical deflector, and the changing unit is configured to change the luminance distributions formed by the respective optical deflectors to a first luminance distribution having a first size, a second luminance distribution having a second size smaller than the first size and configured to overlap the first luminance distribution, and a third luminance distribution having a third size smaller than the second size and configured to overlap the second luminance distribution.

5 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of light sources is configured by any of a semiconductor light emitting element and a combination of a light emitting element and an optical fiber guiding light from the light emitting element, wherein the optical fiber has a light incident end face and a light exiting end face, and the light exiting end face is located at a light source position.

6 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of light sources is configured by any of a semiconductor light emitting element and a combination of a light emitting element and an optical fiber guiding light from the light emitting element, wherein the optical fiber has a light incident end face and a light exiting end face, and the light exiting end face is located at a light source position.

7 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 3 , wherein each of the plurality of light sources is configured by any of a semiconductor light emitting element and a combination of a light emitting element and an optical fiber guiding light from the light emitting element, wherein the optical fiber has a light incident end face and a light exiting end face, and the light exiting end face is located at a light source position.

8 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of light sources is configured by any of a semiconductor light emitting element and a combination of a light emitting element and an optical fiber guiding light from the light emitting element, wherein the optical fiber has a light incident end face and a light exiting end face, and the light exiting end face is located at a light source position.

9 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 1 , wherein
the vehicle lighting fixture has a reference axis so that the optical system, the screen member, and the plurality of optical deflectors are disposed along the reference axis in this order; the plurality of light sources is disposed to surround the reference axis and is inclined so that each of the light sources emits light rearward and directed to the reference axis; and the plurality of optical deflectors is disposed to be closer to the reference axis than the plurality of light sources and surround the reference axis so that the light from the corresponding one of the light sources is incident on the corresponding one of the mirror parts and is reflected by the mirror part to be directed to the screen member.

10 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 2 , wherein
the vehicle lighting fixture has a reference axis so that the optical system, the screen member, and the plurality of optical deflectors are disposed along the reference axis in this order; the plurality of light sources is disposed to surround the reference axis and is inclined so that each of the light sources emits light rearward and directed to the reference axis; and the plurality of optical deflectors is disposed to be closer to the reference axis than the plurality of light sources and surround the reference axis so that the light from the corresponding one of the light sources is incident on the corresponding one of the mirror parts and is reflected by the mirror part to be directed to the screen member.

11 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 3 , wherein
the vehicle lighting fixture has a reference axis so that the optical system, the screen member, and the plurality of optical deflectors are disposed along the reference axis in this order; the plurality of light sources is disposed to surround the reference axis and is inclined so that each of the light sources emits light rearward and directed to the reference axis; and the plurality of optical deflectors is disposed to be closer to the reference axis than the plurality of light sources and surround the reference axis so that the light from the corresponding one of the light sources is incident on the corresponding one of the mirror parts and is reflected by the mirror part to be directed to the screen member.

12 . The vehicle lighting fixture according to claim 4 , wherein
the vehicle lighting fixture has a reference axis so that the optical system, the screen member, and the plurality of optical deflectors are disposed along the reference axis in this order; the plurality of light sources is disposed to surround the reference axis and is inclined so that each of the light sources emits light rearward and directed to the reference axis; and the plurality of optical deflectors is disposed to be closer to the reference axis than the plurality of light sources

Assignees

• Stanley Electric Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kimura Yota

Classifications

• F21S41/16

  Laser light sources · CPC title

• F21S41/675

  by moving reflectors · CPC title

• F21S41/67

  by acting on reflectors · CPC title

• F21S41/255

  Lenses with a front view of circular or truncated circular outline · CPC title

• F21S41/33

  Multi-surface reflectors, e.g. reflectors with facets or reflectors with portions of different curvature · CPC title