Stanley Electric Co., Ltd

Ryotaro Owada

Masanori Sato

Teruo Koike

Yasushi Yatsuda

Masafumi Ohno

Takuya Kushimoto

Takashi Futami

Norikatsu Myojin

Yasuo Toko

Takashi Ebisutani

Satoshi Sakai

Shinya Kogure

Yasushi Kita

Yoshifumi Takao

Mitsuo Yamada

Shoichi Bamba

Takashi Sugiyama

Hidetaka Okada

Toshihiro Oikawa

Tatsuya Sekiguchi

Toshihiro Seko

Kouji Ohe

Yatsushi Yatsuda

Masahiro Hosaka

In a vehicular lamp, a polarization rotation element is disposed only in an optical path of second light from a second reflector toward a PBS, first light and the second light condensed toward a liquid crystal element are condensed at a first condensing point in common, the liquid crystal element is located at the first condensing point, the second light reflected by the PBS is condensed at a second condensing point deviated from the optical path of the light from a first reflector toward the PBS and the optical path of the second light from the second reflector toward the PBS.

Vehicular lamp and optical element

To reduce uneven brightness of light irradiated from a vehicle lighting system. The system includes a lamp unit and a control unit where the lamp unit includes: a light source that emits light; a liquid crystal element using the light emitted from the light source to form irradiation light; and a lens projecting the irradiation light; where the light from the light source enters the element at an angle including a direction inclined from the normal of a light incident surface of the element; where the light incident surface has a first region in which most light enters from a viewing direction of the element and a second region in which most light enters from other directions, and where the control unit drives the element by setting a first voltage of the first region to be low and setting a second voltage of the second region to be high.

Vehicle lighting system

A vehicular lamp includes a laser light source configured to radiate a laser beam, a wavelength conversion member configured to receive the laser beam and radiate white light, and a lens body disposed between the laser light source and the wavelength conversion member and configured to emit the white light, wherein the lens body has a laser beam incident surface configured to allow incidence of the laser beam, a white light incident surface configured to emit the laser beam from inside of the lens body and to allow incidence of the white light radiated from the wavelength conversion member, and an emission surface configured to emit the white light, and the wavelength conversion member is disposed to be separated from the white light incident surface.

Vehicular lamp

A vehicular lamp includes: a light source; a projection optical system that projects light emitted from the light source forward; a liquid crystal element arranged at a rear focal point of the projection optical system; a first polarizing plate disposed in an optical path between the liquid crystal element and the projection optical system, for transmitting light of a specific polarization component; a condensing optical system that condenses the light toward the liquid crystal element; a polarizing beam splitter that transmits first light with one polarization component and reflects and separates second light with the other polarization component; a reflecting optical system that reflects the first light toward the liquid crystal element; and a polarization rotation element that rotates a polarization direction of one of the first light and the second light to coincide with the other light in terms of a polarization direction thereof.

Provided is a vehicular headlight that is capable of generating a clear light distribution pattern using a monolithic array light source of surface emitting lasers. The vehicular headlightincludes a VCSEL array, an image generation unit including a lens arraywhich outputs incident light from the VCSEL arrayas collimated light so that an image of a light distribution pattern as an illuminance distribution is generated on an output side, a light distribution pattern forming unithaving an image forming surface on which the image is formed by the incident light from the image generation unit, and a projection unitoutputting the incident light from the light distribution pattern forming unit to an irradiation region in front of the vehicle.

Vehicular headlight

An automotive headlight includes: a light source for emitting light; a polarization beam splitter for receiving a light flux from the light source, and dividing the light flux into a first polarization and a second polarization; a liquid crystal element disposed to receive the first polarization and the second polarization, divided by the polarization beam splitter; a phase shifter disposed on optical axis of one of the first polarization and the second polarization, and aligning polarization axis directions of the first polarization and the second polarization; and an output side polarizer disposed on output side of the liquid crystal element, wherein illumination regions corresponding to respective control electrodes in the liquid crystal element can be controlled to shield light.

Automotive headlight

To reduce the optical members and the complexity of optical design. A vehicular lamp including: a light source; a light collecting member; a first polarizer advancing in a first direction a first component of the light, and advancing in a second direction a second component; a liquid crystal element disposed on one side of the first polarizer in the first direction; a second polarizer disposed on one side of the liquid crystal element in the first direction; a projection lens disposed on one side of the second polarizer in the first direction and projecting the first component to the front of an own vehicle; a reflecting member for reflecting the second component; where the first component is focused at a first focal point, the second component of the light is focused at a second focal point, and the liquid crystal element is disposed corresponding to the first focal point.

Vehicular lamp, vehicular lamp system

A vehicle lighting module includes first and second optical units, each having a light source and a light distribution forming portion configured to control an optical path of light emitted from the light source. The first and second optical units are configured to form first and second light distribution patterns in front, respectively. Horizontal illumination widths of the first and second light distribution patterns are substantially equal. Each of the first and second light distribution patterns has a horizontally extending cutoff line at at least a part of an end edge of one of upper and lower sides thereof. The cutoff line of the first light distribution pattern is positioned at the one of the upper and lower sides of the cutoff line of the second light distribution pattern.

Vehicle lighting module with overlapping light patterns

A lens body is provided which is disposed in front of a light source and configured to emit light forward from the light source along a forward/rearward reference axis extending in a forward/rearward direction of a vehicle, the lens body including an incidence part; a first reflecting surface configured to totally reflect light entering from the incidence part; a second reflecting surface configured to totally reflect at least some of the light totally reflected by the first reflecting surface; and a light emitting surface, wherein the first reflecting surface includes an elliptical spherical shape rotatably symmetrical with respect to a major axis extending in the forward/rearward direction, in first and second focal points constituted by the elliptical shape of the first reflecting surface, the second focal point disposed at a rear side between the first and second focal points is disposed in the vicinity of the light source, the second reflecting surface extends rearward from a point spaced a predetermined distance from the first focal point in an upward direction, and, among the light totally reflected by the first reflecting surface, light reaching the light emitting surface without being reflected by the second reflecting surface and light reaching the light emitting surface after being totally reflected by the second reflecting surface are emitted from the light emitting surface to be radiated forward.

Body and lighting tool for vehicle

A lens body includes a first reflecting surface totally reflecting entered light, a second reflecting surface totally reflecting at least some of the light totally reflected at the first reflecting surface, and a light emitting surface emitting light passed through forward, wherein the first reflecting surface includes an elliptical spherical shape with reference to a front-focal point and a rear-focal point disposed parallel with each other in the forward/rearward direction, the rear-focal point disposed in a vicinity of a light source, the light emitting surface has a first leftward/rightward emission region and a second leftward/rightward emission region adjacent to the first leftward/rightward emission region in a leftward/rightward direction, the first leftward/rightward emission region refracts the entered light in a direction approaching a forward/rearward reference axis, and the second leftward/rightward emission region refracts at least some of the entered light in a direction getting away from the forward/rearward reference axis.

Lens body for vehicle configured to emit light forward from a light source and lighting tool for vehicle

A lens body configured to radiate light entering from a light source forward along a forward/rearward reference axis extending in a forward/rearward direction of a vehicle, the lens body including a first reflecting surface having an elliptic spherical shape, a second reflecting surface configured to internally reflect at least some of the light internally reflected by the first reflecting surface, and a light emitting surface, and the light emitting surface having a first leftward/rightward emission region configured to refract an entered light, which has passed through a first focal point, in a direction approaching a forward/rearward reference axis and a second leftward/rightward emission region configured to refract an entered light, which has passed through the first focal point, in a direction separating away from the forward/rearward reference axis at cross sections in a forward/rearward direction and a leftward/rightward direction.

Lens body and lighting tool for vehicle

A lens body includes: an incident surface where light entering within a predetermined angular range with respect to an optical axis of the light source is refracted in a condensing direction; a first reflection surface that internally reflects the light; and a second reflection surface that internally reflects part of the reflected light from the first reflection surface. The lens body includes an emission surface of a convex lens surface. The second reflection surface extends backward from near a focal point of the emission surface. Light obtained by blocking part of the light internally reflected by the first reflection surface with a front edge of the second reflection surface, and the light internally reflected by the second reflection surface are emitted from the emission surface to from a predetermined light distribution pattern including a cutoff line defined by the second reflection surface at the upper edge.

Lens body and vehicle lighting fixture

A vehicle lighting unit can prevent the erroneous emission of laser light from a lens member through its light emission surface to the outside even when a wavelength converting member is dislocated. The vehicle lighting unit can include a laser light source, the wavelength converting member configured to receive the laser light and wavelength-convert at least part of the laser light, and the lens member including a light incident surface on which light from the wavelength converting member or the laser light is incident, a first reflecting surface configured to totally reflect the light from the light incident surface, and a light exiting surface through which the light from the first reflecting surface can exit. The lens member can further include a total-reflection prevention structure at the first reflecting surface, configured to prevent the laser light entering the lens member from being totally reflected by the first reflecting surface.

Vehicle lighting unit

A lens member in front of a light source can include: an incident portion dividing the entering light rays into first light rays obliquely upward and forward and second light rays obliquely upward and rearward; a first reflecting surface reflecting the first light rays; a second reflecting surface reflecting the second light rays; a third reflecting surface reflecting the second light rays reflected by the second reflecting surface; a fourth reflecting surface reflecting at least part of the first light rays reflected by the first reflecting surface and the second light rays reflected by the third reflecting surface; and a light exiting surface having a convex lens surface having a rear-side focal point. The fourth reflecting surface extends rearward from the rear-side focal point. A predetermined light distribution pattern is formed by superposing first and second partial light distribution patterns upon each other as a synthetic light distribution pattern.

Lens member and vehicle lighting unit

A vehicle headlight utilizes a rotationally asymmetric projection lens with its light emitting surface inclined with respect to the optical axis thereof, whereby the light emitted from the light source and projected forward through the light emitting surface of the projection lens is diffused substantially uniformly with respect to the optical axis of the projection lens, for example, uniform substantially in the right and left directions and/or the upper and lower directions. This can be achieved by designing the reflecting surface to have its optical axis inclined with respect to the optical axis of the projection lens by a predetermined angle so that light emitted from the light source and projected forward through the light emitting surface of the projection lens is made uniform with respect to the optical axis of the projection lens (for example, uniform substantially in the right and left directions and/or the upper and lower directions).

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Ryotaro Owada