Headlamp device for vehicle
First Claim
1. A headlamp device for a vehicle comprising a head lamp having a lighting fixture unit for emitting a light beam in the forward direction, and a swivel mechanism for swinging the lighting fixture unit from side to side, and a drive controlling unit for controlling the drive of the swivel mechanism, wherein the drive controlling unit is arranged to calculate a driver viewing point angle from the vehicle velocity and a predetermined estimated horizontal G value during turning, and to predetermine the angle corresponding to the driver viewing point angle as a target swivel angle over which the lighting fixture unit is swung.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Front viewability during turning may be enhanced by a headlamp device for a vehicle arranged to perform swivel control The headlamp device is arranged so that when a vehicle 2 is turning around a right curve with low beam, the vehicle velocity V and the estimated horizontal G value are used to calculate the curve turning radius R, which is then used together with the vehicle velocity R to calculate the driver viewing point angle θ to which the leftward deviation β of the highest light intensity position in the light distribution pattern PL for low beam is added to calculate the target swivel angle α on the basis of which the lighting fixture unit of the headlamp 10R is swung over the target swivel angle α so that light beam is emitted toward a region surrounding the driver viewing point EP on the road ahead of the vehicle in the forward direction. In this arrangement, the driver viewing point angle θ can be calculated using only from the vehicle velocity data as a parameter without using steering angle data, making it possible to simplify the operation for swivel control and to eliminate the need to use a steering angle sensor.
12 Citations
7 Claims
- 1. A headlamp device for a vehicle comprising a head lamp having a lighting fixture unit for emitting a light beam in the forward direction, and a swivel mechanism for swinging the lighting fixture unit from side to side, and a drive controlling unit for controlling the drive of the swivel mechanism, wherein the drive controlling unit is arranged to calculate a driver viewing point angle from the vehicle velocity and a predetermined estimated horizontal G value during turning, and to predetermine the angle corresponding to the driver viewing point angle as a target swivel angle over which the lighting fixture unit is swung.
Specification