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Apparatus for controlling illumination range of vehicle lights

  • US 9,469,240 B2
  • Filed: 05/28/2013
  • Issued: 10/18/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A vehicle light control apparatus that is mounted to a controlled vehicle and controls an illumination range of headlights of the controlled vehicle, the vehicle light control apparatus comprising:

  • a processor, the processor includingmeans for acquiring presence information that indicates information as to whether or not another vehicle is present in a lateral or rear direction relative to the vehicle; and

    means for changing the illumination range of the headlights to a narrower range when the acquiring means acquire presence information indicating presence of the another vehicle,whereinthe acquiring means is configured to acquire a relative motion vector indicating relative travel directions between the another vehicle and the controlled vehicle, in addition to the presence information, andthe changing means i) estimate a first time period that indicates an amount of time for the another vehicle to enter the illumination range, on the basis of the relative motion vector, the first time period depending on where the another vehicle is present in the lateral or rear direction, and ii) change the illumination range of the headlights to a narrower range after lapse of a wait time period that is set with the first time period as being an upper limit.

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