Lens with expanded reflecting surface

Abstract

Disclosed is a lens including a lens body. The lens body including an incidence portion on which light from a light source is incident, a reflecting portion having a first reflecting surface configured to internally reflect the incident light, an emitting portion configured to emit the reflected light, and an attachment portion configured to attach the lens body to a lamp. A recessed portion configured to define a second reflecting surface continuous to the first reflecting surface is formed between the attachment portion and the reflecting portion.

Claims

1. A lens comprising: a lens body including: an incidence portion on which light from a light source is incident; a reflecting portion having a first reflecting surface configured to internally reflect the incident light toward a front side of the lens body; an emitting portion configured to emit the reflected light; and an attachment portion configured to attach the lens body to a lamp and positioned at a rear side of the lens body opposite the front side of the lens body, wherein a recessed portion positioned on a top surface of the lens body and configured to define a second reflecting surface continuous to the first reflecting surface is formed between the attachment portion and the reflecting portion, the incidence portion is provided on a bottom surface of the lens body at a side opposite to the reflecting portion, and provided with a recessed surface that is recessed toward the first reflecting surface and the second reflecting surface, and configured to be elongated in a front side to rear side direction of the lens body, and the light source faces a direction orthogonal to the front side to rear side direction.

2. The lens of claim 1, wherein the emitting portion is positioned on the front side of the lens body opposite to the attachment portion, the reflecting portion is provided on the lens body, and the recessed portion is formed between the attachment portion and the reflecting portion to be recessed toward the incidence portion.

3. The lens of claim 1, wherein the recessed portion includes a flat bottom surface.

4. The lens of claim 2, wherein the recessed portion includes a flat bottom surface.

5. The lens of claim 1, wherein the recessed portion includes a groove having a substantially V-shaped cross section.

6. The lens of claim 2, wherein the recessed portion includes a groove having a substantially V-shaped cross section.

7. The lens of claim 1, wherein the first reflecting surface includes a parabolic surface opened toward the emitting portion, and the second reflecting surface includes a curved surface continuous to the parabolic surface.

8. The lens of claim 1, wherein the incidence portion includes a curved surface recessed in the lens body.

9. The lens of claim 1, wherein the recessed portion is formed so as to extend along a base edge of the reflecting portion when viewed from a top of the lens.

10. The lens of claim 1, wherein the recessed surface includes a curved surface, the curved surface being inwardly curved toward the light source.

11. The lens of claim 1, wherein the attachment portion further includes an attachment hole.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a front view of a vehicle edge light, illustrating an exemplary embodiment.

(2) FIG. 2 is a plane view illustrating a lens of the edge light in FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an attachment structure of the lens taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2.

(4) FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views illustrating a reflecting action of lens in FIG. 3 in comparison with the related art.

(5) FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a lens illustrating a variant of a recessed portion defining a reflecting surface.

(6) FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views illustrating a lens according to the related art.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

(7) In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which form a part hereof. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawing, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here.

(8) Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment in which the present disclosure is implemented in a vehicle edge light will be described with reference to the drawings. An edge light 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a lens 12 above a rear combination lamp 1 and a light source unit 13 below the lens 12. The lens 12 includes a lens body 14 made of a transparent resin, and an emitting portion 15 is provided on the front end surface (an end surface facing the rear side of the vehicle) on the lens body 14 to be elongated in a vehicle width direction. The light source unit 13 includes a substrate 16, and a plurality of LED light sources 17 are disposed on the substrate so as to face the lower surface of the lens body 14.

(9) As illustrated in FIG. 2, the lens body 14 is shaped in a plate-shape configured to be enlarged diagonally from the outside to the inside in the vehicle width direction, according to the shape of the vehicle body corner portion. An attachment portion 20 configured to attach the lens body 14 to a housing (not illustrated) of the rear combination lamp 1 is provided on the lens body 14 on the side opposite to the emitting portion 15. Incidence portions 21 on which light emitted from the LED light sources is incident are provided on the lower surface of the lens body 14. Further, reflecting portions 23, each including a first reflecting surface 22 (see, e.g., FIG. 3) configured to internally reflect the incident light, are provided on the upper surface of the lens body 14 on the side opposite to the incidence portion 21.

(10) The reflecting portions 23 and the incidence portions 21, the number of each of which is the same as the number of the LED light sources 17, are arranged diagonally from the outside to inside in the vehicle width direction. In order to relieve influence of light interference between the reflecting portions 23 and the incidence portions 21, a light diffusing portion 19 is provided on the boundary between each adjacent reflecting portions 23. The light diffusing portions 19 are, for example, knurled surfaces. The emitting portion 15 and the attachment portion 20 are provided continuously in the vehicle width direction on the front side and the rear side of the reflecting portion 23, respectively. A plurality of light diffusion steps 24 configured to scatter the emitted light in the vehicle width direction are provided on the emitting portion 15. Attachment holes 25 are formed at appropriate portions of the attachment portion 20, and caulking pins 26 are protruded from the upper surface of the lens body 14 in front of the attachment holes 25.

(11) As illustrated in FIG. 3, in the lamp housing, a pair of upper and lower brackets 28 and 29 configured to hold the lens body 14 and an inner lens 30 configured to cover the emitting portion 15 are provided inside the rear combination lamp 1. A boss portion 31 to be inserted into each attachment hole 25 of the lens body 14 is protruded from the lower bracket 29, and the attachment portion 20 of the lens body 14 is sandwiched between the brackets 28 and 29 by a screw 32 configured to be screwed into the boss portion 31. In front of the attachment portion 20, the lens body 14 is fixed to the upper bracket 28 by the caulking pins 26, and the inner lens 30 is sandwiched between the front ends of the upper and lower brackets 28 and 29.

(12) The caulking pins 26 may be used, for example, to fix the inner lens 30 provided in front of the edge light 11. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, by fixing the upper bracket 28 to the lens body 14 with the caulking pins 26, a rearward extension portion 30a of the inner lens 30 may be hooked to the front end of the upper bracket 28, and a lower end of the inner lens 30 may be hooked to the front end of the lower bracket 29. Further, as another example, a caulking pin (not illustrated) is protruded from a front end protrusion 14a of the lens body 14, and, by inserting the caulking pin into a hole or an opening formed in the rearward extension portion 30a of the inner lens 30, the inner lens 30 may be fixed to the lens body 14. In any of the examples, since the edge light 11 is assembled to the lamp directly or indirectly, an assembly including the edge light 11 and the inner lens 30 may be easily assembled to the lamp.

(13) As illustrated in an enlarged view of the portion B of the lens body 14 in FIG. 3, a recessed portion 34 is formed on the upper surface of the lens body 14 so as to be recessed toward the incidence portion 21 between the attachment portion 20 and the reflecting portion 23. The recessed portion 34 is defined such that the bottom surface 34a is flat, the rear side surface 34b of the attachment portion 20 side is an inclined surface, the front side surface 34c of the reflecting portion 23 side is defined that a second reflecting surface 35 (the portion lower than a virtual line illustrated in the enlarged view of B portion) continues to the lower side of the first reflecting surface 22 (the portion above the same virtual line). The first reflecting surface 22 includes a parabolic surface configured to be opened toward the emitting portion 15 and the second reflecting surface 35 is a curved surface included in the same parabolic surface, in order to be able to emit parallel light from the emitting portion 15 (see, e.g., FIGS. 4A and 4B).

(14) Further, the virtual line illustrated in the enlarged view of the portion B in FIG. 3 is on the extension line of the upper surface of the attachment portion 20. As illustrated in a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C in FIG. 3, the incidence portion 21 includes a curved surface 36 configured to be recessed on the lower surface of the lens body 14 and to be long in the front-to-rear direction, and is configured to efficiently distribute the incident light from the LED light source 17 to substantially the entire circumference of the first and the second reflecting surfaces 22 and 35. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the recessed portion 34 is formed so as to extend along a base edge (parabola) in a plan view of the lens 12.

(15) Therefore, according to the lens 12 of the exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, reflected light L2 from the second reflecting surface 35 is added to the reflected light L1 from the first reflecting surface 22, so that a larger amount of light may be emitted from the emitting portion 15 to the front of the edge light 11 in comparison with the lens 51 illustrated in FIG. 4B (the lens to which the technique of the related art illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B is applied). Further, since the second reflecting surface 35 is defined by the recessed portion 34 between the attachment portion 20 and the reflecting portion 23, the first reflecting surface 22 may be extended with the second reflecting surface 35 without reducing the thickness of the attachment portion 20, so that not only the light intensity of the edge light 11, but also the attachment strength of the lens 12 to the rear combination lamp 1 may be increased.

(16) FIG. 5 illustrates a modification of a recessed portion configured to form the second reflecting surface 35. In this lens 12, a groove 38 having a V-shaped cross section is formed on the upper surface of the lens body 14 so as to be recessed toward the incidence portion 21, and the second reflecting surface 35 is defined to continue to the lower side of the first reflecting surface 22 with the front side surface 38a of the groove 38. Therefore, with this modification, it is also possible to increase each of the light intensity of the edge light 11 and the attachment strength of the lens 12 as in the lens 12 illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

(17) From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.