Abstract:
There has been limitation that since in a prior lamp for the vehicle, an amount of light is switched in the case where combining the lamp units which usage is different, a combination thereof is impossible except for the lamp unit with the same light color and so forth. A double-stacked type lamp unit for the vehicle which comprises a LED lamp unit using a LED lamp as the light source and having a reflecting surface for LED, and an incandescent lamp unit using the incandescent lamp as the light source and having a reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp, in which said reflecting surface for LED is formed optically transparent partially, and this incandescent lamp and the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp are arranged on a back surface of this reflecting surface for LED, and said LED lamp unit and the incandescent lamp unit are coupled each other in a manner that the reflecting surfaces are stacked is realized, whereby the combination of the lamp units different in lamp color becomes possible, and the problems can be solved.

Description:
BACKGROUD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a lamp unit for a vehicle, and more particularly to the lamp unit for the vehicle designed to arrange in a manner to stack two units so as to be able to perform two indications by using one indication surface and the object of the invention is to provide the new constitution of the lamp unit for the vehicle.  
           [0003]    2. Detailed Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    [0004]FIG. 7 shows an example of the constitution of this kind of lamp unit  90  for the vehicle performing two indications. When making it share both functions of a tail lamp and a stop lamp by using one indication surface, for example, two light source of a bulb  93  for the tail lamp and a bulb  94  for the stop lamp are installed within a lamp body constituted by a lens  91  colored on a red or the like and a reflecting mirror  92  in advance, whereby the light source is switched in accordance with the purpose.  
           [0005]    Moreover, in this case, since an emitted light color as the lamp unit for the vehicle becomes the color colored on the lens  91  when lighting up the bulb  93  for the tail lamp and also when lighting up the bulb  94  for the stop lamp, significantly different bulbs in light intensity have been used for the bulb  93  for the tail lamp and the bulb  94  for the stop lamp in order to identify the indication for the tail lamp from that for the stop lamp.  
           [0006]    Moreover, an electric bulb with double-filaments in which filaments for the bulb  93  for the tail lamp and the bulb  94  for the stop lamp are mounted within one bulb conventionally has been used from the viewpoint of focusing of the reflecting mirror  92  or the like.  
           [0007]    However, there has been a problem that in the lamp unit for the vehicle of the prior constitution described above, first, since the emitted light color of the indication becomes same primarily, only the same lamp units for the vehicle with the same emitting-light color can be combined each other as are the tail lamp and stop lamp described-above for instance, as a result, practices are limited extremely.  
           [0008]    Moreover, secondly, there has caused problem that the function of the side of a more dark indication is lost due to masking since the light source with higher intensity will be lit up at the time of switching the indication, discussing the condition of the indication according to the lamp unit for the vehicle  90  of the prior example in detail so that the indication which should be indicated at all time can not be combined with other lamp, and the practices are limited extremely in this viewpoint.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The present invention can solve the problems by providing a double-stacked type lamp unit for the vehicle as specified means for solving the prior problems described above, comprising:  
           [0010]    a LED lamp unit using a LED lamp as the light source and having a reflecting surface for LED; and  
           [0011]    an incandescent lamp unit using the incandescent lamp as the light source and having a reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp, wherein said reflecting surface for LED is formed optically transparent partially, and this incandescent lamp and the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp are arranged on a back surface of this reflecting surface for LED, and said LED lamp unit and the incandescent lamp unit are coupled each other in a manner that the reflecting surfaces are stacked.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a front elevation showing a first embodiment of a double-coupling type lamp for a vehicle according to the invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a cross section along line A-A in FIG. 1.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a cross section showing in component parts a second embodiment of a double-coupling type lamp for a vehicle according to the invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a cross section of component parts showing further embodiment of the second embodiment.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a front elevation showing in component parts the third embodiment of a double-coupling type lamp for a vehicle according to the invention.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is an illustration showing in component parts the third embodiment of a double-coupling type lamp for a vehicle according to the invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is a cross section showing a prior example.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0020]    Secondly, the invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. A first embodiment according to the invention are shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and a reference character  1  in the drawings shows a double-coupling type lamp unit for a vehicle according to the invention. Moreover, this double-stacked type lamp unit for the vehicle  1  (hereinafter abbreviated as a lamp unit  1 ) is constituted by coupling two lamp units, a LED lamp unit  10  and an incandescent lamp unit  20  each other in series, that is, in a manner to be stacked so as to share a light-emitting surface  2 . Moreover, a reference character  3  in the drawings shows an outer lens which is shared by two lamp units.  
         [0021]    Here, first, a constitution of the LED lamp unit  10  will be described below. In this LED lamp unit  10 , a LED lamp  11  (or may be a very small-sized electric bulb) which is a small-sized light-emitting source is used as the light source, the LED lamp  11  is arranged on the position and in the direction which a main light-emitting direction is  2  is made to approximately align with an illuminating axis X of the double-stacked type lamp unit for the vehicle  1 .  
         [0022]    The reflecting surface for LED  12  is provided corresponding to said LED lamp  11 , and this reflecting surface for LED  12  is constituted by a first LED reflecting surface  13  and a second LED reflecting surface  14 , in addition, said second LED reflecting surface  14  is constituted by a reflecting portion  14   a  and a base portion  14   b.    
         [0023]    Said first LED reflecting surface  13  is a paraboloid obtained by rotating a parabola P of which focus fl is made to align with said LED lamp  11  and an axis Y is made to intersect at approximately right angle with said illuminating axis X, taking the illuminating axis X as an axis, and it has been selected the paraboloid producing the LED lamp  11  on the side of the illuminating direction, of two pieces of paraboloid obtained as described above.  
         [0024]    The first LED reflecting surface  13  formed as described above would emit the light from said LED lamp  11  as parallel light beams within the range of 360° in the direction intersecting at approximately right angle with said illuminating direction X. Moreover, said axis Y is not necessarily required to strictly intersect at right angle to said illuminating axis X, and in this case, an inclination corresponding to the base portion  14   b  of the second LED reflecting surface  14  which will be described later has only to provide.  
         [0025]    Moreover, the reflecting portion  14   a  of said second LED reflecting surface  14  changes the direction of the light from said first LED reflecting surface  13  to the illuminating axis X, therefore, in principle, it is set at an elevation angle 45° of a plane mirror. Moreover, it can be performed freely that a supplementary cut  14   c  combined with a small reflecting surface with the elevation angle 45° is formed to vary an area of the respective reflecting portion  14   a  if required at the time of design of the lamp unit  1  and so forth. Furthermore, appropriate diffusing characteristic may be provided on this supplementary cut  14   c  to form a light emitting and a light-distribution characteristic and so forth.  
         [0026]    Moreover, said reflecting portion  14   a  is designed to arrange on the base portion  14   b  formed into the form of a plate by integrally molding, for example, to receive the light from the first LED reflecting surface  13 . Here, since the incandescent lamp unit  20  is arranged on a back surface of the base portion  14   b  as will be described later, the base portion  14   b  is formed with a transparent member basically. Therefore, the reflecting portion  14   a  integrally formed is formed by selective vacuum evaporation of aluminum.  
         [0027]    In this case, the reflecting portion  14   a  on the base portion  14   b  may be arranged in the form of a circumference in equidistance from said first LED reflecting surface  13 , or it may be arranged merely at random in distance or so as to form patterns, in addition, the reflected light becoming the parallel light beam which the first LED reflecting surface  13  produces may be divided in a direction of the illuminating axis X to make to reflect in a multi stage on the same emitting line (refer to FIG. 2).  
         [0028]    Said incandescent lamp unit  20  is constituted providing the incandescent lamp  21  and the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22  as main components, and said incandescent lamp  21  is provided in the same axis with said LED lamp  11 , that is, in a manner to approximately align with the illuminating axis X. Moreover, a basic constitution of the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22  is a paraboloid of revolution taking the incandescent lamp  21  as a focus f 2  and taking the illuminating axis X as the rotating axis, and reflects the light from the incandescent lamp  21  as a parallel light with the illuminating axis X.  
         [0029]    Moreover, also in this reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22 , a diffusion cut  22   a  or the like for purpose to form the light-distribution characteristic as the lamp unit  1  and so forth can be provided freely, and in addition, the diffusion cut also can be given on the base portion  14   b  freely in the place of the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22 .  
         [0030]    As described above, the LED lamp unit  10  provided in the same axis with the incandescent lamp unit  20  and are stacked, whereby according to the lamp unit  1  of the invention, the reflecting portion  14   a  is viewed brightly when lighting up the LED lamp unit  10 , the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22  is viewed brightly via the base portion  14   b  when lighting up the incandescent lamp unit  20 , and both of the reflecting portion  14   a  and the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22  are viewed brightly when lighting up both lamps.  
         [0031]    Therefore, when forming the base portion  14   b  with amber transparent material and using a red light emitting LED as the LED lamp  11 , the function is performed as the tail lamp when lighting up the side of the LED lamp unit  10 , the function is performed as a turn signal lamp when lighting up the side of the incandescent lamp unit  20  intermittently, and both functions are performed when lighting up both lamps, for example.  
         [0032]    According to the constitution described above, the direct light from the incandescent lamp  21  would be shielded by the LED lamp  11  and the first LED reflecting surface  13 , whereby a part of the incandescent lamp  21  can be prevented from being viewed brightly irregularly when lighting up the side of the incandescent lamp unit  20  and a fine view also can be improved at lighting up.  
         [0033]    Since a  14   b    1   5  in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 shows a reflex-reflector, an front of the first LED reflecting surface  13  can not be viewed brightly even when lighting up either the LED lamp unit  10  or the incandescent lamp unit  20  as is apparent from the described-above description. Therefore, although the ornament can be given on this portion freely, but the reflex-reflector  15  which should be mounted in the case where the lamp unit  1  is a lamp for the rear of a vehicle is provided on this portion by utilizing said outer lens  3  and so forth, thereby to be effective for size reduction of the lamp unit  1 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are views showing component parts of a second embodiment according to the invention, and the base portion  14   b  transmits the light from the incandescent lamp unit  20 , as well as holds the reflecting portion  14   a  in the first embodiment described above, on the one hand, the base portion  16   b  of the second LED reflecting surface  16  holds the reflecting portion  16   a , as well as serves to transmit the reflected light from the first LED reflecting surface  13  to the reflecting portion  16   a  in this second embodiment.  
         [0035]    Therefore, in a second embodiment, an opening portion  16   d  is provided on a center of the base portion  16   b , and the light from the first LED reflecting surface  13  is introduced into the base portion  16   b  through a plane of a plate thickness direction of this opening portion  16   d , thereby an action as a light guide plate to be performed. Moreover, the reflecting portion  16   a  based on total reflection in the inner surface in which a difference in refractive indexes between the base portion  16   b  and the atmosphere is utilized is provided on an appropriate position including an outer periphery of said base portion  16   b , thereby a traveling direction of the light to be changed to the direction of said illuminating axis X.  
         [0036]    Moreover, said reflecting portion may be a reflecting portion  16   e  formed into a conical hole with a small diameter as shown in FIG. 4, and in this case, since a bright point appears corresponding with the reflecting portion  16   e , the number and pattern which the reflecting portion  16   e  is arranged are appropriately formed, whereby characters and graphics or the like written freely can be indicated depending upon a group of the bright points described above. Moreover, in this case, the light on the plane of the side on which the reflecting portion  16   e  of this base portion  16   b  is formed is gathered by devising the shape of the base portion  16   b  of the vicinity of said opening portion  16   d , whereby the brightness can be increased more and more.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 5 is a view showing component parts of a third embodiment according to the invention, and although the constitution of said second LED reflecting surface  14  is the same as the first embodiment basically, a cylindrical septum  14   d  surrounding the first LED reflecting surface  13  is provided, and the first LED reflecting surface  13  is held with a cylindrical septum  14   d  and so forth in a third embodiment. Moreover, the ornament cut  14   e  is provided on said cylindrical septum  14   d , and unification of design are realized with the ornament cut  13   e  provided on the first LED reflecting surface  13 , the fine view also is designed to be improved. Moreover, although it is needless to say, the ornament cut  14   e  provided on said septum  14   d  can be changed freely, and in this case, the ornament cut  13   a  on the first LED reflecting surface  13  may be omitted.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 6 is a view schematically showing a fourth embodiment according to the invention, and, generally, a shadow G of a stem  21   b  for putting a filament  21   a  on the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22  tends to occur in the incandescent lamp unit  20  using the incandescent lamp  21  as the light source. Moreover, since the LED lamp unit  10  is stacked in front of an illuminating direction of the incandescent lamp unit  20  in the invention, a wire harness  17  for lighting up this LED lamp unit  10  also should be installed within the incandescent lamp unit  20 , and accordingly, this wire harness  17  also becomes a factor of an occurrence of the shadow G.  
         [0039]    Accordingly, since said wire harness  17  is provided within the shadow G of the stem  21   b  in a fourth embodiment, an occurrence of a new shadow on the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp  22  can be prevented, whereby the fine view can be improved at lighting up. In addition, in this fourth embodiment, the reflecting portion  14   a  provided on the base portion  14   b  is constituted so as to match with a portion corresponding to said shadow G, whereby the occurrence of the shadow G becomes hard to recognize.  
         [0040]    As described above, the double-stacked type lamp unit for the vehicle comprising: a LED lamp unit using a LED lamp as the light source and having a reflecting surface for LED; and an incandescent lamp unit using the incandescent lamp as the light source and having a reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp, wherein said reflecting surface for LED is formed optically transparent partially, and this incandescent lamp and the reflecting surface for the incandescent lamp are arranged on a back surface of this reflecting surface for LED, and said LED lamp unit and the incandescent lamp unit are coupled each other in a manner that the reflecting surfaces are stacked is constituted according to the invention, whereby first, the lamp for the vehicle capable of realize an unprecedented novel appearance and a lighting condition can be provided and extremely excellent effects can be performed for improvement of an appeal as a commodity.  
         [0041]    Moreover, secondly, a combination of the lamp units different in lamp color which has been impossible heretofore, such as the tail lamp (red) and the turn signal lamp (amber) can be combined has been made possible, and flexibility for design of a rear-combination lamp or the like can be given, whereby extremely excellent effects also can be performed for improvement in performance such as improvement of notifying function to the externals such as succeeding vehicle is improved, for example.  
         [0042]    While the presently preferred embodiments of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto, and that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.