Apparatus for controlling a headlight of a vehicle

Claim 2

A computer-controlled apparatus for controlling a headlight of a vehicle comprising: light detecting means for receiving a light impinging on a front end of the vehicle, including a photosensor having a plurality of photoelectric elements at least one of which is a special photoelectric element, said light detecting means for generating a plurality of light detection signals, each said light detection signal corresponding respectively to a quantity of the light received in each of said photoelectric elements, said special photoelectric element being arranged in a central portion of said photosensor and receiving an increased incident range of angles of light on the upper side thereof as compared with others of said photoelectric elements; control means, coupled to receive said light detection signals from said light detecting means, for: (1) comparing a level of at least one of said light detection signals corresponding to a quantity of light received in a predetermined photoelectric element with a predetermined level; (2) discriminating a presence or absence of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle based on a distribution of a quantity of light received at said plurality of photoelectric elements; (3) selecting a high beam mode or low beam mode as an illumination mode of a headlight of said vehicle based on a result of said comparing and discriminating; and (4) generating a control signal for commanding said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; and illumination switching means for receiving said control signal from said control means and switching the illumination mode of said headlight to obtain said selected high beam mode or low beam mode.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of photoelectric elements are arranged such that a range of angles of light incident on the upper side of said photosensor which can be detected, is increased in a central portion of said photosensor, and the light detection signal of said special photoelectric element is used as a signal for said discriminating for switching the illumination of the headlight of said vehicle.

Claim 4

A computer-controlled apparatus for controlling a headlight of a vehicle comprising: a speed sensor for generating a running condition signal representing a running condition of said vehicle; light detecting means for receiving a light impinging on a front end of the vehicle using a light receiving member divided into first regions extending in the vertical direction and covering a predetermined range in the horizontal direction and second regions extending in the vertical direction and covering a range narrower than said predetermined range, and for generating a plurality of light detection signals, each corresponding to a quantity of the light received in each of said regions of said light receiving member; means for selecting at least one of said plurality of regions based on said generated running condition signal; means for switching a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means based on said selected at least one region; control means, coupled to receive said light detection signals from said light detecting means, for: (1) comparing a level of at least one of said light detection signals corresponding to a quantity of the light received in a predetermined region of said light receiving member with a predetermined level; (2) discriminating a presence or absence of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle based on a distribution of a quantity of light received at said plurality of regions; (3) selecting a high beam mode or a low beam mode as an illumination mode of the headlight of said vehicle based on results of said comparing and discriminating; and (4) generating a control signal for commanding said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; and illumination switching means for receiving said control signal from said control means and switching the illumination mode of said headlight to obtain said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; wherein said first or second regions in said light receiving member being selected in accordance with the signal output from said speed sensor, whereby a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is switched to the left or right direction based thereon.

Claim 5

A computer-controlled apparatus for controlling a headlight of a vehicle comprising: a speed sensor for generating a running condition signal representing a running condition of said vehicle; light detecting means for receiving a light impinging on a front end of the vehicle using a light receiving member divided into first regions extending in the vertical direction and covering a predetermined range in the horizontal direction and second regions extending in the vertical direction and covering a range narrower than said predetermined range, and for generating a plurality of light detection signals, each corresponding to a quantity of the light received in each of said regions of said light receiving member; means for selecting at least one of said plurality of regions based on said generated running condition signal; means for switching a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means based on said selected at least one region; control means, coupled to receive said light detection signals from said light detecting means, for: (1) comparing a level of at least one of said light detection signals corresponding to a quantity of the light received in a predetermined region of said light receiving member with a predetermined level; (2) discriminating a presence or absence of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle based on a distribution of a quantity of light received at said plurality of regions; (3) selecting a high beam mode or a low beam mode as an illumination mode of the headlight of said vehicle based on results of said comparing and discriminating; and (4) generating a control signal for commanding said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; and illumination switching means for receiving said control signal from said control means and switching the illumination mode of said headlight to obtain said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; wherein said first or second regions in said light receiving member being selected in accordance with the signal output from said speed sensor, whereby a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is switched to the left or right direction based thereon.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said first regions are selected so that a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is increased in a horizontal direction when said running condition signal indicates that said vehicle is running at a high speed.

Claim 7

An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said second regions are selected so that a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is decreased in a horizontal direction when said running condition signal indicates that said vehicle is running at a low speed.

Claim 8

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sensitivity of said at least one special photoelectric element is made lower than that of each of the remaining photoelectric elements.

Claim 9

A computer-controlled apparatus for controlling a headlight of a vehicle comprising: an inclination sensor for detecting an inclination with regard along a running direction of said vehicle and generating an inclination signal; light detecting means for receiving a light impinging on a front end of the vehicle using a light receiving member divided into first regions extending in the horizontal direction and covering a predetermined range in the vertical direction and second regions extending in the horizontal direction and covering another predetermined range in the vertical direction, and for generating a plurality of light detection signals, each corresponding to a quantity of the light received in each of said regions of said light receiving member; means for selecting one of said plurality of regions based on said inclination signal; means for switching a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means; control means, coupled to receive said light detection signals from said light detecting means for: (1) comparing a level of at least one of said light detection signals corresponding to a quantity of the light received in a predetermined region of said light receiving member with a predetermined level; (2) discriminating a presence or absence of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle based on a distribution of quantity of light received at said plurality of regions; (3) selecting a high beam mode or low beam mode as an illumination mode of the headlight of said vehicle based on a result of said comparing and discriminating; and (4) generating a control signal for commanding said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; and illumination switching means for receiving said control signal from said control means and switching the illumination mode of said headlight to obtain said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; wherein said first or second regions in said light receiving member being selected in accordance with the signal output from said inclination sensor, whereby a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is switched to the upper or lower direction based thereon.

Claim 10

A computer-controlled apparatus for controlling a headlight of a vehicle comprising: an inclination sensor for detecting an inclination with regard along a running direction of said vehicle and generating an inclination signal; light detecting means for receiving a light impinging on a front end of the vehicle using a light receiving member divided into first regions extending in the horizontal direction and covering a predetermined range in the vertical direction and second regions extending in the horizontal direction and covering another predetermined range in the vertical direction, and for generating a plurality of light detection signals, each corresponding to a quantity of the light received in each of said regions of said light receiving member; means for selecting one of said plurality of regions based on said inclination signal; means for switching a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means; control means, coupled to receive said light detection signals from said light detecting means for: (1) comparing a level of at least one of said light detection signals corresponding to a quantity of the light received in a predetermined region of said light receiving member with a predetermined level; (2) discriminating a presence or absence of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle based on a distribution of quantity of light received at said plurality of regions; (3) selecting a high beam mode or low beam mode as an illumination mode of the headlight of said vehicle based on a result of said comparing and discriminating; and (4) generating a control signal for commanding said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; and illumination switching means for receiving said control signal from said control means and switching the illumination mode of said headlight to obtain said selected high beam mode or low beam mode; wherein said first or second regions in said light receiving member being selected in accordance with the signal output from said inclination sensor, whereby a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is switched to the upper or lower direction based thereon.

Claim 11

An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said first regions are selected so that a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is directed to the lower direction when said inclination signal indicates that said vehicle is running on an upward slope or is accelerating.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said second regions are selected so that a range of angles of the light incident on said light detecting means is directed to the upper direction when said inclination signal indicates that said vehicle is running on an downward slops or is decelerating.