Vehicle lighting unit

摘要

A vehicle lighting unit can be configured such that it is difficult or impossible for an observer to visually recognize a light source, a light guide and the like through an outer lens and to suppress brightness unevenness. The vehicle lighting unit can project light outwardly through an opening portion formed in a mirror housing of a sideview mirror along a vehicle length direction and near an outer side of the sideview mirror in a vehicle width direction. The vehicle lighting unit can include: a housing provided inside the mirror housing, an outer lens inside the mirror housing so as to close the opening portion, a light source disposed in a lighting chamber at a position vertically shifted from the position of the opening portion, and a light guide disposed in the lighting chamber while shifted from the position of the opening portion toward the light source.

主权项

1. A vehicle lighting unit for projecting light outwardly through an opening portion formed in a mirror housing of a sideview mirror along a vehicle length direction, the vehicle lighting unit comprising:
a housing having a light-blocking property and configured to extend along the opening portion of the mirror housing inside the mirror housing and to open toward the opening portion of the mirror housing when the unit is connected to the mirror housing; an outer lens assembled with the housing and configured to be located inside the mirror housing so as to close the opening of the housing and the opening portion of the mirror housing when the unit is connected to the mirror housing, the outer lens and the housing defining a lighting chamber, the outer lens having a width along a vertical direction larger than a width of the opening of the mirror housing alone the vertical direction; a light source disposed in the lighting chamber at a position shifted from a position of the opening portion of the mirror housing when the unit is connected to the mirror housing in one direction of the vertical direction and having an optical axis extending in the other direction of the vertical direction; and a light guide disposed in the lighting chamber while shifted from the position of the opening portion of the mirror housing toward the light source so as to convert light emitted from the light source to surface-shaped emission light through a light exiting surface of the light guide in a direction of the optical axis, wherein the light source and the light guide are configured with respect to the housing such that the light source and the light guide cannot be seen through the opening portion of the mirror housing from a front side of the mirror housing when the unit is connected to the mirror housing.