In-vehicle light apparatus
An in-vehicle light apparatus for monitoring a region in a first direction outside a vehicle, including: a lamp unit including a light source and a reflector; a radar unit including a circuit board disposed such that a board surface extends substantially along the horizontal direction on a lower side or an upper side of the lamp unit and a plurality of antenna elements disposed in the hoard surface of the circuit hoard to transmit an electromagnetic wave in the first direction; and the plurality of the antenna elements are arranged in an array on the first direction side relative to the reflector in plan view, and an array direction of the plurality of antenna elements is a direction intersecting the first direction and non-parallel to an extending direction of an end portion on the side of the first direction of the reflector in plan view.
1. An in-vehicle light apparatus for monitoring a region in a first direction outside a vehicle, the in-vehicle light apparatus comprising:
a lamp unit including: a light source that emits light in the first direction; and a reflector surrounding the light source; and
a radar unit provided on a lower side or an upper side of the lamp unit, the radar unit including: a circuit board disposed such that a board surface extends substantially along a horizontal direction; and a plurality of antenna elements disposed in the board surface of the circuit board to transmit an electromagnetic wave in the first direction and to receive a reflected wave thereof,
wherein the plurality of antenna elements are arranged in an array on a side of the first direction relative to the reflector in plan view, and
an array direction of the plurality of antenna elements is a direction intersecting the first direction and non-parallel to an extending direction of an end portion on the side of the first direction of the reflector in plan view.
2. The in-vehicle light apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the array direction of the plurality of antenna elements has an angle ranging from 9 degrees to 171 degrees with respect to the extending direction of the end portion of the reflector in plan view.
3. The in-vehicle light apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, in a region in which the circuit board and the reflector overlap with each other in plan view, a position where a contour formed by the end portion of the reflector is convex with respect to the first direction is closer to a central position of an element group of the plurality of antenna elements than a position where the contour formed by the end portion of reflector is concave with respect to the first direction.
4. The in-vehicle light apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of antenna elements includes an end-fire array antenna.
5. The in-vehicle light apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a dielectric lens disposed on a side of the first direction of the plurality of antenna elements, the dielectric lens narrowing beams of the electromagnetic wave which has been transmitted by the plurality of antenna elements, and transmitting the beams of the electromagnetic waves in the first direction outside the vehicle.
6. The in-vehicle light apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the dielectric lens is integrally formed with a garnish material disposed on the side of the first direction of the lamp unit and the radar unit so as to surround at least part of an outer periphery of a region where the light passes through.
7. The in-vehicle light apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, the radar unit is thinner than the lamp unit in a vehicle height direction.
8. The in-vehicle light apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antenna elements are disposed on the outside of the vehicle relative to the reflector.