Illumination – Vehicle steering mechanism or element moves pivoted lamp or... – Tie rod element controlled
Patent
1988-10-07
1989-12-12
Lazarus, Ira S.
Illumination
Vehicle steering mechanism or element moves pivoted lamp or...
Tie rod element controlled
362369, 362390, 180 8919, B60Q 100, F21V 1504
Patent
active
048871915
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an arrangement for the suspension of a front lighting unit on a vehicle having a vehicle chassis frame and a bodywork element, for example a vehicle cab, suspended on the vehicle chassis frame, in which connection at least one spring device is arranged between the vehicle chassis frame and the bodywork element.
It is known to rigidly install headlamps on the front of a driver's cab, for example on trucks. A headlamp arranged in this way follows the movements of the driver's cab relative to the chassis frame, which causes variations in the lighted on the roadway and a risk of dazzling oncoming traffic. The disadvantages are particularly marked when, for reasons of comfort, the driver's cab is spring-mounted on the chassis frame. This in fact gives rise to not inconsiderable relative movements between the driver's cab and the chassis frame when travelling over uneven ground and on braking or acceleration of the vehicle.
In order to prevent the said relative movements between the driver's cab and the chassis frame from affecting the alignment of the optic axis of the headlamp, it is known to assemble the headlamps in a front bumper connected rigidly to the chassis frame. This certainly prevents the undesirable transfer of movement to the headlamps, but the necessary lowering of the positioning of the headlamp from a position on the front of the driver's cab to a position in the bumper results in a reduction of the distance which the headlamps can illuminate and moreover increases the risk of damage and/or fouling of the headlamps.
Swedish Patent 407,544 discloses a headlamp positioning in which the optic axis of a headlamp is maintained essentially unchanged on a driver's cab which is arranged rigidly relative to the chassis frame at its front part, but is spring-mounted relative to the frame at its rear part. However, the headlamp positioning disclosed in the patent does not solve the abovementioned problem in a so-called fully sprung driver's cab.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the abovementioned disadvantages. For this purpose, the invention is characterized in that the lighting unit is pivotably connected, via at least one upper and one lower bearing, to an upper and lower connecting arm respectively, which connecting arms are pivotably connected to the chassis frame and are arranged essentially parallel in a longitudinally extending, vertical plane relative to the vehicle, and in that the lighting unit is pivotably connected to the bodywork element, by which means, during the spring movements of the bodywork element relative to the chassis frame, the optic axis of the lighting unit executes a parallel movement in the said vertical plane.
In the arrangement according to the invention, the lighting units follow the suspension travel of the cab without the optic lighting angle of the headlamps being changed in relation to the chassis frame. In the arrangement according to the invention, the alignment of the optic axis of the headlamps is essentially only affected by the movements of the chassis frame relative to the roadway. These movements are considerably less than the movements of a driver's cab suspended on the chassis frame.
The arrangement according to the invention also makes it possible for the lighting units to be positioned at a suitable height on the driver's cab, so that lighting advantages can be achieved without the ability of the driver's cab to move relative to the chassis frame having to be restricted.
Another advantage is that the arrangement according to the invention makes it possible for gaps between respective lighting units and surrounding bodywork panels to be made small, since the lighting units follow the suspension travel of the cab. This facilitates maintenance and cleaning of the vehicle and permits a more aesthetic design of the vehicle front.
Other features characterizing the invention emerge from the following patent claims and from the description given below of an embodiment illustrating the invention. In the description
REFERENCES:
patent: 407409 (1889-07-01), Lucas
patent: 443207 (1890-12-01), Hering
patent: 1502866 (1924-07-01), Moore
patent: 2494652 (1950-01-01), Gangert
patent: 4194236 (1980-03-01), Pettersson et al.
patent: 4737891 (1988-04-01), Burton
Lazarus Ira S.
Neils Peggy A.
Saab-Scania Aktiebolag
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