Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Including headlamp beam measuring or indicating
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-09
2004-08-24
Husan, Stephen (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Including headlamp beam measuring or indicating
C362S514000, C362S515000, C362S524000, C362S516000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06779912
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a headlight, especially for a motor vehicle, comprising a low beam light module and at least two separately adjustable reflectors for high beam light and/or fog light and the low beam light. A first reflector is for the high beam light and/or fog light and the second reflector is for the low beam light. The reflectors have separate adjusting means for individual adjustment of their heights separately from each other.
This sort of headlight is known. The height or elevation adjustment generally occurs in headlights with two separate reflectors by means of two height adjusting means. Each adjustment means is associated with a respective reflector. The height adjustment of both reflectors occurs separately and independently of each other.
Height or elevation adjustment in this way is disadvantageously laborious. It is comparatively difficult to synchronize both headlights.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a headlight, in which an adjustment of the respective heights of two separately adjustable reflectors can be performed in a simple and an easy manner.
According to the invention the headlight comprises at least two separately adjustable reflectors, separate means for individually adjusting the respective heights of the at least two reflectors and a coupling member for coupling the separate means for individually adjusting the reflector heights, so that, when only one of the separate means for individually adjusting the reflector heights is operated and the separate means for individually adjusting are in a coupled stated coupled by the coupling member, the respective heights of the at least two reflectors are adjusted at the same time by its operation.
Thus both of the reflectors can be synchronously adjusted by a single adjusting means when both reflector systems are coupled with each other by means of the coupling member. This provides the great advantage that both reflectors can be put in their correct positions in a simple manner. Furthermore the control of both reflectors is clearly simplified, when the height adjustment is only performed with a single adjusting means. Furthermore one of the adjusting means that is already present in the prior art adjusting mechanism acts as that adjusting means.
However both reflectors can be individually adjusted by means of their respective adjusting means when they are in an uncoupled state, i.e. not coupled by the coupling member. In this way, for example, a pre-adjustment of both reflectors, namely the reflector, which produces high beam light and/or fog light, and the reflector, which produces low beam light, can be performed separately. Both reflectors can thus be put in a suitable basic configuration or can be aligned in a suitable position relative to each other. Then the separate adjusting means can be coupled with each other by the coupling member. Then synchronized positioning of both reflectors can occur by adjustment of a single adjusting element.
Adjusting screws, especially equipped with exterior gear teeth, can be used as the adjusting means for the reflectors. In preferred embodiments adjusting means comprise adjusting screws provided with exterior conical gear teeth, which cooperate with a coupling member formed by a cone gear. The cone gear similarly has exterior gear teeth. The exterior gear teeth of the adjusting screws correspond and mesh with gear teeth of the twin cone gear acting as the coupling member. The bevel or slope of the gear teeth can be selected differently, in order to guarantee different guidance. In a particularly preferred embodiment one gear pair has cylindrical gear teeth, while the other gear pair has conical gear teeth.
In preferred embodiments at least one of the adjusting screws or elements is engageable or disengageable with the coupling member, for example by translation of the adjusting screw. Thus at least one of the adjusting screws can have an interior passage, by means of which it is slidable on an adjusting spindle in an axial direction or in the axial direction for height adjustment. The outer gear teeth of the adjusting screw and the outer gear teeth of the cone gear can be brought into and out of engagement with each other by this sliding motion. Thus coupling and decoupling of the means for separately adjusting the respective heights of the reflectors can be easily performed in a simple manner. The adjusting means is however usually connected nonrotatably with the spindle in order to provide rotational synchronization.
Especially the adjusting means for the height of the high beam light and/or fog light reflector can be continuously coupled with the coupling member, while the adjusting means for the low beam light module can be movable or shiftable in and out of engagement with the coupling member. Alternatively the adjustment means for the low beam light module can be continuously in engagement with the coupling member and the adjusting means for the high beam/fog light can be engageable and disengageable with the coupling member.
The coupling and decoupling can be provided in this way in a particularly simple manner, since only one of the adjusting means must be moved or shifted in an axial direction. Alternatively however both adjusting means can be engageable and disengageable with the coupling member.
Thus in the coupled state both reflectors or all reflectors can be adjusted or moved, synchronized with each other, by operation of the adjusting means for the low beam light module.
The transmission of adjusting force occurs by means of an adjusting spindle, by which the height adjustment mechanism is coupled to a gear unit or device, which then controls and moves both reflectors. The various axial spacing of both reflectors can be varied and compensated by means of the gear device.
The light module for the low beam light can be a PES (poly-ellipsoid system) light module, namely a projection module, which includes a projection arrangement, a reflector arrangement and a light source.
Finally the present invention also includes a method of adjusting the light radiated from the headlight with one or more of the foregoing features. The pre-adjustment of the reflectors occurs by adjusting each of the reflectors individually with respect to the others. Then subsequently the adjusting means for separately or individually adjusting the reflectors are coupled to each other by means of a coupling member. The reflectors are then synchronously adjusted by adjusting only one of the adjusting members.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6447153 (2002-09-01), Kawamura
patent: 6478460 (2002-11-01), Furuya et al.
patent: 6540386 (2003-04-01), Fujino et al.
patent: 2 424 157 (1978-04-01), None
Hofmann Harry
Krieg Wolfgang
Schmidt Hans-Joachim
Automotive Lighting Reutlingen GmbH
Husan Stephen
Striker Michael J.
Ton Anabel
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