Glass manufacturing – Processes – With program – time – or cyclic control
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-16
2001-08-07
Vincent, Sean (Department: 1731)
Glass manufacturing
Processes
With program, time, or cyclic control
C065S061000, C065SDIG001, C362S332000, C362S336000, C362S521000, C362S522000, C362S487000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269660
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lamp for a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a lamp for vehicle such as a headlamp or a tail lamp with an improved design that can give a three-dimensional appearance to the light emission surface.
2. Background Art
A conventional lamp for vehicle having such a configuration is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-148006, for example, which was applied by the same applicant and was invented by the same inventors as the present invention. This lamp for a vehicle uses imaginary plane
10
shown in
FIG. 1
, to which a cross hatching pattern
11
is applied. The cross hatching pattern
11
consists of two crossing groups of plural lines that are disposed in parallel at a constant pitch. This imaginary plane
10
is deformed into a desired shape. Thus, a process surface
12
is formed, in which the pitch of the cross hatching pattern is changed in accordance with the deformed shape. A planar deformed cross hatching pattern
14
is obtained by orthographically projecting the pattern of the process surface
12
onto a lens surface
13
. The lens surface is processed in accordance with the projected pattern. The processed lens surface
13
formed by the above-mentioned process gives an observer an optical illusion that it is deformed into the shape given to the process surface
12
, so that a three-dimensional appearance is given to the lens surface
13
.
However, in the above-mentioned lamp for vehicle discloses only the meaning for changing the pitch of the lens cut processed to the lens surface. Therefore, depending on the shape of the deformation, an excessive rate of difference can be generated among the pitch, so that the production of the lamp is difficult. In addition, it is possible that an expected effect of the three-dimension appearance cannot be obtained. Furthermore, the production of the mold may require much effort, so a partial modification is difficult. It is desired to solve these problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a lamp for vehicle, which can improve a variation of design for realizing a desired three-dimensional appearance by lens cut processed to the lens surface.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lamp for a vehicle, which can give a desired three-dimensional appearance by lens cut processed to the lens surface, and can realize quick and inexpensive modification of the model.
A first aspect of the present invention is a lamp for a vehicle that includes a light source, a housing, a reflector and a lens, in which the lens is made by the process that includes the steps of (a) assuming an imaginary plane with a cross hatching pattern made of crossing groups of plural lines disposed in parallel at a constant pitch, (b) deforming the imaginary plane by a desired shape consisting of a convex surface, a concave surface or a combination of both surfaces, so that the cross hatching pattern is deformed into a process surface, and (c) processing a lens cut in accordance with the cross hatching pattern when the process surface is orthographically projected onto the lens surface, and the deformation given to the imaginary plane is performed so that the maximum pitch of the cross hatching pattern orthographically projected onto the lens surface is 1.5 times or more and 20 times or less the minimum pitch.
According to the above-mentioned configuration, the state where the three-dimensional appearance is insufficient or the lens cut is impossible can be avoided. Thus, an excellent effect of improving the efficiency in designing and producing the lamp for vehicle can be obtained.
A second aspect of the present invention is a lamp for a vehicle that includes a light source, a housing, a reflector and a lens, in which the lens is made by the process that includes the steps of (a) assuming an imaginary plane with a cross hatching pattern made of crossing groups of plural lines disposed in parallel at a constant pitch, (b) deforming the imaginary plane by a desired shape consisting of a convex surface, a concave surface or a combination of both surfaces, so that the cross hatching pattern is deformed into a process surface, and (c) processing a lens cut in accordance with the cross hatching pattern when the process surface is orthographically projected onto the lens surface, and the lens cut has curvatures of the same diffusion coefficient regardless of the pitch of the cross hatching pattern.
A third aspect of the present invention is a lamp for vehicle that includes a light source, a housing, a reflector and a lens, in which the lens is made by the process that includes the steps of (a) assuming an imaginary plane with a cross hatching pattern made of crossing groups of plural lines disposed in parallel at a constant pitch, (b) deforming the imaginary plane by a desired shape consisting of a convex surface, a concave surface or a combination of both surfaces, so that the cross hatching pattern is deformed into a process surface, and (c) processing a lens cut in accordance with the cross hatching pattern when the process surface is orthographically projected onto the lens surface, and the lens cut has a curvature whose diffusion coefficient becomes greater when the pitch of the cross hatching pattern becomes greater.
According to the above-mentioned configuration, the lens surface can emit in the uniform brightness, and the portion with the greater pitch can be brighter so as to generate more optical illusions for providing more three-dimensional appearance. Such a lamp for vehicle can give excellent effect of improving designs as much variation.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is a lamp for vehicle that includes a light source, a housing, a reflector and a lens, in which the lens is made by the process that includes the steps of (a) assuming an imaginary plane with a cross hatching pattern made of crossing groups of plural lines disposed in parallel at a constant pitch, (b) deforming the imaginary plane by a desired shape consisting of a convex surface, a concave surface or a combination of both surfaces, so that the cross hatching pattern is deformed into a process surface, and (c) processing a lens cut in accordance with the cross hatching pattern when the process surface is orthographically projected onto the lens surface, and a convex or concave rib is formed as a discontinuous portion in at least a part of the substantial boundary between the process surface in which the cross hatching pattern of the lens surface is deformed and the process surface in which the cross hatching pattern is not is deformed.
According to the above-mentioned configuration, only the deforming portion should be remade when the design is modified. Therefore, this lamp for vehicle can respond a minor modification of the car quickly and economically so as to answer a request of market. Thus, the responsiveness can be improved.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4927248 (1990-05-01), Sakakibara et al.
patent: 5548498 (1996-08-01), Murakami
patent: 0721083 (1996-07-01), None
patent: 8-148006 (1996-06-01), None
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 1996, No. 10, Oct. 31, 1996 & JP 08 148006 A (Stanley Electric Co Ltd), Jun. 7, 1996, abstract.
Kondo Toshiyuki
Miyokawa Toshio
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Stanley Electric Co. Ltd.
Vincent Sean
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