Patent Application
20150338043
This disclosure relates to a headlight assembly that includes a plurality of modular LED lights that provide low beam and high beam illumination patterns.
Vehicles are provided with headlights that illuminate the road in front of a vehicle. The beam pattern of vehicle headlights is subject to safety standards such as Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, ECE regulations and CCC regulations for lighting. This safety standard regulates the height and spread of low-beam headlights and high-beam headlights so that adequate illumination is provided for a driver without blinding drivers of on-coming vehicles.
Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights have been developed for headlight applications because they offer excellent illumination, energy savings, weight savings and longer service life. LED headlights present challenges relating to providing an attractive headlight assembly that also meets relevant safety standards.
This disclosure is directed to the above problems and other problems as summarized below.
A distinctive headlight assembly having a uniquely shaped clear optical lens is provided for an LED light source. The LED light source and reflectors are coupled to a plastic optical lens that provide light to the lens that has a prescribed focal length. The light is projected and distributed through the lens and to a specific target area of the standards compliant legal beam pattern. The aperture of the LED light source has an aspect ratio of 1:2 width to height to create a distinctive vertical appearance. The aperture of the lens is curved in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane to produce the desired spread pattern. The top and bottom ends of the lens are narrower than the middle portion of the lens.
According to one aspect of this disclosure, a headlight assembly is provided that comprises a housing that encloses a plurality of low-beam modules and a plurality of high-beam modules. The low-beam modules include a top reflector disposed above a low-beam LED light source that projects a height limited first beam of light through a low-beam lens. The high-beam modules include a bottom reflector disposed below a high-beam LED light source that projects a second beam of light through a high-beam lens above the first beam of light.
According to other aspects of this disclosure, three low-beam modules may be assembled to the housing and two high-beam modules may be assembled to the housing at an inboard location relative to the low-beam modules.
The plurality of low-beam modules and the plurality of high-beam modules may be assembled to the housing at an inboard location relative to the low-beam modules. The low-beam modules may further comprise an LED support extending in a horizontal plane that has an upper reflective surface that cooperates with the top reflector to project the height limited first beam of light. The high-beam modules may further comprise an LED support extending in a horizontal plane that has a lower reflective surface that cooperates with the bottom reflector to project the second beam of light.
The upper reflective surface of the plurality of low-beam modules relative to the top reflector may be set at a different height than the height of the upper reflective surface of an adjacent low-beam module. The lower reflective surface of the plurality of high-beam modules relative to the bottom reflector may also be set at a different height than the height of the lower reflective surface of an adjacent high-beam module.
Each low-beam modules may further comprise an LED support extending in a horizontal plane with a plurality of heat sink fins extending downwardly from the horizontal plane. The LED support may have an upper reflective surface that cooperates with the top reflector to project the height limited first beam of light. A light blocker may be disposed between the upper reflective surface and the low-beam lens that limits the height of the first beam of light.
Each high-beam module may further comprise an LED support extending in a horizontal plane with a plurality of heat sink fins extending upwardly from the horizontal plane. The LED support may also have a lower reflective surface that cooperates with the bottom reflector to project the second beam of light.
The low-beam lens and the high-beam lens may have convex inner sides and convex outer sides that are generated about a central axis extending in a projection direction for each of the beams of light. Two lateral portions of each lens are truncated to form a vertically extending lateral side surface of the lens.
According to another aspect of this disclosure, a headlight module is provided that comprises a reflective platform, a light source attached to the platform, a partially parabolic reflector facing the platform and a lens having a convex inner side and convex outer side. The convex inner and outer sides are each generated about a central axis extending in a projection direction. Two lateral portions of the lens are both truncated to form a vertically extending lateral side surface of the lens.
According to other aspects of this disclosure that relates to the headlight module, a height of the lens is greater than a width of the lens. The height of the lens may be more than two times a width of the lens.
The headlight module may further comprise a module housing that is attached to the two lateral portions of the lens, a lower end of the lens and an upper end of the lens. The module housing may enclose the reflective platform, the partially parabolic reflector and the light source. An attachment mechanism may be provided to connect the reflective platform, the partially parabolic reflector and the light source as a unit to the housing within a range of vertical locations relative to the central axis to adjust a light projection direction of the module.
The reflector for a low-beam headlight is disposed above the platform and the light source to project a height limited beam of light through the lens. The reflector for a high-beam headlight is disposed below the platform and the light source to project a beam of light in an upwardly inclined direction through the lens.
According to another aspect of this disclosure, a headlight assembly is provided that comprises a housing, a plurality of low-beam modules and a plurality of high-beam modules. Each of the low-beam modules include a top reflector disposed above a low-beam LED light source that project a height limited first beam of light through a low-beam lens. The high-beam modules include a bottom reflector disposed below a high-beam LED light source that projects a second beam of light through a high-beam lens above the first beam of light. Each of the lenses have a convex inner side and convex outer side that are each generated about a central axis extending in a projection direction. Two lateral portions of the lens are both truncated to form a vertically extending lateral side surface of the lens.
The above aspects of this disclosure and other aspects will be described in greater detail below with reference to the attached drawings.
The illustrated embodiments are disclosed with reference to the drawings. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are intended to be merely examples that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. The specific structural and functional details disclosed are not to be interpreted as limiting, but as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to practice the disclosed concepts.
Referring to
A static bending light module 18 is also included as part of the headlight assembly 10 that is used to project a light in the direction to which the vehicle is turning. The static bending module 18 is disposed inboard of the high-beam module 16. The low-beam modules 14 and high-beam modules 16 are enclosed within a housing 20. The housing 20 is assembled as a unit to the vehicle 12 after being assembled offline as a sub-assembly. The low-beam modules 14 and high-beam modules 16 each include a outer lens 22 through which light is projected and a bezel 24 is provided that extends around the outer lens 22 to provide a finished appearance.
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The high-beam modules 16 include a bottom reflector 34 that is assembled below the LED light source 36. The LED light source 36 includes three LED lights that are assembled to a single chip. The chip is mounted on a reflective platform 38. A plurality of upper heat sink fins 40 are provided above the reflective platform 38 to dissipate heat, as previously described.
It should be noted that the level of the top reflector 26, LED light source 28 and reflective platform 30 is higher on the outermost low-beam module 14 and is lowest on the innermost low-beam module 14. The platform and other parts of the center module are between the level of the platforms on the adjacent modules, as shown in
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A wiring connector, or socket, 46 is shown attached to the platform 30. The platform 30 is shown to be supporting the LED light source 28 and also supporting the top reflector 26. An upper light blocker 48 is provided between the LED light source 28 on the reflective platform 30 and the outer lens 22. The light blocker 48 blocks light from being projected above a desired level as required by FMVSS 108. A lower light blocker 50 blocks light from being projected below a desired level.
The module shown in
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The embodiments described above are specific examples that do not describe all possible forms of the disclosure. The features of the illustrated embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosed concepts. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation. The scope of the following claims is broader than the specifically disclosed embodiments and also includes modifications of the illustrated embodiments.
