Patent Application
20190283660
The present invention relates to housing structures, and in particular to housing structures for housing lighting devices such as headlights. More specifically, an apparatus and method are disclosed for housing a headlight in an automotive vehicle.
Headlight technology for automotive vehicles has been subject to numerous advances.
The oldest form of headlight technology currently being used is halogen headlights. In a halogen headlight, a glass tube surrounds a tungsten filament. The tungsten filament is located in a gas, which is usually a combination of nitrogen and argon. Electrical current heats the tungsten filament to create light. As much as 80% of all automotive vehicles in the world include halogen headlights. While these headlights turn on fairly quickly, and are relatively inexpensive, they have disadvantages. Halogen headlights are relatively dim compared to other headlight options. Also, if they are handled by bare hands, the oil on a person's hand leaves residue on the headlight's glass. That residue will significantly shorten the lifespan of the headlight. Halogen headlights are also not the best option when focused illumination is desired.
High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights were introduced in the 1990s and are also sometimes referred to as Xenon headlights. HID headlights include a mixture of rare metals and gases. The contents of the headlights are heated to generate a bright white (or blue) illumination. HID technology may be two to three times brighter than halogen bulbs, thus they are advantageous to use for night driving. Since HID lamps draw only about 35 W of power, and have a lifespan of approximately 2000 hours, HID lights are more efficient than halogen lights. There are, however, disadvantages to these lights. First, they are very expensive. Second, they may easily fail if not installed correctly. Third, they produce significant glare.
LED (light emitting diode) lights have been available since 2004 but have recently grown in popularity. They have a lifespan of at least 30,000 hours, and do not contain mercury (which is better for the environment). Their small size enables them to be arranged into aesthetically pleasing designs. LED lights also have disadvantages. They produce some heat which can damage other electrical components. Thus, LED headlights require some type of cooling system (fans and heatsinks).
In some cases, LED Matrix allows drivers to leave high beams on permanently. These headlights have the ability to detect and turn light away from other vehicles and pedestrians.
Laser headlights are much brighter than LED headlights. These lights are so bright that they are only activated when the vehicle is going faster than 30 mph. Their brightness enables them to illuminate much further than LED headlights. Their disadvantage is that there are only available for a small number of cars and their costs are very high.
For virtually all automotive vehicles, the housing in which each headlight sits is customized, and thus only specific headlights can be used in that housing. Consumers can only use headlights that are designed to fit in a particular housing. If a user wanted to use a headlight with certain characteristics or technology, and that headlight was not available to consumers for specific automotive vehicle housings, then the user was unable to install a headlight with those specifications in the user's vehicle.
A headlight housing comprises an adapter having an adapter opening, a plurality of attachment members extending outwardly from the adapter, a mount within the outer housing and coupled to the adapter with a pivot member that permits the mount to pivot within the adapter opening about an axis, the mount having a mount opening adapted to receive a headlight inserted into a front of the mount, and an adjuster attached to the adapter for applying force to the mount to cause the mount to pivot within the adapter.
There are automotive headlights currently on the market in various configurations and that use various technologies. Some of these headlights have been produced for many years because automotive manufacturers have been producing vehicles that use the same headlight configuration year after year.
An automotive manufacturer may work with a headlight manufacture to design a certain type of headlight. This is done to ensure vehicles can be mass-produced, and large supplies of headlights are thus available to be installed in vehicles during manufacturing. Once an automotive vehicle with a certain type of headlight appears on the market, other headlight manufacturers often begin to produce and sell replacement headlights for that vehicle. Customers may wish to purchase these “aftermarket” headlights as a replacement for their current headlight for various reasons. The purchase price on such an “aftermarket” headlight may be less than the purchase price of the original (or OEM) headlight (whether purchased from a dealer for the original vehicle manufacturer or from a dealer that sells the identical original headlight). Alternatively, market availability of the original headlight may be very limited and it might be much easier to purchase an aftermarket version through other trade channels (such as the Internet). A further reason for purchasing an aftermarket headlight is because the headlight may be sold by its original manufacturer using only one type of technology (e.g. Halogen), and the vehicle owner may wish to install headlights on his vehicle that use another type of technology (e.g. LED).
One exemplary vehicle has been manufactured in the United States for many years and has been using one headlight configuration (or partial configuration) for that entire time period. Thus, many aftermarket replacement parts are available for that vehicle using various headlight technologies. The manufacturer recently made a radical change to the receptacle in its vehicles that receive headlights, and thus headlights for earlier model years (and all aftermarket replacements for those headlights) no longer fit into the latest model of that vehicle. As a result, while consumers once had numerous options for replacing headlights in earlier model years for that vehicle, their options have become severely limited. Furthermore, the configuration of the headlight for prior model years was relatively small and simple while the new headlight configuration for that vehicle is significantly larger, much more complex (and certainly more expensive than the currently available aftermarket headlights for earlier model years). Furthermore, the new headlight configuration may only be available from a single manufacturer. Without other manufacturers competing with that product, cost for a replacement headlight may be very high. In addition, while earlier model year headlights are available using a variety of different headlight technologies, the number of headlight technologies available for the new headlight configuration is severely limited.
If an automotive vehicle is not configured to receive a headlight with a certain size/shape/configuration, the average consumer has no way to install that headlight in a vehicle. In such a situation, the configuration of the headlight and the configuration of the vehicle receptacle that receives a headlight is a mismatch. Thus, if a consumer wishes to install a certain headlight in their vehicle, and the vehicle is not designed to accept that headlight, the consumer cannot proceed. Furthermore, in the situation where a certain type of vehicle was manufactured for many years to accept a headlight in one configuration, and the headlight configuration accepted by an automotive vehicle for the latest model year suddenly changes, none of the headlights currently on the market for the previous model years can be used with the new model year vehicle. Consumers in that situation are thus forced to purchase a replacement headlight from the one manufacturer manufacturing headlights for the new model year vehicle. Furthermore, if previous model year headlights were cheaper than the headlight for the new model year, consumers are forced to pay the higher cost of the headlight for the new model year. Headlights in that situation, that are available as aftermarket parts for previous model year vehicles, are not suitable for headlight replacement for the current model year.
Thus, if available, it would be highly desirable for a consumer to be able to use (in their vehicle) headlights that do not match the configuration of the headlights being used in the current model year. Accordingly, the inventor has created an interface device that allows headlights with one configuration to be used with automotive vehicles that are expecting headlights in another configuration. The interface is useful, for example, to use a smaller headlight than what was intended to be accommodated by a particular vehicle. By using the word “smaller” what is meant is one headlight with at least one external dimension smaller than another headlight. The external dimension may include, for example, width and/or height.
As shown in
In the perspective drawing shown in
Adapter 200 includes a plurality of projections 209 that project outwardly from adapter 200. Projections 209 are attachment points; they provide appropriate structure to attach adapter 200 to a vehicle. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, three projections 209 are provided for attaching adapter 200 to an automotive vehicle although this is merely exemplary. Furthermore, if more than one projection 209 is present, projections 209 are not necessarily equidistant from each other about the exterior of adapter 200. For example, in one embodiment, the distance between projections 209 may purposely be non-equidistant to ensure proper orientation of headlight housing 100 within an automotive vehicle.
In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, each projection 209 includes opening 213. Opening 213 is the female counterpart of a male structure (or a female structure that receives a bolt) that is located on (or within) the automotive vehicle that is receiving headlight housing 100. In accordance with the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
Adapter 200 forms adapter opening 210. Adapter opening 210 is of sufficient size to accommodate mount 300.
Mount 300 may be comprised of a plurality of materials such as plastic and/or metal. Furthermore, mount 300 may be formed as a single unitary piece, although this is merely exemplary. In the example illustrated in
One exemplary manner by which mount 300 is attached to adapter 200 is via pivots 250.
Pivots 250 may be implemented using various structures that enable mount 300 to pivot relative to adapter 200. One exemplary embodiment of pivots 250 is illustrated in
Mount 300 (with bulb 500 installed therein) is tilted about the X axis by virtue of an appropriate adjustment mechanism. This adjustment mechanism is more clearly shown in
As further illustrated in
The above-described structure with regard to pivot 200 is merely exemplary as other structures may also be used. In place of a combination of a ball and concave structure, a ball and socket configuration may be used. As another alternative, a hinge structure may be used.
In accordance with a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a process will now be described for installing headlight housing 100 into an automotive vehicle. As an optional pre-step, an existing headlight (not shown) is removed from an automotive vehicle. Then, as a first step, headlight 500 is inserted into mount 300. Headlight 500 is optionally of smaller dimension than the existing headlight that may have been removed. When “smaller dimension” is stated, what is meant is a smaller dimension in a corresponding location. Thus, if the existing headlight (hereafter the “first” headlight) has a first external dimension then headlight 500 (hereafter the “second” headlight) has a second external dimension smaller than the first external dimension in a respectively corresponding location. The respectively corresponding location can be an external location. Exemplary locations include width across the front of the headlight, height across the front of the headlight, circumference about the outside of the headlight, etc.
In one exemplary embodiment, and as previously described, the outer edge of bulb 500 is stepped, and therefore bulb 500 is inserted within the stepped edge 306 of mount 300. Once bulb 500 has been inserted into mount 300, headlight housing 100 may be inserted into the automotive vehicle. In order to accomplish this insertion, each opening 213 in each respective projection 209 is aligned with counterpart male engagement members situated within the automotive vehicle. In an exemplary embodiment, projections 209 are not equidistant from each other, and therefore headlight housing 100 must be oriented so that alignment of each opening 213 and corresponding male projections within the automotive vehicle is achieved. After openings 213 and corresponding male projections in the automotive vehicle are aligned, headlight housing 100 is pressed into the automotive vehicle until openings 213 and corresponding male projections engage. After this engagement has occurred (or in some situations prior to engagement), bevel gear 601 of adjuster 400 is rotated until bulb 500, after rotating about the X axis, is angled as desired. Other structural members may then be engaged or closed in order to secure headlight housing 100 to the automotive vehicle.
Bevel gear assembly is included in order to allow adjustment of bulb 500 about the x axis from above, but it is contemplated that other mechanisms may be used to adjust bulb 500 about the x axis. The mechanism described above is merely exemplary.
In the above explanation, projection 209 has been described as having a female member that engages a male member of the automotive vehicle. It is understood, however, that this is merely exemplary and other forms of engagement may be used. For example, instead of a female-male coupling, a male-female coupling may be used. Furthermore, other alignment structures may be used to properly orient headlight housing 100 within an automotive vehicle as would be understood to one of ordinary skill in the art.
While the present invention has been described herein with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art with an access to the teachings herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the invention would be useful.
The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or more but not all exemplary embodiments of the present invention as contemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limit the present invention and the appended claims in any way.
The present invention has been described above with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying knowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the general concept of the present invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presented herein, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance.
The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
