JP2009016352A - Compact elliptic headlight - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a headlight to avoid faults in a conventional technology although having a light source built in an illumination module horizontally with respect to an optical axis. <P>SOLUTION: The light source is built in a reflector so that a longitudinal axial extended part of a light emitter is substantially oriented in an axial direction with respect to the optical axis of the reflector. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an elliptical headlight for vehicles, in particular for automobiles. The headlight includes a light source that emits light, a reflector that reflects at least a portion of the emitted light, and a projection lens that projects at least a portion of the reflected light beam as a light distribution on the vehicle travel path. The light source has a light emitter having a longitudinal extension, and the light source is incorporated into the reflector as follows. That is, it is incorporated so that the longitudinal axis of the light source extends substantially transversely to the optical axis of the reflector.

  The above-mentioned elements are usually combined into one unit, the so-called projection module or PES (Poly-Ellipsoid-System) module. This is arranged in the headlight housing. In order to achieve a corner beam function, this module or a part of the module can be pivoted about a pivot axis that is substantially perpendicular to the headlight housing. Similarly, this module or part of the module can be pivoted about a substantially horizontal pivot axis relative to the headlight housing in order to achieve illumination expansion adjustment. In order to realize different illumination distributions, in particular to switch between low beam distribution and high beam distribution, the blinds are movable, in particular swivels which are substantially horizontal and extend transverse to the optical axis. It can be swiveled around an axis. In order to achieve a proper illumination distribution, the blind consists of a plurality of blind elements. These blind elements are relatively movable and in particular foldable with respect to a pivot axis which extends substantially parallel to the optical axis. Each blind element has its own upper end, where the upper end of the blind element folded completely or partially upward constitutes the upper end with the optical action of the entire blind. Depending on the relative movement of the blind elements, steplessly or in discrete steps, different lighting distributions, eg low beam, city driving light, highway light, autobahn light, fog light or bad weather Switching between the light and the high beam.

  From various literature, various concepts for compact elliptical headlights are known. By compact is meant in the present invention substantially compact with respect to the required mounting length along the optical axis or in the direction of travel of the vehicle. Sideways to the optical axis, the PES module already takes up relatively little space. Thus, for example, from DE 35 29 546 C1, an elliptic module with a horizontally mounted H1 lamp, ie an elliptical headlight with a transverse filament (Querwendel), is known. AT406079B discloses a PES module with a lamp built into the module from below. Accordingly, an elliptical headlight having a transverse filament is realized in the same manner. Further, from DE 102004001486 A1, an elliptical module with a lamp mounted from the side is known. That is, it is a light emitter that is similarly oriented transversely to the optical axis. This is additionally offset downward and slightly inclined, in an effort to work with a special reflector concept to remedy the other optical optoelectronic drawbacks. There are further variants and developments of such a compact PES concept.

  On the one hand, this system is short when the lamp is mounted laterally, and on the other hand, the lighting module is compact by not requiring a large space for lamp replacement behind the module in the axial direction.

Each light source has a light emitter, which is approximately point-like, but actually has some longitudinal extension. In the case of an incandescent bulb, the light emitter is constituted by a filament. Here, this filament is held in the glass bulb of the lamp between the two supports. In the case of a gas discharge lamp, the light emitter is formed by an arc. This is ignited and held between the two electrodes. In all known compact PES modules with a light source integrated transverse to the optical axis, the light emitters are likewise arranged transverse to the optical axis. However, this has various drawbacks. In the conventional headlight, the light source is incorporated into the reflector from behind. The illuminant is therefore oriented in the axial direction (parallel or coincident with the optical axis of the reflector). This is different in known compact PES modules. Due to the illuminator arranged transversely to the optical axis, the module, in particular the reflector surface, has to be newly constructed and calculated. That is, it is a completely new development and is very costly, time consuming and expensive from a technical and optical point of view. Basically, in many cases, the optimal light distribution cannot be obtained depending on the transverse filament.
DE3529546C1 AT406079B DE102004001486 DE19822895A1 DE 19861321B4 DE102007022028 DE19910898A1

  Therefore, starting from the above-described prior art, the object of the present invention is to construct and develop an elliptical headlight of the style described at the beginning as follows. That is, the headlight has a light source incorporated transversely to the optical axis in the illumination module, but the headlight is constructed and developed to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks.

  In order to eliminate the above-mentioned problem, the longitudinal extension of the light emitter extends substantially axially relative to the optical axis of the reflector, but at the same time the light source is mechanically relative to the optical axis. A headlight of the style described at the beginning is proposed, in which a light source is incorporated in the reflector so that it can be mounted sideways. “Substantially” here means the following. This means that the longitudinally extending portion of the light emitter advantageously extends parallel or coincident with the optical axis. However, under certain conditions and circumstances, the longitudinal extension may have a low angle with respect to the optical axis, for example 0 ° to 40 °, in particular 0 ° to 15 °. Such an arrangement of the light emitters for the remaining PES modules is also included in the present invention. What is important is that in the headlight of the present invention, the longitudinally extending portion of the light emitter is slightly different from the axial position.

  In the headlight according to the invention, the light source is configured as an incandescent bulb, in particular as a halogen lamp or xenon lamp or as a gas discharge lamp. Advantageously, in the light source, the longitudinal extension of the light emitter extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the light source. The longitudinal axis of the light source usually corresponds to the direction in which the light source is inserted into or removed from the reflector. An example of such a lamp is an H3 lamp. Such light sources are advantageously used in fog lamps or low beam headlamps.

  The reflector of the headlamp of the present invention has a general elliptical shape. However, as a matter of course, the reflector may be variously configured from a shape different from an ellipse to a pure free shape. The shape of the reflector can be an ellipse, a radiating surface and / or a combination of other shapes.

  The elliptical headlamp according to the present invention has the advantage that conventional headlamp designs and structures can be used. In conventional headlamps, the light source is built into the reflector from the rear and is thus axially oriented. It is only necessary to provide an opening for inserting the light source in the reflector on the side, and to close the rear opening which is no longer necessary in the reflector. This is done without significant costs. In the present invention, since the orientation of the illuminant has not actually changed with respect to a known conventional model with a light source mounted from the rear, its developed and advantageous reflector configuration may possibly be a light distribution. Some small alignments for correction and homogenization are made, but are almost taken over.

  The light source is incorporated into the reflector from any side (in the upper, lower, left, right or middle position) in the headlight of the present invention. The light source is preferably from below (parallel to the vertical center plane of the headlight), from the side (transverse to the center plane) or obliquely from below, at an angle α to the vertical center plane of the headlight. In the reflector, where 0 ° <| α | <90 °, in particular 20 ° <| α | <60 °.

  Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

  The present invention relates to a so-called elliptical headlight for vehicles, in particular for automobiles. The headlight has a housing (not shown). Within the housing, the PES module or the projection module is moved or fixedly arranged, and this module is generally given the reference number 1 in FIG. In addition to the module 1, another lighting module may be arranged in the headlight housing. This is likewise configured as a projection module or a reflection module. Further, another illumination such as a turn signal lamp may be disposed in the housing. The housing has a light exit opening in the light exit direction. The light exit opening is closed by a cover glass (not shown). The cover glass can be constructed with or without optical elements.

The PES module 1 includes a light source 2. This light source is advantageously configured as an incandescent bulb, but may also be configured as a gas discharge lamp or in other manners. The light source 2 emits light (a corresponding light beam 3 is shown by way of example). This light is at least partially reflected by the reflector 4. The reflector 4 has a reflecting substrate having a shape similar to an ellipse. The light source 2 to the light emitter 5 are provided in the region of the first focal point F ₁ of the reflector 4. This light, forward, second focal point F is reflected to a _second region of the reflector 4 (the light beam 6 reflected is illustratively shown). The projection lens 7 arranged in the beam path forms a completed light distribution from the light beam formed by the reflector 4, and projects this onto the traveling path in front of the vehicle (the light beam 8 of the light distribution is exemplarily shown). It is shown). Optionally, a blind 9 having an upper end 10 can be arranged in the beam path of the reflected light beam 6. The upper end 10 of the blind 9 is projected onto the road by the lens 7 as a light / dark boundary of the light distribution.

  The illumination module 1 of the present invention is configured so that an arbitrary light distribution is formed. In the absence of the blind 9, this is configured to generate a high beam distribution and / or fog light distribution. The blind 9 is configured to generate a low beam. A blind 9 that is at least partially movable constitutes a module 1 for generating an appropriate light distribution. The desired light distribution is generated by the reflector 4 alone (without optical elements on the cover glass), generated in cooperation with the blind 9 and / or in cooperation with optical elements on the cover glass, for example. Composed.

  In the conventional elliptical headlight or PES module 1, the light source is incorporated into the reflector 4 from the rear (see the light source 2 'shown by the broken line). Accordingly, the light emitter 5 extends in the axial direction, that is, coincident with or parallel to the optical axis AA of the reflector 2. However, this has the disadvantage that the module 1 is relatively large, in particular relatively long. The structural size, in particular the length, of the module 1 can be reduced by incorporating the light source 2 into the reflector 4 from the side. In the headlight or PES module 1 known from the prior art, the light source is always incorporated as follows. In other words, the light emitter 5 is incorporated so as to be disposed sideways with respect to the optical axis AA. This has the following disadvantages. That is, since the relative position between the light emitter 5 and the reflecting surface of the reflector 4 changes, there is a drawback that the entire PES module 1 must be completely redesigned. This is costly and expensive. In particular, due to the transverse filaments, no optimum light distribution is obtained at all (in accordance with the legal requirements) nor subjectively (in accordance with the driver's wishes and preferences).

  Therefore, the present invention proposes to incorporate the light source 2 from the side of the reflector 4 so that the light emitter 5 is oriented in the axial direction, that is, coincident with or parallel to the optical axis AA. This has the following advantages. That is, the module 1 has a particularly compact size, in particular a short length in the direction of the optical axis AA, a light source 2 'is incorporated into the reflector 4 from the rear, and the light emitter 5 is oriented in the axial direction. The above-described configuration of the headlight or lighting module has an advantage that it can be inherited with almost no change. This saves development effort and costs and provides an objective and subjectively improved light distribution.

  The light emitter 5 is preferably an incandescent bulb filament, but may also be constructed in the arc or other manner of a gas discharge lamp.

  In addition, mounting the light source 2 in the reflector 4 from the side eliminates the free space previously required behind the reflector 4 to replace the axially integrated lamp 2 '. On the other hand, in the present invention, the free space necessary for the replacement of the lamp 2 is provided at an arbitrary location on the side of the reflector 4. As a result, the lamp can be arranged in a particularly advantageous position without problems. When the light source 2 is incorporated into the reflector 4 from the side and the light emitter 5 is oriented in the axial direction, the light source 2 can be advantageously positioned at an arbitrary angle about the optical axis AA. Moreover, the relative position of the light emitter 5 with respect to the reflecting surface of the reflector 4 will not be disturbed. Unlike the arrangement of the light emitter 5 transverse to the optical axis AA, the present invention prevents loss of optical quality (flux and maximum) and reduces the complexity of the headlight or module 1. Reduced.

  The central idea of the present invention is to incorporate a suitable lamp 2 with a filament 5 into the reflector 4 from the side as follows. That is, the filament or light emitter 5 (conventional elliptical) is used despite the fact that the longitudinal axis 14 (see FIG. 3) of the lamp 2 extends substantially transversely (β≈0) with respect to the optical axis AA. Orientation (approximately as in the mold module). This concept requires a lamp 2 with a specially oriented filament. At present, for this reason, for example with respect to the parameters filament orientation and luminous flux, so-called H3 lamps are suitable and acceptable. In the future, however, it is conceivable that another light source 2 will be developed which is likewise suitable for use in the headlight according to the invention. A possible example is a gas discharge lamp in which the longitudinal extension of the arc is arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis 14 of the lamp 2, for example. A light source 2 is developed in which the illuminant 5 is not arranged in parallel to the longitudinal axis 14 of the light source 2 ′ as in a conventional light source, but is arranged at an angle β with respect to the longitudinal axis 14. It is also conceivable. Here, 0 ° <β <90 °, in particular 0 ° <β <45 °. Such a light source 2 is in this case not perpendicular to the optical axis AA, but oblique to the optical axis, preferably with respect to a vertical cutting plane 11 extending transversely to the optical axis AA. And relatively inserted at the angle β into the reflector 4 from the side. In FIG. 2, only the angle β at which the light source 2 is arranged relative to the cut surface 11 is shown, and the light source 2 arranged at this angle is not shown. What is important with such a light source 2 is that the light emitter 5 is substantially axially oriented when the lamp 2 is incorporated. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the light source 2 has been developed and provided for use in the headlight of the present invention. This has as little distortion as possible, for example a round bottom valve. For example, a round bulb or a cylindrical bulb is provided, where the end portion away from the bulb base is not normally configured as a crushing portion causing unwanted light scattering, but a round, hemispherical end portion. have. Thereby, the refraction of the reflected beam 6 passing through the bulb of the light source 2 is as small as possible by the bulb.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the lamp 2 is incorporated substantially perpendicular to the optical axis AA, for example from directly below. The lens 7 is fixed to the front edge of the reflector 4 by a lens holder 12.

  An alternative embodiment is shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b. Here, the lamp 2 is perpendicular to the optical axis AA (angle β = 0 °) and perpendicular to the cut surface 13 passing through the optical axis AA, and from the lower right side or the lower left side into the reflector 4. It has been incorporated. The angle α is ± 45 °, for example. Advantageously, in this way, the replacement of the lamp 2 is facilitated. In some cases in this case, different modules 1 are required for the right and left headlights of the vehicle (one is α = + 45 ° and α = −45 °, while the ramp to the right diagonally down) The other has a lamp orientation diagonally down to the left). The lamp 2 can also be incorporated from above or obliquely from above.

  In the present invention, the lamp holes that are otherwise present continue to exist in the top region of the reflector 4 or can advantageously be used as an extended reflector surface. In particular, when a reflector surface is used in the top region (even if this is not present), a part of the light beam 6 is a beam of a conventional module (a light source 2 'is integrated in the reflector 4 in the axial direction). Unlike the road, it passes through the glass bulb of the lamp 2 twice. The reflector surface is modified and configured so that this light does not become non-uniform and is preferably in the vicinity of the maximum or distributed in the previous region. Alternatively, the top region (possibly with a closed lamp hole in the top region) is configured to be diffusive, or the light beam is only partially directed through the lamp bulb, or at least a portion of the lamp bulb It can be configured to pass through.

  The lamp bulb of the light source 2 is partly covered (for example with a black covering above the glass bulb, so-called black top), partly matted, or partly deflected outside It is also possible that an optical element is provided. This coating, matting or deflection is preferably crushed on the side away from the top, alternatively or additionally on the side closer to the top, or in a lamp 2 with a crushed lamp bulb. Done in place. However, in the main radiation direction of the lamp 2 (in the case of an H3 lamp, for example perpendicular to the side with respect to the optical axis AA), no coating, matting or deflection is performed.

  In order to uniformize and optimize the scattering of the light distribution caused by the reflected light beam 6 after passing through the second bulb and by the lamp in a conventional configuration, the reflecting surface of the reflector 4 is entirely Modified and optimized to take into account the typical lamp geometry. Another special homogenization method can be taken. For example, a partial region of the lens surface or cover glass surface or the reflector surface can additionally have a scattering structure. This distributes the partial luminous flux to which it belongs uniformly in the horizontal direction.

  In order to easily change the light source 2, a special “one touch” base and / or a special adapter can be provided. In this case, the light source 2 is first mechanically fixed in the base and electrically connected. The base is then assembled into the mounting opening in the reflector 4 with the light source 2, for example in the form of a bayonet lock. At the same time, the base is mechanically fixed and the light source 2 is mechanically fixed to the reflector 4 and the light source 2 is electrically contacted and connected. Suitable “one-touch” lamp caps are known, for example, from the applicants of the present patent application DE 1982822 A1, DE 19861321 B4 and DE 102007022028 not yet published. Similarly, DE 199 10 898 A1 by competitors is also known regarding “one-touch” bases. Refer to these documents for the structure and function of the “one-touch” base. The contents of these documents are the subject of the present invention.

Schematic diagram of the headlight of the invention according to an advantageous embodiment Longitudinal section of a headlight according to the invention according to an advantageous embodiment View of the reflector from the front with respect to the direction of travel along the optical axis, with the light source mounted diagonally from the lower left View of the reflector from the front with respect to the direction of travel along the optical axis, with the light source mounted from diagonally lower right

Explanation of symbols

  1 PES module, 2 light source, 3 light beam, 4 reflector, 5 light emitter, 6 light beam, 7 projection lens, 8 light beam, 9 blind, 10 upper end, 11 cut surface, 12 lens holder, 13 central surface, 14 longitudinal axis

Claims (10)

An elliptical headlight for a vehicle,
The headlight includes a light source (2) that emits light (3), a reflector (4) that reflects at least a portion of the transmitted light (3), and at least one of the reflected light beam (6). A projection lens (7) for projecting the part as a light distribution on the traveling road ahead of the vehicle,
The light source (2) has a light emitter (5) having a longitudinally extending portion, and the longitudinal axis (14) of the light source (2) is substantially the optical axis of the reflector (4) ( The light source (2) is of the type incorporated in the reflector (4) so as to extend transversely to AA),
The light source (2) is provided with the reflector (5) so that the longitudinally extending portion of the light emitter (5) is oriented substantially axially with respect to the optical axis (AA) of the reflector (4). 4) Built in
An elliptical headlight characterized by that. A blind (9) having an upper end (10) is arranged in the beam path of the reflected light (6),
The projection lens (7) for generating an illumination function having a light / dark boundary, in particular for generating a low beam or fog light, is provided on the traveling road in front of the vehicle with the upper end (10) of the blind (9) as the light / dark boundary of light distribution The headlight according to claim 1, which projects.   Headlight according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light source (2) is incorporated into the reflector (4) from below.   Headlight according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light source (2) is incorporated into the reflector (4) from the side.   The light source (2) is incorporated into the reflector (4) from obliquely below at an angle α with respect to a vertical center plane (13) extending parallel to the optical axis (AA) of the headlight. 3. The headlight according to claim 1, wherein 0 ° <| α | <90 °, in particular 20 ° <| α | <60 °.   The headlight according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light source (2) has a light emitting body (5) extending in a longitudinal direction extending laterally with respect to the longitudinal axis (14) of the light source (2). .   The headlight according to claim 6, wherein the light source (2) is configured as an H3 lamp.   The headlight according to claim 1, wherein the headlight is configured to generate a fog light distribution.   The headlight according to claim 1, wherein the headlight is configured to generate a low beam distribution.   The headlight according to claim 1, wherein the headlight is configured to generate a high beam distribution.

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