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US 2003/0193812 A1Published application
Auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp
AssigneeKoito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
InventorAtsushi Toda
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AssigneeKoito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
InventorAtsushi Toda
Estimating the term…
A auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp comprises a headlamp an optical axis L of which is tilted vertically by a drive of a motor, a control unit 16 for controlling the drive of the motor 10, a vehicle pitch angle sensing means 14, and a headlamp lighting switch 11, whereby the control unit 16 controls the drive of the motor 10 based on a sensed pitch angle such that the optical axis of the headlamp is always set to a predetermined tilted state with respect to a road surface when the headlamp lighting switch is in an ON state, wherein the system has a daytime running light lighting deciding function, and the control unit 16 controls the drive of the motor 10 so as to fix the optical axis L of the headlamp at a frontal lower limit position when the headlamp lighting switch 11 is in an OFF state and a daytime running light is turned on. Thus, the drive of the motor 10 in a daytime running is eliminated and a load applied to the motor 10 is reduced.
An auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp comprising:
An auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
Automatically: due to vehicle inclination, e.g. due to load distribution
Linear movements of the vehicle: vehicle acceleration or deceleration
Linear movements of the vehicle: vehicle at a stop
Attitude of the vehicle body: pitch
Term end not estimated
The present invention relates to an auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp that tilts and adjusts automatically an optical axis of a headlamp based on an inclination of a vehicle in the longitudinal direction (referred to as a “pitch angle” hereinafter) in the direction to offset the inclination by an angle equivalent to on the pitch angle (referred to as an “auto-leveling” hereinafter) and, more particularly, a auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp that is effective for the vehicle equipped with a daytime running light that is turned on even in the daytime to inform other running vehicle and the walker that such vehicle is running.
In the headlamp of this type, for example, a reflector to which a light source is fitted is supported on a lamp body tiltably round a horizontal tilt axis, and also an optical axis of the reflector (headlamp) can be tilted round the horizontal tilt axis by the actuator.
Then, the conventional auto-leveling system is constructed by providing the control portion that controls a drive of the actuator based on sensed signals of a pitch angle sensing means, a peed sensor, etc. to the vehicle. The control portion adjusts the optical axis of the reflector such that the optical axis of the reflector is always set in a predetermined state with respect to the road surface (auto-leveling) when a headlamp lighting switch is in its ON state.
FIG. 1 is a view showing an overall configuration of a auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp as a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing controlling procedures of the same system;
FIG. 3 is a view showing an overall configuration of a auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp as a second embodiment of the present invention; and
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to examples hereinafter.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a view showing an overall configuration of an auto-leveling system for vehicle headlamp as a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing controlling procedures of the same system.
In FIG. 1, a symbol 1 is a vehicle headlamp 1. A front lens 4 is fitted to a front opening portion of a lamp body 2 to constitute a lamp space S. A reflector 5 having a paraboloidal shape, to which a bulb 6 as a light source is fitted, is supported in the lamp space S to tilt round a horizontal tilt axis (an axis perpendicular to a surface of the sheet in FIG. 1) 7. Also, the reflector 5 can be tilted and adjusted by a drive motor 10 as an actuator.