Back to results
US 2010/0165652 A1Published application
Vehicle headlamp
AssigneeIchikoh Industries, Ltd.
InventorYasuhiro OOKUBO
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle headlamp has semiconductor-type light sources and lenses. Emission surfaces of the lenses are made of free curved faces controlled to be curved so that: projection images of light emitting chips of the semiconductor-type light sources, which is emitted from the emission surfaces, are not convexly curved in an upward direction from cutoff lines on a screen light distribution of a light distribution pattern for low beam. As a result, the vehicle headlamp can achieve downsizing, weight reduction, and cost reduction. In addition, the precision of assembling an optical element can be improved.
Claims10
A vehicle headlamp, comprising:
- (i) a semiconductor-type light source having a light emitting chip shaped like a planar rectangle;
- and
- (ii) a lens adapted to illuminate light from the light emitting chip of the semiconductor-type light source toward a forward direction of a vehicle, as a light distribution pattern having cutoff lines, wherein:
- a center of the light emitting chip is positioned at or near a reference focal point of the lens and is positioned on or near a reference axis of the lens;
- a light emitting face of the light emitting chip is oriented toward a forward direction of the reference axis of the lens;
- a long side of the light emitting chip is parallel to a horizontal axis orthogonal to the reference axis of the lens or is inclined with respect to the horizontal axis;
- an incidence surface of the lens is made of a conical curved face;
- an emission surface of the lens is made of a free curved face controlled to be curved so that a protection image of the light emitting chip, which is emitted from the emission surface of the lens face, is not convexly curved in an upward direction from the cutoff line on a screen light distribution of the light distribution pattern and so that a part of the projection image of the light emitting chip is substantially in contact with the cutoff line;
- and
- the free curved face of the emission surface of the lens includes a first quadrant, a second quadrant, a third quadrant, and a fourth quadrant which are divided by a vertical axis and a horizontal axis orthogonal to each other and passing through an origin, with a reference axis of lens serving as the origin in a front view, and is made of a free curved face on which:
- in a case where the first quadrant and the second quadrant are compared with each other in a symmetrical position relationship with respect to the vertical axis, a portion of about ⅓ or more of the first quadrant is higher than the second quadrant in a forward direction of the reference axis of the lens;
- and in a case where the first quadrant and the fourth quadrant are compared with each other in a symmetrical position relationship with respect to the horizontal axis, the portion of about ⅓ or more of the first quadrant is lower than the fourth quadrant in the forward direction of the reference axis of the lens.
9 more elements
A vehicle headlamp, comprising:
- (i) a light source;
- and
- (ii) a lens including an emission surface made of a free curved face, adapted to illuminate light from the light source toward a forward direction of a vehicle, as a light distribution pattern having cutoff lines, wherein:
- a center of the light source is position at or near a reference focal point of the lens and is position on or near a reference axis of the lens;
- a light emitting face of the light source is oriented in a forward direction of the reference axis of the lens;
- a long side of the light source is parallel to a horizontal axis orthogonal to the reference axis of the lens or is inclined relative to the horizontal axis;
- a free curved face of an emission surface of the lens includes a first quadrant, a second quadrant, a third quadrant, and a fourth quadrant which are divided by a vertical axis and a horizontal axis orthogonal to each other and passing through an origin, with the reference axis of the lens serving as an origin of the lens in a front view,
- the first quadrant has a predetermined height relationship in a forward direction of the reference axis of the lens with respect to the second quadrant in the vertical axis and the fourth quadrant in the horizontal axis, respectively, and:
- the emission surface of the lens is thereby controlled to be curved so that:
- a projection image of the light emitting chip, which is emitted from the emission surface of the lens, is not convexly curved in a forward direction from the cutoff line on a screen light distribution of the light distribution pattern;
- and a part of the projection image of the light emitting chip is substantially in contact with the cutoff line
8 more elements
A vehicle headlamp, comprising:
- (i) a semiconductor-type light source having a light emitting chip shaped like a planar rectangle;
- and
- (ii) a lens adapted to illuminate light from the light emitting chip of the semiconductor-type light source toward a forward direction of a vehicle, as a light distribution pattern having cutoff lines, wherein:
- the semiconductor-type light source and the lens include:
- a light source and a lens for spot light distribution, which serve to implement a spot light distribution at a substantially central portion on a screen light distribution of the light distribution pattern, a respective one of which has the light emitting chip;
- and
- a light source and a lens for diffused light distribution, which serve to implement a diffused light distribution of an entire portion on the screen light distribution of the light distribution pattern, a respective one of which has the light emitting chip,
- a center of a respective one of the light emitting chips is oriented in a forward direction of the reference axis of a respective one of the lenses;
- a long side of the respective one of the light emitting chips is parallel to a horizontal axis orthogonal to the reference axis of the respective one of the lenses or is inclined with respect to the horizontal axis;
- an incidence surface of the respective one of the lenses is made of a conical curved face;
- an emission surface of a respective one of the lenses for spot light distribution and diffused light distribution is made of a free curved face controlled to be curved so that:
- a projection image of the respective one of the light emitting chips, which is emitted from the respective one of the lenses, is not convexly curved in an upward direction from the cutoff line on the screen light distribution of the light distribution pattern;
- and so that a part of the projection image of the respective one of the light emitting chips is substantially in contact with the cutoff line;
- and
- the free curved face of the emission surface of the lens includes a first quadrant, a second quadrant, a third quadrant, and a fourth quadrant which are divided by a vertical axis and a horizontal axis orthogonal to each other and passing through an origin, with a reference axis of lens serving as the origin in a front view, and is made of a free curved face on which:
- in a case where the first quadrant and the second quadrant are compared with each other in a symmetrical position relationship with respect to the vertical axis, a portion of about ⅓ or more of the first quadrant is higher than the second quadrant in a forward direction of the reference axis of the lens;
- and in a case where the first quadrant and the fourth quadrant are compared with each other in a symmetrical position relationship with respect to the horizontal axis, the portion of about ⅓ or more of the first quadrant is lower than the fourth quadrant in the forward direction of the reference axis of the lens.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.