Scan synthesized beam headlamp
AssigneeEdison International, Inc.
InventorNickolas P. Demas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle headlamp is provided wherein one or more reflectors scan a collimated beam of light to generate a desired light beam pattern and project it to the road. Electrical and mechanical driver means are also provided to change the mode of operation of the scanning reflector to change the pattern of light and its location on the road.
Claims15
A vehicle headlamp comprising a housing, means for generating a collimated beam of light in said housing, light reflective means mounted for predetermined oscillating movement, said light reflective means intercepting and scanning said collimated beam of light in said housing to project an apparently continuous beam of light from said housing, first means coupled to said light reflective scanning means and mounted for oscillating said light reflective scanning means about a first axis and second means coupled to said light reflective scanning means and mounted for oscillating said light reflective scanning means about a second axis positioned at a predetermined angle with respect to said first axis, said first and second oscillating means controlling the dimensions of said resulting continuous beam of light.
A vehicle headlamp comprising a housing, a source of light in said housing, a scanning reflector, a stationary reflector positioned to project a collimated beam of light from said light source to said scanning reflector and means for oscillating said scanning reflector at a predetermined cyclic rate for projecting an apparently continuous beam of light from said housing, said oscillating means including first means for oscillating said scanning reflector about a vertical axis and second means for oscillating said scanning reflector about a horizontal axis, said first and second oscillating means controlling the width and height, respectively, of said resulting continuous beam of light.
A vehicle headlamp comprising a housing, a source of light in said housing, a scanning reflector, a stationary reflector positioned to project a pin point collimated beam of light from said light source to said scanning reflector and means for moving said scanning reflector in a raster pattern to effectively cause said pin point collimated beam to be moved across the surface of said scanning reflector in a plurality of horizontal parallel lines for projecting an apparently continuous beam of light from said housing, said moving means including first means for oscillating said scanning reflector about a vertical axis and second means for oscillating said scanning reflector about a horizontal axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.