Headlight aiming method using pattern framing

A method of aiming a vehicle headlight, comprising the steps of:

• projecting a light beam from a vehicle headlight onto a reflective surface,
• sensing the intensity of the projected light beam in each cell in a matrix of cells overlying the reflected light beam and generating for each cell an electrical signal indicative of the position of the cell and the intensity of the light beam in the cell,
• comparing a sufficient number of electrical signals to determine the light intensity of the brightest cell in the beam, determining light intensity at the brightest cell, calculating at least two established light intensity levels relative to the intensity of the brightest cell, and scanning rows and columns of cells to determine the location of a row having at least one cell with one of said two intensity levels which is farthest away from the row with the brightest cell, and the location of a column having at least one cell with the other of said two light intensity levels which is farthest away from the column with the brightest cell, and
• displaying at least some of the electrical signals as a simulated light beam to visually describe the light intensity pattern of the vehicle headlight on a simulated road surface.

A method of aiming a vehicle headlight, comprising the steps of:

• projecting a light beam from a vehicle headlight onto a reflective surface,
• sensing the intensity of the projected light beam in each cell in a matrix of cells overlying the reflected light beam and generating for each cell an electrical signal indicative of the position of the cell and the intensity of the light beam in the cell,
• comparing a sufficient number of electrical signals to determine the light intensity of the brightest cell in the beam, determining light intensity at the brightest cell, calculating at least two established light intensity levels relative to the intensity of the brightest cell, and scanning rows and columns of cells to determine the location of a row having at least one cell with one of said two intensity levels which is farthest away from the row with the brightest cell, and the location of a column having at least one cell with the other of said two established light intensity level which is farthest away from the column with the brightest cell, and
• displaying at least some of the electrical signals on a display to describe the light intensity pattern of the headlight, and
• adjusting the aim of the headlight in accordance with the selected aiming criteria, and concurrently displaying the adjusted vehicle headlight intensity pattern on the display.

A method of aiming a vehicle headlight, comprising the steps of:

• projecting a light beam from a vehicle headlight onto a surface,
• sensing the intensity of the light beam in each cell in a matrix of cells overlying the light beam, wherein the matrix of cells is organized in horizontal rows and vertical columns, and generating for each cell in the matrix an electrical signal indicative of the position of the cell and the intensity of the light beam in the cell,
• comparing a sufficient number of electrical signals to determine the light intensity of the brightest cell in the beam, determining light intensity at the brightest cell, calculating two established light intensity levels relative to the intensity of the brightest cell, scanning rows and columns of cells to determine the location of a row which is farthest away from the row with the brightest cell which has at least one cell with one of said two intensity levels, and the location of a column which is farthest away from the column of the brightest cell having at least one cell with the other of said two established light intensity levels,
• determining the location of the intersection of two orthogonal axes passing through the found row and column,
• comparing the location of the intersection of the two orthogonal axes with established criteria for the intersection of orthogonal axes for a properly aimed headlight,
• displaying the two orthogonal axes on a display along with two reference orthogonal axes which correspond to positions on a road surface, and
• adjusting the vehicle headlight until the intersection of the two orthogonal axes corresponds to the intersection of the two reference orthogonal axes.