Headlamp for a vehicle
AssigneeNippondenso Co., Ltd.
InventorHideyuki Kato
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Visibility of a distant area illuminated by a headlamp of a vehicle having a centralized light source type is improved. The headlamp for the vehicle include a light source, an optical cable emitting an incident light from the light source, lens bodies forming the incident light from the optical cable into a desired light distribution and irradiating the incident light ahead of the vehicle. The lens bodies have lens-shaped outgoing light surfaces where focal points are located in the vicinity of the incident light surfaces of the lens bodies, and the lens bodies have reflective surfaces R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 reflecting the incident light toward an outgoing light surfaces. The light axis X of the optical cable is tilted by a predetermined angle .alpha. with respect to the reflective surfaces R.sub.1 and R.sub.2.
Claims14
A headlamp for a vehicle having a light source, an optical cable for transmitting light from said light source, said optical cable having a light axis, a lens body for emitting said light in a forward direction of said vehicle, said lens body comprising:
- an incident light surface coupled with said optical cable for receiving said light transmitted by said optical cable;
- an outgoing light surface forming a focal point thereof in a vicinity of said incident light surface;
- and
- a reflective surface for reflecting at least a portion of said light received by said incident light surface toward said outgoing light surface,
- wherein:
- said light axis of said optical cable is tilted by a predetermined angle relative to said reflective surface so that said outgoing light surface projects both light passing from said incident light surface without reflection and said portion of said light reflected by said reflective surface to illuminate a distant area in said forward direction of said vehicle.
A headlamp for a vehicle having a light source, an optical cable having a light axis for transmitting light from said light source, a lens body for emitting said light from said optical cable ahead of said vehicle, wherein said lens body comprises:
- an incident light surface coupled with said optical cable for receiving said light transmitted by said optical cable;
- an outgoing light surface forming a focal point thereof in a vicinity of said incident light surface of said lens body;
- and
- a reflective surface for reflecting at least a portion of said light received by said incident light surface toward said outgoing light surface;
- wherein
- said light axis of said optical cable is tilted by a predetermined angle relative to said reflective surface,
- said lens body comprises a first lens body for hot zone light distribution and a second lens body for first flat light distribution;
- said first lens body for said hot zone light distribution is disposed at a lower part in said lens body;
- said second lens body for said flat light distribution is disposed at an upper part in said lens body;
- and
- a border of said first and second lens bodies forms said reflective surface.
An illuminating device comprising:
- a light source directing light along a light axis;
- and
- a lens body for projecting light from said light source, wherein:
- said lens body has a light incident surface, a light outgoing surface projecting the light incident from said incident surface and a light reflective surface extending between said incident surface and said outgoing surface, said lens body constructed and arranged to project both direct light which travels from said incident surface to said outgoing surface without being reflected by said reflective surface and reflected light reflected by said reflective surface during travel from said incident surface to said outgoing surface, and
- said light axis of said light source is tilted by a predetermined angle to said reflective surface to thereby adjust a ratio of light intensities between the direct light and the reflected light.
An illuminating device comprising:
- a light source means;
- and
- a lens body for projecting a light from said light source means, wherein:
- said lens body is formed from a light transmitting material and has a light incident surface, a light outgoing surface projecting the light incident from said incident surface and a light reflective surface extending between said incident surface and said outgoing surface, said lens body being constructed and arranged to project both direct light which travels from said incident surface to said outgoing surface without being reflected by said reflective surface and reflected light reflected by said reflective surface during travel from said incident surface to said outgoing surface,
- said light source means provides said light to said incident surface in a direction tilted by a predetermined angle relative to said reflective surface thereby to adjust a ratio of light intensities between the direct light and the reflected light,
- said light source means includes a light source and a guide member disposed between said light source and said incident surface to guide said light therethrough from said light source to said incident surface,
- an optical axis of said guide member is inclined by the predetermined angle relative to said reflective surface,
- said guide member includes an optical cable for guiding the light therethrough,
- said reflective surface extends generally horizontally,
- said optical axis of said optical cable is inclined downwardly,
- said lens body includes a first lens body having said reflective surface at an uppermost portion thereof and a second lens body having said reflective surface at a lowermost portion thereof;
- and
- said first and second lens bodies are stacked to each other with said uppermost portion contacting said lowermost portion.
A headlamp for a vehicle having a light source, an optical cable for transmitting light from said light source, said optical cable having a light axis, and a lens body for emitting said light in a forward direction of said vehicle, said lens body comprising:
- an incident light surface coupled with said optical cable for receiving said light transmitted by said optical cable;
- an outgoing light surface forming a focal point thereof in a vicinity of said incident light surface;
- and
- a reflective surface for reflecting at least a portion of said light received by said incident light surface toward said outgoing light surface,
- wherein said light axis of said optical cable is tilted by a predetermined angle relative to said reflective surface and said outgoing light surface and said reflective surface are constructed and arranged to permit said outgoing light surface to project both said reflected portion of said received light and a portion of said received light that is not reflected by said reflective surface to an area forward of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.