US5707129A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Vehicular headlamp producing low beam having cut line controlled in accordance with condition of curved road
Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co Ltd
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Filing: 1994-10-13
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Granted: 1998-01-13
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Expires: 2014-10-13
Abstract
Abstract A headlamp for vehicular use including a rotatable shade composed of a right shade and a left shade and which constitutes a clear-cut line vertically moving adjusting device for vertically moving and adjusting a clear-cut line of a low beam produced by the headlamp, a curved road detecting device for detecting a condition of a curved road in front of the vehicle, and a main optical axis lateral direction tilting adjusting device. The rotatable shade is rotated by a predetermined amount in accordance with the information of a curved road detected by the steering sensor so that the clear-cut line is vertically moved and adjusted. Further, the reflector (and the bulb mounted thereon) is laterally slid by a predetermined amount so that the light distribution pattern and the "hot zone" are laterally moved and adjusted. Accordingly, the visibility, especially the visibility on the steering side, is improved when the vehicle travels on a curved road at either low or high speed.
Inventors
- 👤 Shoji Kobayashi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 09:51
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60Q; B60Q1/00; B60Q1/02; B60Q1/04; B60Q1/06; B60Q1/08; B60Q1/12; B60Q1/122; F; F21; F21S; F21S41/00; F21S41/40; F21S41/43; F21S41/60; F21S41/68; F21S41/683; F21S41/698; B60Q2300/00; B60Q2300/10; B60Q2300/12; B60Q2300/122; B60Q2300/30; B60Q2300/32; B60Q2300/322; B60Q2300/40; B60Q2300/41; B60Q2300/42; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S362/00; Y10S362/802
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 45
Claim 1
Independent Claim
72 words
A vehicular headlamp for a vehicle having more than two wheels and for producing a low beam, comprising: curved road detecting means for detecting a condition of a curved road in front of a vehicle; and clear-cut line vertically moving adjusting means for vertically moving and adjusting a clear-cut line of the low beam in accordance with information regarding said condition of said curved road detected by said curved road detecting means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
72 words
A vehicular headlamp for a vehicle having more than two wheels and for producing a low beam, comprising: curved road detecting means for detecting a condition of a curved road in front of a vehicle; and clear-cut line vertically moving adjusting means for vertically moving and adjusting a clear-cut line of the low beam in accordance with information regarding said condition of said curved road detected by said curved road detecting means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 1, further comprising a main optical axis laterally tilting adjusting means for laterally tilting a main optical axis of said low beam in accordance with said information regarding said condition of said curved road detected by said curved road detecting means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
34 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 2, wherein said headlamp comprises a reflector, and said main optical axis laterally tilting adjusting means comprises a mechanism for laterally sliding said reflector with respect to said shade.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
51 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 3, wherein said main optical axis laterally tilting adjusting means comprises a pair of links supported by a frame through pins, a pair of first links suspending and supporting said reflector, second links for laterally oscillating said reflector, and an actuator for rotating said second link.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
55 words
The vehicle headlamp of claim 1, further comprising a reflector having a first focus and a second focus, the filament of a light bulb being disposed at said first focus and wherein said clear-cut line vertically moving adjusting means comprises a shade disposed within a lamp housing at a position adjacent to said second focus.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 5, wherein said shade is rotatably supported by a horizontal support shaft.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 6, wherein said horizontal support shaft is eccentric with respect to an axial center of said shade.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 6, wherein said shade comprises a first cylindrical member and a second cylindrical member, diameters of said first and second cylindrical members being different from one another.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 8, wherein said first cylindrical member and said second cylindrical member are separately supported on said horizontal support shaft.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
19 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 8, wherein said first cylindrical member and said second cylindrical member are integrally formed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 6, wherein said shade has an edge portion having the shape of an arc, said shade being slidable in a vertical direction.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 11, wherein said shade comprises a female screw member extending vertically, an actuator, and a worm attached to an output shaft of said actuator, said worm engaging said female screw member.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
16 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 1, wherein said curved road detecting means comprises a steering sensor.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
14 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 1, wherein the headlamp is a projection type headlamp.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
39 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 1, further comprising means for detecting the presence of a preceding vehicle and a vehicle traveling in an opposite direction, said clear-cut line vertically moving adjusting means being controlled by said vehicle detecting means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
15 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 15, wherein said vehicle detecting means comprises a glare sensor.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
55 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 15, wherein said glare sensor comprises beam splitter means for transmitting a yellow light beam and reflecting a blue light beam, and a pair of CCDs respectively receiving said light beams split by said beam splitter, said CCDs respectively outputting an electrical signal proportional to an amount of received light.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
44 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 17, wherein said glare sensor further comprises an objective lens for converging a beam of light, and a pair of infrared ray filters disposed in front of respective ones of said CCDs for cutting a beam of external light.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
125 words
A vehicular headlamp for a vehicle having more than two wheels comprising: a reflector having a front opening, a first focus and second focus; a light bulb mounted in said reflector at a position of said first focus of said reflector, said reflector forming a low beam from light produced by said light bulb; an outer lens fixed over said front opening of said reflector; clear cut line forming means disposed between said reflector and said outer lens at a position adjacent said second focus of said reflector; means for detecting a condition of a curved road in front of a vehicle; and means for vertically moving said clear cut line forming means in accordance with detection signals provided by said curved road detection means.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
125 words
A vehicular headlamp for a vehicle having more than two wheels comprising: a reflector having a front opening, a first focus and second focus; a light bulb mounted in said reflector at a position of said first focus of said reflector, said reflector forming a low beam from light produced by said light bulb; an outer lens fixed over said front opening of said reflector; clear cut line forming means disposed between said reflector and said outer lens at a position adjacent said second focus of said reflector; means for detecting a condition of a curved road in front of a vehicle; and means for vertically moving said clear cut line forming means in accordance with detection signals provided by said curved road detection means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
33 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 19, further comprising means for laterally tilting a main optical axis of the low beam in accordance with said detection signals provided by said curved road detection means.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
28 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 20, wherein said main optical axis lateral tilting adjusting means comprises a mechanism for laterally sliding said reflector with respect to said shade.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
51 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 21, wherein said main optical axis lateral tilting adjusting means comprises a pair of links supported by a frame through pins, a pair of first links suspending and supporting the reflector, second links for laterally oscillating the reflector, and an actuator for rotating said second link.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
16 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 19, wherein said clear cut line forming means comprises shade means.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
18 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 23, wherein said shade means is rotatably supported by a horizontal support shaft.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
33 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 24, wherein said shade means comprises a first cylindrical member and a second cylindrical member, diameters of said first and second cylindrical members being different from one another.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
24 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 25, wherein said first cylindrical member and said second cylindrical member are separately supported on said horizontal support shaft.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
19 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 25, wherein said first cylindrical member and said second cylindrical member are integrally formed.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
23 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 23, wherein said horizontal support shaft is eccentric with respect to an axial center of said shade means.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
29 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 23, wherein said shade means has an edge portion having the form of an arc, said shade means being slidable in a vertical direction.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
38 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 29, wherein said shade means comprises a female screw member extending vertically, an actuator, and a worm attached to an output shaft of said actuator, said worm engaging with said female screw member.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
16 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 19, wherein said curved road detecting means comprises a steering sensor.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
14 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 19, wherein the headlamp is a projection type headlamp.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
44 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 19, further comprising means for detecting the presence of a preceding vehicle or a vehicle traveling in an opposite direction, said clear-cut line vertically moving adjusting means being controlled by a detection signal provided by said vehicle detecting means.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
15 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 33, wherein said vehicle detection means comprises a glare sensor.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
57 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 33, wherein said glare sensor comprises beam splitter means for transmitting a yellow light beam and reflecting a blue light beam, and a pair of CCDs receiving respective ones of said light beams split by said beam splitter, said CCDs respectively outputting an electrical signal proportional to an amount of received light.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
44 words
The vehicular headlamp of claim 35, wherein said glare sensor further comprises an objective lens for converging a beam of light, and a pair of infrared ray filters disposed in front of respective ones of said CCDs for cutting a beam of external light.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
67 words
A system for controlling a clear-cut line of a low beam emitted by a vehicular headlamp having a reflector, comprising: clear cut line forming means; means for vertically moving said clear cut line forming means; curved road detecting means; and means for controlling said clear cut line forming means and said vertically moving means in accordance with a detection signal provided by said curved road detecting means.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
67 words
A system for controlling a clear-cut line of a low beam emitted by a vehicular headlamp having a reflector, comprising: clear cut line forming means; means for vertically moving said clear cut line forming means; curved road detecting means; and means for controlling said clear cut line forming means and said vertically moving means in accordance with a detection signal provided by said curved road detecting means.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
54 words
The clear-cut line controlling system of claim 37, further comprising: means for detecting the presence of a preceding vehicle or a vehicle traveling in an opposite direction; means for slidably moving said reflector; means for detecting a position of said clear cut line forming means; and means for detecting a position of said reflector.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
17 words
The clear-cut line controlling system of claim 38, wherein said vehicle detection means comprises a glare sensor.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
45 words
The clear-cut line controlling system of claim 38, wherein said controlling means controls said clear cut line forming means to move vertically in accordance with a detection signal provided by said curved road detection means and a detection signal provided by said vehicle detection means.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
26 words
The clear-cut line controlling system of claim 37, wherein said clear cut line forming means comprises a shade disposed at a second focus of the reflector.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
29 words
The clear-cut line controlling system of claim 37, wherein said curved road detecting means comprises a steering sensor for detecting a steering direction and angle of a steering wheel.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-01-12 | 2001-07-14 | 2002-01-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-01-12 | 2005-07-14 | 2006-01-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-01-12 | 2009-07-14 | 2010-01-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |