Plural Or Diverse Motion Patents (Class 362/530)
  • Patent number: 11486557
    Abstract: To provide a vehicle lamp that, without providing an additional light blocking member, is capable of blocking light emission that is not routed via a lens or reflector for light distribution control, with a simple and compact configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Nakanishi, Teppei Muramatsu
  • Patent number: 9174689
    Abstract: A vehicle headlight can form a predetermined high-beam light distribution pattern, while being capable of causing the chromaticity of the entire light distribution pattern to fall within a white range (JIS D5500). The vehicle headlight can include: a projection lens that can control light incident on its light incident surface at a first incident position near its optical axis to be directed in a direction not parallel to the optical axis, can control light incident at a second incident position away from the optical axis to be directed in a direction parallel to the optical axis, and can control light incident at an incident position between the first and second incident positions to be directed in a direction closer to the direction parallel to the optical axis as the light is incident at an incident position closer from the first incident position to the second incident position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: Stanley Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ryotaro Owada
  • Patent number: 8662725
    Abstract: Into a case member, either of a unidirectional adjusting device for adjusting an irradiating direction of light only in a vertical direction by tilting a lamp unit in the vertical direction or a bidirectional adjusting device for adjusting the irradiating direction of light in two directions of the vertical direction and a horizontal direction by tilting the lamp unit in the vertical direction and rotating the lamp unit in the horizontal direction can be installed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Keiichi Tajima
  • Patent number: 8556481
    Abstract: In present invention, the vehicle lighting device includes a heat sink; a light emitting element that is mounted on the heat sink; and a reflector that is disposed on a side of a light emission surface of the light emitting element, the reflector being adapted to reflect light from the light emitting element in a first direction. The heat sink includes: a heat sink main body; and a plate-shaped light source mount member which is protruded from the heat sink main body in the first direction, and on which the light emitting element is to be disposed. A light source is disposed to tit with respect to a horizontal surface in a widthwise direction of the vehicle when a vehicle lighting device is mounted on the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Ichikoh Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Toshiya Abe
  • Patent number: 8475022
    Abstract: A vehicle lighting assembly is provided which includes a housing, first and second light sources located in the housing, and an articulating reflector. The articulating reflector is located within the housing and moves between a use position in front of the first light source to reflect light from the second light source and a retracted position. Accordingly, light assembly housing is effectively used to provide a secondary light source, such as a daylight running lamp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Sarbjit Singh, Edward R. Golden
  • Patent number: 8277099
    Abstract: A vehicle lighting system according to the present invention is provided, and includes: a pivot portion for optical axis adjustment; an optical axis adjustment mechanism mounting portion for vertical direction; and an optical axis adjustment mounting portion for horizontal direction, which are integrally provided at a heat sink member having a semiconductor-type light source mounted thereon. As a result, the vehicle lighting system becomes capable of efficiently radiating a heat generated in the semiconductor-type light source by means of the pivot portion for optical axis adjustment and the optical axis adjustment mechanism mounting portions for vertical and horizontal directions, which are integrally provided at the heat sink member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Ichikoh Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yoshihiko Hamashima
  • Patent number: 8147107
    Abstract: A headlight rotating device includes a carrier pivotally and slidably supported in a housing for supporting a light device, a lever supported in the housing and coupled to the carrier for pivoting and sliding the carrier relative to the housing, and a motor is disposed in the housing and coupled to the lever for rotating the lever to pivot and slide the carrier relative to the housing and for rotating the headlight device of the vehicle in accordance with the movement of the vehicle's steering system and for suitably lighting the environment for the vehicle driver while turning the vehicle, the carrier is adjustable or movable forwardly or rearwardly relative to the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Jing Hang Enterprise Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chien Hung Lee, San Chi Chang, Yu Kai Chen
  • Patent number: 8075171
    Abstract: A lamp device is provided that is capable of performing a first actuation and a second actuation. At the first actuation, the lamp device pivots a lamp about a first axis relative to a support, and, at the second actuation, the lamp device pivots the lamp about a second axis, which is perpendicular to the first axis, relative to the support. The lamp includes a first supporting portion that is located on the first axis and at a side of the lamp and a second supporting portion that is located on the first axis and at the other side of the lamp. The first supporting portion is supported by the support to be pivotable about the intersection point of the first axis and the second axis. The second supporting portion is joined to a movable joint member. The movable joint member is supported by the support so as to be movable along a second actuation axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: ASMO Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akinori Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8038332
    Abstract: A viewing and lighting device includes a side-view mirror formed with a ball, a lamp provided on the side-view mirror, a flexible tube, a first clip attached to an end of the flexible tube and used to clip a portion of the side-view mirror, a second clip attached to another end of the flexible tube and used to clip a portion of a vehicle and a controller provided on the vehicle and used to control the lamp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Inventor: Tzu-Tang Lin
  • Patent number: 7946745
    Abstract: A system for mounting a headlight on a motor vehicle comprising a rigid housing closed by a protective glass. The system comprising: a first connecting element fixed to the headlight, a second connecting element fixed to the motor vehicle, the first and second connecting elements being assembled so as to slide one in the other. The first and second connecting elements are curved and mounted at least partially about a center of rotation of the headlight providing rotational movement of the headlight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Valeo Vision
    Inventors: Christophe Baert, Malik Bakacha
  • Publication number: 20110080751
    Abstract: A headlamp aiming system is configured to include: a lamp unit; an actuator configured to displace the light axis of the lamp unit; an imaging apparatus configured to acquire the information necessary for adjustment of the light axis; and an ECU configured to control the actuator. By imaging a light distribution pattern formed by lighting the lamp unit with the imaging apparatus, and by controlling the actuator by the ECU such that the deviation between the position of an attention point in a light distribution pattern, obtained from the imaged image information, and the position of a reference point that has been set beforehand becomes the minimum or zero, an attitude of the lamp unit is adjusted such that aiming of the lamp unit can be automatically performed in a self-contained manner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2009
    Publication date: April 7, 2011
    Applicant: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kiyotaka Mochizuki
  • Patent number: 7878694
    Abstract: A vehicular lamp has a lamp unit disposed within a lamp housing, a right-left actuator capable of tilting the lamp unit in a right-left direction, the right-left actuator having a rotational shaft connected to the lamp unit, and an up-down actuator capable of tilting the lamp unit in an up-down direction, the up-down actuator having a retractable shaft connected to a support member that supports the lamp unit. The right-left actuator and the up-down actuator are provided within a single actuator housing. An axial direction of the rotational shaft and an axial direction of the retractable shaft are positioned within an identical plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Keiichi Tajima, Tsutomu Takiguchi, Naoki Takii
  • Patent number: 7810972
    Abstract: A headlamp assembly for a motor vehicle, including a housing coupling the headlamp assembly to a frame of the motor vehicle, a light source positioned within the housing for emitting light rays, and a reflector positioned within the housing and configured to direct the light rays into a beam. The reflector is movable with respect to the housing and the light source so as to adjust the beam direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Jan Popelek
  • Patent number: 7690825
    Abstract: A vehicle lamp includes a lamp unit, a bracket which supports the lamp unit such that the lamp unit is swivelable in right and left directions, a lamp body which supports the bracket such that the bracket is tiltable in the right and left directions and in up and down directions with respect to the lamp body, an actuator which is supported by the bracket and swivels the lamp unit, a rotating shaft member which is supported by the bracket, and a joint member which is coupled to the actuator. The lamp unit includes a light source, a reflector, a shade, a projection lens, a rotating shaft attaching portion to which the rotating shaft member is attached, and a joint attaching portion to which the joint member is attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sigeru Kuwahara, Shouichirou Yokoi, Tsutomu Takiguchi
  • Patent number: 7635211
    Abstract: An aiming device of a lighting device for a vehicle for transversely and vertically tilting a lamp unit supported tiltably in vertical and transverse directions on one fulcrum in a lamp housing formed by a lamp body having a concave portion which is opened almost forward and a transparent cover for covering a front opening of the lamp body includes a case, a slider provided movably in a longitudinal direction along a vertical aiming shaft supported on the case, an output shaft, which is rotatably supported on the slider and is coupled to the lamp unit, and a transverse aiming shaft supported on the slider in almost parallel with the vertical aiming shaft, coupled to the output shaft, and serving to rotate the output shaft by a rotation. The vertical aiming shaft is rotated so that the slider is moved in the longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2009
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masahiro Kusagaya
  • Patent number: 7628516
    Abstract: The invention relates to a headlamp adjusting device with lamp units that can be adjusted in groups. To this end, each lamp unit is mounted individually directly or indirectly in the headlamp housing by means of one respective joint; and it is swivelably mounted in a first feed mechanism. The headlamp adjusting device comprises a second feed mechanism. The second feed mechanism guides the first feed mechanism. The orientation of the feed motion of the first feed mechanism and the orientation of the feed motion of the second feed mechanism enclose an angle, which is not equal to an integral multiple of Pi. With the present invention a space-saving headlamp adjusting device for adjusting the lamp units in two directions of adjustment is developed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2009
    Assignee: odelo GmbH
    Inventors: Jens Mertens, Otto Muller, Frank Tebbe
  • Patent number: 7621663
    Abstract: A lamp device for vehicles includes a lamp unit for irradiating light in a desired light distribution pattern, a support body configured to support the lamp unit so as to be tiltable up and down, and tiltable right and left, and an actuator for tilting the lamp unit up and down with respect to the support body, and for tilting the lamp unit right and left with respect to the support body. The actuator includes a right-and-left tilting mechanism and an up-and-down tilting mechanism provided in an actuator housing. The right-and-left tilting mechanism includes an output shaft capable of turning in a right-and-left direction coupled to said lamp unit. The up-and-down tilting mechanism includes an output portion capable of moving said actuator housing back and forth with respect to the support body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2009
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Keiichi Tajima, Tsutomu Takiguchi, Naoki Takii
  • Patent number: 7604383
    Abstract: A headlamp fixture and a control system for controlling a vehicular lighting system to produce particular lighting patterns required under different regulatory regimes is disclosed. The headlamps employ semiconductor light sources to create the desired patterns and can include at least two inclined light source elements which are alternately illuminated to produce required side illumination or can include single light source elements which can be rotated clockwise and counterclockwise to produce the required side illumination. The lighting system can employ an output from a GPS receiver to determine the country or region in which the vehicle is being driven to automatically configure the operation of lighting system components, such as the side illumination of the headlamps and/or the activation and deactivation of daytime running lights, to meet the regulatory requirements of the country or region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2009
    Assignee: Magna International
    Inventors: Chad D. Lambert, Chris Wilson, Ronald Owen Woodward
  • Patent number: 7520648
    Abstract: The invention concerns a headlight adjustment device with at least one light module mounted to pivot in an intermediate part by means of a pivot device, in which the intermediate part is mounted to pivot directly or indirectly in the headlight housing by means of an additional pivot device. For this purpose, at least one pivot device includes a clamping and/or release device. The headlight adjustment device also includes precisely one drive unit that adjusts the light module or light modules relative to the headlight housing. A low-wear, compact headlight adjustment device is developed with the present invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2009
    Assignee: odelo GmbH
    Inventor: Robert Apfelbeck
  • Patent number: 7500768
    Abstract: A vehicle headlight has a motor operated adjustable mounting for adjusting the beam of light in a plane. The adjustment device includes an ear on the headlight with an axially extendable arm, the extension of which is driven by an electric motor. Rotation of the motor causes motorized adjustment of the beam. The motor is slideably mounted in a retainer for movement parallel to the extendable arm. A manually adjustable screw adjusts the position of the motor along the slide to permit manual alignment of the headlight beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2009
    Inventor: Jack Chen
  • Publication number: 20080175016
    Abstract: An illuminating device for a vehicle includes a light device, a motor, and a rotational device. The light device includes a light housing having a bottom portion with a through-hole defined by a peripheral edge. A support plate extends from the peripheral edge of the through-hole and made of a material different from that of the light housing. The support plate and the light housing are integrally formed, thereby providing a reinforced support structure when the rotational device is mounted to the peripheral edge of the through-hole. The rotational device is coupled with the motor, and the motor drives the light housing to turn when the rotational device is fixed to a vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2007
    Publication date: July 24, 2008
    Inventor: Shih Hsiung Wu
  • Patent number: 7364333
    Abstract: In a vehicle headlight system with a light source (2) and at least one reflector (1) for shaping the light emitted by the light source into a high beam and a low beam, and with a shield (7) adjustable via an actuating element (9) between a position in which the light from the light source (2) is blocked across a maximum cross section and an essentially transmissive position in which this light is substantially allowed to pass through, the actuating element (9) adapted for adjusting the shield (7) in a plurality of intermediate positions between the maximal blocking and the essentially transmissive position in which intermediate position the blocked cross section is less than the maximal cross section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Daimler AG
    Inventors: Gerhard Kurz, Volker Oltmann, Reinhold Schoeb, Bernd Woltermann
  • Patent number: 7364331
    Abstract: A vehicle lamp is provided with a single lamp unit for irradiating light of a light source in a desired direction as irradiating light, and an irradiating light control apparatus constituted by integrally assembling a horizontal driving device for pivoting the lamp unit in a horizontal direction, a vertical driving device for pivoting the lamp unit in a vertical direction, and a switching drive portion of a light amount changing device for changing an irradiating light amount of the irradiating light to a single case. An irradiating direction of the irradiating light in the horizontal direction, an irradiating direction thereof in the vertical direction and an irradiating light amount thereof can pertinently be controlled by driving the respective devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Keiichi Tajima
  • Patent number: 7354183
    Abstract: A lightweight and compact headlamp adjuster is constructed primarily from plastic materials. The adjuster may include a VHAD that is non-recalibratable after the headlamp aim is factory set. The adjuster includes an input shaft that engages a gear located within a housing. When the input shaft is rotated, a ball stud moves linearly to adjust the headlamp to which it is connected. The adjuster is not subject to over-adjustment when it includes a clutching mechanism provided by the interaction of the ball stud with the gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2008
    Assignee: Burton Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: John E. Burton
  • Patent number: 7275847
    Abstract: A headlight optical axis adjustment method where, on an imaged picture of a light distribution pattern of low beam illumination from a master headlight whose optical axis has been adjusted, a relative positional relationship between a horizontal and oblique line of a light/dark boundary line. A reference point is determined on the imaged picture to correspond to a bulb center. An acceptance frame is set based on an imaged position of an intersection of the horizontal and oblique line. On an imaged picture of a light distribution pattern of low beam illumination from a headlight to be adjusted, a horizontal and oblique line of a light/dark boundary line are detected based on a relative positional relationship with the reference point, and the optical axis of the headlight to be adjusted is adjusted so that an intersection of the detected horizontal and oblique lines is within the acceptance frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2007
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroshi Kiyota
  • Patent number: 7241038
    Abstract: In this light distribution control device in order to provide a vehicular lighting fixture for an Adaptive Frontlighting System (AFS) in which a lot of light distribution patterns can be set without making the entire lighting fixture larger, beams which link said movable substrates to said inner frames and beams which link said inner frames to said outer frame are mutually orthogonal, and a light distribution pattern is set by deforming under torsion the beams which link said movable substrates to said inner frames and the beams which link said inner frames to said outer frame, and swinging each of said movable substrates with respect to said outer frame in the biaxial directions independently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2007
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Irizo Naniwa, Kazutaka Satou, Masaya Horino, Tatsuhiko Monji, Ken Ohsumi
  • Patent number: 7195383
    Abstract: Headlight for motor vehicles, comprising at least one light source and at least one light guide associated with each light source, into which the light emitted by the light source can be coupled via a light coupling surface, wherein each light guide is associated with a light terminator body into which the light from the light guide is passed, wherein the light terminator body has a light output surface and the output light can be imaged through a downstream lens, wherein the at least one light terminator body is fixed on or to a holder and the holder can be pivoted about at least one axis and/or be displaced in at least one plane relative to the at least one lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2007
    Assignee: Automotive Linghting Reutlingen GmbH
    Inventor: Matthias Gebauer
  • Patent number: 6969184
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight assembly having a lamp housing that is pivotally mounted to the vehicle body. One embodiment of the invention includes a lamp housing that is pivotally mounted to the vehicle body and includes a threaded aperture for receiving a threaded adjustment mechanism that is inserted through an aperture in the vehicle body and into the housing aperture. Rotation of the adjustment mechanism adjusts a position of the lamp housing relative to the vehicle body. Typically, a head portion of the adjustment mechanism is positioned on an exterior of the vehicle and is accessible by an operator of the vehicle from a normal operating position of the vehicle for adjusting the position of the housing relative to the vehicle body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: Arctic Cat Inc.
    Inventors: Ron Bergman, John Zins
  • Patent number: 6960006
    Abstract: A vehicle headlamp has a projector-type lamp unit. The lamp unit has a lens holder. An external surface of the lens holder is formed in a convex circular-arc shape, centering on a rotation axis. As a result, even if the lamp unit rotates about the rotation axis, the clearance between the internal surface at the edge of an opening in an inner panel and the external surface of the lens holder is maintained substantially constant at all times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2005
    Assignee: Ichikoh Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Toshiya Abe
  • Patent number: 6896395
    Abstract: A console lighting assembly is provided for illuminating an interior of a vehicle comprising a housing assembly mounted in the interior of a vehicle passenger compartment. A plurality of pulleys are positioned in the housing assembly, each of the plurality of pulleys is individually rotatable. A plurality of illumination units each includes a respective cable and a light generator at a distal end of the cable. Each cable is spooled on a respective pulley and the illumination units are movable between a retracted position and an extended position. A plurality of switch pads are located on the housing assembly and are positioned around the plurality of illumination units for activating and deactivating a respective illumination unit. A retractor is coupled to the pulleys for retracting the plurality of illumination units from the extended position to the retracted position. Each of the plurality of illumination units is pliable so as to maintain a selected orientation of illumination as determined by a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Lear Corporation
    Inventors: John S. McKenzie, Jeff A. Kempf
  • Patent number: 6848814
    Abstract: A headlamp in which a frame member 50 is supported on a lamp body 14 in a vertically swingable fashion, and a lighting device unit 20 is supported on said frame member 50 in a horizontally swingable fashion. A control unit 108 controls the circular movement of said frame member 50 and said lighting device unit 20 in accordance with vehicle running conditions. With such a construction, a beam emitted from said lighting device unit 20 may be vertically and horizontally varied in its direction in accordance with vehicle running conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2005
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shigeyuki Watanabe, Katsuhito Mochizuki, Takashi Hori
  • Patent number: 6799876
    Abstract: A lighting device, including an optical system capable of generating a light beam and consisting of a light source and of a reflector, the optical system being mounted on a chassis by way of a fixed point including a ball-joint articulation. The optical system is held on the chassis by a second elastic link and by a third link capable of being put into motion by an actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2004
    Assignee: Valeo Vision
    Inventor: Jean Paul Ravier
  • Patent number: 6793359
    Abstract: A transmission member is swingably connected respectively to a reflector and a nut member, about an axis substantially orthogonal to a tilting direction of the reflector and to an advancing and backward direction of the nut member. As a result, the transmission member, which forms a link of a link mechanism, converts the linear motion of the nut member into rotation motion and transmits the rotation motion to the reflector, and also adjusts a misalignment between the linear motion of the nut member and the rotation motion of the reflector. Accordingly, optical axis adjustment is carried out smoothly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2004
    Assignee: Ichikoh Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Miyoshi Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 6547429
    Abstract: A vehicle lamp assembly comprising a reflector, with three (3) mounting bosses arranged in a triangular fashion on the rear side thereof, a light source and a housing. Three (3) pivot sockets are fixedly attached to each mounting boss, respectively. The vehicle lamp assembly also comprises two (2) ball pivot adjusting screws that are movably secured within two (2) of the three (3) pivot sockets, and an actuator ball pivot that is movably secured within the third pivot socket. An actuator is fixedly attached at one end to the housing and attached at the other end to the actuator ball pivot in a manner that permits linear motion of the actuator. The invention further comprises a vertical adjuster plate and a reflector plate. Movement of the actuator causes the reflector to adjust in both the horizontal and vertical directions, thus allowing the vehicle lamp assembly to produce both low beam and high beam lighting functionality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Guide Corporation
    Inventors: Paul D. Vanduyn, Tony E. Collins
  • Patent number: 6543916
    Abstract: A vehicular headlamp with a movable reflector in which suitable aiming is possible using an aiming screw made from synthetic resin. The headlamp includes a synthetic resin lamp body and synthetic resin front lens that define a lamp compartment is which a reflector carrying a light source is housed. An aiming mechanism is disposed between the lamp body and the reflector and that supports the reflector such that it may be tilted relative to the lamp body. The aiming mechanism includes an aiming fulcrum that forms a tilt fulcrum for the reflector, a synthetic resin screw that extends forward and is rotatably supported in the screw insertion hole of the lamp body, and a synthetic resin nut member attached to a bracket formed on the reflector that meshes with the screw and is moved forward or backward in connection with the rotation of the screw. A nut slide guide carrying the nut member and supporting it so that it can slide forward and backward is integrally formed with the lamp body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Katsutada Shirai
  • Patent number: 6481879
    Abstract: A head lamp with a movable reflector. The headlamp includes a lamp body, a reflector with a light source mounted thereon, and an aiming mechanism interposed between the lamp body and the reflector (14) for tiltably supporting the reflector (14) with respect to the lamp body. The reflector tilts by the rotational movement of the aiming screw which is rotatably supported in a screw insertion hole formed on the lamp body. The screw insertion hole is formed by a tubular portion, and the front portion of the tubular portion includes divided swinging strips (53) which are resiliently deformable in the radial direction. The swinging strips engage with an engaging groove formed on the aiming screw to prevent the aiming screw from being detached from the lamp body. The aiming screw includes a rotatably supported portion formed of resin, a male screw portion, and a gear portion behind the rotatably supported portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katutada Shirai, Kihachiro Uchida
  • Publication number: 20020067620
    Abstract: A vehicle lamp assembly comprising a reflector, with three (3) mounting bosses arranged in a triangular fashion on the rear side thereof, a light source and a housing. Three (3) pivot sockets are fixedly attached to each mounting boss, respectively. The vehicle lamp assembly also comprises two (2) ball pivot adjusting screws that are movably secured within two (2) of the three (3) pivot sockets, and an actuator ball pivot that is movably secured within the third pivot socket. An actuator is fixedly attached at one end to the housing and attached at the other end to the actuator ball pivot in a manner that permits linear motion of the actuator. The invention further comprises a vertical adjuster plate and a reflector plate. Movement of the actuator causes the reflector to adjust in both the horizontal and vertical directions, thus allowing the vehicle lamp assembly to produce both low beam and high beam lighting functionality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2001
    Publication date: June 6, 2002
    Applicant: Guide Corporation
    Inventors: Paul D. Vanduyn, Tony E. Collins
  • Patent number: 6394634
    Abstract: A boat light apparatus comprising a mounting block, a main upright pole, a lamp boom, a main head lamp and a bait lamp. The apparatus has a generally tubular shaped lamp boom with a distal end, proximal end and mid-region. The head lamp is attached to the distal end of the lamp boom and the bait lamp is attached along the lamp boom behind the head lamp. On the proximal end of the lamp boom is a grip handle perpendicular to the lamp boom. The lamp boom is pivotally attached in its mid-region to the main upright pole. This pivotal attachment allows the head lamp to be positioned along the vertical plane. The main upright pole is generally a tubular shaped mast with a top end and bottom end. The lamp boom is pivotally attached near the top end of the upright pole. The bottom end of the upright pole is coupled to a mounting block. The mounting block has an inner cavity to receive the bottom end of the upright pole and allows horizontal rotation of the head lamp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2002
    Inventor: Robert S. Kitchin
  • Patent number: 6315438
    Abstract: A vehicle headlamp of a movable reflector type comprising a lamp body, a reflector having a lamp, and an aiming mechanism disposed between the lamp body and the reflector and structured so as to support the reflector and adjust the angle of the reflector with respect to the lamp body when aiming screws mounted in screw insertion holes of the lamp body are turned; and a portion of each of the aiming screws which is installed in and supported by the screw insertion hole is made of plastic, and annular elastic waterproofing ribs are formed on the plastic portion of the aiming screw so as to be brought into a sliding contact with the inner surface of the screw insertion hole, thus securing a waterproofing capability for the vehicle headlamp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2001
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katutada Shirai, Takashi Matsunaga
  • Publication number: 20010036080
    Abstract: A vehicular headlamp with a movable reflector in which suitable aiming is possible using an aiming screw made from synthetic resin. The headlamp includes a synthetic resin lamp body and synthetic resin front lens that define a lamp compartment is which a reflector carrying a light source is housed. An aiming mechanism is disposed between the lamp body and the reflector and that supports the reflector such that it may be tilted relative to the lamp body. The aiming mechanism includes an aiming fulcrum that forms a tilt fulcrum for the reflector, a synthetic resin screw that extends forward and is rotatably supported in the screw insertion hole of the lamp body, and a synthetic resin nut member attached to a bracket formed on the reflector that meshes with the screw and is moved forward or backward in connection with the rotation of the screw. A nut slide guide carrying the nut member and supporting it so that it can slide forward and backward is integrally formed with the lamp body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2001
    Publication date: November 1, 2001
    Inventor: Katsutada Shirai
  • Publication number: 20010033494
    Abstract: A motorized headlamp adjuster which is operably connectable to a control circuit and which is engageable with a headlamp assembly. Specifically, the headlamp adjuster includes an adjuster output shaft which is engageable with a reflector of a headlamp assembly. The headlamp adjuster includes a housing, and the adjuster output shaft extends from the housing. The adjuster output shaft preferably has a sealing member thereon which seals with the housing. Preferably, an external surface of the housing also has a sealing member thereon for engaging and sealing with the housing of the headlamp assembly when the headlamp adjuster is installed. As such, the headlamp adjuster is sealed, and seals with a headlamp housing when installed. Preferably, the headlamp adjuster does not include several complex components and is relatively easy to assemble.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2001
    Publication date: October 25, 2001
    Inventor: Ronald Denley
  • Patent number: 6270242
    Abstract: A vehicle lamp has a plastic lamp body (10) with a sealing leg (16) that extends from the back of the lamp body and is pressure-welded and held on a vehicle body panel (18), via an elastic sealing material (20). The elastic sealing material is formed by injection-molding of a thermoplastic foamable elastomer where the lamp body (10) is inserted into a mold (40A) and the sealing leg (16) is projected into a sealing-material molding cavity (C1). The sealing material is molded over the whole area of the sealing leg and has a transverse cross section that is U-shaped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2001
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Michihiko Suzuki, Fumihiko Sugiyama, Kazuhiro Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 6238071
    Abstract: A motor vehicle headlight has a single light source and a single reflector which receives the light from the source, and which is tripod mounted on three bearing points defining the three apices of a triangle. The headlight has controlled displacement means for selectively displacing at least one of these bearing points in straight line movement. The controlled displacement means comprise a single beam switching device for displacing one of the three bearing points into one of only two discrete positions, namely a first position corresponding to a dipped beam and a second position, higher than the first position, corresponding to a main beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: Valeo Vision
    Inventor: Hector Fratty
  • Patent number: 6220735
    Abstract: A head lamp for vehicle use is provided, which includes a intermediate tilting member tiltably supported by a lamp body at three points. One point acts as a tilting fulcrum, while the other two points are supported by an aiming adjusting member of an aiming adjusting mechanism, for changing positions of the intermediate tilting member with respect to the lamp body. The head lamp also includes a reflector which is tiltably supported by the intermediate tilting member at three support points, wherein two points are formed into tilting fulcrums, and the other point is supported via a leveling actuator of a leveling adjusting mechanism, for changing a position of the reflector with respect to the intermediate tilting member by an automatic operation or a remote operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masao Matubara
  • Patent number: 6083607
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a triangular-pyramidal cube-corner retroreflective sheet constituted with triangular-pyramidal cube-corner retroreflective elements useful for signs including traffic signs and construction work signs, license plates of automobiles and motorcycles, safety materials of clothing and life preservers, markings of signboards, and reflectors of visible-light, laser-beam, and infrared-ray reflective sensors, in which a lateral face (c) using one of the base edge (x) of triangular-pyramidal reflective elements arranged in a close-packed state on a base plane (X-X') and facing each other by sharing the base edge (x) on the base plane (X-X') as one side is pentagonal, other faces (a, b) sharing one of ridge lines starting with apex (H) of the triangular-pyramidal reflective elements are quadrangular, and the height (h) from the apex (H) up to the base plane (X-X') is substantially larger than the height (h') from the apex (H) up to a substantially horizontal plane (virtual plane Z-Z') i
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2000
    Assignee: Nippon Carbide Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ikuo Mimura, Keiji Adachi
  • Patent number: 5993032
    Abstract: An articulated piece (4) for pivoting a pivotal reflector (2) of a vehicle headlight (1) about a first axis (7) and about a second axis (8) running perpendicular to the first axis, has, at an end facing the reflector, a joint shell (13) that can be connected to a translational-movable spherical head of an adjusting device for causing pivoting movement about the first axis, a snap-on part (11) at an opposite end that can be connected to the reflector, with the articulated piece being structured to be flexible in a plane running crosswise to the second axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1999
    Assignee: Hella Kg Hueck & Co.
    Inventor: Thomas Herbers
  • Patent number: 5951157
    Abstract: In an automobile headlamp, a light source unit in a lamp body is inclined vertically and horizontally with an aiming mechanism, the rotating operation sections of a vertical aiming screw and a horizontal aiming screw which form the aiming mechanism are provided outside of the lamp body, and the rotating operation sections are turned to incline the light source unit vertically and horizontally. In the automobile headlamp, a protruding wall is extended at least at the horizontal aiming screw in such a manner as to surround the rotating operation section of the horizontal aiming screw, and a part of the protruding wall extending end portion is integrated through a thin hinge with a lid, namely, a tongue-shaped plate in such a manner that the latter is extended in the same direction as the protruding wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1999
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katutada Shirai, Yoshio Suehiro
  • Patent number: 5906431
    Abstract: The movable reflector of the headlight of a motor vehicle can be orientated by means of an orientation adjustment device located inside the body of the headlight. The orientation of the reflected light beam is controlled with the help of an adjustable graduated scale which is connected to the reflector and which can move with respect to a stationary indicator fixed to the headlight, so as to indicate the changes in orientation of the reflector. The graduated scale is set to zero by means of a manual adjustment carried out by specialized personnel using a special tool, once the reflector has been correctly orientated by means of the adjustment device. The stationary indicator and the graduated scale are located so that they are clearly visible inside the headlight, beneath the transparent cover of a porthole which can be opened in order to set the scale to zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 25, 1999
    Assignee: Magneti Marelli S.P.A.
    Inventors: Gianpaolo Chianale, Franco Valente