Vehicle Headlamp Cooling Fan Integration for Driving Source Heat Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Projector type vehicle headlamps lack effective cooling mechanisms for their driving sources, leading to potential operational issues due to heat buildup, which can affect the movable shade's performance.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a cooling fan positioned below a metal supporting member that generates air convection to cool the driving source, either by upward airflow creating forward convection or downward airflow creating negative pressure for rearward convection, allowing for efficient heat dissipation while maintaining a compact design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If no cooling mechanism is provided for the driving source, then the device complexity is reduced, but heat buildup affects the movable shade's performance and reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fan is integrated with the metal supporting member structure, merging the cooling function into the existing support structure. This reduces overall device complexity while ensuring reliable cooling of the driving source, preventing heat-related performance degradation of the movable shade.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling fan is positioned to utilize natural air convection currents generated by the headlamp's operation to cool the driving source. The system serves itself by using the operational heat generation to drive the cooling process, minimizing additional complexity while maintaining reliability.
2Temperature
If a cooling fan is added below the metal supporting member, then heat dissipation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The metal supporting member serves dual functions: structural support for the optical components and as a mounting platform for the cooling fan. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate cooling structures, limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving effective heat dissipation from the driving source.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling fan is positioned in the vertical dimension below the metal supporting member, utilizing the unused vertical space. This spatial arrangement allows heat dissipation without adding horizontal complexity to the headlamp structure, effectively managing temperature while maintaining a compact design.
3Temperature
If the cooling fan generates upward wind, then convection toward the driving source is created, but the front cover may freeze in low temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fan's rotation direction is made variable, allowing it to switch between upward and downward wind generation. This dynamic adjustment enables the system to adapt to different environmental conditions: upward wind for cooling the driving source during normal operation, and downward wind to prevent front cover freezing in low temperatures, resolving the contradiction between cooling effectiveness and environmental protection.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the cooling fan generates downward wind, then negative pressure creates rearward convection, but the cooling efficiency for the driving source may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fan operates in periodic cycles, alternating between upward wind generation (for optimal driving source cooling) and downward wind generation (for front cover protection in cold conditions). This periodic switching allows the system to address both cooling efficiency and environmental protection needs at different times, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The cooling mechanism effectively reduces heat-related operational issues for the driving source and prevents freezing of the front cover, ensuring reliable performance even in low temperatures, while allowing for a more compact and easily assembled headlamp design.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling fan that faces a lower surface of the metal supporting member is provided below the metal supporting member... generates wind that moves upward or downward with respect to the lower surface of the metal supporting member... creates a convection of air that moves toward the driving source
Data Source
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AI summary
A projector type vehicle headlamp (1) includes a metal supporting member (3) that has an upper surface (11a) to which a circuit board (2a) to which a light-emitting device (2) is mounted is mounted; a projection lens (4); a reflector (5) that reflects light (B1) of the light-emitting device (2) toward the vicinity of a rearward focal point (S1) of the projection lens (4); a driving source (46); and a movable shade (44) configured to be arranged near the rearward focal point (Sl) of the projection lens (4), or removed from near the rearward focal point (S1), by the driving source (46). The driving source (46) is provided in front of the metal supporting member (3), and a cooling fan (30) that faces a lower surface (11b) of the metal supporting member (3) is provided below the metal supporting member (3).