Automobile Headlight Dual Lens Smooth Exit Surface Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional motor vehicle headlamps with cut-off and long-range beam functions have aesthetically discordant exit surfaces, leading to unsightly reflections, increased costs, and reduced projector efficiency due to the need for additional components like optically neutral protective glass, which also complicates manufacturing and increases the projector's size.
Innovation Solution
A dual-function headlamp design where the second function is positioned below or above the first function in the housing, with linked lenses forming a smooth and curved exit surface, eliminating the need for surface metallization and reflectors, and utilizing light-emitting diodes for both functions, including an infrared beam that can be integrated without altering the fog lamp's functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional cut-off dioptric functions with collimators are used, then the headlamp can provide both cut-off and long-range beam functions, but the exit surfaces have edges or waves that are aesthetically discordant and create unsightly reflections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cut-off function and long-range beam function into a single integrated optical unit with a unified smooth exit surface. The two lenses are positioned and shaped such that their exit surfaces form a continuous curved surface without edges or waves, eliminating the aesthetic problems of conventional separate lens designs while maintaining both functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal optical assembly where a single housing and integrated lens system perform multiple functions (cut-off beam and long-range beam) that were traditionally required separate optical units. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate lenses with different exit surfaces, achieving both functional versatility and aesthetic smoothness.
2Reliability
If optically neutral protective glass is added to protect the exit surface, then the risk of fouling and injury is reduced, but light losses increase and the projector footprint increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the protective function from a separate protective glass layer and integrates it into the lens design itself. The smooth curved exit surface is designed to be inherently protective while maintaining optical transparency, eliminating the need for additional protective glass that would cause light losses and increase the projector footprint.
3Manufacturing precision
If traditional separate lens designs are used for cut-off and long-range functions, then each function can be optimized independently, but the overall projector size increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests the long-range beam lens within the same housing and optical path as the cut-off beam lens. The lenses are arranged concentrically or in overlapping configurations, allowing both optical functions to share the same space and housing, thereby reducing the overall projector footprint while maintaining independent optimization of each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes three-dimensional spatial arrangement and angular positioning of the two lenses within the housing to achieve functional separation without increasing the overall footprint. By arranging lenses at different angles and positions in 3D space rather than simply stacking them linearly, the design maintains optical independence while compacting the overall structure.
4Illumination intensity
If surface metallization and reflectors are used in the headlamp design, then light direction and intensity can be controlled, but manufacturing cost increases and the design becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical reflectors and metallized surfaces with purely refractive optical elements (lenses). The cut-off and long-range beam functions are achieved through carefully designed lens geometries and refractive indices rather than reflective surfaces, eliminating the need for complex metallization processes and simplifying manufacturing while maintaining precise beam control.
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 design results in a compact, cost-effective, and aesthetically pleasing headlamp with reduced light loss and enhanced manufacturing simplicity, allowing for easy integration of infrared functionality without compromising the fog lamp's performance, while minimizing thermal management challenges.
Implementation Method 1
a first function with at least a first light source and a first lens with a double curvature exit surface in accordance with the curve of the bodywork or of a shield surrounding the lens
Implementation Method 2
a second function with at least a second light source and a second lens... the exit face of the second lens extends downwards, respectively upwards, the exit face of the first lens
Implementation Method 3
the second lens is linked to the first lens, and the exit face of the second lens extends downwards, respectively upwards, the exit face of the first lens, so that the exit face of the overall lens formed by the assembly of the two lenses is smooth and curved
Data Source
Figure 1~5
Figure 6~10
Figure 11~14
AI summary
The headlight has a cut-off light beam e.g. anti-fog beam, comprising a light source (S1) and a lens (L1) with output surface based on a curve of body. An infrared headlight with a light source (S2) and a lens (L2) is situated above the beam, in a case (1). The lens (L2) is connected to the lens (L1), and an output surface (A2) of the lens (L2) extends towards a top of an output surface (A1) of the lens (L1) such that an output surface (A) of global lens (L) formed by the lenses is smooth and curved. An input surface of the lens (L2) is determined from the surface (A2) and an emerging beam.