Lighting Apparatus Optical Alignment via Rotational Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in assembling lighting apparatus components, such as headlight components, lies in their susceptibility to warping and deformation during the molding process, making precise alignment difficult due to material hardening and lack of flexibility, which can lead to misalignment of optical components and failure to meet regulatory specifications.
Innovation Solution
A lighting apparatus design featuring a housing with a fastening fixture and pivot fixture, a light bar with adjustable arms, and a light guide with a pivot hole and slots, allowing for rotational adjustment of the light guide and light bar to align optical markings with the light pipe, thereby compensating for warping and ensuring accurate optical alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If components are manufactured by molding process from plastic material, then manufacturing efficiency is improved, but warping and deformation occur after molding making alignment difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by providing adjustment mechanisms (slots, pivots, and movable fixtures) that allow for pre-alignment and compensation of warping effects before final assembly. The light guide and light bar can be adjusted to account for deformation that occurs during molding, ensuring proper optical alignment is achieved before the components are permanently fixed.
2Strength
If materials are hardened after molding, then structural strength is improved, but flexibility to manipulate and align components is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by incorporating movable and adjustable elements into the hardened components. The light guide can rotate about a pivot, the light bar can be positioned using slots that allow movement, and fixtures can be adjusted to accommodate alignment needs. This enables manipulation and alignment of hardened materials through mechanical adjustment rather than requiring the materials themselves to be flexible.
3Stability of the object's composition
If components are rigidly fixed to maintain position, then stability is improved, but ability to correct misalignment is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the assembly into distinct adjustable modules. The light guide, light bar, and fixtures are separate components that can be independently positioned and adjusted. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for both stability (when fixed) and adjustability (during alignment), resolving the contradiction between rigid fixation and misalignment correction.
4Ease of manufacture
If alignment is performed after hardening, then manufacturing process is simplified, but precision of optical alignment is reduced due to warping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by utilizing adjustable geometric parameters (positions, angles, orientations) of the components after hardening. The slots, pivots, and movable fixtures enable change in positional parameters to compensate for warping effects, allowing optical alignment precision to be achieved even though the components were molded and hardened beforehand. This maintains process simplicity while achieving the required precision through parameter adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure discusses a lighting apparatus. The lighting apparatus includes a housing with a fastening fixture and a pivot fixture, a light bar including a first arm, a second arm and a third arm with an optical marking, and a light guide including a light pipe, a pivot hole, a first slot and a second slot located between the housing and the light bar, wherein the optical marking of the light bar is aligned with the light pipe of the light guide by rotating the light guide and the first arm about the pivot hole and the light bar is fastened to the housing.