Motorized Optical Unit Rotation for Motorcycle Headlamp Cornering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Single-track vehicle headlamps, such as those on motorcycles, fail to provide optimal illumination when cornering due to the inclination of the vehicle, leading to reduced visibility and potential blinding of oncoming traffic, as the existing solutions require moving the entire headlight, which is costly and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An illumination device with an optical unit that can be rotated and tilted around specific axes using a motorized gear wheel and linear drive mechanisms, allowing the light distribution to adapt to the vehicle's roll angle without moving the entire headlamp, ensuring the light remains horizontal and vertical relative to the horizon.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire headlight is swung to compensate for vehicle inclination, then the light distribution remains horizontal, but the device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The headlight system is segmented into a fixed headlight housing and a separately adjustable optical unit. The optical unit can be independently rotated around the first axis (parallel to main beam direction) and tilted around the third axis, allowing compensation for vehicle inclination without moving the entire headlight assembly. This segmentation reduces the complexity of the positioning system while maintaining light distribution stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical unit is made dynamically adjustable through motorized mechanisms. The first adjusting mechanism with gear wheel element enables rotation around the first axis, while the second adjusting mechanism with linear drive enables tilting around the third axis. This dynamic adjustment allows the optical unit to adapt to varying vehicle inclination angles during cornering, maintaining proper light distribution without requiring the entire headlight to be movable.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the entire headlight is made movable to adapt to vehicle inclination, then visibility is improved, but the response speed decreases due to large mass
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the optical unit from the headlight housing, the movable mass is reduced to only the optical unit rather than the entire headlight assembly. This segmentation enables faster response speed for adapting to vehicle inclination, as the smaller mass can be accelerated and positioned more quickly by the motorized adjusting mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The motorized adjusting mechanisms provide dynamic control of the optical unit's position. The first adjusting mechanism rotates the optical unit around the first axis, and the second adjusting mechanism tilts it around the third axis. This dynamic system allows rapid adaptation to changing vehicle inclination angles during cornering, achieving both high adaptability and fast response speed.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the entire headlight is swung to compensate for roll angle, then oncoming traffic is not blinded, but the structural space required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The optical unit is segmented from the headlight housing and positioned within the existing headlight structure. The rotation and tilting mechanisms are integrated into the compact headlight assembly, utilizing available space efficiently. This segmentation allows the optical unit to adjust its beam direction to prevent blinding oncoming traffic during cornering without requiring additional external structural space.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical unit is given freedom of movement in multiple dimensions: rotation around the first axis (parallel to main beam direction) and tilting around the third axis. This multi-dimensional adjustment capability allows the optical unit to compensate for vehicle inclination and prevent blinding of oncoming traffic by redirecting light away from horizontal paths, all within the compact headlight structure without requiring additional external space.
4Ease of manufacture
If only the optical unit is rotated instead of the entire headlight, then the cost is reduced, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The motorized adjusting mechanisms provide precise dynamic control of the optical unit's position. The first adjusting mechanism with gear wheel element ensures accurate rotation around the first axis, while the second adjusting mechanism with linear drive ensures precise tilting around the third axis. These mechanisms incorporate feedback and control systems that maintain manufacturing precision within acceptable tolerances, making the solution economically viable while ensuring proper light distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms to monitor and control the position of the optical unit. Roll angle sensors detect vehicle inclination, and the control unit adjusts the optical unit's position accordingly through the motorized mechanisms. This feedback loop ensures that manufacturing tolerances are compensated for in real-time, maintaining the required positioning precision without excessively tight manufacturing specifications, thereby reducing overall manufacturing cost.
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3B
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AI summary
Illumination device (1) for vehicle headlamps, especially for single-track vehicle headlamps, comprising: - an optical unit (300) being configured to form a light distribution with a cut-off line, - a shell (10) in which the optical unit (300) is mounted, said shell (10) having a first part-spherical gliding surface and a toothed array (11), - an adapter (20) with a second part-spherical gliding surface complementary to the first part-spherical gliding surface, wherein the shell (10) engages with the adapter (20) so as the first and second part-spherical gliding surfaces can glide on one another, wherein the adapter (20) is mounted on a mount (500), and - a first adjusting mechanism (100) for rotating the optical unit (300) around a first axis (X), said first adjusting mechanism (100) comprising a motor (110) with a gear wheel element (120), said motor (110) is attached to the mount (500) and configured to generate an angular motion of the gear wheel element (120) along a second axis (X2), wherein the gear wheel element (120) is configured to engage with the toothed array (11) of the shell (10) in order to transmit the angular motion of the gear wheel element (120) to an angular movement of the shell (10) and the optical unit (300) around the first axis (X).