Headlamp system

• US 4,760,501 A
• Filed: 10/26/1987
• Issued: 07/26/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: de Vrijer, Bertus
• Primary Examiner(s): Myhre, Charles J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Okonsky, David A.
• Application Number:
  US07/115,598
• Time in Patent Office: 274 Days
• Field of Search: 362/61, 362/261, 362/296, 362/301, 362/303, 362/307, 362/310, 362/341, 362/347
• US Class Current: 362/509
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/04 the devices being headlights
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/321 the reflector being a surface of revolution or a planar surface, e.g. truncated

Abstract

The headlight system has a pair of low beam and a pair of high beam lamps (1a, 1b; 2a, 2b) adapted to be mounted in the front part (3) of an automobile with one lamp of each pair to a respective side of the front part. The lamps each have a flattened concave reflector, a high-pressure discharge arc in a translucent envelope as a compact light source, and a substantially quadrangular lens. The ratio of width and height of the lens is larger than 3 and the height is smaller than 6 cm. The low-beam lamps produce a beam of uniform brightness, large width and length and sharp light darkness transitions, as a result of which the risk of dazzling is small despite a large viewing distance.

Claims

1. A headlight system for continuous illumination comprising two pairs of lamps adapted to be mounted in a front part of an automobile with a lamp from each pair being disposed at respective sides of a center of the front part, the lamps of one pair each producing during operation a low beam and the lamps of the remaining pair each producing during operation a high beam, the lamps of both pairs each have a flattened concave reflector having an optical axis and a focus and which is closed by a substantially quadrangular lens, and a compact light source axially arranged in said reflector, characterized in that the light source of each lamps is a high-pressure gas discharge arc in a translucent envelope, the ratio of an average width dimension to an average height dimension of the substantially quadrangular lenses is larger than 3, and the average height dimension of the lenses is smaller than 6 cm.

2. A headlight system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that in the low-beam lamps the optical axis of the reflector is located at a distance of less than 1/4 of the height of the lens from a lower edge of the lens.

3. A headlight system as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the optical axis of at least the low beam lamp reflector intersects the lens at least substantially at the level of its lower edge.

4. A headlight system as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that at least the low beam lamp reflector is recessed near its focal plane away from the optical axis in order to provide room for the envelope of the light source.

5. A headlight system as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that a dipping cap partly covers the light source.

6. A headlight system as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the recess in at least the low beam lamp reflector constitutes an integral dipping cap for the light source.