Headlight for a vehicle that fulfills legal requirements of different countries

• US 6,126,301 A
• Filed: 09/15/1998
• Issued: 10/03/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Schlienz, Friedemann, Altunay, Esref
• Primary Examiner(s): Sember, Thomas M.
• Application Number:
  US09/153,795
• Time in Patent Office: 749 Days
• Field of Search: 362/359, 362/539, 362/351, 362/319, 362/322, 362/512, 362/277
• US Class Current: 362/359
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/43 characterised by the shape thereof

Abstract

The headlight is used as a high beam headlight and has a light source (12) propagating light that is reflected by a reflector (10) as a light beam, which produces maximum illumination intensities that do not exceed legally prescribed maximum illumination intensities. The headlight light is designed so that the high maximum illumination intensities permissible in Europe according to the ECE Rules are produced by the light beam issuing from it. A screen device (20,30) is insertable in this headlight, by which a portion of the light issuing from the light source (12) to the reflector (10) is blocked and thus prevented from reaching the reflector. Because of that the maximum illumination intensities produced by the light beam issuing from the headlight are reduced so that the headlight can be used, for example in the USA or Japan, where reduced maximum illumination intensities are permitted in comparison to those in Europe, by insertion of the screen device in the otherwise unchanged headlight.

Claims

1. A high beam headlight for a vehicle, said high beam headlight comprising

a light source (12) including means for propagating light;

and

a reflector (10) arranged to reflect the light propagated from said light source and to form a high beam light beam for illumination of the surroundings of the vehicle to produce maximum illumination intensities which do not exceed first predetermined maximum illumination intensity values when all of the light propagated from said light source reaches said reflector; and

a screen device (20,30) insertable into the high beam headlight, wherein a portion of the light propagated from said light source directed towards peripheral edge regions of said reflector (10) is blocked by said screen device so that the maximum illumination intensities of the high beam light beam emitted by the high beam headlight with said screen device inserted do not exceed second predetermined maximum illumination intensity values that are less than said first given maximum illumination intensity values.

2. The headlight as defined in claim 1, wherein the screen device (20,30) is pot-shaped and surrounds the light source (12) at least over a portion of a periphery of the light source (10) and over a part of a longitudinal extent of the light source (10).

3. The headlight as defined in claim 1, wherein the screen device (20,30) is insertable into the headlight in different positions relative to the light source (12) so as to block respective different amounts of the light propagated from the light source (12) toward the reflector (10).