Apparatus and method for measuring the aim location of vehicle headlamps
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for measuring the aim location of a vehicle headlamp comprising:
- a board;
a photosensitive array, said array supported on an elongated member for movement adjacent to and independent of said board, said array including a plurality of photo sensors disposed between a plurality of baffles said baffles configured to allow light from the vehicle headlamp to strike the photo sensors while reducing light from sources other than the headlamp from striking the photo sensors; and
a control unit connected to and operative to receive input from said plurality of photo sensors.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for measuring the aim of vehicle headlamps including measuring the light intensity of a light beam emitted by a vehicle headlamp to check the aim of the vehicle headlamp. The apparatus includes a linear photosensitive array having a plurality of individual photo sensors positioned between a plurality of baffles. The array is movably mounted to a frame whereby it can be positioned at predetermined locations to measure light beam intensity and correspondingly determine the beam pattern and aim point of a headlamp.
28 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring the aim location of a vehicle headlamp comprising:
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a board; a photosensitive array, said array supported on an elongated member for movement adjacent to and independent of said board, said array including a plurality of photo sensors disposed between a plurality of baffles said baffles configured to allow light from the vehicle headlamp to strike the photo sensors while reducing light from sources other than the headlamp from striking the photo sensors; and a control unit connected to and operative to receive input from said plurality of photo sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for measuring the aim location of a vehicle headlamp comprising:
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a frame, said frame including a cross member supported on opposite ends thereof by leg members; a photosensitive array movably supported on said cross member, said array including a plurality of photo sensors disposed between a plurality of baffles arranged on an elongated support member in a linear fashion, said photo sensors arranged such that they lie in a single line, such that a baffle is placed between and separates each photo sensor and said elongated support member oriented in a direction generally transverse to said cross member; a drive mechanism connected to said array, said drive mechanism operative to move said array on said cross member; and a control unit, said control unit connected to said drive mechanism and to said array whereby said control unit positions said array and receives input from said photo sensors. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for measuring the aim location of a vehicle headlamp comprising the steps of:
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providing a photosensitive array including a plurality of photo sensors and baffles arranged in a linear fashion, the photosensitive array movably supported on a frame; positioning a vehicle at a predetermined position whereby the vehicle headlamps are a predetermined distance from the photosensitive array; energizing said vehicle headlamps whereby said headlamps shine a light beam towards said photosensitive array; placing said photosensitive array in a position such that said light beam directly strikes said photosensitive array and using said photo sensors of said array to sense the light intensity of at least a portion of the light beam and generating a signal corresponding to the light intensity; and using a control unit to record and display an output corresponding to the intensity. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification