Adjusting vehicle headlights

• US 10,640,033 B1
• Filed: 12/18/2018
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Gandhi, Umesh N., Prokhorov, Danil V., Rowe, Michael Paul, Tsuruta, Ryohei
• Primary Examiner(s): Carter, William J
• Application Number:
  US15/929,073
• Time in Patent Office: 504 Days
• Field of Search: 362464-468
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/076 by electrical means including means to transmit the movements, e.g. shafts or joints
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/085 due to special conditions, e.g. adverse weather, type of road, badly illuminated road signs or potential dangers B60Q1/10, B60Q1/12, B60Q1/1423 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/115 by electric means details of the electric drive components, e.g. motors, shafts, ball joints B60Q1/076
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/122 with electrical actuating means details of the electric drive components, e.g. motors, shafts, ball joints B60Q1/076
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/132 Pitch
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/134 Yaw
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/285 Refractors, transparent cover plates, light guides or filters not provided in groups F21S41/24-F21S41/28
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 41/63 by acting on refractors, filters or transparent cover plates

Abstract

A headlight assembly can include a headlight and one or more actuators operatively positioned to cause the position and/or orientation of the headlight to be adjusted. The one or more actuators include a bladder. The bladder can include a flexible casing. The bladder can define a fluid chamber. The fluid chamber can contain a dielectric fluid. The one or more actuators can include a first conductor and a second conductor operatively positioned on opposite portions of the bladder. The one or more actuators can be configured such that, when electrical energy is supplied to the first conductor and the second conductor, the first conductor and the second conductor can become oppositely charged. As a result, the first conductor and the second conductor are electrostatically attracted toward each other to cause at least a portion of the dielectric fluid to be displaced to an outer peripheral region of the fluid chamber.

Claims

1. A headlight assembly comprising:

a headlight; and

at least one actuator including;

a bladder, the bladder including a flexible casing and defining a fluid chamber, the fluid chamber including a dielectric fluid; and

a first conductor and a second conductor operatively positioned on opposite portions of the bladder,

the at least one actuator being configured such that, when electrical energy is supplied to the first conductor and the second conductor, the first conductor and the second conductor have opposite charges, whereby the first conductor and the second conductor are electrostatically attracted toward each other, the first conductor and the second conductor move toward each other to cause at least a portion of the dielectric fluid to be displaced to an outer peripheral region of the fluid chamber, thereby causing the outer peripheral region of the bladder to bulge such that a height of the bladder increases,

the at least one actuator being operatively positioned to cause a position and/or an orientation of the headlight to be adjusted based on changes in the height of the bladder.

2. The headlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one actuator is a plurality of actuators.

3. The headlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one actuator is configured for yaw adjustment of the headlight.

4. The headlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one actuator is configured for pitch adjustment of the headlight.

5. The headlight assembly of claim 1, further including a base, wherein the headlight is operatively connected to one side of the base and the at least one actuator is operatively connected to an opposite side of the base.

6. The headlight assembly of claim 5, wherein the at least one actuator is configured to control the position and/or the orientation of the base on a plurality of different axes.

7. The headlight assembly of claim 5, wherein the at least one actuator is operatively connected to a corner region of the base.

8. The headlight assembly of claim 5, wherein the at least one actuator includes a plurality of actuators, and wherein the plurality of actuators are arranged in a stack.

9. A headlight system comprising:

a headlight;

a base, the headlight being operatively connected to the base;

at least one actuator operatively connected to the base, the at least one actuator including a bladder, the bladder including a flexible casing and defining a fluid chamber, the fluid chamber including a dielectric fluid, the at least one actuator including a first conductor and a second conductor operatively positioned on opposite portions of the bladder,

the at least one actuator being operatively positioned to adjust a position or an orientation of the headlight based on changes in a height of the bladder; and

a power source operatively connected to supply electrical energy to the first conductor and the second conductor; and

one or more processors operatively connected to selectively control a supply of electrical energy from the power source to the first conductor and the second conductor,

the at least one actuator being configured such that, when electrical energy is supplied to the first conductor and the second conductor, the first conductor and the second conductor have opposite charges, whereby the first conductor and the second conductor electrostatically attract each other, the first conductor and the second conductor move toward each other to cause at least a portion of the dielectric fluid to be displaced to an outer peripheral region of the fluid chamber thereby causing the outer peripheral region of the bladder to bulge such that the height of the bladder increases.

10. The headlight system of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are configured to automatically adjust a position and/or an orientation of the headlight.

11. The headlight system of claim 9, further including an input interface operatively connected to the one more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to selectively control the supply of electrical energy from the power source to the first conductor and the second conductor based on inputs received on the input interface, whereby a position and/or an orientation of the headlight is adjusted based on inputs received on the input interface.

12. The headlight system of claim 9, further including one or more sensors operatively connected to the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to selectively control the supply of electrical energy from the power source to the first conductor and the second conductor based on sensor data acquired by the one or more sensors, whereby a position and/or an orientation of the headlight is adjusted based on sensor data acquired by the one or more sensors.

13. A method of adjusting a position and/or an orientation of a headlight assembly, the headlight assembly includes a headlight and at least one actuator, the at least one actuator including a bladder, the bladder including a flexible casing and defining a fluid chamber, the fluid chamber including a dielectric fluid, the at least one actuator including a first conductor and a second conductor operatively positioned on opposite portions of the bladder, the at least one actuator being configured such that, when electrical energy is supplied to the first conductor and the second conductor, the first conductor and the second conductor have opposite charges, whereby the first conductor and the second conductor are electrostatically attracted toward each other, the first conductor and the second conductor move toward each other to cause at least a portion of the dielectric fluid to be displaced to an outer peripheral region of the fluid chamber, thereby causing the outer peripheral region of the bladder to bulge such that a height of the bladder increases, the at least one actuator being operatively positioned to adjust a position and/or an orientation of the headlight based on changes in the height of the bladder, the method comprising:

detecting a headlight trigger;

responsive to detecting the headlight trigger, determining a target headlight position or orientation based on the headlight trigger; and

causing the at least one actuator to actuate to alter a position or orientation of the headlight to the target headlight position or orientation based on changes in the height of the bladder.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one actuator is a plurality of actuators, and wherein each actuator is independently actuated to control the position and/or the orientation of the headlight assembly.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein different control signals are applied to different actuators to achieve nonuniform states for the plurality of actuators.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one actuator is configured for a yaw adjustment of the headlight.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one actuator is configured for a pitch adjustment of the headlight.

18. The method of claim 13, further including a base, wherein the headlight is operatively connected to the base, and wherein the at least one actuator is operatively connected to the base.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one actuator is a plurality of actuators, and wherein each actuator is operatively connected to a corner region of the base.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one actuator is a plurality of actuators, and wherein the plurality of actuators are arranged in a stack.