Guide Corporation

Christopher R Powers

David R McMahan

Paul D Van Duyn

Ismael Garcia

Carey D Marks

Jan A Wisler

Paul D VanDuyn

Monty H Foust

The present disclosure relates to terminals that are utilized in bulb sockets for automotive lamp assemblies. The embodiments of the bulb sockets disclosed provide for superior alignment, electrical connection, and stabilization of the bulb in the bulb socket. Exemplary embodiments of the terminals contain a cover plate that can be sized to substantially cover a receiver slot and can be positioned in the bulb socket in order to prevent sealing material from entering the bulb accepting portion of the bulb socket.

Terminals for bulb sockets

The subject invention relates to terminals that are utilized in bulb sockets for automotive lamp assemblies. The embodiments of the bulb sockets disclosed provide for superior alignment and stabilization of the bulb in the bulb socket so that proper contact is made between the terminals and the bulb without damaging the bulb or the terminals during insertion. The terminal may comprise, among other things, at least one alignment feature, which may include partial spheres, that allows for easy insertion into the bulb socket and substantially ensures proper alignment and positioning within the bulb socket so that a proper connection can be maintained with the bulb and terminal Sealing material may be used to cover wire attachment portions of the terminals and plate portions of the terminals may be used to prevent the sealing material from entering a bulb accepting portion of the socket.

Terminal alignment features for bulb sockets

An adverse weather headlamp assembly that comprises a foreground shield with two sides that taper up from a bottom portion to form a triangular shaped shield. The foreground shield can be movable between a blocking position and a pass-through position. In combination with a cutoff shield, the foreground shield reduces the amount of emitted light that can be reflected off of a wet or icy road in adverse weather conditions in order to reduce glare, while still allowing enough light to be emitted for the driver to adequately see the road.

Adverse weather headlamp system

The present invention comprises a bulb socket assembly. The bulb socket assembly comprises a bulb accepting body portion, a terminal accepting body portion connected to the bulb accepting body portion, at least one terminal positioned in the bulb socket with the terminal's blade end extending into the bulb accepting body portion and its lead end positioned in the terminal accepting body, at least one wire connected to the lead end of the at least one terminal, and a sealing material substantially covering the lead end and the connected wire of the at least one terminal. One embodiment of the bulb socket assembly further comprises a stabilizing feature that allows the socket assembly to firmly grasp bulbs of various sizes. Another embodiment of the bulb socket assembly further comprises a plurality of alignment features to help guide a bulb into proper alignment with a set of terminals.

Wedge base sealed lamp socket

The subject invention comprises a headlamp moisture control system that comprises at least one desiccant and at least one valve. The desiccant comprises an interior desiccant surface that forms an intake passageway and an exterior desiccant surface that forms at least one exhaust passageway. Further, the exterior desiccant surface area has a surface area that is greater than the interior desiccant surface area. The at least one valve can comprise an intake valve and an exhaust valve or it can comprise a combination valve. In either embodiment, the at least one valve prevents the desiccant from constantly being exposed to air that contains moisture. The moisture control system prevents moisture from entering a headlamp assembly during the cooling of a headlamp by only allowing air to enter the headlamp assembly through the intake passageway over the interior desiccant surface. To prevent the desiccant from being saturated, the desiccant will be regenerated during the operation of the headlamp assembly by exhausting dry, heated air from the headlamp assembly through the at least one exhaust passageway over the exterior desiccant surface. Thus, the desiccant will be regenerated and ready to absorb moisture from the incoming air once the headlamp assembly is turned off and begins to cool.

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Indianapolis, IN, United States of America

Christopher R Powers