Denso Corporation

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Other

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Stanley Electric Co., Ltd

Nippondenso Corporation

Hiroaki Okuchi

Kenichi Nishimura

Noboru Yamamoto

Hiromi Hiramatsu

Yasutoshi Horii

Yuji Yamada

Hideyuki Kato

Masamichi Ishikawa

Kunio Ohashi

Kenji Yoneima

Yoshiyuki Miki

Yasushi Noyori

Takashi Sato

Tomoyuki Funayama

Norihisa Sasano

Toshiki Sugiyama

Ikuo Ozawa

Goichi Oda

Fumio Asakura

Noriaki Maeda

Kazuaki Kafuku

Takanori Ota

Takahide Kitahara

Harumi Okai

Yuji Kajita

Kenji Aida

Kazumi Hayashi

Masanori Kondo

Yasuhiro Itoh

Yukinobu Hiranaka

Tomoyuki Ichikawa

Ryosuke Naito

Ryoji Kawakami

A vent line ( ) for establishing communication between the interior of headlamps ( ) and at least a blower ( ) is formed integrally with a front end panel ( ). The vent line ( ) makes up a duct member ( ) leading from each of the headlamps ( ) to the blower ( ). A light controller ( ) is assembled by being fixed on the panel ( ) in such a manner as to be located at the air inlet ( ) of the duct member ( ) (vent line ( )).

Front end structure and headlamp system of automotive vehicle

A filter is changed to change a response in swivel adjustment of a direction of an optical axis of each swivel light based on a steering angle variation of a steering angle of a steering wheel measured with a steering angle sensor. The direction of the optical axis of each swivel light is adjusted based on a swivel control angle obtained upon application of the filter. A weaker filter is selected if the steering wheel is quickly steered, and a stronger filter is selected if the steering wheel is slowly steered. By this filtering operation, the direction of the optical axis of each swivel light is adjusted in response to the steering operation of the steering wheel without causing an uncomfortable feeling to a driver.

Automatic optical-axis adjusting device for automatically adjusting directions of optical axes of front lights with respect to steering angle of steering wheel

In a headlight optical axis adjusting apparatus and method for a vehicle, the shape of a road in front of the vehicle is detected by a CCD camera based on a change in lane marking line which indicates the lane width on the road, before the steering angle of a vehicle steering wheel is detected by a steering angle sensor. Left and right swivel lights of the vehicle are swiveled and adjusted based on the change in the lane marking line or the steering angle. The optical axis of the left or right swivel light is first swiveled and adjusted based on the change in the lane marking line. The driver's forward visibility can thus be improved before the driver turns the steering wheel.

Apparatus and method for automatically adjusting optical axis of vehicle headlights

In a vehicle headlight optical axis adjusting apparatus, inter-vehicle distance in each of divided zones is detected by a laser radar device. Desired optical axis raising angles for a vehicle headlight are calculated based on these inter-vehicle distances of the divided zones. The optical axis of the headlight is adjusted to the most downward pointing angle selected from among these angles, so that a driver of a preceding vehicle is not blinded.

Apparatus for automatically adjusting optical axis of vehicle headlights

A mounting structure for mounting a discharge lamp lighting device is arranged to directly connect a discharge lamp provided in a headlight unit to a connector provided in the discharge lamp lighting device. The headlight unit includes a reflector, and the mounting structure comprises a holder for holding the discharge lamp, wherein the holder includes a holder securing portion directly connected to the reflector and is secured to the reflector via the holder securing portion. The discharge lamp is secured to the reflector via the holder. The mounting structure further comprises a securing member directly connected to the reflector for securing the discharge lamp lighting device to the reflector. The holder and the securing member are separated from each other and the discharge lamp lighting device is secured to the reflector via the securing member.

Mounting structure for a discharge lamp lighting device

In a discharge lamp apparatus for a vehicle, it is determined that a grounded condition is present when a lamp voltage is less than a predetermined voltage and a lamp current is less than a predetermined current. Electric power supply to the lamp is stopped temporarily in response to the determination of the grounded condition, and then the lighting operation is restarted again. If the grounded condition is determined again, the above operation is repeated. If this repetition continues for a predetermined period, the lighting operation is disabled continuously. In controlling the lamp, a voltage of a battery is boosted by a voltage booster transformer, which is turned on and off by a MOS transistor so that electric power supplied to the lamp is duty-controlled. An upper limit is set to the duty ratio, and the upper limit is increased as the lamp current decreases, so that the lighting characteristics of the lamp is improved. A starter transformer has a closed magnetic circuit core, and is encased within a ballast casing, which is disposed under the lamp.

Discharge lamp apparatus

A hybrid IC of electronic circuit for a discharge lamp is disposed on the bottom of a metal case. A transformer, an inductor, a transformer, and a capacitor are disposed in a resin case. The resin case is contained in a metal case. In this instance, the transformer, the inductor, the transformer, and the capacitor are located outside the outer periphery of the IC so that the IC does not overlap on the transformer and other components. The transformer for a starter circuit has a secondary winding the inductance of which is 2.5 mH or larger, and a capacitance of a smoothing capacitor of a DC&mdash;DC converter is 0.5 &mgr;F or smaller. The switching frequency f of a MOS transistor is selected so that L2&times;C1 is equal to or larger than 1&times;10 &times;f .

High voltage discharge lamp apparatus for vehicles

The rear vehicle height HR is detected by the vehicle height sensor as vehicle inclination information by a CPU. Based on the rear vehicle height HR, the inclination angle of the headlight optical axis direction is computed with an inherent control constant corresponding to vehicle specifications preset by a specification discrimination signal. Then, the headlight optical axis direction is adjusted with reference to the pitch angle.

Automatic headlight aiming device for a vehicle

A height sensor has an exciting coil for generating an alternating magnetic field and a pickup coil for detecting the magnetic field. The exciting coil is fixed to a suspension arm and the pickup coil is fixed to a body so as to face each other. Distance between these coils is determined by a voltage outputted from the pickup coil, and a height of the vehicle is calculated from the distance between these coils by taking the mounting position of the pickup coil on the suspension arm into account. The height sensor is readily fixed and a detection accuracy is improved by setting the mounting position of the pickup coil in a range of {fraction (1/10)} to &frac12; of a length of the suspension arm from a connecting portion between the suspension arm and the body.

Height sensor and vehicular headlight beam axis leveling apparatus

In a discharge lamp lighting apparatus for a discharge lamp, each circuit component including a starter transformer is assembled to a bus bar casing, and a high voltage terminal of the starter transformer is connected to one end of a connecting terminal. The bus bar casing is adhesive-cemented to a metal base to which a HIC is attached. Then, a sealing resin fills the bus bar casing to seal the starter transformer and the HIC with the sealing resin. After the sealing resin solidifies, the other end of the connecting terminal and an output cable are connected, and subsequently a resin cover is assembled to the metal base. A shielding sheath covering the output cable is fixed to the bus bar casing by a clip. A ground connection part of the bus bar connectable to the ground side of an electric power source is shaped to protrude from the bus bar casing. The cover, the clip, the ground connection part and the base are ground-connected by a thread.

Discharge lamp lightning apparatus and manufacturing method therefor

In a vehicle headlight optical axis automatic adjusting system, a pitch angle in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle is calculated from a signal of a height sensor. Filtering corresponding to a control mode according to the acceleration is fixed and is not frequently switched unless the constant speed state of the vehicle continues for a predetermined time. The pitch angle may be calculated on the basis of the vehicle rear height value by using a prediction expression which is divided into a plurality of regions of vehicle postures according to loading conditions of an occupant load and a trunk load in correspondence with the vehicle type. The pitch angle may be updated when the vehicle enters a constant speed driving mode, i.e., stable driving mode, so that even when one trip is not finished the error is cancelled.

System for automatically adjusting optical axis direction of vehicle headlight

In a discharge lamp device, the electric power supplied to a discharge lamp is controlled in order of first to fourth control regions from the start of lighting of the discharge lamp. In the first control region, the lamp current is held constant until the lamp voltage reaches a first voltage value. In the second control region, the lamp current is reduced so as to have a correlation with a first time constant curve for a constant time after the lamp voltage reaches the first voltage value. In the third control region, the lamp current is reduced so as to have a correlation with a second time constant curve after a lapse of the constant time. The second time constant curve differs from the first time constant curve. In the fourth control region, a control value of the electric power supplied to the discharge lamp is free of a function of a lapse of time from the start of lighting of the discharge lamp, but is a function of at least the lamp voltage and the lamp current, and the electric power supplied to the discharge lamp is controlled by that control value. Through such a control, luminous flux is built up in a short time from the start of the lighting and an occurrence of overshoot or undershoot is minimized to a possible extent.

Discharge lamp device having a light distribution compound lens

A light-distributing lens which may be employed in head lamps for vehicles is provided. The light-distributing lens includes an entrance surface, a pair of reflecting side surfaces, and an exit surface. The pair of reflecting side surfaces include a plurality of reflecting side portions arranged vertically of the light-distributing lens so as to form vertically compressed light-distributed zones, respectively. Each of the light-distributed zones includes a direct light-distributed portion formed by a portion of the light transmitted directly from the entrance surface without undergoing the total reflection on the reflecting side surfaces and reflected light-distributed zones formed on both sides of the direct light-distributed zone by a portion of the light transmitted from the entrance surface which has undergone the total reflection on the reflecting side surfaces. An angle which the reflecting side portions of one of the pairs make with each other in the horizontal direction is different from that which the reflecting side portions of the other(s) of the pairs make with each other so that each of dark areas formed between the direct light-distributed portion and the reflected light-distributed portions of the light-distributed zone formed by one of the pairs are brightened by one of the direct light-distributed portion and the reflected light-distributed portions of the light-distributed zone of the other(s) of the pairs.

Light-distributing lens of head lamp for vehicles

A pitch angle in the back-and-forth direction of the vehicle body is calculated based on output signals of height sensors disposed at front and rear wheels of the vehicle. A vehicle traveling speed is obtained. A vehicle acceleration is obtained from the vehicle traveling speed. Using the vehicle traveling speed and the vehicle acceleration, a judgement is made to determine the control mode corresponding to the vehicle traveling condition, by selecting one from the group consisting of a stopping mode, an acceleration mode, a deceleration mode and a constant-speed mode. An actuator target value (i.e., target aiming adjustment angle) is calculated in accordance with the determined control mode. To obtain this actuator target value, a filter is used to process the pitch angle so that the headlights do not dazzle an oncoming vehicle's driver. Then, the aiming adjustment for the headlights is performed by actuating actuators in accordance with the actuator target value. The pitch angle is adequately processed by using a preferable filter. Therefore, the aiming adjustment of the headlights is not performed unnecessarily or erroneously.

Apparatus for automatically adjusting aiming of headlights of an

A lens for a light distribution has an incident surface and an exit surface, where the exit surface is an aspheric surface so that an aberration of the outer periphery in the horizontal direction can be larger than an aberration of the outer periphery in the vertical direction of the exit surface. Among light distributions formed by an outgoing light emitted from the exit surface, a light distribution in the horizontal direction blurs on the peripheral portion but a light distribution in the vertical direction does not blur on the peripheral portion.

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Farmington Hills, MI, United States of America

Hiroaki Okuchi