Patent ID: 6554460
Filing Date: 2003-04-29
Classification: F21S

Abstract:
A dual function elliptical type headlight for a motor vehicle for travel along a road, comprising: a light source; a reflector adjacent to the light source; a light concentrating zone in front of the reflector, whereby the reflector can reflect light from the light source to the light concentrating zone to produce a patch of light; a lens in front of the light concentrating zone for projecting the light patch towards the road as a beam; a mask; and means for displacing the mask between a working position in the path of said beam and a retracted position away from said beam, whereby in its working position the mask can cut off a part of the patch of light whereby the beam projected by the lens is a cut-off beam, and whereby, when the mask is in its retracted position, the lens can project the entire patch of light so that any said cut-off is absent from the beam, wherein the reflector comprises two reflector zones, being a first zone adapted to produce a first part of the light patch which is substantially unmasked in all positions of the mask, and a second zone adapted to produce a second part of the light patch which is masked when the mask is in its working position, the two said zones being such that the respective parts of the light patch have different light distributions in the direction in which the light is projected by the headlight.