Abstract:
The subject invention relates to automotive head lamp assemblies with a low beam unit and a high beam unit. In an exemplary embodiment, the low beam unit and high beam unit is connected to one another by an adjuster bracket. The adjuster bracket allows for two ball studs to interact with the adjuster bracket. The first ball stud interacts with the adjuster bracket and high beam reflector so that the high beam reflector&#39;s vertical axis can be adjusted to make it parallel to the vertical axis of the low beam reflector. The second ball stud interacts with the adjuster bracket and low beam reflector so that both the low beam reflector and high beam reflector are adjusted vertically at the same time and in the same direction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     An issued Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) requires that headlamps that comprise a low beam unit and a high beam unit have one mechanism for adjusting the aims of both the low beam reflector and a high beam reflector.  FIG. 1  shows a front view of a typical front lamp assembly  10  that was utilized in automobiles prior to the implementation of this safety standard. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the typical front lamp assembly  10  comprises a low beam unit  12  with a light source  22  and a high beam unit  14  with a light source  22  positioned in a single lamp housing  16 . 
       FIG. 2  shows a cross sectional view of front lamp assembly  10  along line A—A of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , low beam unit  12  comprises a low beam reflector  20  and high beam unit  14  comprises a high beam reflector  24 . High beam reflector  24  and low beam reflector  20  each have three ball sockets  26  (only two pictured) attached to the back of each reflector. Lamp housing  16  has two ball studs  28  in each low beam and high beam unit for a total of four ball studs (only two pictured). Further, low beam unit  12  and high beam unit  14  both have one adjustment screw  27  with a ball head  18  positioned within the unit. Lamp housing  16  and high beam/low beam reflectors  24  and  20  are attached to one another by snapping the ball studs  28  of the lamp housing into two of the ball sockets  26  on each of the reflectors and by snapping ball heads  18  of adjustment screws  27  into the third ball socket  26  on each of the reflectors. The threaded portion of each of these adjustments screws  18  passes through the lamp housing  16  so that the other end of the adjustment screw can be accessed on the other side of the lamp housing. 
     When either of the adjustment screws  18  is rotated, it will either extend the ball head  18  further away from the lamp housing or withdraw the ball head towards the lamp housing. As the ball head  18  is extended, the ball sockets  26  of the respective reflector will pivot about the ball studs  28  and the ball head  18  so that the reflector will tilt downward. As the ball head  18  is withdrawn, the ball sockets  26  will pivot about the ball studs  28  and the ball head  18  so that the respective reflector will tilt upwards. In order to adjust the aim of the low beam unit  12  and high beam unit  14 , both adjustment screws  27  must be turned separately. Thus, the low beam reflector  20  and high beam reflector  24  are vertically aimed separately by turning either of the adjustment screws  27 . These separate means for adjusting the aim of the low beam reflector and high beam reflector is now obsolete in view of the FMVSS. 
     BRIEF INVENTION SUMMARY 
     The subject invention relates to automotive head lamp assemblies that comprise a low beam unit and a high beam unit. Specifically, the subject invention relates to an apparatus and a method for vertically adjusting the aim of both the low beam unit and high beam unit at the same time and in the same direction. One embodiment of the subject invention comprises a low beam reflector and a high beam reflector connected to one another by an adjuster bracket. One end of the adjuster bracket is attached to the high beam reflector by a ball stud that is threaded through the bracket&#39;s threaded cylinder and snapped into a ball socket located on the high beam reflector. This ball stud can be extended or withdrawn so that the high beam reflector can be tilted upward or downward without adjusting the low beam reflector. The other end of the adjuster bracket comprises a ball socket that is attached to the low beam reflector. This ball socket accepts a second ball stud so that when the second ball stud is extended or withdrawn, the high beam and low beam reflectors will be vertically adjusted at the same time. The second ball stud can comprise a gear drive that can cause the ball stud to extend and withdraw. 
     In operation, the first ball stud will be extended or withdrawn in order to vertically adjust the high beam reflector so that its vertical access will be parallel to the vertical access of the low beam reflector. Once the vertical axis of both reflectors are parallel to one another, the second ball stud can be extended or withdrawn in order to vertically adjust both the low beam and high beam reflectors at the same time and in the same direction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of a typical front lamp assembly; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional top view of the front lamp assembly along line A—A of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of a passenger side headlamp assembly with an adjuster bracket; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the adjuster bracket of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective, backside view of the adjuster bracket attached to two reflectors and a standard gear adjuster; and 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a standard gear adjuster that is connected to the adjuster bracket of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 3  shows an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of the high/low beam adjuster bracket assembly in a passenger side headlamp assembly  30 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , headlamp assembly  30  comprises lamp housing  16  and a lens  25 . Lens  25  and lamp housing  16  enclose high beam reflector  24  and low beam reflector  20 . A lamp socket  36  and light source  22  are attached to each reflector through receiving hole  34 . 
     Referring still to  FIG. 3 , an adjuster bracket  32  connects high beam reflector  24  and low beam reflector  20  to each other.  FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of adjuster bracket  32 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , this embodiment of the adjuster bracket  32  comprises a ball socket end  37  and a ball stud retaining end  39 . Ends  37  and  39  are integral with and separated by an extension  48 . Ball socket end  37  of adjuster bracket  32  comprises a ball socket  38  and a receiving hole  40 . An adjustment ball stud  42  passes through and is retained by a threaded cylinder  50  located on the ball stud retaining end  39  of adjuster bracket  32 . In this embodiment, ball stud  42  comprises a hex shape end  46 , a threaded portion  45  and a ball head  44  that extends away from both ball socket end  37  and ball stud retaining end  39 . Adjuster bracket  32  is shown as a right-handed adjuster bracket (i.e. an adjuster bracket used in the passenger side headlamp assembly). A left-handed adjuster bracket (i.e. an adjuster bracket used in a driver side headlamp assembly) has the same structure except that it is a mirror image of the left-handed adjuster bracket. While the adjuster bracket can be made of any material, the adjuster bracket of this embodiment is a single molded piece of nylon. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective, rear view of adjuster bracket  32  connected to high beam reflector  24  and low beam reflector  20 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , high beam reflector  24  has three ball sockets mounted on its backside in a “L” configuration. In this embodiment, two of the ball sockets  52  and  54  are located on the lower portion of the backside of high beam reflector  24  and one ball socket  56  is located on the upper portion of the high beam reflector. Low beam reflector  20  has two ball sockets  58  and  60  mounted on the lower portion of its backside. While these ball sockets can be made of any material, each of the ball sockets  52 ,  54 ,  56 ,  58  and  60  of this embodiment are single molded pieces of nylon and have a receiving hole  62 . Ball sockets  52 ,  54 ,  56 ,  58  and  60  are mounted to their respective reflectors by a bolt  63  that passes through each socket&#39;s receiving holes  62  and into the respective reflector, or any other attachment means well known in the art. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 5 , ball stud retaining end  39  of adjuster bracket  32  is attached to high beam reflector  24  by snapping ball head  44  (shown in  FIG. 4 ) of ball stud  42  into ball socket  56 . Ball socket end  37  of adjuster bracket  32  is mounted to low beam reflector  20  by bolt  63  or any other type of attachment means well known in the art. In this embodiment, bolt  63  passes through receiving hole  40  and into the back of the low beam reflector  20  in order to mount ball socket  38  and adjuster bracket  32  to the upper portion of the low beam reflector. Ball socket  38  forms an “L” configuration with ball sockets  58  and  60 . In this embodiment, ball sockets  38  and  56  can be located anywhere on the upper portion of their respective reflectors. However, it is advantageous to position ball socket  38  on the upper backside portion of low beam reflector  20  closest to high beam reflector  24  and to position ball socket  56  on the upper backside portion of the high beam reflector closest to the low beam reflector. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 3 , lamp housing  16  has a plurality of ball head features  64  attached to the lamp housing. While the ball head features can be made of any material, the ball head features  64  of the embodiment are a single pieces of steel with a partially threaded shaft (not shown). The partially threaded shaft screws into a threaded receptacle (not shown) in the lamp housing in order to attach the ball head feature to the lamp housing. Alternatively, these ball head features could be molded as part of the lamp housing. 
     Two such ball head features  64  are located in high beam unit  14  at a position that corresponds to the location of ball sockets  52  and  54  on high beam reflector  24 . Further, two ball head features  64  are located in the low beam unit  12  at a position that corresponds to the location of ball sockets  58  and  60  on low beam reflector  20 . Lamp housing  16  further has an access slot  66  in the high beam unit  14  that corresponds to the location of adjustment ball stud  42  and a hole  68  with a plurality of notches in low beam unit  12  that corresponds to the location of ball socket  38  of adjustment bracket  32 . Low beam reflector  20  and high beam reflector  24  are attached to lamp housing  16  by snapping each of the corresponding ball features  64  into the corresponding ball sockets  52 ,  54 ,  58  and  60 . Once the reflectors are installed, hex shaped end  46  of ball stud  42  fits into access slot  66  and ball socket  38  is aligned with hole  68 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 3 , lamp assembly  30  further comprises a gear adjuster  72 .  FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of gear adjuster  72 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , gear adjuster  72  has a ball stud  74  with a ball head  75  and a threaded portion  73  that is inserted into a gear housing  76 . Gear adjuster  72  also has a hexagonal cavity  84  that extends outward from housing  76 . A driving tool with a hex head can be placed into cavity  84  in order to rotate the cavity. When cavity  84  is turned clockwise, it will cause a series of gears (enclosed by housing  76 ) to turn in a manner that will cause ball stud  74  to extend out of gear housing  76  (in the direction of arrow y). When cavity  84  is turned counter-clockwise, it will cause a series of gears to turn in a manner that will cause ball stud  74  to withdraw into gear housing  76  (in the direction of arrow x). Gear housing  76  has a face plate  78  positioned behind three locking features  80 . 
     Referring back to  FIG. 3 , gear housing  76  has three locking features  80  that corresponds to the three notches located in lamp housing&#39;s hole  68 . A rubber seal  82  is placed between these locking features  80  and face plate  78 . Gear adjuster  72  is inserted into hole  68  so that each locking feature passes through its corresponding notch into lamp housing  16  and ball stud  74  extends into lamp housing  16  and snaps into ball socket  38  of adjuster bracket  32 . Once gear adjuster  72  is inserted, gear housing  76  is turned clockwise or counter-clockwise so that the gear adjuster is locked into place on lamp housing  16 . Locking features  80  will interact with the wall of lamp housing  16  in order to hold gear adjuster  72  in place. As the gear adjuster  72  is locked in place, seal  82  will be compressed between lamp housing  16  and face plate  78  in order to form a tight seal between the gear adjuster and lamp housing. 
     In this embodiment, high beam reflector  24  and low beam reflector  20  can be adjusted at the same time utilizing one mechanism. Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , once headlamp assembly  30  is assembled, ball stud  42  can be accessed through access slot  66  from the backside of lamp housing  16 . A tool, such as a socket wrench, can interact with ball stud&#39;s  42  hex shaped end  46  in order to either turn the adjustment ball stud clockwise or counter-clockwise. As ball stud  42  is turned clockwise, ball head  44  will extend away fram adjuster bracket  32  and into ball socket  56 . As the ball head  44  extends, ball sockets  52  and  54  pivot about ball head features  64  and ball socket  56  pivots about ball head  44 , so that the high beam reflector tilts downward (i.e., the top portion of the high beam reflector moves toward lens  28 ). In contrast, as ball stud  42  is turned counter-clockwise, ball head  44  will be withdrawn towards adjuster bracket  32  and away from ball socket  56 . As the ball head  44  withdraws, ball sockets  52  and  54  pivot about ball head features  64  and ball socket  56  pivots about ball head  44  so that the high beam reflector tilts upward (i.e., the top portion of the high beam reflector will be pulled away from lens  28 ). Thus, by turning adjustment screw  42  either clockwise or counter-clockwise, the vertical axis v—v of the high beam reflector  24  (shown in  FIG. 5 ) can be aligned with the vertical axis w—w of low beam reflector  20  (shown in  FIG. 5 ) so that the two vertical axes are parallel to one another (or aligned in another desired orientation). 
     After the axes w—w and v—v are aligned with one another, access slot  66  is capped so that adjustment ball stud  42  can no longer be accessed. Gear adjuster  72  then can be utilized to move the high and low beam reflectors and the adjuster bracket simultaneously and in the same direction in order to properly aim the high and low light beams generated by the high bean and low beam units. Gear drive  72  acts in the same manner as ball stud  42  to move high and low beam reflectors  20  and  24 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , cavity  84  of gear adjuster  72  can be turned either clockwise or counter-clockwise in order to extend (arrow y) or withdraw (arrow x) ball stud  74 . When cavity  84  is turned clockwise, ball stud  74  will extend into ball socket  38 . As ball stud  74  extends, ball sockets  58  and  60  pivot about ball features  64  and ball socket  38  pivots about ball stud  74  so that the low beam reflector tilts downward. As low beam reflector  20  tilts forward, adjuster bracket  32  moves forward and causes high beam reflector  24  to tilt forward at the same time and at the same degree as low beam reflector  20 . Thus, as ball stud  74  extends, ball sockets  52  and  54  also pivot about ball features  64  and ball socket  56  pivots about ball head  44  so that high beam reflector  20  tilts forward. The same process will occur when cavity  84  is turned counter-clockwise in order to withdraw ball stud  74  into the gear housing  76  and cause both the low beam and high beam reflectors to tilt upward at the same time and at the same degree. In this manner, the high and low beam reflectors and adjuster bracket are all moved simultaneously. While a gear adjuster is used in this embodiment, a ball stud, such as ball stud  42 , could be used instead of the gear adjuster. 
     One embodiment of the high/low beam adjuster bracket assembly is described herein, but many more embodiments exist. For example, adjuster bracket  32  does not need to comprise ball socket  38 . Instead, ball socket  38  could be a separate piece that is mounted to low beam reflector in the same manner as the rest of the ball sockets  52 ,  54 ,  56 ,  58  and  60  are mounted to their respective reflectors. In such an embodiment, ball stud retaining end would still be attached to high beam reflector  24  and gear adjuster  72  would still be connected to ball socket  38  as already described. However, in this embodiment, extension  48  of adjuster bracket  32  would be mounted directly to low beam reflector  20 . Thus, high beam and low beam reflectors  24  and  22  would still be connected by adjuster bracket  32  and the reflectors would still be adjusted in the same manner as already described. 
     In another embodiment, ball sockets  52 ,  54 ,  56 ,  58 ,  60  and  38  could be arranged in different positions on the reflector to form different arrangements. Referring to  FIG. 5 , ball sockets  52  and  54  could be located on the top portion of high beam reflector  24  and ball socket  56  could be located on the bottom portion of high beam reflector  24 . Similarly, ball sockets  58  and  60  could be located on the top portion of low beam reflector  20  and ball socket  38  could be located on the bottom portion of low beam reflector  20 . Adjuster bracket  32  would then be connected to the lower portion of the high and low beam reflectors. High and low beam reflectors  24  and  20  would still be adjusted and aimed in the manner already described except that the bottom portion of the respective reflectors would move towards and away from lens  28  in order to tilt the reflectors upward or downward. 
     While the subject invention has been described in considerable detail with references to particular embodiments thereof, such is offered by way of non-limiting examples of the invention as many other versions are possible. For example, ball head features  64  can be mounted on the backside of both low beam and high beam reflectors  20  and  24  while ball sockets  52 ,  54 ,  58  and  60  are mounted to lamp housing  16 . Further, instead of ball socket  30  being connected to low beam reflector  20  and ball stud  42  connected to high beam reflector  24 , ball socket  38  could be connected to high beam reflector  24  and ball stud  42  could be connected to low beam reflector  20 . While these are two examples of different versions of the subject invention, it is anticipated that a variety of other modifications and changes will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art and that such modifications and changes are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the pending claims.