Abstract:
An automotive vehicle includes a headlamp housing mounted to a body of the vehicle. An airflow opening extends through the headlamp housing. A light guide coupled to the housing forms a portion of an airflow passage extending from the airflow opening into an interior of the body of the vehicle. A surface of the light guide is etched with a design extending along a length of the airflow passage. An LED light generating unit is positioned adjacent an end of the light guide to pass light from the light generating unit through the light guide that illuminates the etched design.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to automotive headlamp assemblies including an air catcher passage. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    U.S. Pat. No. 9,221,331 issued to Vardis et al, on Dec. 29, 2015 discloses headlamp assemblies incorporating an air induction or catcher passage that feeds air to an internal combustion engine, and is incorporated herein by reference. Vehicle lighting has become an important focus in providing the desired visual and emotional impact of a vehicle&#39;s aesthetic design. 
         [0003]    Sometimes the desired aesthetic impact necessitates minimizing the fact that the headlamp assembly includes an air induction passage. In such cases, the air induction passage is made to resemble a headlamp unit as much as possible. Sometimes, however, the desired aesthetic impact is best achieved by emphasizing the presence of an air induction passage, such as for an aggressive high performance vehicle design. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    In an aspect of the present disclosure, a headlamp assembly for an automotive vehicle includes a headlamp housing mounted to a body of the vehicle. An airflow opening extends through the headlamp housing. A light guide coupled to the housing forms a portion of an airflow passage extending from the airflow opening into an interior of the body of the vehicle. A surface of the light guide is etched with a design extending along a length of the airflow passage. An LED light generating unit is positioned adjacent an end of the light guide to pass light from the light generating unit through the light guide that illuminates the etched design. 
         [0005]    In another aspect of the present disclosure, the light guide and LED light generating unit comprise a sub-assembly mountable to the headlamp housing as an independent unit. 
         [0006]    In another aspect of the present disclosure, a hardcoat layer covers an interior surface of the light guide, and the surface etched with the design is an opposite exterior surface of the light guide. 
         [0007]    In another aspect of the present disclosure, the headlamp assembly includes a lens positioned between LED&#39;s of the light generating unit and the light guide, and the lens comprises a material to convert light emitted by the LED&#39;s to a selected color prior to entering the light guide. 
         [0008]    In another aspect of the present disclosure, the light guide comprises a tubular member defining a length of the airflow passage and the headlight housing comprises a tubular boss surrounding the light guide. 
         [0009]    In another aspect of the present disclosure, a conduit provides fluid communication between the airflow passage and an engine of the vehicle to provide air passing through the airflow passage to the engine. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a front elevation view of a portion of a front end of a vehicle with one exemplary headlamp assembly in accordance with the present disclosure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a simplified schematic representation of the vehicle with the headlamp assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the headlamp assembly and air cleaner assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the headlamp assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the illuminated air catcher passage sub-assembly of the headlamp assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a cross-section view of the illuminated air catcher passage sub-assembly of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the light guide of the illuminated air catcher passage sub-assembly of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the exemplary headlamp assembly of  FIG. 1  with a light guide etched with a pictorial graphic design. 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a light guide of the illuminated air catcher passage sub-assembly of  FIG. 5  etched with an alternative textual graphic design. 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a light guide of the illuminated air catcher passage sub-assembly of  FIG. 5  etched with an alternative combined textual and pictorial graphic design. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description, claims and drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like features throughout the several views of the drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description, including disclosed embodiments and drawings referenced therein are merely exemplary in nature, intended for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
         [0022]      FIGS. 1-8  illustrate one exemplary embodiment of a headlight assembly  16  for a vehicle  10 , including an illuminated air catcher passage  34 . The vehicle  10  includes an engine  12  and an air-induction system  14  that provides air to the engine  12  via an air cleaner  18 . The headlamp assembly  16  includes an illuminated air catcher passage  34  of the air-induction system  14 . Conduits  20 ,  22  extend between the illuminated air catcher passage  34  and the air cleaner  18 , and between the air cleaner  18  and the engine  12 , respectively. 
         [0023]    The headlamp assembly  16  includes a housing  24  mounted to and at least partially received in a front end  28  ( FIG. 1 ) of the vehicle  10 . The headlight assembly  16  includes a light generating headlight unit  50  and headlight reflector  52  mounted on a frame  42 , a light generating running light unit  44  and running light reflector  46 , and a light generating turn signal unit  48  supported generally within a housing cavity  30  covered by a translucent cap  54 . Any or all of the light generating units  50 ,  44 , and  48  comprise LED units. Alternatively, any or all of the light generating units  50 ,  44 , and  48  comprise any of an incandescent, halogen or HID (high-intensity discharge) bulb. 
         [0024]    The cap  54  sealingly engages the housing  24  and encloses at least the light generating units  44  and  48  within the cavity  30  of the housing  24 . The illustrated headlamp assembly  16  includes an air induction passage  34  extending through the sealed cavity  30 . In this manner, the airflow opening  74  and the passage  34  cooperate to form a continuous passageway that extends entirely through the sealed first headlamp assembly  16 . The air induction passage  34  passes through and includes airflow opening  74  through the translucent cap  54 , an airflow opening  60  through the running light reflector  46 , and an airflow opening  36  through a boss  32  disposed within the cavity  30  of the housing  24 . 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , an illuminated air catcher passage assembly  26  includes a front outer seal member  56 , a light guide  58 , rear outer seal member  70 , front inner annular seal member  72 , front inner plate seal member  76 , light generating passage unit  78 , and heat sink member  80 . These components are assembled into an independent sub-assembly or unit  26  that is then coupled to the remainder of the headlight assembly  16 . Threaded members  82  extend through openings  84  to hold the various components together as an independent sub-assembly  26 . Alternatively, any or all of the components of the air catcher passage sub-assembly unit  26  are individually assembled into the headlamp assembly  16 . In one such alternative, outer rear seal member  70  is individually mounted to the remainder of the headlamp assembly  16 , separate from the remainder of the illuminated air catcher passage unit  26 . 
         [0026]    When assembled together, the front outer seal member  56  of the illuminated air catcher passage assembly  26  engages a flanged surface  86  at a front of the boss  32 , and the rear outer seal member  70  is mounted on a rear  88  of boss  32 . When sealed together, the boss  32  surrounds the light guide  58  to prevent unwanted ambient light from passing into or through the light guide  58 . In an aspect, one or both of the boss  32  and the light guide  58  includes a generally conical shaped inner surface  90  that increases in diameter as the illuminated air catcher passage extends from its front end  38  toward its rear end  40 . 
         [0027]    The heat sink member  80  includes interiorly positioned fins  112  and an extending rear collar  114 , around which the adjacent conduit  20  extends and to which the conduit  20  is coupled. Thus, heat generated by the LED&#39;s  106  is removed from the fins  112  and passes with the air flowing through the illuminated passage  36  through the conduits  20 ,  22  of the air-induction system  14  that provides air to the engine  12  via the air cleaner  18 . In an aspect, the air passing through the air induction system  14  into the engine  12  is at least slightly pre-heated by the headlight assembly  16 . 
         [0028]    The air catcher passage assembly  26  defines an illuminated air catcher passage  36  between the air induction opening  74  and the adjacent conduit  20 . In the illustrated example, light guide  58  is a generally cylindrical tubular member with a flanged light receiving end  40 . The tubular wall between the inner and outer surfaces  90  and  92 , respectively, of the light guide  58  defines the illuminated air catcher passage  36 . 
         [0029]    In an aspect, the inner surface  90  of the light guide  58  is smooth and comprises a clear hardcoat layer thereon to protect the surface  90  from potential damage or scratches from foreign objects aspirated into the passage  36 . In a further aspect, the clear hardcoat layer on the inner surface  90  is a UV curable hardcoat for forward automobile lighting, such as that sold under the tradename UVT610 and supplied commercially by Red Spot Paint &amp; Varnish Company, Inc. of Evansville, Ind. 
         [0030]    The outer surface  92  of the light guide  58  wall has a design  94  etched therein. In an aspect, the etched design  94  comprises repeating elements  96  extending along substantially the entire length of the light guide  58 . As illustrated, the repeating elements  96  are radially spaced axially extending linear elements. Alternatively, the repeating elements  96  are a series of radial or circumferential rings axially spaced to extend along substantially the entire length of the light guide  58 . 
         [0031]    In an additional or alternative aspect, the design  94  comprises a pictorial logo  100  ( FIGS. 7 and 8 ). In further additional or alternative aspects, the design comprises ordinary or stylized text such as a textual logo  98  ( FIG. 9 ), and/or a textual and pictorial logo combination  102  ( FIG. 10 ). 
         [0032]    The air catcher light generating unit  78  comprises a printed circuit board  104  including an annular configuration of LED&#39;s  106  positioned within a sealed cavity  108  adjacent the rear end  40  of the light guide  58 . In an aspect, a lens  110  is positioned between the LED&#39;s  106  and the light receiving or rear end  40  of the light guide  58 . In a further aspect, the lens  110  is interchangeable or selectively coated with florescent or phosphorescent materials to convert the outputted LED light to a selective color prior to entering the light guide  58 , without the need to use different LED&#39;s for different colored illuminated light passages  34 . 
         [0033]    The light guide  58  is made of a clear light guide material, such as a crystal lens grade polycarbonate material. The light from the LED&#39;s  106  enters the light guide  58  via the light receiving or rear end  40  thereof. The received LED light passes down the light guide  58  and is generally constrained by the light guide  58  between its inner surface  90  and its outer surface  92 . The light, however, is scattered by the design  94  engraved or etched on the outer surface  92 , causing the design to glow visibly through the inner surface  90  of the light guide as illustrated best in  FIG. 10 . Thus, it appears as if the inner surface  90  of the light guide  58  is glowing with the design  94 , but the design positioned on the outer surface  92  where it is protected from damage by aspirated objects. 
         [0034]    As shown schematically in  FIG. 2 , the vehicle  10  may include both the driver&#39;s side headlamp assembly  16  and a passenger&#39;s side headlamp assembly  17 , with a grille  19  disposed between the two headlamp assemblies  16 ,  17 . In an aspect, the structure and function of the passenger&#39;s side headlamp assembly  17  is an identical mirror image assembly to the driver&#39;s side headlamp assembly  16 . It will be appreciated, however, that both of the illuminated air catcher passage assemblies  26  of each of the headlamp assemblies  16 ,  17  are identical and interchangeable. 
         [0035]    The positioning of the air-inlet openings  74  in the headlamp assemblies  16 ,  17  at the front end  28  of the vehicle  10  provides the additional benefit of being at a high air-pressure zone of the vehicle  10  while the vehicle  10  is moving forward. This causes a ram-air effect that forces a larger volume of air over a given time period through the air-induction system  14  and into the engine  12 , which further improves engine performance. 
         [0036]    The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.