Patent ID: 7093965

Claim:
A lighting assembly for a vehicle, said lighting assembly comprising: an illumination source which is operable to radiate radiation including visible radiation and infrared radiation; a reflective element at least partially surrounding said illumination source, said radiation from said illumination source impinging on said reflective element; and a lens, said reflective element reflecting reflected radiation toward said lens, said reflective element being adapted to at least partially transmit said infrared radiation through said reflective element so that reduced reflection of said infrared radiation occurs toward said lens in order to provide a reduced operating temperature at said lens, wherein said reflective element comprises a substrate which at least partially transmits infrared radiation of spectral content of greater than approximately 800 nanometers, wherein said reflective element is adapted to reflect at least approximately 45 percent of said visible radiation within a range of approximately 300 to 750 nanometers toward said lens.