GB2045416A

GB2045416A - A headlamp, especially for motor vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2045416A
Application number: GB8009888A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 1979-03-29
Filing date: 1980-03-24
Publication date: 1980-10-29
Also published as: FR2452663B1; JPS55139701A; DE2912521A1; FR2452663A1; GB2045416B

Abstract

A headlamp for motor vehicles comprises a lens (17) and housing (18) which consist of plastics material and are either integrally produced or are produced separately and then welded together. The lens and the housing can consist of colourless, transparent plastics material or the housing section and the regions (21, 22) of the lens emitting coloured light rays can be produced from coloured plastics material. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A headlamp, especially for motor vehicles The invention originates from a headlamp according to the type set forth in the main claim.

With such headlamps, of so-called open construction, the lens is a pressed glass and the housing generally consists of the thermoplastics polypropylene. It has already been proposed to use plastics as well as the material for the lens.

The lens and the housing are either connected together by clips with the interposition of a seal or are directly stuck together. A disadvantage of the first type of connection is a low resistance to ageing of the seal and of the second type of connection the fact that many factors need to be considered during treatment of the adhesive.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION With the headlamp according to the invention, the problems discussed in respect of the state of the art referred to above are solved by the simultaneous integral production of the lens and the housing. The probiems set forth are also solved when welding together of the lens and the housing is used as in claim 2.

Advantageous further developments of the invention are described in the sub-claims and are explained in detail in the following specification. If the multicolour injection method according to claim 5 is used, then, in that instance, no additional coloured discs or foils are required on the lens section where, for example, a coloured light is generated. With the construction of the headlamp according to claim 7, the elements arranged inside the part, such as reflector, adjustment device, illumination range adjustment, are easily accessible which is essential with the restricted installation corlditions in the engine compartment.

DRAWING Two embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawing and are described in detail in the foilowing specification. On a reduced scale, Figure 1 shows the first example in horizontal section and Figure 2 shows the second example illustrated in only partial section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS The headlamp illustrated only diagrammmatically in Figure 1 consists essentially of a part 10 and a cover 11 which is fixed to the part 10 by means of a seal 12 in a manner not shown in detail. On the inside 13, a main-dipped beam reflector 14, a reflector 1 5 for the fog lamp and a turning indicator reflector 16 are incorporated by means of supporting elements (not shown).

The integrally produced part 10 consists of colourless, transparent plastics material and has a lens section 1 7 and an annular housing section 18 connected thereto, from which supporting elements 1 9 project and by which the headlamp is fixed to the vehicle body (not shown). Optically acting means 20 project from the inner wall of the lens section 1 7 in the region of the reflector 1 4.

From these, the region 21 associated with the reflector 1 5 extends and it continues as the region 22 associated with the reflector 16; the two regions 21 and 22 through which the fog light and the turning indicator light pass are coloured. The part 10 is produced by the multicolour injection method. The housing section 1 8 of the part 10 can also consistof coloured plastics material.

The cover 11, likewise consisting of plastics, has a surrounding foot 24 provided with a groove 23 accommocating the seal 12. Thus, the cover 11 closes the interior 1 3 with respect to the outer atmosphere.

The lens section 27 and the housing secton 28 in Figure 2 likewise consists of plastics material but the two parts are produced separately and then welded together to form the part 30. The socalled mirror welding process is proposed for this purpose.

1. A headlamp, especially for motor vehicles, comprising a housing which can be fixed to the body and accommodating at least one reflector and comprising a lens closing the housing in the direction of travel and which has optically effective means, characterised in that, the housing and the lens are produced from plastics material as an integral part.

2. A headlamp, especially for motor vehicles, comprising a housing which can be fixed to the body and accommodating at least one reflector and comprising a lens closing the housing in the direction of travel and which has optically effective means, characterised in that, the housing is produced from plastics material and is nonreleasably connected to the lens to form a single part.

3. A headlamp according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the part consisting of the housing and the lens, consists of colourless, transparent plastics material.

4. A headlamp according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the lens section consists of colourless, transparent plastics material and the housing section of the part consists of a coloured plastics material.

5. A headlamp-iilumination unit comprising a plurality of reflectors according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the region of the lens section associated with the respective reflector is coloured in accordance with the colour of the illuminated signal.

6. A headlamp according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that supporting elements are arranged on the housing section for fixing the headlamp to the body of the vehicle.

7. A headlamp according to one of the

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION A headlamp, especially for motor vehicles The invention originates from a headlamp according to the type set forth in the main claim. With such headlamps, of so-called open construction, the lens is a pressed glass and the housing generally consists of the thermoplastics polypropylene. It has already been proposed to use plastics as well as the material for the lens. The lens and the housing are either connected together by clips with the interposition of a seal or are directly stuck together. A disadvantage of the first type of connection is a low resistance to ageing of the seal and of the second type of connection the fact that many factors need to be considered during treatment of the adhesive. ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION With the headlamp according to the invention, the problems discussed in respect of the state of the art referred to above are solved by the simultaneous integral production of the lens and the housing. The probiems set forth are also solved when welding together of the lens and the housing is used as in claim 2. Advantageous further developments of the invention are described in the sub-claims and are explained in detail in the following specification. If the multicolour injection method according to claim 5 is used, then, in that instance, no additional coloured discs or foils are required on the lens section where, for example, a coloured light is generated. With the construction of the headlamp according to claim 7, the elements arranged inside the part, such as reflector, adjustment device, illumination range adjustment, are easily accessible which is essential with the restricted installation corlditions in the engine compartment. DRAWING Two embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawing and are described in detail in the foilowing specification. On a reduced scale, Figure 1 shows the first example in horizontal section and Figure 2 shows the second example illustrated in only partial section. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS The headlamp illustrated only diagrammmatically in Figure 1 consists essentially of a part 10 and a cover 11 which is fixed to the part 10 by means of a seal 12 in a manner not shown in detail. On the inside 13, a main-dipped beam reflector 14, a reflector 1 5 for the fog lamp and a turning indicator reflector 16 are incorporated by means of supporting elements (not shown). The integrally produced part 10 consists of colourless, transparent plastics material and has a lens section 1 7 and an annular housing section 18 connected thereto, from which supporting elements 1 9 project and by which the headlamp is fixed to the vehicle body (not shown). Optically acting means 20 project from the inner wall of the lens section 1 7 in the region of the reflector 1 4. From these, the region 21 associated with the reflector 1 5 extends and it continues as the region 22 associated with the reflector 16; the two regions 21 and 22 through which the fog light and the turning indicator light pass are coloured. The part 10 is produced by the multicolour injection method. The housing section 1 8 of the part 10 can also consistof coloured plastics material. The cover 11, likewise consisting of plastics, has a surrounding foot 24 provided with a groove 23 accommocating the seal 12. Thus, the cover 11 closes the interior 1 3 with respect to the outer atmosphere. The lens section 27 and the housing secton 28 in Figure 2 likewise consists of plastics material but the two parts are produced separately and then welded together to form the part 30. The socalled mirror welding process is proposed for this purpose. CLAIMS

7. A headlamp according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the part can be closed by a cover, preferably made of plastics material.

8. A headlamp substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.