US1187313A - Search or head light. - Google Patents

Description

F. J. HEIBERGER, JR. & M. C.'STUART.

SEARCH 0R HEAD LIGHT. APPLICATION FILED SEPT 20. I915.

, Patented June 13, 1916.

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Maryarei .Stuari BY I V v F. J. HEIBERGER, JR. & M. C. STUART.

SEARCH 0R HEAD LIGHT. APPLICATION FILED sEPT.20, 1915.

1,187,313; Patented 11111613, 1916.

4 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- i L 22 j INVENTORS E'Jfiezhry r;

Margaret C'luari para eras a. r a i,

FRANZ J. HEIBERGER, JR., 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AND MARGARET CARTER STUART, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

SEARCH on HEAD LIGHT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted June 13 1916,

Application filed September 20, 1915. Serial No. 51,629.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANZ J. HEIBER- one. Jr.. of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, and

MARGARET CARTER STUART, of Richmond, in

the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Search or Head Lights, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in searchlights or headlights of the kind particularly employed on automobiles and roadv vehicles to illuminate the pathahead. These lamps,

which are usually of the acetylene type or of the electric type, give such a powerful beam that the glare is blinding to pedestrians or others getting in the range of the vention has for its principal object the provision of an electro-magnetic reciprocating motor of the solenoid type for operating the shields in lieu of the rotary electric motor employed in the construction disclosed in the second of our patents aforesaid.

Practice has demonstrated that unless the rotary electric motors of the two headlights usually employed on automobiles are properly synchronized and means provided in the electric circuit for insuring a uniform action, one or the other of the headlight shields is projected to a greater or less extent than the other, with the result that the light beam is not uniformly cut off at both headlights.

It is therefore one of the objects of our invention to provide a construction in which this objectionablefeature is eliminated and in which the expense of construction is materially less than in the formishown in our Patent No. 1,149,441, aforesaid.

With other objects in view that will be clear to those skilled in the art, the invention also includes those novel details'of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully de scribed, then be specifically pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the.

accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation and part section of a headlight of the electric type with the invention applied, showing the parts in the normal position. Fig. 2 is a view simi-. lar to Fig. 3, illustrating the position of the parts in the first movement? when the electromagnet is energized to release the shield. Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig. 2 showing the position of theparts after the shield moving lever has been unlatched and'moved to engage the stop on the connecting link with the solenoid plunger. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 2, showing the position of the parts when the shield is fully projected. Fig. 5 is a view similar to the preceding figures, illustrating the position 7 of the partswhen the shield hasbeen restored and just prior'to the deenergization of the operating magnet. Fig. 6 is a detail cross section on the line 66-of Fig. 1. Fig.

- 7 is a detail perspective view ofa portion of the solenoid plunger, the connecting link and the latch operating lever. Fig. 8'is a view similar to Fig. 1, of a modification of the invention, with the parts in the normal position in full lines with the shield let down in dotted lines. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8, showing-the position of the parts when the magnet is energized to restore the shield to its normal or retracted position. a

Referring now .to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures, 1 designates the headlight which may be of any ordinary type. a i

2' designates the casing in which our present invention is located, the casing 2 being formed with an annular portion 3 'to' fit over the door opening of the headlight 1 and serve as a door, if desired, in the man: ner illustrated in our patents aforesaid. The casing 2 is provided with an enlarged top section 4 in which the shield 20 is located. For convenience of illustration, we

' have disclosed the shield as formed of a derstood that it may be composed of several spherical segments in the manner disclosed in our patents aforesaid, if. found desirable.

designates the magnet housing which forms a continuation of the casing 2 and in which the operating parts are located.

7 designates aniron yoke which is secured to brackets 6, (preferably of brass or non-magnetic material), the brackets 6 carrying a metallic core sleeve 8 of non-mag. netic material in which the iron plunger 12 is reciprocable. i

9 is'the solenoid winding which is suitably insulated from the brackets 6 and the sleeve 8 and fromwhich the conductor wires 38 lead to the connector 39 by means of which the circuit wires from the energizing system (not shown) are connected with the magnet.-

10 is a regulating screw which is chambered to receive a butler spring 1-1 that also functions to hold the plunger 12 when the magnet is deenergized in its normal position shown in Fig. 1.

13 is an extension of the plunger 12, which extension is preferably of non-magnetic material, such as brass, and which carries the stud 14 on which the connecting link 15 is pivoted. The link 15 has a stud 16 that is provided with two annular portions 17-18 of different diameters, the portion 18 00 operating with the recess 28 of the operating lever 26 in a manner hereinafter made clear, while the portion 17 receives and forms a bearing for the latch releasing lever 32.

19 is. a stud bolt which serves as the principal fulcrum at one side of the lamp, for the shade segment 20, (it being understood, of course, that a second stud bolt 19 is at the other side of the lamp in alinement with the bolt 19, shown in-Fig. 1). The shade segment 20 is fitted on the bolt 19 and the bolt 19 also passes through the aperture 27 in the operating lever 26 and forms the point of fulcrum of such operating lever,the lever .26 being extended rearwardly and secured at 25 to a fixture 24- that is fastened in any suitable way to the closure flange 21 of the shade segment 20. The shade segment 20 is provided with a semi-transparent body 22 so that the entire light may not be out 0d but only dimmed where the shade intersects the projected beam. The body 22 may be of ground material, a more or less opaque substance, or a colored material, if found desirable. The shade segment 20 is projected from its normal position shown in Fig. 1 to its cutting off position shown in Fig.4, by a coil spring 23, best shown in Figs. 1, and 6 of the drawings, and is heldagainst projection by a latch 31 whose nose 30 engages a recess 29 in the end of the operating lever 26. The latch 31 is carried on a spring? arm 41 that is fastened to the magnet yoke and meters it is designed to be engaged by the nose of the releasing lever 32 when the parts are in the normal position shown in Fig. 1. The lever 32 is provided with an L-slot 34, through which the fulcrum bolt 19 passes, and it also has a heel 35 that is adapted to engage the shoulder 40 of the fixture 24 at times for a purpose later explained.

36 is a stiff spring member on the releasing lever 32 which is adapted to engage a similar spring 37 that is suitably secured to the brackets 6 when the parts are .in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the drawings.

From the foregoing description, itwill be seen that the manner in which the invention operates is as follows: Assume the parts to be in the normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the operator desiring to lower the shield, closes the electric circuit and energizes the solenoid 9, thereby drawing down the core 12, and in consequence moving the latch releasing lever 32 downwardly to push the latch 31 back and release the lever 26. The lever 32, at this time, is fulcrumed at the upper nd of the L-slot 34 on the fulcrum 19, that end being held down by the weight 33 of the lever 32. By the time the parts have moved to the position shown in Fig. 2, the latch 31 will have been pushed war to release the shield operating lever 26 whereupon the spring 23 will tend to move the shield 21 outwardly, this moving, however, being restrained by the engagement of the part 18 of the stud 16 with the lever 26 in the recess 28, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. As the core 12 is drawn inwardly to its fullest extent, the springs 36 and 37 will act to raise the lever 32 to bring the lower end of the L-slot 34 against the fulcrum 19, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and as soon as the magnet 9 is deenergized the spring 23 will force the shield 20 outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4 and raise the core 12 to its highest position. At this time, the part 18 of the stud 16 will lie in the recess 28 and the levers 32 and 26 will be substantially parallel.

To restore the shield 20 to the closed position, the magnet 9 is again energized, whereupon 'the parts move from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5. By reason of the fact that the'lever 32 is withdrawn, so as not to project beyond the end of the lever 26, it will, at this time, have no effect on the latch 31 and when the end of the lever26 passes beneath the nose 30 of the latch, the nose 30 will spring into the latching notch 29 of the lever 26, as shown in Fig. 5, and latch the shield again. As soon as the magnet 9 is dei nergizcd the spring 11 will raise the core 12 back to-the position shown in Fig. 1, which permits the part 18 of the stud 16 -to pass out of the recess 28 and allows the weight 33 to lower the pi o l end. of the lever 32 until the fulcrum 19 lies in the upper part of the L-slot 34 again, and the .parts are restored to the position shown in Fig. 1.

Should the latch 31 not yield readily when the parts move from the position shown in Fig. 1, and have a tendency to push the lever 32 to the left of Fig. 1, which would tend to cause the L-slot 34 to receive the fulcrum 19 at its lowermost part, the heel 35 will engage the shoulder 40 and prevent sufli'cient movement in this way to withdraw the lever 32 from an operative position.

While we have shown the invention as applied to a single segment shield, it is understood that the shield may be made of a multiplicity of segments constructed and cooperatively arranged with relation to each other, as disclosed in our patents aforesaid, and we do not desire to be understood as being limited in this case to the use of any particular number of shield segments. The spring 11 not only functions to hold the core 12 in the normal position but also acts as a buffer to prevent noisesome impact between the core 12 and the adjusting screw 10'.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the lever 26 is directly engaged by the lug 14= on the core 12 of the solenoid 9 to retract the shield and permit the latch 30? to engage the heel of thelever 26 when the parts are in the normal position, the spring 11 serving to continuously push the core 12 into engagement with the socket 7 of the frame 7 that supports the releasing magnet 9". In this form, the releasing magnet is operated by closing an automatic circuit to release the latch 30 to permit the shield 20 to drop while the magnet 9 serves solely to restore the parts to the normal position.

it is believed the complete construction, operation and advantages of our invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

What we claim is:

1. In .a ;lamp construction, a lamp body, a shieldpivoted at the front of said body, means-for projecting said shield, a latch for holdingsaid shield retracted, a latch releasing'member, and an electro-magnet for actuating said releasing member.

2. In a lamp construction, a lamp'body, a

shield pivoted at the front of said body,

means for projecting said shield, a latch for holding saidshield retracted, a latch releasing member, an electro-magnet for actuating n b n sa1d releasing member, and cooperative con-- n'ections between said electro-magnet and said shield for restoring said shield to its retracted position.

3. In a lamp construction, a lamp body, a

shield pivoted at the front of said body,

means for projecting said'shield, a latch for holding said shield retracted, a latch releasing element, a solenoid, a plunger operated by said solenoid, and an operating connection between said plunger and said latch re-' element, and a shield operating lever 00- operative with said latch and with said plunger, substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

5. The combination in a head or search lamp, of a shield mounted to be'moved into and out of the beam of light, means for moving said shield in one direction, means for holding said shield against such movement, and mechanism for first releasing sa1d holding means to permit said moving means to act and for subsequently moving said shleld in the oppsite direction to restore the same.

6. The combination in a head or. search light, of a shield'mounted to be moved into and out of the beam of light, means for moving said shield in one direction, means for holding said shield against such movement,

mechanism for first releasing said holding means to permit said moving means to act and for subsequently moving said shield in the opposite direction to restore the same, said mechanism including a releasing element, a'

shield operating lever, anv electro-magnet, and a member movable under the influence of said magnet forcoperating said releasing element and operatively engaging said operating lever.

7. The combination in a head or search light, of a shield mounted to be moved into and out of the beam'of light, means'for moving said shield in one direction, means for holding. said shield against such movement, mechanism for first releasing said holding means to permit said moving means to act and for subsequently moving said shield in the opposite direction to restorethe same, said mechanism including a releasing element, a shield, operating lever, a solenoid, a plunger movable under the influence of the solenoid, a connection between said plunger and said releasing element, said connection having provision for engaging said shield operating lever to restore the shield.

8. In a lamp construction, a lamp body, a shield pivoted 'at the front of said body, a shield operating lever carried by the shield, a spring for projecting said shield, a latch engaging sa1d operating lever to hold said shield retracted, a pivoted latch releasing lever, a solenoid, a plunger'for said solenoid, a link connecting said plunger with said latch releasing lever and means cooperative with said latch releasing lever for shifting its fulcrum to move said latch releasing lever out of a latch engaging position after said latch has been released, said link adapted to engage said operating lever to restore said shield upon a second energization of said solenoid;

9. In a lamp construction, a lamp body,- a shield pivotally mounted on said body, a shield operating lever, a pivot bolt on which said shield is pivotally mounted, a latch for engaging said shield operating lever to hold said shield retracted, aspring for proj ecting said shield, a latch releasing lever having an lL-slot mounted on said pivot bolt to normally engage said latch, a solenoid, a plunger, a link connecting said plunger with said latch releasing lever, means holding said plunger in a normal position of elevation,

and means for moving said latch releasing lever on said pivot bolt at times to change its fulcrum and thereby move said latch releas-.

ing lever to an inoperative position, said shield operating lever-having provision for operative connection with said plunger to restore said shield.

10. In a lamp construction, a lamp body,

a shield, means for pivotally mounting said shield on said body, said means including a pivot bolt, an operating lever pivoted on said bolt and connected with said shield, said operating lever having a recess and a latching notch, a latch having a nose to engage said notch, a latch releasing lever shiftably pivotally mounted on said pivot bolt, a solenoid, a plunger, a connection between said plunger and said latch releasing lever, means for normally hdlding said latch releasing lever in position to engage said latch, and means for shifting the fulcrum of said latch releasing lever out of an engaging position after said latch has been released, said connection between said plunger and said meters latch releasing lever including a member to engage said operating lever in its recess to retract said shield.

11, In a lamp construction, a lamp body, a shield, means for pivotally mounting said shield on said body, said means including a pivot bolt, an operating lever pivoted on said bolt and connected with said shield, said optween said plunger and said latch releasing lever including a member to engage said operating lever in its recess to retract said shield, and means for restoring said operatin lever to its initial fulcrum after said latch has engaged said shield operating lever and said plunger has been elevated to the normal position.

12. In a lamp construction, a lamp body, a shield pivoted to said body, means for projecting said shield, a latch for holding said shield retracted, a latch releasing mechanism and an electromagnetic mechanism for restoring the shield to its normal position.

13. In a lamp construction, a lamp body, a shield pivoted to said body, means for projecting said shield, a lever movable with said shield, a latch to engage said lever to hold the shield retracted, an electro-magnetic device for releasing said latch, and electro-magnetic means for engaging said lever to retract the shield and relatch the same.

FRANZ J. HEIBERGER, JR. MARGARET CARTER STUART.

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