US1475480A - Automobile headlight - Google Patents

Description

Patented Nov. 27,1923.

i UNITED STATES PATIENT OFFICE.A

OMER FIGHTMASTER,'OF SAN FRANCISCO. CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMOBILE HEADLIGHT.

Application filed April 13, 1922. Serial No. 552,326.

To all whom Maag/concern:

Be it known that I, OMER FIGHrMAsrER,

A a citizen of the United States, residing at S'an Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California,have invented new and useful Improvements in Automo- 'bile Headlights, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in automobile headlights and its primary object is to provide a headlight of simple and v tion t inexpensive construction which will vent-the blinding of pedestrians an .the driversof approachin automobiles and eliminate all objectionab e and confusing glare, without appreciably lessening the illuminating qualities of the headlight.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel form of reflector which may be readily incorporated with the ordinary lamp casingor housingand is of such construction of light rays, the adaptability of the reflector being suchthatfit will permit of the conversion of anordinary headlightinto a non-glaring. and non-blindingv headlight. A further object is to provide. a headlight of the character described in which provision .is made for dimillumination, especially suitable as a ,parking light.

The invention possesses other advantages.v

and features some of which, with the foregoing' will be set forth at length inthe followin .description where I shall outline in full t at form o f the linvention which I have selected for illustration. in the draw? 1n s accompanying and forming a part of thepresent'specification. In said drawings that I do not limit myself to such form since Figa 4 is a I have shown one form of the construction bf my invention, but it is tobe understood the invention as ex ressed in the claim may be embodied in a urali'ty of forms.

' Referring to .t e drawings n Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a headlight constructedl in accordance with my invention. y

Fig. 2 represents a vertical sectional view of the headlight. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of the reflector unit as when removed from the lamp housingi or-casing. n

` iagrammatic view .showlng the "manner in which the light rays are coni Referring to the embodiment ofthe inven-r trollecl bythe reflector.

at it will prevent the upward projec-` tion illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 1 designates a shallow parabolical reflector having arranged at the focus thereof an incandescent lamp 2, after the manner well known in the art, Extending forwardly from the perimeter ofthe lower part of the reflector 1 and being either attached to, or integral with said reflector is a plate or shield 3, which is 4curved incross section but longitudinally flared towards its outer end whereby it extends divergently with relation to the reflector. The shield 3 is at.-

tached to the lower part of a supporting anf nulus or ring 4, which latter is adapted to engage against an angle iron ring -5 Vmounted upon la lamp casing 6. A lens 7 of the usual fornris mounted in the 'casing and held The' shield 10 is provided on its under.` si e with a main reecting surface 11 and side reflectin surfaces 12, which latter are outwardly ivergent, in kee ing with the shield 3. The inner side of 't e shield 3 isrendered non-'reflecting by a covering of gray paint or any other suitable non-reflecting coating, as shown at A. Onlyl the lower portion, (less than half) of the parabolic `refiector is visible from a point in front o f 'the lampand as this portion isv comparatively small it'will not produce a glaring or blinding effect when looking directly intol the lamp from a point ahead.

In myfinvention the shield conceals more than half of the mainv reflecting surface without materially detracting from the reflection produced thereby and by rendering 'the other visible portions of the reflecting unit non-reflecting, the headlight is thereby made glare proo Thus, 'only a small refleeting surface will 'be visible when looking 4 directly into the headlight from a point ahead, say, beyond about sixty feet, but

when closer'than this, the reflector isentirely hidden from view. It will 'thus be seen the essential structural features of the.

invention are the hood or shield which, like a visor, extends downwardly and forwardly in front of more than half of the main rellectingvsurfacc, the reflecting surfaces on the inner surface of the hood which serve to intensify the reflection of light and cause downward and outward projection of the light rays and -the non-reflecting surfaces beneath the hood. y

As shown in the diagram in Fig. 4, of the drawingrthe rays are projected forwardly instead of upwardly and forwardly. The parabolic reflector is of necessity,. comparativelyshallowbut of such formation that when arranged in the relation shown in the drawing to the specially constructed hood 10 having reflecting surfaces 1l and 12, the light rays will be projecte-d forwardly and downwardly instead of being upwardly projected.

The inclined hood or visor 10 provides a space B in which a small-incandescent lamp 14 may be mounted. The upper-portion of the lens is preferably painted green, as shown at C, in Fig. 1, so as to provide a dim illumination, particularly useful as a parking light.

With reference to the foregoing description and accompanying drawings, it willr be seen that this invention contemplates the provision of a headlight which when looking into the headlight from a point, for eX- ample upto about sixty feet ahead, no portion of the reflecting surface will be visible yet adequate illumination is provided by the headlight. The ordinary vehicle headlight is substantially twenty-eight inches from the ground and assuming that the clevation of the driver of an approaching vehicle is lsubstantially six feet, with the headlight. of my invention, after the on-coming or approaching vehicle passes a point about sixty feet in front of the headlight, the formerly visible extremely small lower portion of the ,reflector is entirely hidden from ViewA and all glare whatever is eliminated.

vI claim:

A headlight comprisingA al casing, a sub-- stantially vertically disposed parabolic relcctor mounted within the casing, an electric `light-disposed at the focal plane of the reflector, an arcuate hood extending from the upperhalf of the reflector forwardly and downwardly with its lower edge disposed below the focal plane of the reflector, the lower edge of said hood being substantially horizontal and extending entirely across said casing, said hood having a reflecting surface on its inner side and an arcuate shield eX- -tending forwardly from thelower half of the reflector and joined at its upper edges to said hood, which shieldis provided on its inner side with a non-reflecting surface and is flared from its inner to its outer end.A

OMER FIGHTMASTER.

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