US2253933A - Nonglare headlight - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 26, 1941. c, E. HALL 2,253,933

' NONGLARE HEADLIGHT Filed Sept. 18, 1939 6 4 2 z 2 L I I II I I 1 if, Y I 5 v A INVENTOR.

Chafles Hal] TTORNEY Patented Aug. 26, 1941 .NONGLARE HEADLIGHT Charles Hall, Sonora, Calif., assignor of onehalf to Clarence L. House, Sonora, Calif.

Application September 18, 1939,, Serial No. 295,392 1 Claim. (Cl. 24041.1)

This invention relates to headlights for motor vehicles. The principal objects of my invention are to provide a headlight so constructed, and in which the lights and reflecting elements are so arranged that glare from in front at any distance is eliminated; and a soft diffused flood of light will be thrown onto the road for a considerable distance from a point immediately in front of the vehicle.

By reason of my improved features of construction, light dimming is unnecessary since there is no glare from the driving light, and the drivers of approaching cars, if both equipped with my headlights, can clearly see the road beyond each other when the cars approach close together.

Night driving is therefore made safer and less nerve straining, and accidents both to vehicles and their occupants and to pedestrians walking along the road side, will be considerably reduced.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claim.

In the drawing similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improved headlight.

Figure 2 is a plan section looking up, taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, the headlight comprises a casing l of suitable shape, the rear portion 2 of which is fully cylindrical while the extreme front portion 3 is substantially semicylindrical and above the horizontal axis of the casing, and includes a front depending solid wall 4. The front of the casing below the wall 4 to the forward termination of the back portion 2 is initially open, the sides of the casing being cut on an upward slant toward the front, and said open area is covered by a removable lens 5 which may be of clear or spreader glass as may be found most desirable.

Mounted within the casing toward the back is the reflector unit which comprises a central circular disc 6 slightly concave and forming a magnifying mirror, an outwardly flaring band I of circular form projecting forwardly from the disc 6 and a substantially semi-cylindrical band 8' projecting forwardly from the upper half of band 1.

The axis of reflector elements I and 8 is horizontal and substantially alined with that of the casing, while the axis of disc 6 is disposed so that said disc has a slight upward tilt to the rear, as plainly shown in Fig. 1.

The reflector unit is supported at the bottom from the casing by a resilient strip 9 forming in effect a hinge, and is connected at the top to a screw I!) supported by and adjustable length- Wise of the casing so that the unit may be tilted in a vertical plane to attain a proper setting thereof.

.Ahead of the reflector unit, a pair of transversely spaced light bulbs H are disposed in the front portion 3 of the casing, well above the bottom of wall 4 of the casing, and in facing relation to disc 6. 7 These bulbs are wired in parallel in the usual lighting circuit (not shown) so that some light will be obtained in case one bulb burns out. The bulbs are disposed in slightly diverging relation to each other in a horizontal plane as shown in Fig. 2, and tilt down so that the direct rays therefrom hit the disc 6 substantially in the central plane thereof as indicated in Fig. 1. The bulbs are surrounded by individual reflectors I2. The bulbs are mounted in sockets l3 supported on a transverse bar 14 having end trunnions l5 turnably mounted in the sides of the front casing portion 3. The bar I4 is swung on its trunnions so as to alter the angle of tilt of the bulbs as may be required to obtain the best light reflecting results, by suitable means such as a vertical adjustment screw I6 mounted in the top of the casing and engaging an arm I1 projecting forwardly from the bar.

By reason of the above construction it will be found that if the bulbs and reflector unit are adjusted properly relative to each other, a wide beam of light entirely devoid of glare, will be thrown both forwardly and downwardly through the lens 5, from a point adjacent the headlight to one far enough ahead for good vision at any normal driving speed. Since the bulbs face rearwardly, they are invisible from ahead and do not cause the dazzling spot of light commonly noticed in ordinary headlights.

Also, the central reflecting disc 6 does not present a dazzling appearance from ahead, but rather has the aspect of a black non-reflecting lsoirface, so that no glare is had from this mem- The use of the two transversely spaced bulbs, besides being a safety feature, assures the formation of the desired Wide spreading beam.

When assembling the headlight, the bulbs (with their individual reflectors) are focused relative to each other, so that their rays intersect a certain distance ahead, before being mounted in connection with the main reflector unit. The bulbs and reflector unit are then adjusted relative to each other to give the desired non-glare light, and the adjustment screws are then looked tight. This is important, since a very slight degree of misadjustment is sufiicient to destroy the non-glare efiect.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and usefu1 and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a headlight, a casing, a forwardly facing reflector therein and a rearwardly facing bulb in front of and above the horizontal axis of the reflector; means flexibly mounting the reflector at the bottom in the casing, and a longitudinally adjustable screw disposed lengthwise of and mounted in the casing adjacent the top of the reflector and swivelly connected thereto and extending through the back of the casing for operation; said reflector mounting means comprising a substantially horizontal strip, resilient for deflection in a vertical plane, extending lengthwise of the casing and secured at its ends on the easing and reflector.

CHARLES E. HALL.

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