As more efficient lighting source technologies (e.g., light emitting diode (LED) technologies) and vehicular designs with large sweep and/or rake angles are being incorporated into vehicular lighting assembly designs, damage-related problems associated with ambient light can develop. These new lighting assembly designs can be susceptible to bezel and/or fascia damage from refraction and reflection of sunlight that enters these lighting assemblies. More particularly, sunlight rays, depending on the angle of the sun relative to the vehicle, can enter the outer lens, refract through the front surface of the condenser lens, reflect off a back surface of the condenser lens, and then exit the condenser and main outer lens at an orientation that strikes the bezel and/or fascia associated with the lighting assembly. As these bezel and fascia are often made from various polymers that are susceptible to focused thermal energy, the bezels and fascia can degrade, discolor or even ash from such refracted and reflected sunlight.
Modern vehicle headlamps often incorporate lines, stripes and patterns known to those in the field as optical flutes on portions of the lens. These fluted lines, stripes and patterns on the lens of headlamps and other vehicular lighting assemblies can be configured to change the direction of incoming sunlight to prevent solar light damage to vehicular lighting components, such as bezels and fascia, in proximity to them. As used in conventional headlamp designs, the flutes can be configured to be relatively small in size and can successfully eliminate or reduce the likelihood of such solar-related damage. Nevertheless, these optical flutes and other similar patterned portions on the lens surfaces of headlamps of vehicles, particularly luxury and high-end vehicles, are often viewed by consumers as defects or design features that otherwise detract from the craftsmanship and aesthetics of the vehicle.
Accordingly, there is a need for vehicular lighting assembly designs that are configured to minimize or otherwise avoid solar-related damage to bezels, fascia and other vehicle components in proximity to these lighting assemblies, while not detracting from the overall aesthetics of the lighting assemblies and the vehicle employing them. Further, there is a need for vehicular lighting assembly designs that avoid solar damage without detriment to the optical characteristics and/or energy usage of the designs in fulfilling their primary function(s) (e.g., production of a low-beam headlamp pattern).
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds