US1967342A - Headlight deflector - Google Patents

Description

July 24, 1934. w UPMEYER 1,967,342

HEADLIGI'IT DEFLECTOR Filed April 19, 1932 INVENTOR fiJ V- Z/Pmeyer Q 513W ATTO R N EY Patented July 24, 1934 HEADLIGHT DEFLECTOR Henry Upmeycr; Sacramento, Calii'l, assignor of: thirty-five per cent to Ralph T'. Ross, Carmichael, Calif iand ten; nedy, Sacramento, Calif.

per cent to J. '1. Ken- Application April-1'9,"1932, serialNo. 606,127

2 Claims.

ing. light centered inthe bulb and the eyes of any person above the central planeof the. headlight, no matter how fand-istantsuch. person may be.

1m Virtually no driving light is lost by the interposition of the. shield and such light is kept down close to. the road where it is needed. Also the shield does not cause any shadows to be cast such as would impair the visibility.

w A'further object is to provide a device of this character in the form of an attachment which may be readily mounted without changing or doing any work on the headlight casing, its reflector or the lens and its holder.

A further object of the invention is to produce "a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which is is designed.

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 claims.

In the drawing similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views. Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a standard "headlight showing my improved glare deflector in place.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section of the headlight reflector showing the mounting of one tion therewith, as taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the deflector detached looking from its forward side, and as arranged to fit the particular headlight shown.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the deflector looking from'the rear side and in the condition as sold, or prior to its being fitted to any particular headlight.

Referring now more particularly to the char- ..acters of reference'on the drawing, the type of """headlight to which I have shown the deflector attached includes an exterior casing 1 having the usual parabolic reflector 2 therein in the center of which the light bulb 3 is mounted. Adjacent its rim the reflector is formed with the relatively "deep forwardly facing groove 4 in which an outwardly projected gasket 5 is mounted.

The forward face of the gasket is engaged by the lens 6 which is mounted in its holding frame 55 7 which in turn is removably attached to the ..of the supporting bars of the device in connec (Cl. Mil-48.4)

casing 1. .in the usual manner. As previously stated the above parts are all standard in the oer-- tai-ntype of headlight shown and I do not change or alter the same inany way.

The deflector comprises a shutter or shield 8. preferably of flat white opaque glass and of symmetrical trapezoid shape; with its side edges set sa that. they would meet at the back of. the -re-.- fiector if extended. The width of the shield is considerably less than that of the reflector while its length from front to back is approximately equal. to the distance between the rims and the bulb, The shield is thus not suficiently large,

to interfere with the projection of a large volume of light from the reflector as is necessary for driving purposes. The shield is intended to be disposed in place in the headlight with its lower wide edge in substantial horizontal alinement with. the center of the headlight. It is also set with an upward slope to the rear, the angle of this slope relative to the contour of the reflector being such as not to cut through or interfere with the rays thrown from the upper back portion of the reflector to any appreciable extent. The shield when thus positioned covers the view of the bulb from above the center line and in front of the headlight, and of course prevents the intense light centered in the bulb from being visible from such viewpoint.

The bottom or forward edge of the shield engages a channel shaped bar 9 from which similarly shaped extensions 10 project rearwardly at the same slope as the side edges of the shield and engage the latter. A vertical channel shaped bar 11 is secured to and depends from the bar 9 centrally of the width of the shield; brace wires 12 secured at one end in the bar 11 extending rearwardly and upwardly to connections with the extensions 10 adjacent their outer ends to thus take some of the supporting strain due to the weight of the shield off said extensions.

The bar 9 is of initially greater length than the width of any lens or reflector, and the bar 11 is similarly of greater length than the radius of the reflector. The bars are made of soft metal so that they may be easily cut and bent with the use of an ordinary pair of pliers. This feature enables the device to be easily fitted to any of the diiierent forms of standard headlight, without necessitating the manufacture of a number of diiferent sizes or forms of the bars.

In the present case, for the particular form of headlight shown, the fitting is accomplished by cutting the bars so that their outer ends lie adjacent the outer edge of the gasket 5, and then BIG flattening and bending the end portions to form rearwardly extending right-angle flanges 13 which fit between the inner edge of the gasket and its groove. This holds the device in place while the lens is being mounted, the latter then preventing outward movement of the attachment since the bars are resting against the inner face of the lens. The soft metal of the bars enables this bending to be easily done while their channel form gives the necessary self-supporting strength to the bars which would otherwise be lacking with the use of this kind of metal.

With other types of headlights the ends of the bars are merely flattened and passed between the lens and its flange in the holder so as to be removable therewith as a unit; or otherwise arranged as the construction of any particular headlight may require.

With these devices applied to the headlights of a motor vehicle, their physical presence is not noticed by the driver of an oncoming car but their glare eliminating or diffusing effect keeps the intense light out of the drivers eyes and as his vehicle approaches the lights gradually take on a mellow appearance and when quite close are perfectly glareless.

' Though I have here shown and described the device as comprising a single shield or shutter, two or more shutters may be arranged in parallel arrangement as a unit depending on the size of the headlight and the type of lens.

' 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'theappen'ded claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claimas new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I 1. A headlight deflector comprising a channeled bar, an opaque deflector shield having one edge disp'osed'iri the channel thereof, the side edges of theshield converging from its channel engaging edge toward a point, channel extensions branching from the edge of the channeled bar and embracing theconverging edges of the shield,

angles to the channeled bar, and braces between the support and the outer ends of the channeled extensions. i i p w 2. The combination with a headlight of a narrow rigid channeled bar secured thereto and ex-' tending horizontally across the inner face of the headlight lens at substantially the median line thereof, the channel thereof facing inwardly and at a slight upward angle, a"vertically'disposed braceextending at right anglesto the'bar ceni trally thereof and secured at its lower end to the headlight, an opaque deflector shield having one edge secured in the channel of the bar, and ex-[ tensions of the bar and" brace engaging and rigidly securing the shield in position in the bar.

HENRY w; UPMEYER.

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