Practical Measure of Headlamp Beam Alignment in Vehicle Assembly

摘要

We are witness to vehicle lamp technology experiencing significant development in the realm of halogen and high intensity discharge (HID) sources. As this is being written the ubiquitous light emitting diode (LED) is rapidly approaching headlamp reality. Government regulatory requirements challenge design, manufacture, and installation of headlamps. At the design stage lamp configurations use reflector and projector concepts. While reflector headlamps dominate the field, HID source small arc size often takes advantage of projector design by accomplishing both high and low beam settings using optical stops. These stops not only are a simple method of creating sharply defined beam tops, but also define beam top edges which aid significantly in aim adjustment. Evaluating quality of vertical beam alignment at vehicle assembly is often difficult to accomplish visually. While government regulations and automotive industry generic standards strive to define beam tops for ease of visual aim evaluation (audit), optical sensing offers improved audit repeatability and reliability. Therefore, new vehicle warranty claims related to headlamp beam vertical alignment can be minimized or even brought under complete control by proper vertical aiming and audit. An added result of well-managed headlamp beam alignment and audit at vehicle assembly is improved safety during night driving.