Posted on: Aug 31, 2018, | By Mandy, WayKen Project Manager
Why is the headlamp so important?
In daily communication, we often conceptualize headlamp and headlight. But to be more precise, headlamp refers to the device’s own terminology, while headlight is the beam that is generated and distributed by the device.
Why is the headlamp so important? Whether it is day or night, we will see the endless stream of vehicles on the road. Although only 25% of the traffic will travel in the dark, according to a National Bureau of Transportation, the probability of a traffic accident is far above this percentage. So the headlamps are really important, it gives us the security of travel as well as allows the headlamp designer to track the driver’s eyes to better understand his behavior.
As a result, the performance of the headlights has been continuously optimized in the automotive field, not only in the automotive sector, but also from small generators for bicycles to trains and airplanes, which require mechanical integration for work. A good front lighting system requires the cooperation of various components to give the end customer a better visual experience and perceived quality.
The prototype headlamps are mainly composed of Lens, Bezel, Llightguide,Reflectors, Housing.Let’s take a look at some of these automotive parts.
Headlamp Bezel
Bezel is provided on the front upper side of the filament in the vacuum wick. Its function is to cover up the direct light when the filament is lit. If the upward light of this part of the headlamp of the car is not blocked, it will not only cause serious glare to the driver of the oncoming vehicle, but also the scattered light will form a light curtain in front of the car in the rain or foggy environment, so that the driver of the car’s visibility is reduced.
The prototype Bezel usually is made of PMMA or ABS, and the property requirements are heat resistant, metalized, high surface quality.
Headlamp Reflector
The light source of the headlight system comes from the bulb, but it also requires the reflector’s cooperation.
The reflector is an internal component of the headlamp and belongs to the secondary optics. The function is to perform secondary light distribution on the light, which can condense the light of the automobile LED headlight. They can be said to be the core of the light effect of the luminaire. Without such a core application, the luminaire market is about to return to its original stage. The reflector effectively amplifies the illumination output from the bulb through the concave mirror concentrating principle. In addition, it has an anti-glare function to make the driver more focused.
There are common three production technologies for reflectors:
1.Plastic reflector: one release is completed, the optics are poor, the cost is low, and the disadvantage is poor temperature resistance, which is often used for lamps with low temperature requirements.
2. Metal reflector: the need for stamping, polishing process, the advantages are moderate cost, temperature resistance, often used in flashlights and portable lamps.
3.Glass reflector: one release of the film, high optical precision, invisible memory, temperature resistance, the disadvantage is high cost, fragile, heavy. Commonly used in high quality products that do not require movement. Such as film projectors, searchlights, train headlights, etc.
Combining the advantages and disadvantages of the above three options, we usually use ABS prototype reflectors or Chrome aluminum prototype reflectors.
Prototype chrome aluminum reflectors. The aluminum material has good ductility, easy processing, and high heat distortion temperature, which is suitable for electroplating and coating treatment. After vacuum aluminum plating, a thin and stable oxide layer is formed on the surface, highly resistant to corrosion. Closed vacuum wick mirrors are mostly paraboloids formed by parabolic rotation. In the production process of the mirror, the vacuum coating process is used to evaporate the aluminum on the inner surface. It has a very high brightness, and the brightness of the reflected light is more than 6000 times higher than the brightness of the filament itself.
Some headlamps only rely on the special structure of the reflectors, complex shape and high processing precision to meet the light distribution requirements, but the design, calculation and mold precision and processing technology of this reflectors are still very difficult. The picture below shows the prototype of the reflector made by the WayKen team.
The inner shape of the reflector is composed of a variety of paraboloids. The accuracy of each profile has a great influence on the light type. This is the biggest processing difficulty, but WayKen team has the experience to handle this type of workpiece very well, not only the whole The appearance is glossy, achieving a Class A surface effect and greatly improving the reflectivity.
Headlamp Housing
The headlamp housing has the essential function of supporting the headlight assembly and holding the vehicle’s headlights in place to maintain the proper position on the vehicle’s dashboard. Different vehicle manufacturing and models have different front-end assembly settings, so the location of the mounted headlight housing will also depend on your driving configuration. Some headlamp systems are relatively simple in construction, and the housing is designed with a few bolts to easily hold them next to the grille. Some vehicles are more complicated, and the bumper needs to be removed and fixed with more than a dozen bolts.
The headlamp housing is made of plastic or metal. But in the automotive industry, people will prefer plastic, because the overall evaluations of plastics are mechanical, crack-resistant, strong, chemically resistant to acid and alkali corrosion, and light weight. There are also many types of plastic materials, and you can choose the right materials based on the temperature and impact properties of the application.In the prototype headlamps manufacturing, the housing is made of ABS or PC/ABS whose property requirements are dimensional stability, heat resistant.
Conclusion
Headlamp system is the most recognizable and unique element in automobile appearance. In addition to the common plastic ABS, PC, metal aluminum parts, the current market is also constantly using many new materials. The integration and design of all components of the front lighting system need to be unified, in line with the safety of use, so that drivers can experience the comfort and comply with the regulatory standards. And wack is bringing you more solutions, working with you to increase productivity and to reduce engineering development. We can evaluate the material properties for the first time to get your CAD implementation from early concept to prototype to mass production.
