Improved Projector Headlamps Using HID (Litronic) and Incandescent Bulbs 940636

A new automotive headlamp has been developed under the designation LITRONIC (Light Electronics). In order to improve the light quality and to increase driver safety on the road, a gas-discharge lamp was chosen as the light source instead of the conventional incandescent bulb.

The projector headlamp is well-suited for the application of the LITRONIC system. Especially in the US market, there is currently a potential interest in applying projector headlamps in series production. Compared to conventional headlamps, advantages can be seen in the flexibility of this kind of headlamp from the styling view point.

In this paper, newly developed solutions for projector headlamps from Bosch will be presented, for HID as well as for incandescent bulbs. Applications for low beam and for high beam are included. By means of concrete examples, the improvements in light quality compared to conventional systems will be demonstrated. And the boundary conditions in relation to styling aspects (high vertical inclination of the outer lens, lens diameter, overall system length) are taken into account and will be discussed.

It will be shown that the projector headlamp system can be ideally applied to result in an improved US-light pattern, thus contributing to safety in night-time driving.