US20080182502A1

US20080182502A1 - Ventilation system and method for automotive lighting systems

Info

Publication number: US20080182502A1
Application number: US11/700,600
Authority: US
Inventors: Christopher F. Bartlett; Salmaan Moledina; Christopher H. Wilson
Original assignee: Magna International Inc
Current assignee: Magna International Inc
Priority date: 2007-01-31
Filing date: 2007-01-31
Publication date: 2008-07-31

Abstract

A ventilation system and method for automotive lighting systems includes at least two tortuous paths between the interior of the lighting enclosure and the surrounding atmosphere. The two paths include portions which are at least partially vertical and gravity assists in separating foreign material from air drawn through these portions. By providing at least two paths, foreign material in one path will not be drawn into the enclosure as air can still pass through the other path. The ventilation system and method can be integrally formed with the enclosure, or can be separately formed and attached to the enclosure.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for ventilating enclosures. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method of ventilating an automotive lighting enclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Automotive lighting enclosures typically are heated by the light sources they enclose. The air in the light enclosure expands when heated by the operation of the light sources and contracts when cooled to ambient temperature by the deactivation of the light sources. The amount of expansion and contraction can be significant and, unless the enclosure is vented, can result in an unsafe overpressure condition in the enclosure. Such an overpressure condition could cause serious injury should the enclosure shatter or break in a collision or because of the overpressure condition.
Accordingly, automotive lighting enclosures are typically vented to the atmosphere to provide pressure relief for expanding and/or contracting gases within the enclosure. However, as automotive lighting systems typically include reflectors, lenses and/or other optical components and various electrical components, it is desired to prevent the ingress of foreign materials, and particularly water, into the enclosure through the vent.
To date, automotive lighting enclosures have typically been provided with vents equipped with filters to prevent the ingress of foreign materials. Most commonly, these filters comprise a sheet of a suitable filter material, such as Goretex™ or a foam, which is affixed over the vent exit.
While such filter-based vents have worked, they do suffer from disadvantages in that the filter must be installed in a separate manufacturing step and the filter material can degrade over time and/or is expensive to purchase.
Other approaches have been to provide a convoluted vent path through which atmosphere can exit and enter the lighting enclosure without the heed for a filter. Ideally, the convoluted path includes one or more turns which utilize gravity to inhibit rain or other sprayed water from entering the lighting enclosure through the vent path. However, such systems are often less than satisfactory as water droplets or other materials in the convoluted path can still be drawn into the lighting enclosure by the decreased pressure in the enclosure when the enclosure cools after use. This decreased pressure acts as a vacuum, relative to the atmospheric pressure surrounding the enclosure, and will draw in water or other foreign materials on the convoluted path.
It is desired to have a ventilation system and method for automotive lighting systems which does not suffer from such disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel ventilation system and method for automotive lighting systems which obviates or mitigates at least one disadvantage of the prior art.
According to the present invention, there is provided a lighting enclosure having: a body; a lens, the lens being bonded to the body; a vent on the body, the vent including at least two closed tortuous paths, each tortuous path extending between a passage through the body and at least one respective port exposed to the atmosphere outside the body, each tortuous path including a portion over which foreign material is separated by gravity from atmosphere moving into the enclosure and each tortuous path providing a path independent of the other path between the atmosphere and the vent passage to allow atmosphere to enter and exit the enclosure.
Preferably, each tortuous path is formed between upstanding ribs, the body of the enclosure and a cover plate. In one embodiment, the upstanding ribs are integrally formed on the body and the cover plate is affixed to the ribs. In another embodiment, the upstanding ribs are integrally formed on the cover plate and the ribs are affixed to the body.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an automotive lighting enclosure with a vent in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a section, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, of a vent;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a vent in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a vent in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 5 shows a cross section of the vent of FIG. 4, taken on line 5-5, when installed on a lighting enclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
An automotive lighting enclosure with a vent in accordance with the present invention is indicated generally at 20 in FIG. 1. Enclosure 20 includes a body 24, a lens 28 and an aperture 32 to receive a light source (not shown). Body 24 can also hold at least one reflector (not shown) and one or more lenses (also not shown) if required by the light source.
To prevent the ingress of foreign material into enclosure 20, lens 28 is bonded to body 24 such that the joint between body 24 and lens 28 is substantially air and water tight. To allow for the expansion and contraction of the air within enclosure 20, a vent 36 in accordance with the present invention, is included on body 24 as illustrated.
As can be best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, vent 36 includes a vent passage 40 through body 24 and through which the interior of enclosure 20 can communicate with the surrounding atmosphere, allowing air to exit and/or enter enclosure 20.
To prevent the ingress of foreign material, such as water, to the interior of enclosure 20, vent 36 defines two tortuous paths 44 and 48 (indicated by the different hatching patterns in FIG. 2) from vent passage 40. Path 44 interconnects vent passage 40 to two ports 52 and 56 and path 48 interconnects vent passage 40 to two ports 60 and 64.
Air from within enclosure 20 can exit the enclosure through vent passage 40 and through either or both of paths 44 and 48, ultimately exiting enclosure 20 through one or more of ports 52, 56, 60 and 64. Similarly, air can enter enclosure 20 from the surrounding atmosphere via one or more of ports 52, 56, 60 and 64 and then via one or both of paths 44 and 48 to vent passage 40 and then into the interior of enclosure 20.
Each tortuous path 44 and 48 includes path portions which are orientated at least partially vertically, such that gravity assists in separating water or other foreign materials from air moving through the paths. Water or other foreign material entering ports 52 or 60 will move down and exit ports 56 or 64 under the impetuous of gravity. Water or other foreign material entering ports 56 or 64 will not be drawn towards vent passage 40 as air will instead enter through ports 52 or 60.
As should now be apparent, the provision of two separate paths 44 and 48 between the respective ones of ports 52, 56, 60 and 64 and vent passage 40 prevents the ingress of foreign material, and in particular water, into enclosure 20. Specifically, and unlike prior art systems with a convoluted path, by providing two separate paths 44 and 48 between vent passage 40 and ports 52, 56, 60 and 64, if water or other foreign material blocks one of paths 44 or 48, air can still travel into or out of enclosure 20 through the other of paths 44 and 48.
As will be apparent, unlike prior art convoluted path solutions, a reduced pressure within enclosure 20 will not result in foreign material in either path 44 or 48 being “vacuumed” into enclosure 20 as air will instead be drawn through either path 44 or 48 without the foreign material. This is much different than prior art enclosures with convoluted path vents where, if a water droplet or other foreign material was in the path, the water or foreign material could be vacuumed into the enclosure as air was drawn into the enclosure through the convoluted path.
Vent 36 can be molded in place, as illustrated in FIG. 1, as part of body 24, and a cover plate 68 sealed over the face of vent 36. In this case, vent 36 is formed from a set of upstanding ribs 72 on body 24 and vent passage 40 is formed through body 24. Cover plate 68 is then sonically or thermally welded or glued, etc. to ribs 72 to form vent 36.
It is also contemplated that vent 36 can be fabricated as a separate unit, as shown in FIG. 3, and welded or otherwise bonded to lighting enclosure 20 With vent passage 40 aligned with an aperture into the interior of enclosure 20 and cover plate 68 attached.
It is also contemplated that vent 36 can be fabricated as a separate unit with cover plate 68 in place, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and attached to body 24. In this case, ribs 72 are bonded to complementary recesses formed in body 24 with vent portion 76 aligned with an aperture 204 formed through body 24.
While each of the embodiments discussed above only include two tortuous paths 44 and 48, the present invention is not so limited and vents 36 can include three or more paths, if desired. However, it is contemplated that in many circumstances two paths will be sufficient. Further, while each of the embodiments described above preferably includes at least two ports for each path, the present invention is not so limited and can be employed with a single port per path, or with more than two ports per path, if desired.
The present invention provides a ventilation system and method for automotive lighting systems and includes at least two tortuous paths between the interior of the lighting enclosure and the surrounding atmosphere. The two paths include portions which are oriented at least partially vertically and gravity assists in separating foreign material from air drawn through these portions. By providing at least two paths, foreign material in one path will not be drawn into the enclosure as air can still pass through the other path. The ventilation system and method can be integrally formed with the enclosure, or can be separately formed and attached to the enclosure.
The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A lighting enclosure comprising:

a body;

a lens, the lens being bonded to the body;

a vent on the body, the vent including at least two closed tortuous paths, each tortuous path extending between a passage through the body and at least one respective port exposed to the atmosphere outside the body, each tortuous path including a portion over which foreign material is separated by gravity from atmosphere moving into the enclosure and each tortuous path providing a path independent of the other path between the atmosphere and the vent passage to allow atmosphere to enter and exit the enclosure

2. A lighting enclosure according to claim 1 wherein each tortuous path is formed between upstanding ribs, the body of the enclosure and a cover plate.

3. A lighting enclosure according to claim 2 wherein the upstanding ribs are integrally formed on the body and the cover plate is affixed to the ribs.

4. A lighting enclosure according to claim 2 wherein the upstanding ribs are integrally formed on the cover plate and the ribs are affixed to the body.

5. A lighting enclosure according to claim 1 wherein each of the at least two tortuous paths terminates in at least two ports in communication with the atmosphere.

6. A vent for allowing atmosphere in enter and exit a lighting enclosure while inhibiting the ingress of foreign material into the enclosure, the vent comprising:

a vent passage in communication with the interior of the enclosure;

at least two ports, each port in communication with the atmosphere outside the enclosure; and

at least two tortuous paths to allow atmosphere to move between the vent passage and at least one of the at least two ports, each respective tortuous path being enclosed and extending between the vent passage and a respective one of the at least two ports and wherein each of the tortuous paths includes at least a portion of the path arranged in a substantially vertical manner to encourage the separation by gravity of foreign material from the atmosphere moving through the respective tortuous path to the vent passage.

7. The vent according to claim 6 wherein the at least two tortuous paths are formed between ribs upstanding from the body of the enclosure and a cover plate.

8. The vent according to claim 6 wherein the at least two tortuous paths are formed between the body of the enclosure and ribs upstanding from a cover plate.

9. The vent according to claim 7 wherein the ribs are integrally formed with the body and the cover plate is affixed to the ribs.

10. The vent according to claim 8 wherein the ribs are integrally formed with the cover plate and the ribs are affixed to the enclosure.

11. A method for preventing the ingress and egress of foreign material into a lighting enclosure, comprising:

providing a body having a passage;

providing a lens sealed to the body;

providing a vent operably associated with the passage of the body, the vent having at least two or more ports, and at least two or more tortuous paths connecting the passage of the body and the at least two or more ports, and a covet plate;

communicating the body and the atmosphere through the use of the passage, the at least two or more tortuous paths, and the at least two or more ports;

forming the at least two or more tortuous paths through upstanding ribs integrally formed in the vent; and

separating foreign material in the atmosphere communicating from the at least two or more ports and the body through the use of the at least two or more tortuous paths.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein each the at least two or more tortuous paths are independent of each other.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of integrally forming the upstanding ribs on the body, and affixing the cover plate to the ribs.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of integrally forming the upstanding ribs on the cover plate, and affixing the upstanding ribs to the body.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of gravity separating foreign material from the atmosphere in the one or more tortuous paths.