Vehicle lights including moisture management apparatuses

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9982857-B2
Application number	US-201514918181-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 20, 2015
Priority date	Oct 20, 2015
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

A light with improved moisture control for a vehicle. The light has a housing and a lens, the housing and the lens forming a light interior. The light also includes a lamp that is at least partially enclosed within the light interior. A vent duct is included and extends through the housing from the light interior to an exterior of the light. An anti-humidity fan is present within the vent duct and is operable to move moisture from the light interior to the exterior of the light and thereby prevent fogging of the light lens.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle light assembly for a vehicle comprising:
a vehicle light housing and a lens, said vehicle light housing and said lens together forming a light interior; and
a lamp enclosed within said light interior;
a moisture management apparatus comprising:
a vent duct extending from an opening in said housing from said light interior to an exterior of the vehicle light housing; and
an anti-humidity fan within said vent duct, said anti-humidity fan operable to move moisture from said light interior to said exterior and prevent fogging of said lens.

2. The vehicle light assembly of claim 1 , wherein said vehicle light housing is part of a headlight.

3. The vehicle light assembly of claim 1 , wherein said vent duct has a first diameter along a first portion and a second diameter along a second portion, said first diameter being less than said second diameter.

4. The vehicle light assembly of claim 3 , wherein said anti-humidity fan is located within said second portion of said vent duct.

5. The vehicle light assembly of claim 4 , wherein said first portion has a diameter between 4.0-8.0 mm and said second portion has a diameter between 12.0-20.0 mm.

6. The vehicle light assembly of claim 4 , further comprising a power supply and a switch in electrical communication with said anti-humidity fan, said power supply operable to energize said anti-humidity fan and said switch operable to activate and deactivate said anti-humidity fan.

7. The vehicle light assembly of claim 6 , further comprising a humidity sensor located within said light interior and in electrical communication with said switch, said humidity sensor operable to detect a humidity level within said light interior and provide a high-humidity signal when said humidity level within said light interior is above a predefine threshold value.

8. The vehicle light assembly of claim 6 , further comprising a timer in electrical communication with said switch, said timer operable to detect an elapsed time and provide a time-elapsed signal when a predetermined amount of time has elapsed after a predefined starting point.

9. The vehicle light assembly of claim 8 , wherein said predefined starting point is starting of at least one of an engine and a motor of said vehicle.

10. A vehicle having a light, the vehicle comprising:
a headlight housing and lens, said headlight housing and lens forming a headlight interior;
a lamp enclosed within said headlight housing and lens;
a vent duct extending through said headlight housing from said headlight interior to an exterior of the light, said vent duct having a first portion with a first diameter and a second portion with a second diameter, said second diameter greater than said first diameter; and
an anti-humidity fan within said vent duct, said anti-humidity fan operable to move moisture from said headlight interior to said exterior of the light and condensation of said moisture within said headlight interior on said lens.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein said anti-humidity fan is located within said second portion of said vent duct.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein said first portion has a diameter between 4.0-8.0 mm and said second portion has a diameter between 12.0-20.0 mm.

13. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein said anti-humidity fan pulls moisture from within said headlight interior, blows said moisture through said vent duct and expels said moisture from said headlight interior.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein said headlight housing has at least one vent aperture in addition to said vent duct.

15. The vehicle of claim 14 , further comprising a humidity sensor located within said headlight interior and in electrical communication with said switch, said switch operable to activate said electrical fan when said humidity sensor detects a humidity level within said headlight interior above a predefine threshold value.

16. The vehicle of claim 14 , further comprising a timer in electrical communication with said switch, said switch operable to activate said electrical fan when said timer detects that a predetermined amount of time has elapsed after a predefined starting point.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein said predefined starting point is starting of at least one of an engine and a motor of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Toyota Eng & Mfg North America

Inventors

• Dalal Sunil

Classifications

• F21S45/33 Primary

  specially adapted for headlamps · CPC title