VS - Lighting Systems - Lighting - 998542

16. Glare-Free High Beam (GFHB)

Sail beam

Dynamic shadow

Sail beam module

Dynamic shadow

The main limitation of adaptive Xenon systems is that the entire beam has to rotate. If an oncoming vehicle is passed when driving round a right-hand bend, for example, the beams will be directed towards the left to frame the detected vehicle and prevent glare, which will reduce the quantity of light projected into the bend. To offset this, the sail beam version, pairs the static cut-off beams with two symmetrical beams –each projected by one of the headlamps. These sail-shaped beams are directed above the cut-off and project most of their light above the horizon. They have a vertical cut-off, are laterally mobile and positioned on either side of the vehicle detected. The brightest areas are located as close as possible to the beams‘ lower inside angle in order to surround the vehicle or vehicles detected closely with the strongest light possible. Given that the low beams are fixed, there are no restrictions on the travel of the sail beams other than the time taken to realign with the vehicle when switching back to high beams.

In the systems described before, the vertical cut-off shield has a fixed position inside the beam. It is then necessary to rotate the beam to align this cut-off with the vehicle detected. The dynamic shadow module is equipped with a laterally mobile shield that can move the vertical cut-off without moving the beam, producing a beam that remains aligned with the vehicle while the obscured area can move as far as necessary. When the shield is completely retracted, the beam is a high beam. For low beam this GFHB module is paired with a separate low beam module.

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