2005 SAE: Hella Develops Headlamp Prototype With LEDs

PLYMOUTH, Mich., April 11 -- Leading automotive lighting supplier Hella KGaA Hueck & Co., is introducing a headlamp prototype that will use a white light-emitting diode (LED) system for high beam, low beam, vehicle sidemarkers and daytime running lights (DRLs).

The new LED technology is part of a technical presentation on Automotive Lighting Technology to be given by Dr. Karsten Eichhorn, Hella Corporate Research Dept., at 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 12, in Room W2-63 at the SAE World Congress in Detroit's Cobo Center.

Hella's LED headlamp prototype achieves a level of around 1,000 lumens luminous flux in the low beam, and matches the light output of a xenon headlamp. The white-light LEDs offer greater flexibility for front-end vehicle design. Hella uses both standard LEDs and LED assemblies especially designed for automotive applications. The system is expected to be in production by 2008.

"The development of white LEDs in particular is creating application possibilities that would have been inconceivable only a few years ago," said Joe Borruso, president and CEO of Hella North America. "Along with its design advantages, the main reason for the development of this new headlamp technology is the reduced need for maintenance. The aim is to develop a headlamp which functions perfectly for the life of the vehicle."

The most striking part of the headlamp is formed by seven hexagonal plastic lenses arranged in a honeycomb pattern. There is a shovel-shaped free-form reflector positioned next to these that produces the low beam together with four segments of the honeycomb. For the high beam, the other three segments of the honeycomb are also used.

During the day, all seven segments of the honeycomb form the daytime running light. Six standard LEDs arranged in a row beneath the shovel-shaped free-form reflector are used for the direction indicator function.

Headlamps with LEDs for main lighting functions meet SAE standards in the U.S. and will meet ECE regulations in Europe by 2008. Signalling functions in headlamps (direction indicator, position light and daytime running light) using LEDs are already approved in both the ECE and SAE regulated regions.

Hella first presented a prototype of the LED system at the 2003 International Auto Show in Frankfurt, and predicts that by 2010 LEDs will be widely used in low-beam, main beam and fog lamps because of their increased design flexibility and safety benefits.

Lighting, electronics, complete vehicle modules, air-conditioning systems, vehicle-wiring systems and signal processing for the automobile industry, as well as automotive aftermarket components, are the core fields of competency for automotive supplier Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. Sales for the Hella Group are approximately $3.9 billion, placing Hella among Germany's top 100 industrial companies.

With its corporate headquarters in Lippstadt, Germany, the company employs nearly 24,000 people at 65 manufacturing facilities, production subsidiaries and joint-venture companies in 18 countries. More than 2,000 engineers and technicians work in research and development. All of the world's leading automobile and systems manufacturers are Hella customers as well as the automotive components aftermarket.