Apple has already applied for about 150 patents related to its Project Titan vehicle development. Headlights are the subject of the most recent one to be submitted to WIPO. precisely headlamps that turn.
Apple’s engineers have devised an ingenious, if perhaps over-engineered, system that would enhance vision around the car as well as cornering light capabilities.
The headlamps are made up of a singular housing that houses two light sources. The first offers the usual low-beam and high-beam settings, while the second is for the cornering light.
The document also discusses the potential of an extra shutter that would obstruct a part of the light produced by the first light source in low-beam mode, and the corner light would be eliminated from the lens if high-beam mode is active. The shutter could also be used to turn off the cornering light and differentiate it from the normal low-beam headlamp.
For lighting the vehicle’s exterior, a second reflector is positioned behind the second light source (the corner light section of the body).
The invention depicts extra light sources positioned around the projector lens for greater luminosity. The two primary light sources may even be used by the device to release light through a central lens. In essence, the two light sources are combined to create a single, extremely strong high-beam light.
The schematic below demonstrates how the corner light projection onto the car will improve the driver’s visibility of the side of the road, the roadway, and items situated to its side. The cornering light may also come on as you circle, as you back out of a parking space in low light, or as you switch lanes on a motorway.
