1-11. (canceled)
12. A bumper system for motor vehicles and the like, comprising:
a cross-member having a joint area, and being constructed from one of a steel material and an aluminum material;
at least one crush box having a joint area, and being constructed from the other one of said steel material and said aluminum material; and wherein
said one of said cross-member and said crush box that is constructed from said steel material has a zinc coating on at least said joint area thereof; and including
a braze weld fixedly connecting said joint area of said cross-member with said joint area of said crush box.
13. The bumper system as set forth in claim 12, wherein:
said zinc coating has a thickness in the range of 5 \u03bcm to 50 \u03bcm.
14. The bumper system as set forth in claim 12, wherein:
said one of said cross-member and said crush box that is constructed from said steel material has a thickness in the range of 1 mm to 3 mm; and
said one of said cross-member and said crush box that is constructed from said aluminum material has a thickness in the range of 1 mm to 4 mm.
15. The bumper system as set forth in claim 12, wherein:
said cross-member is constructed from said steel material having a tensile strength Rm in the range of 800 MPa to 1,800 MPa; and
said crush box is constructed from said aluminum material having a tensile strength in the range of 85 MPa to 350 MPa.
16. The bumper system as set forth in claim 12, wherein:
said zinc coating comprises either a thermal diffusion layer or a powder coating.
17. The bumper system as set forth in claim 12, including:
mounting plates constructed from said other one of said steel material and said aluminum material connected with an end of said crush box facing away from said cross-member by a material bond.
18. A method for making a vehicle bumper system, comprising:
forming a cross-member with a joint area from one of a steel material and an aluminum material;
forming at least one crush box with a joint area from the other one of the steel material and the aluminum material;
applying a zinc coating on at least the joint area of the one of the cross-member and the crush box that is constructed from the steel material; and
braze welding the joint area of the cross-member with the joint area of the crush box.
19. The method as set forth in claim 18, wherein:
said forming step for the component constructed from the steel material comprises hot forming the steel component; and
said zinc coating applying step comprises thermally diffusing the zinc coating on the steel component after said hot forming step.
20. The method as set forth in claim 18, wherein:
said zinc coating applying step comprises powder coating the one of the cross-member and the crush box made from the steel material after the steel component has been formed.
21. The method as set forth in claim 18, wherein:
said zinc coating applying step comprises applying zinc coating to the one of the cross-member and the crush box that is constructed from the steel material prior to said associated forming step.
22. The method as set forth in claim 18, including:
forming at least one mounting plate from the steel material;
forming the cross-member from the steel material;
forming the crush box from the aluminum material; and
braze welding the mounting plate to the crush box.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An optical fiber structure comprising:
a first optical fiber array including a plurality of optical fibers, the output ends of which are linearly arranged; and
a second optical fiber array including a plurality of optical fibers, the output ends of which are linearly arranged, wherein the first optical fiber array and the second optical fiber array are placed one on the other, and wherein the optical fibers in the first optical fiber array and the second optical fiber array include at least one first optical fiber, the core diameter of which at the output end thereof is a first core diameter, and at least one second optical fiber, the core diameter of which at the output end thereof is a second core diameter, and wherein the first core diameter is different from the second core diameter, and wherein at least one of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber has a taper portion, the core diameter of which decreases or increases along an optical axis.
2. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein the first optical fiber array includes a plurality of first optical fibers arranged therein, and wherein the second optical fiber array includes a plurality of second optical fibers arranged therein.
3. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the first optical fiber array and the second optical fiber array includes at least one first optical fiber and at least one second optical fiber arranged therein, and wherein each of the first optical fibers and the second optical fibers is arranged in such a manner that the arrangement in the second optical fiber array is in reverse order to the order of arrangement in the first optical fiber array.
4. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 3, wherein the first optical fiber array includes the at least one first optical fiber arranged in a half of the first optical fiber array and the at least one second optical fiber arranged in the other half of the first optical fiber array, and wherein the second optical fiber array includes the at least one second optical fiber arranged in a half of the second optical fiber array and the at least one first optical fiber arranged in the other half of the second optical fiber array.
5. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 3, wherein the at least one first optical fiber and the at least one second optical fiber in the first optical fiber array are alternately arranged one by one, and wherein the at least one second optical fiber and the at least one first optical fiber in the second optical fiber array are alternately arranged one by one.
6. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 2, wherein the first optical fiber arranged in the first optical fiber array and the second optical fiber arranged in the second optical fiber array face each other, and the second optical fiber arranged in the first optical fiber array and the first optical fiber arranged in the second optical fiber array face each other.
7. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein a transparent member for protecting the end surfaces of the optical fibers is attached to the surfaces of the output ends of the optical fibers by optical contact.
8. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 7, wherein an anti-reflection coating is provided on the output side of the transparent member for protecting the end surfaces of the optical fibers.
9. An optical fiber structure, as defined in claim 1, wherein the power of light that is output from each of the optical fibers is greater than or equal to 1 W.