EP0936402A1

EP0936402A1 - A headlamp for automobile vehicles

Info

Publication number: EP0936402A1
Application number: EP99102421A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Flavio Vigna
Original assignee: Magneti Marelli SpA; Automotive Lighting Italia SpA
Current assignee: Marelli Automotive Lighting Italy SpA
Priority date: 1998-02-10
Filing date: 1999-02-08
Publication date: 1999-08-18
Also published as: ITTO980102A1

Abstract

A headlamp (1) for automobile vehicles comprising a reflector (2) having an optical axis (10) and defining a concavity, a lamp (3) housed in the concavity of the reflector (2), a dimmer body (11) adapted to intercept part of the light transmitted by the lamp (3), a support member (5) applied to the reflector (2) having a substantially cup-shaped support ring (12) which may be rigid with the dimmer body (11) and a polyellipsoidal cover (6) that can be secured to the support ring (12) by a bayonet connection (17, 21, 22) and which is adapted to direct the light reflected by the reflector (2) substantially in a direction parallel to the optical axis (10).

Description

The present invention relates to a headlamp for automobile vehicles.
The present invention relates in particular to a dipped headlight comprising a reflector provided with a support member, a dimmer screen and a polyellipsoidal cover secured to the support member and/or to a spacer rigid with the reflector.
In Fig. 4, a headlamp for automobile vehicles, comprising a reflector 31 having an optical axis 32, a lamp 33, a support body 34 for the lamp 33, a support member 35 and a cover 36, for instance of polyellipsoidal type, is shown overall by 30.
The support member 35 comprises an axial portion 36 secured at its end to the reflector 31, an annular support portion 37 and a dimmer body 38 adapted to intercept, when the headlamp 30 is on, the portion of light reflected from the lower half of the reflector 31, allowing the generation of a beam of light cut off above a cut-off line.
In headlamps of the above type that are commercially available at present, the cover is locked on the support member by relatively complex mechanical operations or by the use of supplementary components.
Obviously, this type of assembly is expensive and time-consuming and may lead, if supplementary components are added, to a non-negligible increase in bulk and assembly tolerances. Moreover, the need to secure the two parts in a substantially overlapping manner may require the application of forces of a strength likely to cause, during assembly or thereafter, problems as regards the integrity of the cover.
The object of the present invention to provide a headlamp for automobile vehicles which is free from the above-mentioned drawbacks and which, in particular, has a structure allowing the cover to be rapidly and reliably secured to the support member.
The present invention therefore relates to a headlamp for automobile vehicles comprising a reflector having an optical axis and defining a concavity, a lamp housed in this concavity, a support member rigid with the reflector and having a dimmer body adapted to intercept part of the light transmitted by the lamp, and a cover rigid with the support member and adapted to direct the light reflected by the reflector in a direction generally parallel to the optical axis, characterised in that the support member comprises an annular member and in that the cover can be coupled to this annular member.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention, given purely by way of non-limiting example, is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a headlamp of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a part of the headlamp of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a front view of a detail of a component of the headlamp of the invention;
Fig. 4 is a view in longitudinal section of a headlamp of known type.
In Fig. 1, a headlamp for automobile vehicles, comprising a reflector 2, a lamp 3, a support body 4 for the lamp 3, a support member 5 and a cover 6 which is of polyellipsoidal type in the non-limiting embodiment shown, is shown overall by 1. The headlamp 1 further comprises a retaining structure 7 adapted to house the reflector 2.
The reflector 2 is substantially of ellipsoidal shape, has an optical axis 10 and a reflecting inner surface 2a adapted to reflect the light transmitted by the lamp 3 to the exterior of the headlamp 1. The support body 4 is secured to the rear portion of the reflector 2 (the rear and front portions of a member being understood, in this case and below, as the portion facing in the direction opposite to or in the same direction respectively as the direction of light projection) and supports the lamp 3 within the concavity formed by the reflector 2 in a position aligned with the axis 10.
In an indicative and non-limiting embodiment, the support member 5, details of which can be seen more clearly in Fig. 2, is obtained from drawn and bent metal sheet and comprises a support ring 12 and a dimmer body 11 having the shape of a quarter of a sphere. The ring 12 supports the dimmer body 11 along one of the two plane edges of the latter. Moreover, the ring 12 is substantially cup-shaped and is formed by a radial portion 12a and by an axial portion 12b; the latter extends from the outer edge of the radial portion 12a and on the opposite side with respect to the dimmer body 11. The radial portion 12a is disposed in abutment against a front peripheral edge 13 of the reflector 2.
The ring 12 is provided with three tongues 14a, 14b and 14c (Fig. 2) which also extend from the outer edge of the radial portion 12a, but in an opposite direction with respect to the axial portion 12b and are adapted to allow the ready application and immediate centring of the support member 5 on the reflector 2. The three tongues, shown by 14a, 14b and 14c, are disposed in a peripheral position on the ring 12 and have a profile complementary with the profile of corresponding projections 15 provided rigidly on the outer surface of the reflector 2. During assembly, the support member 5 is positioned such that the tongues 14a-14c are disposed in contact with the projections 15: the tongues 14a-14c are successively folded about the projections 15 as shown in Fig. 1 for the tongue 14a. With the support member 5 mounted in this way on the reflector 2, the dimmer body 11 is disposed below a plane passing through the axis 10 and at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1. In this position, the dimmer body 11 is adapted to intercept, when the headlamp 1 is on, the portion of light reflected by that half of the reflecting surface 2a disposed below this plane, enabling the generation of a beam of light cut off below a cut-off line.
The ring 12 is further provided with a pair of substantially L-shaped brackets 16 (Fig. 2) which are disposed on opposite sides of the tongue 14a, extend in parallel to one another and to the tongue 14a and enable, in a manner which is not shown, the support member 5 to be secured to the structure 7 of the headlamp 1.
The ring 12 is lastly provided with three flexible flanges 17 disposed at 120o from one another, extending axially from a front peripheral edge of the axial portion 12b and folded radially inwards. The flanges 17 are adapted, as will be explained below, to couple the support member 5 to the cover 6.
The cover 6 is centred along the optical axis 10 and is adapted to direct the light reflected by the reflector 2 in a direction substantially parallel to this optical axis 10. The cover 6 rigidly comprises a collar 20 having an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the axial portion 12b of the ring 12. The collar 20 is provided with six equally spaced notches 21 which bound the same number of teeth 22 between one another. This configuration of the cover 6 is designed to enable, as a result also of the presence of the flexible flanges 17 on the ring 12, the bayonet connection of the cover 6 to the support member 5. During assembly, the cover 6 is disposed facing the support member 5 with its convexity facing away from this support member 5 and angularly oriented to cause the angular position of the flanges 17 to coincide with that of the respective notches 21. The collar 20 is then disposed within the radial portion 12b by passing the flanges 17 through the respective notches 21, after which the cover 6 is rotated, in one or other direction, until the flanges 17 are "hooked" on respective teeth 22. Any rotation, arising from vibration stresses on the cover 6, with respect to the support member 5, is prevented by known systems not used on bayonet couplings.
As is evident from the above description, the cover 6 can be mounted on the screening body 5 in a particularly simple and rapid way.
In order to ensure that the collar 20 is correctly supported on the radial portion 12a and in particular that the cover 6 is correctly spaced with respect to the reflector 2, the radial portion 12a has three projections 23 (only one of which is shown in Fig. 1) projecting from the front surface of this radial portion 12a, angularly spaced from one another and defining the same number of support points for the collar 20. Moreover, in order to ensure that the cover 6 is correctly centred with respect to the ring 12, the axial portion 12b of the ring 12 is provided with three inwardly projecting ribs 24 (Fig. 2), angularly spaced from one another and defining the same number of radial support points for the collar 20.
The headlamp 1 of the present invention has the following advantages.
In the first place, the provision of a bayonet connection between the cover and the support member allows for particularly simple and rapid assembly of these two components which can also be readily carried out manually.
Moreover, the coupling formed in this way, while particularly secure, does not exert structural stresses on the cover, thereby ensuring its integrity.
The simplicity of the solution and the absence of additional components for the achievement of the couplings obviously brings about savings in terms of cost.
Lastly, the solution proposed is very versatile and can also be used for those applications in which space is particularly small.
It is evident that the headlamp described and illustrated above can be further modified or varied without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

A headlamp for automobile vehicles comprising a reflector (2) having an optical axis (10) and defining a concavity, a lamp (3) housed in this concavity, a support member (5) rigid with the reflector (2) and having a dimmer body (11) adapted to intercept part of the light transmitted by the lamp (3), and a cover (6) rigid with the support member (5) and adapted to direct the light reflected by the reflector (2) in a direction generally parallel to the optical axis (10), characterised in that the support member (5) comprises an annular member (12) and in that the cover (6) can be coupled to this annular member (12).
A headlamp as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the annular member (12) comprises flexible male bayonet means (17) and in that the cover (6) comprises female bayonet means (20).
A headlamp as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the cover (6) has a collar (20) defining the female bayonet means (20) and having notches (21) bounding the same number of teeth (22) between one another.
A headlamp as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the annular member (12) comprises flexible flanges (17) forming the male bayonet means (17).
A headlamp as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the annular member (12) is substantially cup-shaped and has a radial axial abutment portion (12a) for the cover (6) and an axial portion (12b) adapted to house the collar (20).
A headlamp as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the radial portion (12a) has first projections (23) for the axial abutment of the cover (6).
A headlamp as claimed in claim 5 or 6, characterised in that the axial portion (12b) has second inwardly oriented projections (24) for the centring of the collar (20).
A headlamp as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7, characterised in that the annular member (12) has tongues (14a, 14b, 14c) oriented in a direction substantially opposite to the flanges (17) for coupling with the reflector (2).
A headlamp as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the reflector (2) has projections (15) on its outer surface and in that the tongues (14a) have profiles substantially complementary with the profiles of the projections (15) and are adapted to be coupled to these projections (15).
A headlamp as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the annular member (12) is provided with securing brackets (16).
A headlamp as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the dimmer body (11) is borne by the annular member (12) and is shaped substantially as a quarter of a sphere.