GB1579381A

GB1579381A - Headlamp assembly

Info

Publication number: GB1579381A
Application number: GB27551/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 1976-07-03
Filing date: 1977-07-01
Publication date: 1980-11-19
Also published as: DE2630068B2; JPS535881A; DE2630068C3; JPS6028081B2; DE2630068A1

Description

(54) HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY (71) We, ROBERT BOSCH GMBH. a German Company, of Postfach 50, 7 Stuttgart 1, Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention concerns an adjustable headlamp assembly having a lever arrangement for swivelling the headlamp to alter its elevation.

An assembly comprising a control element for regulating/elevation of the headlamp and a set screw for adjusting the basic setting of the reflector is known and includes joints in the form of hinges. As the parts forming the joints are made of materials with different coefficients of expansion, the necessary bearing play has to be considered and resetting devices must be provided for the bearings.

An arrangement does not always provide the desired transmission of motion on driving particularly in the cases of hinges and toggle joints and especially when the lever arrangement is subjected to the effect of transverse forces and moments.

In another headlamp assembly the lever arrangement does allow adequate transmission of motion, but a relatively large number of component parts are required for the purpose, so that the desired simple transmission of motion is usually not achieved.

A disadvantage in these earlier known headlamp assemblies resides in the relatively complicated procedures required for insertion and detachment of the reflector in and from the housing, because here; the set screw as well as a coupling connecting the control element to a supporting frame have to be unfastened from the reflector. Given the restricted space in the headlamp housing, this becomes a complicated and tiresome operation. In addition, the basic setting of the re-inserted reflector has to be re-adjusted, an operation that can only be carried out on the test stand in a work shop.

According to the present invention there is provided a headlamp assembly for a motor vehicle comprising a lever connected to a support frame for the assembly by a hinged joint, an adjusting element for adjusting a reflector of the assembly in dependence upon vehicle load, said adjusting element being attached to the lever and being hinged to the reflector via a coupling, and a nut secured to the lever by a pivotal coupling so as to be non-rotatable about its central axis, an adjustment screw being axially secured in the support frame and engaging in said nut, said screw enabling the reflector position to be adjusted as required, the hinged joints and couplings being in the form of mating connections between a ball pin and a ball socket made of a flexible plastics material.

The invention is based on the concept of utilizing the known advantages of flexible plastics material in engaging connections, and it presents the advatage that both the reflector as well as the lever arrangement can be easily installed or released by snapping them in or out respectively of the assembly.

By using a ball pin and ball socket for each flexible engaging joint canting and jamming of the lever arrangement is reduced even when the arrangement is subjected to bending moments or transverse forces because such forces are compensated by the spherical movements of the ball joints. In headlamps with a set screw not directly accessible from the front, the screw is operated, as is known, from the front via a flexible shaft; here it is proposed to arrange the respective pin at the end section of the screw and to fasten the corresponding ball socket to the housing. Moreover it is appropriate to make the lever in one piece of flexible plastics.

The engaging and disengaging of each ball pin may be facilitated by a slit in the ball socket, since two bearing shells thus formed may spread open and resiliently close together - again. If a pin guided in a groove of one ball socket projects from the nut which is in the form of a spherical pin, a reliably working safety device against rotation of the nut accommodating the set screw is obtained. A further advantage is provided if the coupling has a first and second ball pin which can engage in the ball socket of the tappet of the control element or rather of the reflector.

Since the lever arrangement should swivel only in a vertical plane, it is sufficient if it hinges on the housing or bearing frame by means of a toggle-joint, i.e. a hinge, for which in an advantageous manner an integral joint eye projects from the lever and a joint pin, which may for example be made of metal is attached to the supporting frame.

The invention is described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a side view partly in section of a first embodiment of headlamp assembly; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a second embodiment of assembly.

A supporting frame 11 is attached via an elastic ring 12 to a car body indicated by numeral 10 and forms via two pins 13 a swivel shaft for a suspended reflector 14. A lever 15 made of a flexible plastics is one- armedly hinged to the supporting frame 11 and comprises in its middle section stopperlike a control element 16, the tappet 18 of which co-operates via a coupling 17 with the reflector 14. The end section 19 holds a spherical nut 9 which is secured against rotation and which has an internal thread for a screw 20 which abuts against a bearing 21 attached to the supporting frame 11.

A flexible shaft 22 connects the screw 20 to its head 23 axially fixed in the supporting frame 11. The lever 15 has a sleevelike joint eye 24 with a cutout 25 wit tapered edges.

By the flexible return of lever 15 and the tapered edges of cutout 25 a joint pin 26 attached to the supporting frame 11, can be snapped into the joint eye 24, the joint eye flexing to allow insertion of pin 26, so that a toggle-joint type of engaging connection is formed which provides the swivel shaft for the lever 15. The end section 19 of the lever 15 forms a ball socket, divided by a slit 27 into two bearing shells, with a groove 29. The ball joint is formed by the screw 20 with the spherical nut 9, which is secured against rotation by a pin 28 guided in the groove 29 of the ball socket 19.

The end section of the screw 20 carries the ball pin 31, and the bearing 21 is also in the form of a split ball socket which is made of a flexible plastics material, so that this joint too acts as an engaging connection. The ball socket 21 is attached to the supporting frame 11.

The coupling 17 bears a ball pin 31 at each of its end sections. To the reflector 14 is attached a holder 33. The end section 34 of this holder and the tappet 18 of the control element 16 each form a ball socket divided by slits 27 into bearing shell segments, in each of which ball sockets engages one of the two ball pins 31 of the coupling 17, so that a flexible, engaging connection free from play is achieved.

The controllable headlamp functions as follows: It is assumed that owing to a change in the car load the control element 16 receives an adjusting pulse and its tappet performs an outwardly directed stroke movement as a result of which the reflector 14 swivels via the coupling 17 and the holder 33 anticlockwise about the pin 13.On the other hand, if the vertical basic setting of the reflector 14 is to be reset, the screw 20 is moved by turning the head 23 via the flexible shaft 22 in the appropriate direction of rotation and consequently the distance between the spherical nut 9 and the ball pin 31 is made greater or smaller; since the ball pin 31 is held in engagement in the bearing 21, the lever 15 swivels about the joint pin 25, so that the reflector 14 via the control element 16, the coupling 17 and the holder 33, also swivels about the pin 13 in one of the two directions of rotation.

The embodiment represented in Fig. 2 differs from that described above in that the screw 40, owing to a different construction, is directly attached to the supporting frame 11. The head 23 of the crew 40 is fixed in the supporting frame free from play by a spring element 41 so that it can be rotated but is axially non-displaceable.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A headlamp assembly for a motor vehicle comprising a lever connected to a support frame for the assembly by a hinged joint, an adjusting element for adjusting a reflector of the assembly in dependence upon vehicle load, said adjusting element being attached to the lever and being hinged to the reflector via a coupling, and a nut secured to the lever by a pivotal coupling so as to be non-rotatable about its central axis, an adjustment screw being axially secured in the support frame and engaging in said nut, said screw enabling the reflector position to be adjusted as required, the hinged joints and couplings being in the form of mating connections between a ball pin and a ball socket made of a flexible plastics material.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. appropriate to make the lever in one piece of flexible plastics. The engaging and disengaging of each ball pin may be facilitated by a slit in the ball socket, since two bearing shells thus formed may spread open and resiliently close together - again. If a pin guided in a groove of one ball socket projects from the nut which is in the form of a spherical pin, a reliably working safety device against rotation of the nut accommodating the set screw is obtained. A further advantage is provided if the coupling has a first and second ball pin which can engage in the ball socket of the tappet of the control element or rather of the reflector. Since the lever arrangement should swivel only in a vertical plane, it is sufficient if it hinges on the housing or bearing frame by means of a toggle-joint, i.e. a hinge, for which in an advantageous manner an integral joint eye projects from the lever and a joint pin, which may for example be made of metal is attached to the supporting frame. The invention is described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a side view partly in section of a first embodiment of headlamp assembly; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a second embodiment of assembly. A supporting frame 11 is attached via an elastic ring 12 to a car body indicated by numeral 10 and forms via two pins 13 a swivel shaft for a suspended reflector 14. A lever 15 made of a flexible plastics is one- armedly hinged to the supporting frame 11 and comprises in its middle section stopperlike a control element 16, the tappet 18 of which co-operates via a coupling 17 with the reflector 14. The end section 19 holds a spherical nut 9 which is secured against rotation and which has an internal thread for a screw 20 which abuts against a bearing 21 attached to the supporting frame 11. A flexible shaft 22 connects the screw 20 to its head 23 axially fixed in the supporting frame 11. The lever 15 has a sleevelike joint eye 24 with a cutout 25 wit tapered edges. By the flexible return of lever 15 and the tapered edges of cutout 25 a joint pin 26 attached to the supporting frame 11, can be snapped into the joint eye 24, the joint eye flexing to allow insertion of pin 26, so that a toggle-joint type of engaging connection is formed which provides the swivel shaft for the lever 15. The end section 19 of the lever 15 forms a ball socket, divided by a slit 27 into two bearing shells, with a groove 29. The ball joint is formed by the screw 20 with the spherical nut 9, which is secured against rotation by a pin 28 guided in the groove 29 of the ball socket 19. The end section of the screw 20 carries the ball pin 31, and the bearing 21 is also in the form of a split ball socket which is made of a flexible plastics material, so that this joint too acts as an engaging connection. The ball socket 21 is attached to the supporting frame 11. The coupling 17 bears a ball pin 31 at each of its end sections. To the reflector 14 is attached a holder 33. The end section 34 of this holder and the tappet 18 of the control element 16 each form a ball socket divided by slits 27 into bearing shell segments, in each of which ball sockets engages one of the two ball pins 31 of the coupling 17, so that a flexible, engaging connection free from play is achieved. The controllable headlamp functions as follows: It is assumed that owing to a change in the car load the control element 16 receives an adjusting pulse and its tappet performs an outwardly directed stroke movement as a result of which the reflector 14 swivels via the coupling 17 and the holder 33 anticlockwise about the pin 13.On the other hand, if the vertical basic setting of the reflector 14 is to be reset, the screw 20 is moved by turning the head 23 via the flexible shaft 22 in the appropriate direction of rotation and consequently the distance between the spherical nut 9 and the ball pin 31 is made greater or smaller; since the ball pin 31 is held in engagement in the bearing 21, the lever 15 swivels about the joint pin 25, so that the reflector 14 via the control element 16, the coupling 17 and the holder 33, also swivels about the pin 13 in one of the two directions of rotation. The embodiment represented in Fig. 2 differs from that described above in that the screw 40, owing to a different construction, is directly attached to the supporting frame 11. The head 23 of the crew 40 is fixed in the supporting frame free from play by a spring element 41 so that it can be rotated but is axially non-displaceable. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A headlamp assembly for a motor vehicle comprising a lever connected to a support frame for the assembly by a hinged joint, an adjusting element for adjusting a reflector of the assembly in dependence upon vehicle load, said adjusting element being attached to the lever and being hinged to the reflector via a coupling, and a nut secured to the lever by a pivotal coupling so as to be non-rotatable about its central axis, an adjustment screw being axially secured in the support frame and engaging in said nut, said screw enabling the reflector position to be adjusted as required, the hinged joints and couplings being in the form of mating connections between a ball pin and a ball socket made of a flexible plastics material.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1,

in which the body of the screw is separated from its head by a flexible shaft, the screw body carrying the respective ball pin and the respective ball socket which is made of a flexible plastics material, being fixed to the supporting frame.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the lever is a one piece element made of flexible plastics material.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which a slit divides each ball socket into two bearing shells.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, in the joint between the nut and the lever, the nut comprises the respective ball pin and has a projection engaging in a groove of the ball socket so as to secure the nut against rotation on the lever.

6. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the coupling between the adjusting element and the reflector, has a first and a second ball pin which engage respectively in a tappet of the adjusting element which is in the form of a ball socket and in a ball socket of a holder fixed to the reflector.

7. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the lever is hinged to the supporting frame via a toggle connection having a joint eye made of flexible plastics material and a joint pin fixed to the supporting frame.

8. A headlamp assembly constructed substantially as herein particularly described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig.

1, or Fig. 1 when modified by Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings.