GB1591195A

GB1591195A - Headlight for motor vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB1591195A
Application number: GB37379/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Valeo Vison SpA
Current assignee: Valeo Vison SpA
Priority date: 1976-09-07
Filing date: 1977-09-07
Publication date: 1981-06-17
Also published as: FR2363970A7

Description

(54) HEADLIGHT FOR MOTOR VEHICLES (71) We, ELMA S.p.A. a Societa Per Azioni organised under the laws of Italy, of 10 040 Rivalta Torinese, Strada Provinciale Orbassano - Piossasco, 120, Torino, Italy, 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: The present invention relates to a headlight for a motor vehicle. It concerns more especially a headlight, for example a fog light, which has a removable front cover to protect the glass of the headlight when the headlight is not in use. It will be appreciated that the term "glass" is used in this specification to refer to the window through which the light emerges, which may be made of any transparent material, not necessarily glass.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a headlight for a motor vehicle comprising a reflector, a transparent glass closing the front face of the reflector to enclose a light source, a rear cap for protecting the reflector, the cap being connected to the assembly of reflector and glass by demountable attachment means, coupling means extending from the cap to connect the headlight to a motor vehicle, a removable cover disposed in front of the glass to protect it when the headlight is not in use, and an annular band of resilient material fitted onto a front portion of the rear surface of the cap and extending over an annular peripheral portion of the front surface of the glass, the said band projecting in front of the glass to form an annular frame, and the removable cover comprising a substantially flat stiff plate which is snapfitted in the frame formed by the band.

Generally, in known headlights, the connection between the rear cap and the assembly formed by the front glass and the reflector is obtained by means of a metal band clasped around the circumference of the glass and around a front end portion of said cap fitted on the glass and secured by means of screws to a front flange of the cap.

The use of said metal band for securing the protection cap to the assembly formed by the reflector and the front glass, in addition to involving relatively high production costs, confers on the known headlights a relatively poor resistance against both frontal and lateral impacts. Moreover, the use of the aforementioned metal band renders it necessary, for the protection of the front glass of the respective headlight when the latter is not in use, to utilize caps which generally are cup-shaped and are forced on said band. These caps require, for their mounting and demounting, the application of sometimes considerable forces which in the long run may damage the headlight.

The use of the annular band of resilient material in conjunction with a flat cover plate in accordance with the invention allows these disadvantages to be overcome.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a non limitative embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective partly exploded view, with parts removed for the sake of clarity, of a headlight according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view, with parts removed for the sake of clarity, of the headlight shown in Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a perspective partly exploded view of the headlight shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the headlight shown in Fig. 3; Figure 5 is an exploded axial cross-sectional view of a detail of the headlight as shown in Figures 3 and 4; and Figure 6 is a cross-section along line VI VI of Fig. 4.

Shown in the Figures is a fog light 1 arranged to be mounted in a front position onto a motor vehicle (not shown).

With particular reference to Fig. 1, the headlight 1 comprises a reflecting assembly including a rear reflecting paraboloid (not shown) and a transparent front glass 2 rigidly connected to an open leading end of said paraboloid and defining with the latter a hollow lodging for a source of light (not shown), formed generally by a lamp, supported by said paraboloid. The latter is protected externally by a cap 3 which is substantially spherical in shape and is provided at its lower side with a bracket 4 forming a portion of a joint (not shown) for connecting the headlight 1 to the respective vehicle.

Cap 3 is clamped externally on the glass 2 by means of a demountable attachment device comprising an extension 5 rigidly connected to the cap 3 and extending forwards from the latter outside the periphery of the glass 2 and in contact with a peripheral portion of the front surface of the latter, and a hooking bracket 6. This bracket is located in a position diametrally opposite the extension 5 and is clamped against a peripheral portion of the leading surface of the glass 2 by means of a screw 7 extending through a radial portion of the bracket 6 and an extension 8 extending radially towards the outside of the cap 3 and rigidly connected to the latter.

Mounted on the external side surface of the glass 2 and on an external surface of the cap 3 is an annular band 9 of a resilient material, which, as shown in particular in Figures 5 and 6, comprises an annular front frame 10 disposed internally in contact with the side surface of the glass 2 and protruding frontally from the latter.

The side surface of the glass 2 has a stepped profile comprising a plurality of concentric front annular surfaces 11 forming the periphery of the front surface of the glass 2 and defining an axial ledge for the frame 10 which is maintained in contact with the surfaces 11 by an annular lip 12 whose rear end 13 is shaped as a frustum of cone and surrounds a front portion of the outer surface of the cap 3.

Any casual withdrawal of the band 9 from the cap 3 is prevented by two hookshaped extensions 14 extending radially towards the outside of the cap 3 and engaged each, substantially in a snap fashion, in a respective hole 15 formed through a respective extension 16 extending axially and rearwards from the rear end 13 of the lip 12. The two extensions 16 are disposed on opposite sides of a notch 17 formed axially in the lip 12 and through which the bracket 4 extends.

The portion of front frame 10 which extends in front of the front surface of the glass 2 is limited internally by a frustoconical surface tapered towards the glass 2 and having an annular abutment 18 parallel to the glass 2 and forming the supporting seat for the periphery of a substantially plane and stiff plate 19 which forms a protection screen for the glass 2 which may be applied onto the frame 10 when the source of light of the headlight 1 is extinguished, i.e. when the headlight is not being used. Plate 19 is maintained in position in contact with the respective supporting seat 18 by a plurality of resilient extensions 20 extending radially towards the inside of said frustoconical inner surface of the frame 10 and below which extensions the plate 19 may be snap-engaged.

Removal of plate 19 is rendered possible by a notch 21 formed on the periphery of plate 19 and having a configuration such as to allow an operator to introduce a finger to withdraw the plate 19 from the annular groove defined by the annular seat 18 and the extensions 20.

The presence of the band 9 not only confers to the headlight 1 a relatively high resistance against lateral and frontal impacts, but also considerably simplifies the manufacture and the mounting of the headlight itself and, at the same time, allows the provision of a protection screen of simple and economical construction and easy to be mounted and demounted.

Although the headlight illustrated is of the type with a circular glass, the invention is applicable to headlights having glasses of any other shape. It is to be noted also that the snap-connection of the plate 19 to the frame 10 may be obtained in a way different from the described one. For example, according to a modification not shown, plate 19 could be provided with a plurality of radial extensions arranged to snap-engage respective radial cavities formed on said inner frustoconical surface of the frame 10.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A headlight for a motor vehicle comprising a reflector, a transparent glass closing the front face of the reflector to enclose a light source, a rear cap for protecting the reflector. The cap being connected to the assembly of reflector and glass by demountable attachment means, coupling means extending from the cap to connect the headlight to a motor vehicle, a removable cover disposed in front of the glass to protect it when the headlight is not in use, and an annular band of resilient material fitted onto a front portion of the rear surface of the cap and extending over an annular peripheral portion of the front surface of the glass, the said band projecting in front of the glass to form an annular frame, and the removable cover comprising a substantially flat plate which is snap-fitted in the frame formed by the band.

2. A headlight as claimed in claim 1, wherein said demountable attachment means comprise a hook-shaped extension

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

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. shown) and a transparent front glass 2 rigidly connected to an open leading end of said paraboloid and defining with the latter a hollow lodging for a source of light (not shown), formed generally by a lamp, supported by said paraboloid. The latter is protected externally by a cap 3 which is substantially spherical in shape and is provided at its lower side with a bracket 4 forming a portion of a joint (not shown) for connecting the headlight 1 to the respective vehicle. Cap 3 is clamped externally on the glass 2 by means of a demountable attachment device comprising an extension 5 rigidly connected to the cap 3 and extending forwards from the latter outside the periphery of the glass 2 and in contact with a peripheral portion of the front surface of the latter, and a hooking bracket 6. This bracket is located in a position diametrally opposite the extension 5 and is clamped against a peripheral portion of the leading surface of the glass 2 by means of a screw 7 extending through a radial portion of the bracket 6 and an extension 8 extending radially towards the outside of the cap 3 and rigidly connected to the latter. Mounted on the external side surface of the glass 2 and on an external surface of the cap 3 is an annular band 9 of a resilient material, which, as shown in particular in Figures 5 and 6, comprises an annular front frame 10 disposed internally in contact with the side surface of the glass 2 and protruding frontally from the latter. The side surface of the glass 2 has a stepped profile comprising a plurality of concentric front annular surfaces 11 forming the periphery of the front surface of the glass 2 and defining an axial ledge for the frame 10 which is maintained in contact with the surfaces 11 by an annular lip 12 whose rear end 13 is shaped as a frustum of cone and surrounds a front portion of the outer surface of the cap 3. Any casual withdrawal of the band 9 from the cap 3 is prevented by two hookshaped extensions 14 extending radially towards the outside of the cap 3 and engaged each, substantially in a snap fashion, in a respective hole 15 formed through a respective extension 16 extending axially and rearwards from the rear end 13 of the lip 12. The two extensions 16 are disposed on opposite sides of a notch 17 formed axially in the lip 12 and through which the bracket 4 extends. The portion of front frame 10 which extends in front of the front surface of the glass 2 is limited internally by a frustoconical surface tapered towards the glass 2 and having an annular abutment 18 parallel to the glass 2 and forming the supporting seat for the periphery of a substantially plane and stiff plate 19 which forms a protection screen for the glass 2 which may be applied onto the frame 10 when the source of light of the headlight 1 is extinguished, i.e. when the headlight is not being used. Plate 19 is maintained in position in contact with the respective supporting seat 18 by a plurality of resilient extensions 20 extending radially towards the inside of said frustoconical inner surface of the frame 10 and below which extensions the plate 19 may be snap-engaged. Removal of plate 19 is rendered possible by a notch 21 formed on the periphery of plate 19 and having a configuration such as to allow an operator to introduce a finger to withdraw the plate 19 from the annular groove defined by the annular seat 18 and the extensions 20. The presence of the band 9 not only confers to the headlight 1 a relatively high resistance against lateral and frontal impacts, but also considerably simplifies the manufacture and the mounting of the headlight itself and, at the same time, allows the provision of a protection screen of simple and economical construction and easy to be mounted and demounted. Although the headlight illustrated is of the type with a circular glass, the invention is applicable to headlights having glasses of any other shape. It is to be noted also that the snap-connection of the plate 19 to the frame 10 may be obtained in a way different from the described one. For example, according to a modification not shown, plate 19 could be provided with a plurality of radial extensions arranged to snap-engage respective radial cavities formed on said inner frustoconical surface of the frame 10. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A headlight for a motor vehicle comprising a reflector, a transparent glass closing the front face of the reflector to enclose a light source, a rear cap for protecting the reflector. The cap being connected to the assembly of reflector and glass by demountable attachment means, coupling means extending from the cap to connect the headlight to a motor vehicle, a removable cover disposed in front of the glass to protect it when the headlight is not in use, and an annular band of resilient material fitted onto a front portion of the rear surface of the cap and extending over an annular peripheral portion of the front surface of the glass, the said band projecting in front of the glass to form an annular frame, and the removable cover comprising a substantially flat plate which is snap-fitted in the frame formed by the band.

rigidly connected to said cap and extending from this latter outside the periphery of said glass and in contact with a first peripheral portion of the front surface of said glass, and a hooking bracket removably connected to said cap and extending outside the periphery of said glass and in contact with a second peripheral portion of the front surface of said glass disposed in a diametrally opposite position with respect to said first peripheral portion.

3. A headlight as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said rear cap is provided with fastening means to prevent said band from being accidentally withdrawn and to maintain it in abutment against the front surface of said glass.

4. A headlight as claimed in claim 3, wherein said fastening means comprise two extensions extending from said cap towards the outside and through respective holes formed through said external band.

5. A headlight as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said frame is provided with an annular supporting seat for the outer periphery of said cover, resilient retaining means being provided for maintaining said cover in contact with said seat.

6. A headlght as claimed in claim 5, wherein said resilient retaining means comprise extensions which extend from said frame towards the inside to snap-engage the surface of said cover which is situated opposite the one which is in contact with said seat.

7. A headlight as claimed in any one of the claims from 1 to 5, wherein said frame is provided with a plurality of grooves parallel to said window and coplanar with each other, each of which is snap-engaged by a respective extension extending laterally from said cover.

8. A headlight for motor vehicles, substantially as described hereinabove with reference to the accompanying drawings.