JP2001219781A - Lighting fixture for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lighting fixture for a vehicle allowing loose prevention, wide use, and easy removal of an aiming screw in an aiming mechanism. SOLUTION: The vertical aiming mechanism 12 comprises the aiming screw 32 that is inserted into and supported in an opening 1a of lighting fixture body 1 and tilts a reflector by an axis rolling operation, and a push-on-fix 36 that is engaged with the aiming screw 32 inside the lighting fixture body 1 and holds the lighting fixture body 1. The aiming screw 32 is provided with a narrow groove part 341 formed by arranging a plurality of narrow annular grooves in the length direction of the aiming screw in a boss part 34 engaged with the push-on-fix 36. Engagement of the narrow groove part 341 with an engagement piece 362 of the push-on-fix 36 prevents looseness by the push-on-fix 36, narrowness of the grooves of the narrow groove part 341 facilitates removal of the push-on-fix 36, and mounting to the lighting fixture body 1 with different thickness within the length range of the narrow groove part is allowed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp used for a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a vehicular lamp provided with an aiming mechanism for adjusting an optical axis angle of a reflector provided in the lamp.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicular lamp such as a headlamp or a fog lamp mounted on an automobile is provided with an aiming mechanism for adjusting an optical axis angle closely related to a light distribution characteristic of the lamp. As this aiming mechanism, for example, a reflector that reflects light emitted from a light source is supported in a lamp room composed of a lamp body and a lens so as to be tiltable up and down, left and right, and the lamp body and the reflector are aiming. A configuration is used in which the reflector is connected by a screw and the vertical angle and the horizontal angle of the reflector can be adjusted by rotating the aiming screw.

In such an aiming mechanism, the aiming screw is made to pass through the lamp body so that the aiming screw can be pivoted from the outside of the lamp body, and a screw provided in the tip region of the aiming screw. The configuration is such that the portion is screwed into the reflector. For example, FIG. 6A shows an example of a conventional supporting structure for an aiming screw.
2 is a large-diameter head 133 having a crown gear structure, a circular shaft-shaped boss 134 vertically protruding at the center of the head 133, and further extended from the boss 134 to the distal end side. Screw part 135 having a spiral groove formed on the peripheral surface
It is composed of The screw portion 135 and the boss portion 134 of the aiming screw 132 are inserted from the outside into the opening 101a provided in the lamp body 101, while the push-on fix 1 is inserted from the inside of the lamp body 101.
36 is fitted to the boss portion 134 so that the aiming screw 132 can rotate around the axis of the lamp body 101.
, And its falling off is prevented. The push-on fix 136 is formed of an elastic metal annular plate having an outer diameter larger than that of the boss 134, and has fitting pieces 136a protruding in an inner diameter direction at a plurality of locations on an inner peripheral edge thereof. When the push-on fix 136 is fitted to the boss portion 134, the fitting piece 136a is brought into contact with the peripheral surface of the boss portion 134 while being elastically deformed, and the elastic restoring force makes contact with the peripheral surface of the boss portion 134. It will be in pressure contact state,
The fitted state is maintained by the frictional force between the push-on fix 136 and the peripheral surface of the boss portion 134 due to the pressing force.

[0004] A thread 135 of the aiming screw 132 is screwed into an aiming nut provided on a reflector (not shown). Therefore, when the aiming screw 132 is turned around by operating the head 133 of the aiming screw 132 from the outside of the lamp body, the screw 135
Aiming nut 13 screwed into the aiming screw 13
2, the reflector integrated with the aiming nut is moved in the length direction of the aiming screw, and the reflector can be tilted.

[0005]

In such an aiming mechanism, particularly in a structure in which the aiming screw is held in the lamp body, when a large force is applied to the reflector by vibration or impact applied to the lamp, this force passes through the aiming nut. When a force greater than the frictional force that fits and holds the push-on fix 136 between the peripheral surface of the boss 134 of the aiming screw 132 and the push-on fix 136 is applied to the push-on fix 13
6 slides on the peripheral surface of the boss portion 134, the fitting state of the aiming screw 132 by the push-on fix 136 is impaired, the aiming screw 132 becomes loose with respect to the lamp body 101, and the tilting position of the reflector is maintained. And the function of the aiming mechanism is lost.

In order to prevent the loosening of the aiming screw, an annular groove 138 is formed in the boss 134 of the aiming screw 132 as shown in FIG. A configuration in which a fitting piece of a fix or a fitting member 139 such as an E-ring is fitted into the annular groove 138 is conceivable. In this way, even when the above-described external force is applied to the aiming screw 132, the inner edge of the fitting member 139 hardly comes off the annular groove 138, and the loosening of the aiming screw 132 as described above is prevented. It is possible to prevent occurrence. However, in such a configuration, when the annular groove 138 is formed in the aiming screw 132, the peripheral surface of the boss portion 134 of the aiming screw 132 is cut.
Since the metal structure 32 is cut, the mechanical strength of the aiming screw 132 is reduced. Further, the annular groove 138 needs to be formed at a position in the axial direction corresponding to the thickness of the lamp body 101 on the boss portion 134, so that the annular groove 138 cannot be applied to a lamp body having a different wall thickness. It becomes difficult. Further, the fitting member 139
The aiming screw 132 using the lamp body 101
When the aiming screw is removed from the lamp body after assembly, that is, when the fitting member 139 is removed from the aiming screw 132, it is necessary to remove the fitting member 139 from the annular groove 138 with a strong force, which is extremely difficult. Becomes Therefore, when recycling the lamp, it is difficult to automate the operation of separating the lamp body 101 made of a resin material and the aiming screw 132 made of a metal material, which is an obstacle to promoting recycling.

An object of the present invention is to provide an aiming mechanism which solves the above problems, prevents loosening of the aiming screw, makes the aiming screw general-purpose, and makes it easy to remove the aiming screw. The present invention provides a vehicle lamp provided with the same.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lamp body, a lens attached to the lamp body to form a lamp chamber, and a reflector which is provided in the lamp chamber and reflects light emitted from a light source. And an aiming mechanism for adjusting an optical axis of the reflector.
The aiming mechanism is inserted and supported from the outside of the lamp body, and an aiming screw that tilts the reflector by a pivoting operation, and is fitted to the aiming screw inside the lamp body, and the aiming screw includes the aiming screw. The aiming screw is formed with a shallow groove in which a plurality of shallow annular grooves into which the clamping member is fitted are arranged in the length direction of the aiming screw. It is characterized by. Here, the shallow groove portion has a groove depth of 0.1 mm.
It is preferably in the range of 0.05 to 0.2 mm. Also,
It is preferable that the annular groove includes an inclined surface inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aiming screw, and an inner bottom surface existing between adjacent annular grooves.

According to the present invention, the holding member such as the push-on fix is prevented from slipping by the shallow groove formed in the aiming screw, and the holding state in which the aiming screw is not loosened by the holding member is reliably held. Will be possible. On the other hand, since the depth of the groove in the shallow groove portion is small, it is possible to easily cancel the fitting state with the holding member, and it is possible to easily remove the aiming screw from the lamp body. Furthermore, since the shallow groove has a plurality of annular grooves arranged in the length direction, there is a degree of freedom in the clamping position of the clamping member, and the same aiming screw is used universally for lamp bodies with different wall thicknesses. It becomes possible to do.

[0010]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a headlight of an automobile, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. In these figures, a lamp chamber is formed by a lamp body 1 and a lens 2 attached to a front opening thereof. In the lamp chamber 3, a bulb (light bulb) 4 as a light source is provided.
6 having a valve socket 5 supporting the same mounted thereon
Is decorated. The reflector 6 is supported by the lamp body 1 by an aiming mechanism 10 so as to be tiltable up and down, left and right. The aiming mechanism 10 includes:
As shown in FIG. 1, the reflector includes an up / down aiming mechanism 12 that tilts the reflector up and down with a fulcrum 11 as a fulcrum, and a left and right aiming mechanism 13 that tilts left and right. FIG. 2 shows the fulcrum 11 and the vertical aiming mechanism 12, and stems 61 and 62 are formed at the upper and lower portions of the back surface of the reflector 6, respectively, to project rearward. A pivot shaft 21 having a spherical portion 22 at the distal end thereof projecting rearward is integrally supported at a projecting distal end portion of the upper stem 61. A pivot receiver 23 having an inner surface formed as a spherical concave portion 24 is integrally formed on the inner surface of the lamp body 1 facing the pivot shaft 21. The pivot receiver 21 includes the pivot shaft 21. Are fitted. According to this configuration, the pivot support 23 and the pivot shaft 21 constitute the fulcrum 11 having a pivot structure, and the reflector 6 can be tilted vertically and horizontally with the fulcrum 11 as a fulcrum.

An aiming nut 31 is integrally supported at the projecting tip of the lower stem 62. An aiming screw 32 that constitutes the upper and lower aiming adjustment unit 12 cooperates with the aiming nut 31 and penetrates the lamp body 1 at a position facing the aiming nut 31. Although the detailed configuration of the aiming screw 32 will be described later, as shown in a perspective view of FIG. 3, a head 33, a cylindrical shaft-shaped boss 34 protruding from the head 33, and a boss 34 Further, the lamp body 1 includes a screw portion 35 protruding toward the distal end side, and through the opening 1a penetrated through the lamp body 1.
The screw portion 35 and the boss portion 34 are inserted from outside to the inside of the lamp. The aiming screw 32 is prevented from falling off by a push-on fix 36 as a sandwiching member fitted into the boss portion 34 inside the lamp body 1, and the screw portion 35 of the aiming screw 32 is screwed into the aiming nut 31. Are combined.
Thus, by rotating the shaft using the head 33 of the aiming screw 32 from outside the lamp body 1, the aiming nut 31 is screwed in the length direction of the aiming screw 32 by the screw portion 35. The lower part of the reflector 6 integrated with the lamp body 1 is moved in the front-rear direction in the lamp body 1, and the reflector 6 is tilted up and down about the fulcrum 11 as a fulcrum.

The details of the aiming screw 32 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the head 33 is formed as a crown gear in which a plurality of meshing teeth 331 are circumferentially arranged on a peripheral portion of a disk, and each of the meshing teeth 331 is, for example, a Phillips screwdriver as described later. And can be meshed with the cross-shaped tip portion. Further, the boss portion 34 is formed in a cylindrical shape protruding vertically from the center of the inner surface side of the head portion 33, and the screw having the outer diameter smaller than that of the boss portion 34 is formed on the distal end side. The portion 35 is integrally formed as an extension. In the boss 34, a shallow groove 341 is formed in a partial region in the length direction, in this embodiment, in a region close to the screw portion 35 in a range of approximately 4 to 8 mm in the length direction. The shallow groove portion 341 has a configuration in which a plurality of shallow annular grooves are arranged in the length direction. This shallow groove 341
Can be easily manufactured, for example, by subjecting the peripheral surface of the boss portion 34 to a rolling process. 4 is an enlarged view of a part of the cross section, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a cross section of a portion B in FIG. 4. The annular groove 344 forming the shallow groove portion 341 is formed by the length of the aiming screw 32. It has a slope 342 inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction, and an inner bottom surface 343 present between adjacent annular grooves 344. Here, in this embodiment, the annular groove 344 has a depth of 0.05 to 0.2 mm, here, approximately 0.1 mm.
Further, the groove is formed as a trapezoidal or triangular groove having a pitch dimension of about 0.3 mm and a skirt angle of 30 to 45 degrees symmetrical in the length direction.

On the other hand, the push-on fix 36
Is a metal plate formed by pressing,
The outer shape is substantially octagonal, and a circular or rectangular fitting hole 361 having a larger diameter than the boss portion 34 of the aiming screw 32 is formed at the center position. Four tongue-shaped fitting pieces 362 are formed integrally at four locations in the circumferential direction of the inner edge of the fitting hole 361 toward the inner diameter direction. The gap defined by the distal end is set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the boss 34. Each of the fitting pieces 362 is formed so as to protrude slightly inclined in the inner diameter direction. Also, at four places in the circumferential direction of the outer edge of the push-on fix 36 corresponding to the fitting pieces 362,
On the same side as the direction in which the fitting pieces 362 protrude, outer wing pieces 363 are integrally formed so as to protrude toward the plate thickness direction.

The aiming screw 32 is
With a seal ring 37 for sealing the opening 1a penetrated through the lamp body 1 inserted into the boss portion 34, the screw portion 35 and the boss portion 34 on the distal end side are connected to the lamp body 1 from outside the lamp body 1. 1 is inserted into the opening 1a. Then, with the aiming screw 32 inserted, the push-on fix 36 is fitted to the aiming screw 32 from inside the lamp body 1. In this push-on fix 36, the fitting hole 361 is
5 is inserted into the boss portion 34 after being inserted. At this time, since the four fitting pieces 362 are inclined in the inner diameter direction and the inner interval dimension is smaller than the outer diameter of the boss portion 34. The boss portion 34 is elastically deformed in the outer diameter direction and can be inserted through the boss portion 34. When the push-on fix 32 is inserted until it comes into contact with the inner surface of the lamp body 1,
At that position, as shown in FIG. 5, the inner end surface 363 of the fitting piece 362 of the push-on fix 32 engages with the inclined surface 34 of the annular groove 344 of the shallow groove 341 of the boss 34.
2 or a state in which the lamp body 1 is in contact with the inner bottom surface 343 and is engaged with the shallow groove 341, and the push-on fix 36 and the head 33 sandwich the lamp body 1.

In this state, the fitting piece 36
2 is in contact with the shallow groove portion 341 in a state inclined toward the detaching direction of the push-on fix 32, so that when a force in the detaching direction is applied to the push-on fix 32, the tip of the fitting piece 362 is formed. Is generated in the inner diameter direction due to the contact of the shallow groove portion 341 with the slope, whereby the fitting state between the fitting piece 362 and the shallow groove portion 341 becomes stronger, and the push-on fix 32 is disengaged. Is prevented. Therefore, even when the reflector 6 is vibrated by the vibration and impact generated in the automobile, and stress is applied to the aiming screw 32 due to the vibration,
Push-on fix 36 is aiming screw 32
Therefore, loosening of the aiming screw 32 with respect to the lamp body 1 is reliably prevented.

With respect to the aiming screw 32 mounted on the lamp body 1 as described above, the reflector 6
The upper aiming mechanism 12 is configured by screwing the aiming nut 31 on the side into the screw portion 35. In the vertical aiming mechanism 12, the head 33 of the aiming screw 32 and the lamp body 1 as shown by a chain line in FIG.
By inserting the tip of the Phillips screwdriver PD into the gap between the screwdriver and the outer surface of the screwdriver, the tip of the Phillips screwdriver PD meshes with the meshing teeth 331 of the crown gear forming the head part 33, and By rotating the Phillips screwdriver PD, the crown gear, that is, the head 33 or the aiming screw 32 can be rotated around the axis. And, needless to say, the reflector 6 is tilted in the vertical direction by the rotation of the aiming screw 32 as described above, and the vertical aiming adjustment is realized.

On the other hand, when the aiming screw 32 is detached from the lamp body 1, for example, when the metal aiming screw 32 is detached from the resin lamp body 1 during recycling, the outer wing piece 363 of the push-on fix 36 is removed. What is necessary is just to deform | transform in an outer radial direction as shown by arrow C of FIG. In this case, it is sufficient to hold at least one outer wing piece 363 with pliers or the like and bend it in the outer radial direction. As a result, buckling occurs in the push-on fix 36 along the radial line including the outer blade piece 363, and the fitting piece 362 on the radial line is deformed in the outer radial direction. Thus, coupled with the fact that the groove depth of the shallow groove portion 341 is extremely shallow, the fitting state of the fitting piece 362 with the shallow groove portion 341 is released. Therefore, the push-on fix 36 is connected to the boss 34 or the aiming screw 3.
2 can be removed. In addition, since such a removal operation only needs to apply a force in the outer radial direction to the outer wing piece 363 of the push-on fix 36, the removal of the push-on fix 36 and the aiming screw 32 can be easily automated. It becomes feasible.

The shallow groove 341 provided in the boss portion 34 of the aiming screw 32 is formed in a required length region along the length direction of the boss portion 34. If so, the push-on fix 36 can be fitted at any position. Therefore, even when the same aiming screw is used for a lamp of a lamp body having a different wall thickness, it is possible to support the push-on fix 36 as in the above-described embodiment, and a general-purpose aiming screw is realized. You can do it.

Further, in this embodiment, the shallow groove 3
Since 41 is formed by rolling, the metal structure constituting the aiming screw 32 is not destroyed unlike the cutting process, and the mechanical strength does not decrease. The depth of the shallow groove 341 is 0.05 mm.
If it is shallower, it will be difficult to reliably engage the push-on fix 36, and if it is deeper than 0.2 mm, it will be difficult to remove the push-on fix 36. Therefore, it is preferable to form at a depth between them.

Here, in the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the present invention is applied to the upper and lower aiming mechanism sections of the aiming mechanism, but it is also possible to apply the present invention to the left and right aiming mechanism sections. Further, the present invention can be applied to an aiming mechanism of a fog lamp other than the headlight. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration example in which the aiming screw is rotated by a plus driver has been described. However, an aiming mechanism having a configuration in which a crown gear is engaged with a pinion to rotate the same can be similarly applied.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, an aiming mechanism provided in a vehicular lamp includes an aiming screw which is inserted and supported from the outside of a lamp body and tilts the reflector by a pivoting operation. A holding member, such as a push-on fix, for holding the lamp body with the aiming screw, the holding member being fitted to the aiming screw; Since the shallow groove portion in which a plurality of shallow annular grooves are arranged in the length direction of the aiming screw is formed, the holding member is prevented from slipping by the shallow groove portion formed in the aiming screw, and the aiming screw is prevented from being slipped by the holding member. It is possible to reliably hold the holding state without looseness. On the other hand, since the depth of the shallow groove is shallow,
The fitting state with the holding member can be easily eliminated, and the aiming screw can be easily removed from the lamp body. Furthermore, since the shallow groove has a plurality of annular grooves arranged in the length direction, there is a degree of freedom in the clamping position of the clamping member, and the same aiming screw is used universally for lamp bodies with different wall thicknesses. It is possible to use the lamp body suitably in response to a variation in the wall thickness when the lamp body is molded with resin.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a vehicular lamp of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an aiming screw and a push-on fix which constitute an aiming mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a supporting structure of the aiming screw.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion B in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing different examples of a conventional aiming screw support structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lamp body 2 Lens 3 Light room 4 Bulb 6 Reflector 10 Aiming mechanism 11 Support point part 12 Vertical aiming mechanism part 13 Left and right aiming mechanism part 21 Pivot shaft 22 Spherical part 23 Pivot receiver 31 Aiming nut 32 Aiming screw 33 Head 34 Boss part 35 Screw part 36 Push-on fix 341 Shallow groove part 342 Inclined surface 343 Inner bottom surface 344 Annular groove 361 Fitting piece 362 Outer wing piece 363 Tip face

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lamp body, a lens attached to the lamp body to form a lamp chamber, a reflector provided in the lamp chamber and reflecting light emitted from a light source, and an optical axis of the reflector. An aiming screw that is inserted and supported from the outside of the lamp body and tilts the reflector by a rotation operation; and the aiming mechanism inside the lamp body. A holding member fitted to the screw and holding the lamp body with the aiming screw; and a plurality of shallow annular grooves into which the holding member is fitted have a length of the aiming screw. A vehicular lamp characterized by having shallow grooves arranged in a vertical direction. 2. The shallow groove part has a groove depth of 0.05 to 0.05.
The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the range is 0.2 mm. 3. The annular groove has an inclined surface inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to a length direction of the aiming screw, and an inner bottom surface existing between adjacent annular grooves. 3. The vehicular lamp according to 2.