JP2010010100A - Vehicular lighting fixture - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular lighting fixture enabling to position a millimeter-wave radar and a front cover with less dispersion and higher accuracy while securing the mounting strength of the millimeter-wave radar. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular lighting fixture 10 comprises a light 13 consisting of a lamp body 11 and the front cover 12 and internally provided with a LED 14 as a light source and the millimeter-wave radar 16 for sending out signals through the front cover 12. The millimeter-wave radar 16 is positioned in a millimeter-wave radar fixing opening portion 19 of the lamp body 11. The millimeter-wave radar 16 is tiltingly fixed into a recessed portion 81 of a vehicle body panel 80 with a self-locking nut 27 screwed into a millimeter-wave radar fixing stud bolt 23. Thus, the deadweight of the millimeter-wave radar 16 is applied directly to the vehicle body panel 80 without being virtually applied to the lamp body 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp including a millimeter wave radar that detects a separation distance and a relative speed to an object that transmits a millimeter wave and reflects the millimeter wave.

  As an example of a conventional vehicular lamp, a vehicular lamp in which a millimeter wave radar (laser radar mechanism) is mounted in a lamp body including a lamp body and a front cover is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Usually, the millimeter wave radar is a relatively heavy component among the components of the vehicular lamp. Therefore, when the acceleration generated in the millimeter wave radar due to vehicle vibration or the like is directly applied to the lamp body, the rigidity of the vehicular lamp may be insufficient. In that case, there is a possibility that a positional deviation occurs between the millimeter wave radar and the front cover, or the transmission direction of the millimeter wave radar is not transmitted in a fixed direction.
As a result, the reception and transmission capability of the millimeter wave radar is affected. Specifically, the radiation characteristics of the millimeter wave vary. This variation in the radiation characteristics is noticeable when the front cover is curved.
JP 2001-260777 A

  In the vehicular lamp disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the weight of the millimeter wave radar is directly received by the lamp body. If the rigidity of the lamp body is increased, the weight is increased, resulting in a decrease in fuel consumption and an increase in cost. there is a possibility.

  It is also conceivable to fix the millimeter wave radar to the vehicle body panel independently of the vehicle lamp. However, the positional relationship between the front cover and the millimeter wave radar is not fixed, and adjustment is required after assembly, which is not preferable.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to secure the mounting strength of the millimeter wave radar and to suppress the variation between the millimeter wave radar and the front cover and to improve the positioning accuracy. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp that can be improved.

  The above object of the present invention is a vehicular lamp provided with a light source and a millimeter wave radar in a lamp body comprising a lamp body having a front opening and a front cover attached to the front opening. The radar is achieved by a vehicular lamp characterized by being positioned and integrated with the lamp body and being directly fixed to the vehicle body.

According to the vehicular lamp having the above configuration, since the millimeter wave radar is positioned on the lamp body, there is no variation in positioning between the millimeter wave radar and the front cover. Specifically, the millimeter wave radar may be positioned on the lamp body or may be positioned on the front cover. Thereby, since the millimeter wave radar is positioned with respect to the front cover, it is possible to receive and transmit the millimeter wave transmitted through the front cover without any trouble.
Further, since the millimeter wave radar is directly fixed to the vehicle body, the weight of the millimeter wave radar can be hardly applied to the lamp body. Thereby, it is possible to secure the mounting strength of the millimeter wave radar to the lamp body without increasing the rigidity of the lamp body.

  In the vehicular lamp configured as described above, it is desirable that the millimeter wave radar is fixed to the vehicle body by at least attachment adjusting means.

  According to the vehicular lamp having such a configuration, an attachment error to the vehicle body can be absorbed by the attachment adjusting means. Furthermore, it is possible to adjust the transmission angle of the millimeter wave radar.

  In the vehicular lamp configured as described above, the millimeter wave radar is positioned on the lamp body via a base member in which a bus bar is routed, and the bus bar dissipates heat in contact with a side surface of the millimeter wave radar. It is desirable to have a plate.

  According to the vehicular lamp having such a configuration, the heat of the millimeter wave radar can be radiated by the heat sink of the bus bar.

  According to the vehicular lamp according to the present invention, a vehicular lamp that can secure the mounting strength of the millimeter wave radar and can improve the positioning accuracy by suppressing the variation between the millimeter wave radar and the front cover. Can be provided.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, front, rear, left and right are in the direction of the vehicle, and the left in FIG. 1 is the rear of the vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicular lamp 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a resin lamp body 11 having a shape with an opening on the front side, and a transparent lamp attached from the front opening of the lamp body 11. A front cover 12 made of resin such as red or orange.

  Further, the vehicular lamp 10 includes a plurality of light emitting elements (LEDs) 14 that are light sources, a reflex reflector 15, a millimeter wave radar 16, and a lamp 13 formed by a lamp body 11 and a front cover 12. This is a rear combination lamp equipped with

The lamp body 11 has a front cover mounting opening 17 in front thereof, and a lamp body fixing stud bolt 18 is integrally formed in a part of the rear thereof. Further, the lamp body 11 has a millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 in another part of the rear thereof.
The lamp body fixing stud bolt 18 may be screwed and fixed to the lamp body 11.

  The LEDs 14 are respectively mounted on the substrate 20. The LED 14 emits emitted light α1 through the front cover 12 when energized.

  The reflex reflector 15 is made of a resin such as colorless, red, or orange, and is fixed to the front cover 12 side of the millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 of the lamp body 11. Further, the reflex reflector 15 covers the front cover 12 side of the millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 to form a dummy portion.

  The millimeter wave radar 16 includes a radar main body 21 and a millimeter wave radar case 22, and the radar main body 21 is accommodated in the millimeter wave radar case 22. For example, the millimeter wave radar 16 transmits a millimeter wave transmission wave β1 of 76 GHz to 77 GHz and receives a millimeter wave reflection wave β2. As a result, the propagation time of the reflected wave β2 reflected by the object and the frequency deviation caused by the Doppler effect are calculated. Then, based on the calculation result, the position of the object and the relative speed with the own vehicle are measured, and an electric signal or the like for informing the presence of the object is generated. The electric signal is used to notify the driver via a control unit (not shown) that, for example, a multi-information display or the like indicates that an object, for example, a following vehicle is approaching.

The millimeter wave radar case 22 has a stud bolt 23 for millimeter wave radar fixing integrally formed on the rear surface. The millimeter wave radar case 22 is fixed to the rear surface of the millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 of the lamp body 11 with a screw 24. Accordingly, the millimeter wave radar 16 is disposed so as to penetrate the rear surface of the lamp body 11 and is also positioned with respect to the front cover 12 attached to the front opening of the lamp body 11.
The millimeter wave radar case 22 may be joined using heat welding, an adhesive, or the like instead of screwing, or may be fitted into the millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19.

A self-locking nut 27 serving as an attachment adjusting means is screwed into the millimeter-wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 protruding from the millimeter-wave radar case 22. The self-locking nut 27 has a screw insertion hole 25 at the center thereof, and has a flange portion 26 that can be elastically deformed outside thereof.
In addition to the self-locking nut, a tilting pivot type or cap type fixing member can be used as the attachment adjusting means.

  The self-locking nut 27 is fitted into a recess 81 formed in a predetermined position of the vehicle body panel 80 after the millimeter-wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 is screwed into the screw insertion hole 25. Thereby, the self-locking nut 27 can fix the stud bolt 23 for fixing the millimeter wave radar to the vehicle body panel 80 via the flange portion 26 so as to be tiltable.

  In such a vehicle lamp 10, the lamp body fixing stud bolt 18 is inserted into a stud bolt insertion hole 83 formed in the vehicle body panel 80 in the lamp mounting portion 82 of the vehicle body panel 80. At the same time, the self-locking nut 27 screwed into the millimeter wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 is fitted into the recess 81 of the vehicle body panel 80. Then, the nut 84 is screwed into the lamp body fixing stud bolt 18 protruding to the back side of the vehicle body panel 80.

  Thereby, the lamp body 11 is fixed to the vehicle body panel 80 by the lamp body fixing stud bolt 18. The millimeter wave radar 16 is fixed to the body panel 80 so that the self-locking nut 27 can be tilted while absorbing the mounting error. For this reason, the dead weight of the millimeter wave radar 16 is directly applied to the vehicle body panel 80 without being applied to the lamp body 11.

  The emitted light α1 emitted from the LED 14 is emitted from the front cover 12 toward the rear of the vehicle. Further, the millimeter wave radar 16 transmits and receives the transmitted wave β1 and the reflected wave β2 through the reflex reflector 15 and the front cover 12.

  As described above, according to the vehicular lamp 10 of the first embodiment, the millimeter wave radar 16 is positioned on the lamp body 11 among the lamp body 11 and the front cover 12 forming the lamp body 13. For this reason, the positioning of the millimeter wave radar 16 and the front cover 12 does not vary. Thereby, the transmitted wave β1 and the reflected wave β2 transmitted through the front cover 12 can be received and transmitted without any problem.

  The millimeter wave radar 16 passes through the millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 of the lamp body 11 and is fixed to the vehicle body panel 80. For this reason, it is possible to apply the weight of the millimeter wave radar 16 directly to the vehicle body panel 80 with little weight applied to the lamp body 11. Thereby, the mounting strength of the millimeter wave radar 16 to the lamp body 11 can be ensured without increasing the rigidity of the lamp body 11.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment according to the vehicle lamp of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the following embodiments, the same or functionally similar components as those in the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and the description thereof is simplified or omitted. Further, in the present embodiment, the illustration of the LED as the light source is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the vehicular lamp 30 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, a reflex reflector 15 is integrally formed on a part of the front cover 12 (in the center portion in FIG. 2). A millimeter wave radar case 22 is fixed behind the reflex reflector 15. The front end of the millimeter wave radar case 22 is fixed to a millimeter wave radar fixing portion 31 formed on the front cover 12 by, for example, caulking. The rear end of the millimeter wave radar case 22 is assembled to the millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 of the lamp body 11 via a waterproof O-ring 32.
The reflex reflector 15 may be joined using heat welding, an adhesive, or the like instead of caulking. In addition, a screw boss may be provided on the front cover 12 side and a screw fixing bracket may be provided on the millimeter wave radar case 22 side, so that fixing by screws may be used.

  In the vehicular lamp 30, a self-locking nut 27, which is an attachment adjusting means screwed into the millimeter wave radar fixing stud bolt 23, is fitted in the recess 81 of the vehicle body panel 80 at the lamp mounting portion 82 of the vehicle body panel 80. For this reason, the millimeter wave radar 16 is fixed to the vehicle body panel 80 so as to be tiltable while absorbing attachment errors. As a result, the own weight of the millimeter wave radar 16 is applied directly to the vehicle body panel 80 without being applied to the lamp body 11.

  The vehicular lamp 30 according to the second embodiment has the same functions and effects as those of the first embodiment. In particular, according to the present embodiment, the reflex reflector 15 is arranged on the same plane as the front cover 12. Therefore, the vehicle lamp 30 can be attached to the vehicle body panel 80 with reference to the millimeter wave radar 16.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment according to the vehicle lamp of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicular lamp 40 according to the third embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of millimeter wave radar support portions 41 having a predetermined length dimension from the rear surface of the lamp body 11 toward the front cover 12 side. Is protruding. A through hole is formed in the millimeter wave radar support portion 41, and the millimeter wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 penetrates the millimeter wave radar support portion 41 when the millimeter wave radar 16 is assembled to the lamp body 11. Then, a self-locking nut 42 as an attachment adjusting means is screwed into an end portion of the millimeter wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 protruding from the rear surface of the lamp body 11.

  A screw insertion hole 43 is formed at the center of the self-locking nut 42. Further, on the outer peripheral portion of the self-locking nut 42, a fitting convex portion 44 is formed on the insertion front side, and a fitting concave portion 45 having a smaller diameter than the fitting convex portion 44 is formed on the insertion rear side.

  A reflex reflector 15 is fitted and fixed to the front cover 12 side of the millimeter wave radar case 22. A millimeter-wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 is integrally formed on the rear side of the millimeter-wave radar case 22.

The vehicular lamp 40 is attached to the lamp attachment portion 82 of the vehicle body panel 80 after the millimeter wave radar 16 is assembled to the lamp body 11. At this time, the self-locking nut 42 screwed into the millimeter wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 is fitted into the millimeter wave radar fixing hole 84 of the vehicle body panel 80.
That is, the fitting convex portion 44 of the self-locking nut 42 is inserted into the millimeter wave radar fixing hole 84 while elastically deforming, and the fitting convex portion 44 penetrates, so that the fitting concave portion 45 becomes the millimeter wave radar fixing hole 84. Inserted. As a result, the millimeter wave radar 16 is tiltably fixed to the vehicle body panel 80 while absorbing attachment errors via the self-locking nut 42.

  The vehicular lamp 40 of the third embodiment has the same operational effects as the first embodiment. In particular, according to the present embodiment, the millimeter wave radar 16 can be positioned with respect to the front cover 12 by arbitrarily setting the length dimension of the millimeter wave radar support portion 41. Further, since the millimeter wave radar support portion 41 is arranged on the back side of the millimeter wave radar 16, it is advantageous in terms of design.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 4, 4th Embodiment which concerns on the vehicle lamp of this invention is described. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in a vehicular lamp 50 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a base member 51 and a bus bar 52 are fixed to the front of the lamp body 11 by screws 53, and a plurality of pieces are provided on the bus bar 52. LED14 is mounted.

  The base member 51 is formed in a resin plate shape, and is formed at a base body 55 fixed to a fixing plate portion 54 formed on the lamp body 11 by a screw 53 and a central portion of the base body 55. And a millimeter wave radar fixing unit 56.

  The millimeter wave radar 16 is fixed at a predetermined position of the base member 51 by screwing a screw 57 into the millimeter wave radar fixing portion 56 of the base member 51 and the flange 58 formed in the millimeter wave radar case 22. The base member 51 is fixed to the fixing plate portion 54 of the lamp body 11 with screws 53. As a result, the millimeter wave radar 16 does not vary in positioning between the lamp body 11 and the front cover 12.

  The bus bar 52 includes a bus bar main body 59 for forming an energization circuit for the LEDs 14, and a heat radiating plate 60 formed at the center of the bus bar main body 59. The heat radiating plate 60 is formed in a rectangular shape, and is bent from the bus bar main body 59 so as to come into contact with the side surface of the millimeter wave radar 16 including the millimeter wave radar case 22.

  The vehicle lamp 50 is attached to the lamp attachment portion 82 of the vehicle body panel 80. At this time, a self-locking nut 42 which is an attachment adjusting means screwed into the millimeter wave radar fixing stud bolt 23 is fitted into the millimeter wave radar fixing hole 84 of the vehicle body panel 80. Thus, the millimeter wave radar 16 is fixed to the vehicle body panel 80 via the self-locking nut 42 so as to be tiltable while absorbing an attachment error. A waterproof packing 61 is assembled between the vehicle body panel 80 and the lamp body 11.

  The vehicular lamp 50 according to the fourth embodiment has the same effects as the first embodiment. In particular, according to the present embodiment, the heat radiating plate 60 of the bus bar 52 is disposed so as to contact the side surface of the millimeter wave radar 16. Thereby, the heat generated by the millimeter wave radar 16 can be radiated by the heat radiating plate 60.

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, 5th Embodiment which concerns on the vehicle lamp of this invention is described. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a vehicular lamp according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention viewed from the body panel side.
In the present embodiment, illustration and explanation of the front cover attached from the front opening of the lamp body and the LED as the light source are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the vehicular lamp 70 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention has a millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 at the rear end of the lamp body 11. The opening 19 has an opening shape that is slightly larger than the back surface shape of the millimeter wave radar case 22.

  In the millimeter wave radar 16, a stud bolt 23 for fixing the millimeter wave radar protrudes from the back side of the millimeter wave radar case 22. In addition, alignment protrusions 62 that align the mounting positions in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the vehicle body panel 80 are provided in two locations. In addition, flanges 58 are formed at three locations on the rear surface side end of the millimeter wave radar case 22.

In the vehicle body panel 80, a rectangular tilting plate 83 corresponding to the rear surface shape of the millimeter wave radar case 22 is formed in the lamp mounting portion 82. The tilting plate 83 is formed at a predetermined position of the lamp mounting portion 82 by a slit 87 formed in a substantially rectangular shape leaving the neck portion 88.
Further, the tilting plate 83 can tilt in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with the neck portion 88 as a support shaft, and functions as an attachment adjusting means. Further, the tilting plate 83 has a millimeter wave radar fixing hole 84 through which the stud bolt 23 passes, and an alignment hole 85 into which the alignment protrusion 62 is fitted.

A procedure for attaching the vehicle lamp 70 to the vehicle body panel 80 will be described.
First, the millimeter wave radar 16 is mounted from the rear side of the millimeter wave radar fixing opening 19 of the lamp body 11 so that the bottom portion protrudes rearward by the thickness of the flange 58.
Next, the vehicle lamp 70 is attached to the lamp attachment portion 82 of the vehicle body panel 80 from the front side, and the stud bolt 23 is inserted into the millimeter wave radar fixing hole 84. Then, the two alignment protrusions 62 are fitted into the corresponding alignment holes 85.

Next, the inclination adjusting bolt 28 for fixing penetrates the fixing flange 58 from the front side and is inserted into the mounting hole 86 on the vehicle body panel 80 side. Then, corresponding nuts (not shown) are fastened to the stud bolts 23 and the inclination adjusting bolts 28 from the back side of the vehicle body panel 80. At this time, the millimeter wave radar 16 is fixed so as to be tiltable with respect to the vehicle body panel 80 while adjusting the vertical and horizontal inclinations.
A waterproof packing, a buffer member, or the like may be assembled between the vehicle body panel 80 and the lamp body 11.

The vehicular lamp 50 according to the fifth embodiment has the same effects as the first embodiment. In particular, according to the present embodiment, the tilt adjustment bolt 28 is adjusted in a state where the millimeter wave radar 16 is attached to the vehicle body panel 80, whereby the tilt plate 83 is tilted in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with the neck portion 88 as a support shaft. You can make it. Thereby, the tilt adjustment of the millimeter wave radar 16 can be performed while the millimeter wave radar 16 is fixed to the vehicle body panel 80.
Further, since the millimeter wave radar case 22 on the millimeter wave radar 16 side and the tilt plate 83 on the vehicle body panel 80 side are in surface contact, the heat generated by the millimeter wave radar 16 can be radiated by the tilt plate 83.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimension, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

  For example, the number of LEDs is not limited to the illustrated one, and can be appropriately selected according to the design surface and the desired light amount. Further, as the light source, a bulb can be applied instead of the illustrated LED.

  Needless to say, the vehicular lamp can be applied to a front combination lamp or the like instead of the rear combination lamp.

It is a vertical sectional view of the vehicular lamp according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a vertical sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a vertical sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is a vertical sectional view of a vehicular lamp according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is the disassembled perspective view which looked at the vehicle lamp which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention from the vehicle body panel side.

Explanation of symbols

10, 30, 40, 50, 70 Vehicle lamp 11 Lamp body 12 Front cover 13 Lamp body 14 LED (light source)
15 Reflex reflector 16 Millimeter wave radar 19 Millimeter wave radar fixing opening 27, 42 Self-locking nut (mounting adjustment means)
52 Bus bar 60 Heat sink 62 Alignment protrusion 80 Car body panel (car body)
83 Tilt plate (Mounting adjustment means)
85 Alignment hole

Claims (3)

A vehicular lamp including a light source and a millimeter wave radar in a lamp body including a lamp body having a front opening and a front cover attached to the front opening,
The millimeter wave radar is positioned and integrated with the lamp body, and is fixed directly to the vehicle body.   The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the millimeter wave radar is fixed to the vehicle body by at least an attachment adjusting unit.   The millimeter wave radar is positioned on the lamp body via a base member in which a bus bar is routed, and the bus bar includes a heat radiating plate that contacts a side surface of the millimeter wave radar. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1 or 2.

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