JP2012025265A - Cleaning device for vehicle lamp fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device for a vehicle lamp fitting that can keep a constant direction of injecting a cleaning solution from an injection nozzle by positioning a piston circumferentially when the piston is extended to the maximum.SOLUTION: The cleaning device for a vehicle lamp fitting includes a cylinder, a bottomed cylindrical cover 7 fitted to the inner circumference of an opening end of the cylinder, a cylindrical piston 3 penetrating through the cover 7 and slidably fitted and inserted into the cylinder, and an injection nozzle attached to the tip end of the piston 3. The cleaning device also includes a biasing means for biasing the piston 3 in a direction of drawing the piston into the cylinder, the injection nozzle for injecting the cleaning solution to the vehicle lamp fitting, and a check valve mechanism for supplying the cleaning solution to the injection nozzle by opening the valve when a pressure of the cleaning solution reaches a predetermined value or above. Fitting parts (a fitting convex part 3b and a fitting concave part 7a) are formed, in the outer circumference of a large diameter part 3A at an end where the piston 3 is fitted into the cylinder inner circumference and the opening end surface of the cover 7, for convex-concave fitting the piston 3 with the cover 7 when the piston 3 is extended to the maximum.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning a front surface (lens surface) by spraying a cleaning liquid onto a vehicle lamp such as a headlamp.

  For example, if the front surface (lens surface) of a vehicle becomes dirty due to adhesion of dust, mud, etc., the amount of light may be insufficient. Therefore, if necessary, the front surface of the headlamp may be sprayed with a cleaning liquid toward the headlamp. A cleaning device is installed on the back side of the front bumper. The cleaning device includes a cylinder to which cleaning liquid is supplied, a piston slidably fitted in the cylinder, biasing means for biasing the piston in a direction in which the piston is pulled into the cylinder, and cleaning liquid to the headlamp. And a check valve mechanism that opens and supplies the cleaning liquid to the injection nozzle when the pressure of the cleaning liquid exceeds a predetermined value.

  In such a cleaning device, when not in use, the injection nozzle is stored behind the front bumper, and when cleaning the headlamp, the piston is extended by the pressure of the cleaning liquid and the injection nozzle is formed in the front bumper. If the pressure of the cleaning liquid rises above the predetermined value, the valve of the check valve mechanism opens and the cleaning liquid is supplied to the injection nozzle, and the cleaning liquid is directed to the headlamp from the injection port that opens in the injection nozzle. The dust, mud, etc. adhering to the front surface of the headlamp are removed. When the cleaning of the headlamp is completed, the spray nozzle is returned to the retracted position on the back side of the front bumper by a biasing means such as a return spring. When the injection nozzle is stored on the back side of the front bumper, the opening formed in the front bumper is covered with a nozzle cover attached to the tip of the injection nozzle to prevent the appearance from being deteriorated.

  By the way, in the vehicular lamp cleaning apparatus configured as described above, when a cylindrical piston is used as described above, the piston can rotate in the circumferential direction with respect to the cylinder. There is a problem that when the piston extends forward and reaches the maximum extension position, the circumferential position of the piston is not fixed, and the injection direction of the cleaning liquid from the injection nozzle attached to the tip of the piston changes.

  In order to solve the above problem, the piston is formed into a polygonal cylinder as proposed in Patent Document 1, or a guide rib for rotation prevention is provided along the axial direction (sliding direction) on the outer periphery of the cylindrical cylindrical piston. The structure of projecting integrally is employed.

JP 2006-151152 A

  However, when the piston is formed into a polygonal cylinder, or when a configuration is adopted in which a guide rib for rotation prevention is integrally projected along the axial direction (sliding direction) on the outer periphery of the cylindrical cylindrical piston, the piston is molded. This is not easy, and the sliding resistance of the piston increases, and the piston may not slide smoothly.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its intended process is to position the piston in the circumferential direction at the maximum extension position without deteriorating the moldability of the piston or increasing the sliding resistance. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp cleaning device that can always clean a vehicular lamp while maintaining the spraying direction of the cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle constant.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is a cylindrical cylinder to which a cleaning liquid is supplied, a bottomed cylindrical cover fitted on the inner periphery of the opening end of the cylinder, and penetrating the cover. A cylindrical piston slidably fitted in the cylinder, an injection nozzle attached to the tip of the piston, and an urging means for urging the piston in a direction to draw the piston into the cylinder, In a vehicular lamp cleaning apparatus comprising: an injection nozzle that injects a cleaning liquid toward a vehicular lamp; and a check valve mechanism that opens when the pressure of the cleaning liquid exceeds a predetermined value and supplies the cleaning liquid to the injection nozzle.
The outer end of the large-diameter portion fitted to the cylinder inner circumference of the piston and the opening end face of the cover are formed with a fitting portion that fits the piston and the cover when the piston is fully extended. And

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, one of the fitting convex portion or the fitting concave portion constituting the fitting portion is formed on the outer periphery of the large diameter portion of the piston, and the other is formed on the cover. It was formed on the opening end face.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the fitting portion is formed at a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction of the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion of the piston and the opening end surface of the cover.

  According to invention of Claim 1 and 2, even if it is the cylindrical piston which can rotate to the circumferential direction with respect to a cylinder, this extended to the maximum extension position (position where a washing | cleaning liquid is injected from an injection nozzle). At this time, the piston and the cover are unevenly fitted in the fitting portion, thereby positioning the piston in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the spraying direction of the cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle attached to the tip of the piston is kept constant. As a result, the vehicular lamp is always cleaned well by the cleaning liquid. And, since it is possible to use a cylindrical one that can be easily molded as a piston and it is not necessary to form a guide rib or the like for preventing rotation of the piston, the piston can be easily molded and the cost can be reduced. Smooth sliding of the piston can be realized while keeping the sliding resistance of the piston low.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, since the fitting portions are formed at a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction of the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion of the piston and the opening end surface of the cover, the circumferential positioning at the most extended position of the piston is further ensured. The

It is a side view at the time of storage of the washing | cleaning apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is a partial side view of the piston of the cleaning device according to the present invention. It is a side view of the cover part of the washing | cleaning apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a side view at the time of the maximum expansion | extension of the washing | cleaning apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 5. It is a partial side view which shows the uneven | corrugated fitting with the piston and cover of the washing | cleaning apparatus which concerns on this invention. (A), (b) is a plane sectional view showing composition and an operation of a check valve mechanism of a cleaning device concerning the present invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 is a side view of the cleaning device according to the present invention when retracted, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the piston of the cleaning device, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view of the cleaning device when it is fully extended, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a portion showing uneven fitting between the piston and the cover of the cleaning device. FIGS. 8A and 8B are side cross-sectional views showing the configuration and operation of the check valve mechanism of the cleaning apparatus.

  The cleaning device 1 according to the present embodiment is a device for spraying cleaning liquid toward the front surface of a headlamp (not shown) to clean the front surface, and is disposed on the back side of a front bumper (not shown). ing. In addition, although the washing | cleaning apparatus 1 is each installed with respect to the right and left headlamp, since the structure and effect | action are the same, only one washing | cleaning apparatus 1 is shown and demonstrated below.

  A cleaning apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a cylindrical piston 3 slidably fitted into a cylindrical cylinder 2 and an injection nozzle 5 via a check valve mechanism 4 at the tip of the piston 3. It is configured with an attached.

  The cylinder 2 is supplied with cleaning liquid from a washer tank (not shown), and a plug 6 is provided at the center of the rear end thereof at right angles to the axial direction of the cylinder 2. The washer tank communicates with a hose (not shown) connected to the plug 6. A bottomed cylindrical cover 7 is fitted on the inner periphery of the front end of the cylinder 2, and a bracket 8 is attached to the outer periphery of the cover 7. The cleaning device 1 is attached to the back side of a front bumper (not shown) via a bracket 8.

  A compression spring 9 as a biasing means for biasing the piston 3 in the direction in which the piston 3 is pulled into the cylinder 2 is wound around the outer periphery of the piston 3 in the cylinder 2, as shown in FIG. The spring 9 is compressed between the cover 7 and the cylinder 2.

The large-diameter portion 3A at the rear end of the piston 3 is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 2 via a rubber seal member 10, and a cleaning liquid passage 3a penetrating in the axial direction is formed in the inside. Yes.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the fitting convex portion 3b is forward (rightward in FIG. 3) at the left and right two locations (only one is shown in FIG. 3) of the outer periphery of the front end side of the large diameter portion 3A of the piston 3. Projected integrally.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the fitting recess 7a opens in a V shape toward the rear (left side in FIG. 4) at the left and right two positions (only one is shown in FIG. 4) of the opening end surface of the cover 7. Are formed respectively.

  Next, details of the structure of the check valve mechanism 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The check valve mechanism 4 is configured such that a valve 12 and a valve spring 13 that urges the valve 12 in a closing direction are accommodated in the valve case 11, and the overall cross-sectional shape is an elliptical shape that is flat in the horizontal direction. It is made into a shape.

  The flow path S formed inside the valve case 11 is selectively passed through the opening 11a formed in the rear end wall 11A of the valve case 11 to the cleaning liquid passage 3a (see FIG. 2) of the piston 3. Although communicated, a valve seat 11b is integrally projected on the periphery of the opening 11a of the rear end wall 11A.

  A guide projection 11c that selectively fits into a guide hole 12a formed in the central portion of the valve 12 is integrally provided on the inner surface of the front end wall 11B of the valve case 11 (see FIG. 8).

  Further, the base end portion of the nozzle holder 14 is fitted and held in the cylindrical portions 11d formed on the left and right sides of the valve case 11 so as to be rotatable in all directions. As shown in FIG. 1, the injection nozzles 5 are respectively fitted and held. Although not shown, each ejection nozzle 5 has an ejection opening that opens toward the front surface of the headlamp (not shown). The spring constant of the valve spring 13 is set larger than the spring constant of the compression spring 9.

  Next, the operation of the cleaning device 1 configured as described above will be described.

  In the cleaning device 1 according to the present embodiment, when the headlamp is not cleaned, the piston 3 is drawn into the cylinder 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the urging force of the compression spring 9. At this time, the valve 12 of the check valve mechanism 4 is pressed against the valve seat 11b by the valve spring 13 as shown in FIG. Moreover, the injection nozzle 5 is stored in the back side of the front bumper of a vehicle not shown.

  Thus, when the headlamp is cleaned by the cleaning device 1, a high-pressure cleaning liquid is supplied from a washer tank (not shown) to a cylinder 2 of the cleaning device 1 through a hose (not shown), and the pressure of the cleaning liquid is reduced. The piston 3 received on the end face of the large-diameter portion 3A is pushed forward while the compression spring 9 is compressed. When the piston 3 is pushed forward in this way, the injection nozzle 5 provided at the tip thereof is pushed forward from the opening (not shown) formed in the front bumper. In this case, since the spring constant of the valve spring 13 is set larger than the spring constant of the compression spring 9 as described above, the valve 12 of the check valve mechanism 4 remains closed as shown in FIG. Thus, the cleaning liquid is not supplied to the injection nozzle 5.

  As described above, when the piston 3 moves forward by the pressure of the cleaning liquid and the large-diameter portion 3A of the rear end portion of the piston 3 comes into contact with the opening end surface (rear end surface) of the cover 7 as shown in FIGS. The forward movement of the piston 3 is stopped, and the piston 3 is in the most extended state where it extends most from the cylinder 2 as shown in FIG. Thus, immediately before the piston 3 reaches the most extended position where it is most pulled out from the cylinder 2, the fitting convex portions 3b formed at the two left and right positions on the outer periphery of the large diameter portion 3A of the piston 3 are as shown in FIG. Since the piston 3 is fitted in the fitting recesses 7a formed on the left and right sides of the opening end surface of the cover 7, the piston 3 is positioned in the circumferential direction when the piston 3 reaches the maximum extension position. Rotation is prevented. In this case, since the fitting recess 7a formed on the cover 7 side is formed in a V shape that opens rearward, the fitting projection 3b on the piston 3 side that fits into the fitting recess 7a is a cover. Guided by the tapered surface of the fitting recess 7a on the 7 side and positioned at the center of the fitting recess 7a, the piston 3 is accurately positioned in the circumferential direction. Further, in the present embodiment, the fitting convex portion 3b on the piston 3 side and the fitting concave portion 7a on the cover 7 side are formed at two positions on the left and right sides in the circumferential direction, so that the positioning in the circumferential direction at the maximum extension position of the piston 3 is performed. Is made more accurate and reliable.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, after the piston 3 reaches the maximum extension position, the pressure of the cleaning liquid rises above a predetermined value, and the force based on the pressure of the cleaning liquid acting on the valve 12 of the check valve mechanism 4 is increased. When it becomes larger than the urging force of the valve spring 13, the valve 13 moves forward as shown in FIG. 8 (b) and moves away from the valve seat 11b, so that the valve 12 is opened as shown. Then, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 8B, the cleaning liquid flows into the flow path S in the valve case 11 from the opening 11 a of the valve case 11, and passes through the nozzle holders 14 on the left and right as it is. 5 is supplied.

  As described above, the cleaning liquid supplied to the left and right ejection nozzles 5 is ejected from the ejection openings respectively opened to the respective ejection nozzles 5 toward the front surface of the headlamp (not shown), and dust adhered to the front surface of the headlamp. Wash away dirt and mud. When the cleaning of the headlamp is completed and the supply of the cleaning liquid to the cylinder 2 is interrupted, the piston 3 is drawn into the cylinder 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the urging force of the compression spring 9. The injection nozzle 5 is returned to the retracted position on the back side of the front bumper, and the valve 12 of the check valve mechanism 4 is closed again as shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the cleaning device 1 according to the present embodiment, even the cylindrical piston 3 that can rotate in the circumferential direction with respect to the cylinder 2 is the most extended position (the cleaning liquid is supplied from the injection nozzle 5). As shown in FIG. 7, the piston 3 side fitting projection 3b and the cover 7 side fitting recess 7a are fitted to each other to position the piston 3 in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the spraying direction of the cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle 5 attached to the tip of the piston 3 is kept constant, and the headlamp is always cleaned well by the cleaning liquid. In this embodiment, the piston 3 can be a cylindrical shape that can be easily molded, and it is not necessary to form a guide rib or the like for preventing rotation of the piston 3. In addition, the sliding resistance of the piston 3 can be kept low and the smooth sliding of the piston 3 can be realized.

  In the above embodiment, the fitting convex portion 3b is formed on the piston 3 side and the fitting concave portion 7a is formed on the cover 7 side. Conversely, the fitting concave portion 7a is formed on the piston 3 side, and the cover is formed. Even if the fitting convex portion 3b is formed on the 7 side, the same effect as described above can be obtained. Further, in the above embodiment, the fitting convex portion 3b and the fitting concave portion 7a are formed at two places in the circumferential direction (two places on the left and right sides) of the piston 3 and the cover 7, but these fitting convex portions 3b are fitted. The number of the concave portions 7a is arbitrary, and if these numbers are plural, the positioning of the piston 3 in the circumferential direction is performed with high accuracy.

  Further, although the above description has been given of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a cleaning device used for cleaning a headlamp, the present invention is applied to a cleaning device used for cleaning any other vehicular lamp. Of course, the present invention can be similarly applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning apparatus 2 Cylinder 3 Piston 3A Piston large diameter part 3a Piston cleaning liquid passage 3b Piston fitting convex part 4 Check valve mechanism 5 Injection nozzle 6 Plug 7 Cover 7a Cover fitting recessed part 8 Bracket 9 Compression spring (biasing) means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seal member 11 Valve case 11A Rear end wall of valve case 11B Front end wall of valve case 11a Valve case opening 11b Valve case valve seat 11c Valve case guide protrusion 11d Valve case cylindrical portion 12 Valve 12a Valve guide hole 13 Valve spring 14 Nozzle holder S Flow path in the valve case

Claims (3)

A cylindrical cylinder to which cleaning liquid is supplied, a bottomed cylindrical cover that is fitted to the inner periphery of the opening end of the cylinder, and a cylinder that is slidably fitted into the cylinder through the cover A piston, an injection nozzle attached to the tip of the piston, an urging means for urging the piston in a direction in which the piston is pulled into the cylinder, an injection nozzle for injecting the cleaning liquid toward the vehicular lamp, and the cleaning liquid In a vehicular lamp cleaning device provided with a check valve mechanism that opens and supplies cleaning liquid to the spray nozzle when the pressure of the pressure exceeds a predetermined value,
The outer end of the large-diameter portion fitted to the cylinder inner circumference of the piston and the opening end face of the cover are formed with a fitting portion that fits the piston and the cover when the piston is fully extended. A vehicular lamp cleaning device.   2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein one of a fitting convex portion or a fitting concave portion constituting the fitting portion is formed on an outer periphery of a large diameter portion of the piston, and the other is formed on an opening end surface of the cover. Lamp cleaning equipment. 3. The vehicular lamp cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the fitting portions are formed at a plurality of locations in a circumferential direction of the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion of the piston and the opening end surface of the cover.

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