JP2014051256A - Vehicle headlamp leveling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low-cost vehicle headlamp leveling device that requires a small projection area for attachment, has a large speed reduction ratio and has high transmission efficiency.SOLUTION: The vehicle headlamp leveling device comprises: a motor 70; a shaft 30 that is installed in a housing 10 not to be rotatable and to be movable back and forth and moves back and forth to the housing 10; a pivot 40 that is screwed together with a screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 30 and moves back and forth to the housing 10 to adjust optical axes of vehicle headlights; a first driving force transmission mechanism for moving back and forth the shaft 30 against the housing 10 by driving the motor 70; and a second driving force transmission mechanism for manually moving back and forth the pivot 40 against the housing 10 from outside the housing 10. The motor 70, the shaft 30 and the pivot 40 are arranged so that a center line of rotation of the output shaft of the motor 70, a center line of the back and forth movement of the shaft 30 and a center line of rotation of the pivot 40 are aligned together on the same line.

Description

The present invention relates to a leveling device that adjusts the optical axis of a vehicle headlamp.

  A case body, a motor arranged in the case body, and a shaft that moves back and forth by rotation of the motor, and when the motor is driven, the shaft moves back and forth to adjust the optical axis of the vehicle headlamp. A vehicle headlamp leveling device is known (Patent Document 1).

  According to Patent Document 1, the worm wheel of the driving force transmission mechanism advances and retreats with the shaft while rotating with respect to the housing by the screw feed action by driving the motor, and the tilting member is moved via the adjusting screw supported by the shaft. Is tilted, and the optical axis of the irradiated light is adjusted.

JP 2008-126948 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost vehicle lamp leveling device having a small projection area for mounting, a large reduction ratio, and high transmission efficiency.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a leveling device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 1,
A housing;
A front cover,
A motor disposed within the housing;
A shaft that is non-rotatable and movable back and forth with respect to the housing, and that moves forward and backward with respect to the housing;
A pivot that adjusts the optical axis of the vehicular headlamp by screwing with a screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft and moving forward and backward with respect to the housing;
A first drive transmission mechanism that is disposed between the motor and the shaft, and advances and retracts the shaft relative to the housing by driving the motor;
A second drive transmission mechanism for manually moving the pivot forward and backward from the outside of the housing;
A board provided with a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to the motor,
The motor, the shaft, and the pivot are arranged such that the rotation center line of the output shaft of the motor, the advance / retreat center line of the shaft, and the rotation center line of the pivot coincide with each other.
It is characterized by that.

A second aspect of the present invention is the vehicle lamp leveling device according to the first aspect,
The first drive transmission mechanism is a sun gear fixed to the output shaft of the motor;
A plurality of planetary gears revolving while meshing with the sun gear;
A first internal gear meshing with the planetary gear and fixed to the housing;
A second internal gear having a trapezoidal screw formed concentrically with the rotation center line of the output shaft of the motor and rotating in mesh with the planetary gear,
It is characterized by that.

A third aspect of the present invention is the vehicle lamp leveling device according to the first aspect,
The second drive transmission mechanism includes a rotatable aiming shaft having a gear portion formed on one end side of a cylindrical portion in which a plurality of guide groove grooves are formed on an inner surface;
A gear member having a crown gear portion in a cylindrical portion in which a connecting hole opened at a front end is formed;
An aiming gear having a gear portion that has one end inserted into the coupling hole of the gear member and the other end meshing on a meshing pitch circle of the gear portion of the aiming shaft to transmit rotation of the gear member; Consists of
It is characterized by that.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle lamp leveling device according to any one of the first to third aspects,
The direction orthogonal to the plate thickness of the substrate is fixed by being sandwiched between the housing and the front cover in a direction that coincides with the advance / retreat direction of the shaft below the first drive transmission mechanism in the housing. Yes,
It is characterized by that.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle lamp leveling device according to the fourth aspect,
The substrate includes a plurality of power supply terminals, one end of the power supply terminal is inserted in the thickness direction of the substrate, and the other end has a bent portion facing the end of the substrate at the end of the substrate. The bent portion is sandwiched and fixed between the end portion of the substrate and the housing in a direction coinciding with the advancing / retreating direction of the shaft,
It is characterized by that.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a low-cost vehicle lamp leveling device having a small projected area for mounting, a large reduction ratio, and high transmission efficiency.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the reduction ratio is large and the transmission efficiency can be increased as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, compared to the case where the present configuration is not provided, the aiming operability is excellent and the optical axis adjustment can be performed efficiently.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the substrate can be fixed with higher precision than in the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a substrate having a highly reliable power supply terminal at low cost as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure which set the viewpoint to the front side of the leveling apparatus 1 of a vehicle lamp. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the leveling apparatus 1 of a vehicle lamp. (A) is a top view of the rear surface side (inner surface side) of the housing 10 which comprises the leveling apparatus 1, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view. (A) is a top view of the front side (inner surface side) of the front cover 20 which comprises the leveling apparatus 1, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing configurations of a first drive transmission mechanism 50, a motor 70, and a substrate 80. (A) is a perspective view for demonstrating the advance / retreat mechanism of the shaft 30 and the pivot 40 in the 1st drive transmission mechanism 50, (b) is a fragmentary sectional perspective view. FIG. 3 is a front view with a viewpoint on the front side of a planetary reduction mechanism that constitutes a first drive transmission mechanism 50. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a planetary speed reduction mechanism that constitutes a first drive transmission mechanism 50. FIG. (A) is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the second drive transmission mechanism 60, and (b) is a partial cross-sectional perspective view for explaining the advance / retreat mechanism of the pivot 40 in the second drive transmission mechanism 60. (A) is a partial perspective view for explaining the arrangement of the power supply terminals 82 on the printed wiring board 81 of the substrate 80, and (b) is a perspective view of the power supply terminals 82. FIG. 6 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view for explaining a method of fixing the substrate 80. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view along the front-back direction of the vehicle lamp which applied the leveling apparatus 1 of the vehicle lamp to the optical-axis adjustment mechanism.

Next, specific examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.
Also, in the description using the following drawings, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic and the ratio of each dimension and the like are different from the actual ones, and are necessary for the description for easy understanding. Illustrations other than the members are omitted as appropriate.

In each of the illustrated embodiments, the leveling device 1 for a vehicular lamp according to the present embodiment is applied to an optical axis adjustment mechanism for a vehicular lamp. Accordingly, the leveling device for a vehicular lamp according to the present embodiment will be described while explaining the schematic configuration of the vehicular lamp.
In the following description and drawings, the direction in which light is emitted from the vehicular lamp is defined as the front side.

(1) Schematic Configuration of Vehicle Lamp FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view in the front-rear direction of a vehicle lamp which is an embodiment in which the vehicle lamp leveling device 1 according to this embodiment is applied to an optical axis adjustment mechanism. .

  The schematic configuration of the vehicular lamp will be described with reference to FIG. The vehicular lamp 100 includes a lamp housing 110 having a recess opened on the front surface, and a light-transmitting lens 120 that closes the front opening surface of the lamp housing 110, and the lamp housing 110 and the lens 120 define the lamp housing 110. The interior space thus formed is formed as a lamp chamber 150. Note that a joint portion between the opening of the lamp housing 110 and the peripheral edge of the lens 120 is sealed by a seal member (not shown).

  In the lamp chamber 150, a reflector 140 having a light source bulb 130 inserted therein is provided, and light emitted from the light source bulb 130 is reflected by the reflector 140 and irradiated forward through the lens 120.

  A rotating fulcrum 160 projecting rearward is provided at the lower back of the reflector 140. A pivot pin 170 in which a spherical pivot 171 is formed is attached to the rotation fulcrum 160. Further, a bearing portion 175 is formed at the lower portion of the inner surface of the rear wall of the lamp housing 110 so as to face the rotation fulcrum portion 160 of the reflector 140, and the pivot 171 of the pivot pin 170 is inserted into the recess 176 of the bearing portion 175. Yes. Therefore, the reflector 140 can be tilted in the vertical direction with the rotation fulcrum 160 as a fulcrum.

  A ball receiving member 180 projecting rearward is formed on the rear upper surface of the reflector 140, and a ball of a pivot 40 provided between the reflector 140 and the lamp housing 110 so as to be able to advance and retreat in the leveling device 1 described later. The portion 41 and the shaft 30 are connected to each other.

(2) Configuration and Operation of Leveling Device (2.1) Overall Configuration of Leveling Device FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration with a viewpoint on the front side of the leveling device 1, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the leveling device 1. It is.
3A is a plan view of the rear surface side (inner surface side) of the housing 10 constituting the leveling device 1, FIG. 3B is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 4A is a front cover 20 constituting the leveling device 1. FIG. FIG. 4B is a longitudinal sectional view of the front side (inner surface side) of FIG.
The leveling device 1 includes a housing 10, a front cover 20, a shaft 30, a pivot 40, a first drive transmission mechanism 50, a second drive transmission mechanism 60, a motor 70, and a substrate 80. Configured.

(2.2) Structure of the housing The housing 10 accommodates the shaft 30, the pivot 40, the first drive transmission mechanism 50, the second drive transmission mechanism 60, the motor 70, the substrate 80, and the like inside, and the front cover 20. And the seal member S1 (O-ring) are used to form a casing of the leveling device 1.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a holding portion 16 that holds the motor 70 is integrally provided on the front surface side (inner surface side) of the housing 10.
Further, on both lower side surfaces of the front surface side (inner surface side) of the housing 10, groove portions 14 are provided extending from the front end to the rear wall surface, and support the substrate 80.

A cylindrical portion 11 is provided above the rear surface side (outer surface side) of the housing 10 and supports a crown gear 65 described later.
Further, a connector connecting portion 12 with a connector (not shown) connected from the outside is provided below the rear surface side (outer surface side) of the housing 10, and the front side (inner surface) of the housing 10 of the connector connecting portion 12 is provided. Side) sandwiches and supports the bent portion 82 a of the power supply terminal 82 with the end face of the substrate 80.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the cylindrical portion 21 is integrally provided coaxially with the output shaft 71 of the motor 70 on the upper side of the front side (outer side) of the front cover 20. A cylindrical portion 62 of an aiming shaft 61 described later is supported.
A support portion 22 that integrally supports the lower surface of the printed wiring board 81 of the substrate 80 from below is integrally provided below the rear surface side (inner surface side) of the front cover 20. ) And the inner wall surface on the rear surface side (inner surface side) of the front cover 20, the end surface of the printed wiring board 81 of the substrate 80 is sandwiched and fixed.

(2.3) Configuration and Operation of the First Drive Transmission Mechanism FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the first drive transmission mechanism 50, the motor 70, and the substrate 80.
6A is a perspective view for explaining an advance / retreat mechanism of the shaft 30 and the pivot 40 in the first drive transmission mechanism 50, and FIG. 6B is a partial cross-sectional perspective view.
FIG. 7 is a front view of the planetary reduction mechanism that constitutes the first drive transmission mechanism 50 with a viewpoint on the front side, and FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section of the planetary reduction mechanism that constitutes the first drive transmission mechanism 50. FIG.
Hereinafter, the first drive transmission mechanism 50 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the leveling device 1 according to the present embodiment, as a drive transmission mechanism, a first drive transmission mechanism 50 for remotely adjusting an optical axis of a vehicle lamp and an initial setting of an optical axis of the vehicle lamp are performed. The second drive transmission mechanism 60 is provided.

The first drive transmission mechanism 50 includes a sun gear 51 fixed to the output shaft 71 of the motor 70, a planet carrier 52, three planetary gears 53, 53, 53 that revolve while meshing with the sun gear 51 and rotating. The gear case body 55 provided with the first internal gear 54 meshed with the planetary gears 53, 53, 53 and fixed to the housing 10, and the trapezoidal screw 56 formed to coincide with the axis of the output shaft 71 of the motor 70. And a gear cover 58. The second internal gear 57 rotates in mesh with the planetary gears 53, 53, 53.

The first drive transmission mechanism 50 is disposed in the housing 10 and the front cover 20 between the motor 70 and the shaft 30, and the shaft 30 is moved to the housing 10 and the front cover 20 by the rotational drive of the motor 70. In contrast, it is advanced and retracted in the direction of the solid line arrow in FIG. 2 (the axial direction of the shaft 30).
Further, since the shaft 30 is screwed to the pivot 40 described later with a trapezoidal screw 31, the pivot 40 moves relative to the housing 10 and the front cover 20 in FIG. It moves forward and backward in the direction of the solid arrow (the axial direction of the shaft 30).

The motor 70 has an output shaft 71, and a sun gear 51 that is an input end for rotational driving of the first drive transmission mechanism 50 is fitted into the output shaft 71. The motor 70 is connected to the substrate 80 via a power supply terminal (not shown), and the rear end protrusion 73 is inserted into the recess 15 formed on the front surface side (inner surface side) of the housing 10, and then the entire casing. Is held by the holding portion 16 of the housing 10 and disposed in the housing 10.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the shaft 30 extends in the front-rear direction with respect to the housing 10 and the front cover 20 via the first drive transmission mechanism 50 in the cylindrical portion 58 a of the gear cover 58. That is, it is attached so as to be able to advance and retract in the axial direction of the shaft 30 and not to rotate.

The shaft 30 has a round bar shape, and a trapezoidal screw 31 is provided from the front end portion to the intermediate portion. On the rear end side, a screw hole 32 is provided on the inner peripheral surface. When the second internal gear 57 is rotated by being screwed with the trapezoidal screw 56 of the second internal gear 57, the housing 10 is screw-feeded. And it advances and retreats in the axial direction in a non-rotatable state with respect to the front cover 20.

On the outer peripheral surface of the rear end side of the shaft 30, a rotation preventing projection 33 is integrally provided in the radial direction of the shaft 30 and corresponding to the groove 58 b of the gear cover 58.
Further, on the outer peripheral surface on the rear end side of the shaft 30, a connecting portion 34 is integrally provided in an arm shape in the radial direction of the shaft 30 and is connected to a slide portion 85 of a position sensor 83 described later.

The pivot 40 has a sphere 41 formed at the tip, and the sphere 41 is attached to the sphere receiving member 180 of the reflector 140, and the reflector 40 is tilted by the advancement and retreat of the pivot 40.
The pivot 40 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and a protrusion 42 extends in the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The projecting portion 42 is engaged with a guide groove portion 62a provided on the inner surface of a cylindrical portion 62 of an aiming shaft 61, which will be described later, provided to extend from the front end.

A screw hole 43 is formed on the inner surface of the rear end side of the pivot 40 and is screwed with the trapezoidal screw 31 of the shaft 30.
Further, since the shaft 30 is non-rotatably attached to the gear cover 58, the pivot 40 advances and retreats in the axial direction when the shaft 30 advances and retreats in the axial direction by a screw feed action.

Hereinafter, the planetary speed reduction mechanism constituting the first drive transmission mechanism 50 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
The first internal gear 54 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of a gear case body 55 that is entirely cylindrical. The gear case body 55 is formed with a protruding detent 55 b on the lower outer peripheral surface, and is disposed on the upper surface of the printed wiring board 81 of the board 80 so as not to rotate.

The planet carrier 52 has a disk shape, and three support shafts 52a, 52a, 52a that are the centers of rotation of the three planetary gears 53, 53, 53 are provided at equal intervals on the same circumference. It has been. Planetary gears 53, 53, and 53 are inserted into the respective support shafts 52a, 52a, and 52a, and the planetary gears 53, 53, and 53 are fixed so as not to move in the axial direction by the carrier cover 52b.
The planet carrier 52 is mounted in the housing 10 and the front cover 20 so as to be rotatable around a rotation center line concentric with the rotation center line of the shaft 30.

Planetary gears 53, 53, 53 provided on the planetary carrier 52 mesh with each other with a first internal gear 54 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the gear case body 55.
A second internal gear 57 is attached to the front end side of the gear case body 55 in the housing 10 and the front cover 20 so as to be rotatable about a rotation center line concentric with the rotation center line O of the shaft 30. , 53, 53 mesh with the second internal gear 57.

The sun gear 51 is fitted on the output shaft 71 of the motor 70 and meshes with planetary gears 53, 53, 53 supported so as to be able to rotate and revolve by a planetary carrier 52 and a carrier cover 52b.

As a result, the planetary gear 53 is rotated by the rotation of the sun gear 51 inside the first internal gear 54 formed on the inner surface of the gear case body 55 that is fixed to the housing 10 so as not to rotate by the rotational drive of the motor 70. , 53, 53 revolves while rotating and meshing with the first internal gear 54.
The planetary gears 53, 53, 53 supported by the planetary carrier 52 rotate while meshing with a second internal gear 57 that is rotatably provided on the inner surface of the gear case body 55. The trapezoidal screw 56 rotates.

Here, when the number of teeth of the sun gear 51 is Za, the number of teeth of the planetary gears 53, 53, 53 is Zb, the number of teeth of the first internal gear 54 is Zc, and the number of teeth of the second internal gear 57 is Zd, The reduction ratio U is
U = (1+ (Zc / Za)) / (1- (Zc / Zd))
It becomes.

For example, when Za = 20, Zb = 19, Zc = 58, and Zd = 61, the reduction ratio is 79.3. In this case, the number of arranged planetary gears 53, 53, 53 is three.
The difference in the number of teeth Zc of the first internal gear 54 and the number of teeth Zd of the second internal gear 57 that simultaneously mesh with the planetary gears 53, 53, 53 is equal to the number of arranged planetary gears 53, 53, 53. The first internal gear 54 and the second internal gear 57 are set with dislocation coefficients corresponding to the number of teeth so as to mesh with each other at the same inter-axis distance.
In the present embodiment, Xa = 0 when the shift coefficients of the sun gear 51, the planetary gears 53, 53, 53, the first internal gear 54, and the second internal gear 57 are Xa, Xb, Xc, and Xd, respectively. Xb = 0.5, Xc = 1, Xd = −0.292.

As a result, in the leveling device 1 according to the present embodiment, the output shaft 71 of the motor 70 and the reflector 140 are arranged on the same axis via the pivot 40 and the shaft 30 and are projected for mounting. A first drive transmission mechanism having a small area, a large reduction ratio, and high transmission efficiency is realized.

(2.4) Configuration and Operation of Second Drive Transmission Mechanism FIG. 9A is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the second drive transmission mechanism 60, and FIG. 9B is the second drive transmission mechanism. FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view for explaining an advance / retreat mechanism of a pivot 40 at 60.
The second drive transmission mechanism 60 is configured by connecting a shaft 30, a pivot 40, an aiming shaft 61, and an aiming gear 64 to a crown gear 65 through the housing 10.

The aiming shaft 61 includes a cylindrical cylindrical portion 62 and a gear portion 63 formed on one end side of the cylindrical portion 62. The gear part 63 meshes with an aiming gear 64 described later.
A guide groove 62 a is formed on the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 62, and engages with a protrusion 42 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the pivot 40 so as to extend in the axial direction.
The cylindrical portion 62 of the aiming shaft 61 is inserted and retracted in the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion 21 formed on the front surface side (outer surface side) of the front cover 20.

The crown gear 65 includes a cylindrical portion 66 and a crown gear portion 67 in which a connection hole opened at the front end is formed.
The crown gear 65 has a cylindrical portion 66 fitted into the cylindrical portion 11 of the housing 10 and is attached so as to be rotatable and immovable in the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion 66.

The aiming gear 64 includes a gear portion 64a and a shaft portion 64b. One end of the shaft portion 64b is fitted into a connecting hole opened at the front end of the crown gear 65, and the front side of the shaft portion 64b is on the outer periphery of the gear case body 55. The gear portion 64a of the aiming gear 64 is engaged with the gear portion 63 of the aiming shaft 61 by being supported by the provided bearing portion 55a to transmit the rotational drive of the crown gear 65 to the aiming shaft 61.

The protrusion 42 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the pivot 40 is engaged with the guide groove 62 a formed on the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 62 of the aiming shaft 61, so that the pivot 40 is in the center axis direction with respect to the aiming shaft 61. It is inserted so that it can advance and retreat.
On the other hand, the pivot 40 has a screw hole 43 formed on the inner surface on the rear end side thereof and is screwed with the trapezoidal screw 31 of the shaft 30. The shaft 30 is attached to the gear cover 58 so as not to rotate.
For this reason, when the pivot 40 is rotationally driven together with the aiming shaft 61, the pivot 40 advances and retracts in the axial direction by a screw feeding action.

(2.5) Substrate Configuration and Action Substrate 80 has three power supply terminals 82 and a position sensor 83 arranged on a printed wiring board 81 on which electronic components such as capacitors and hybrid ICs are mounted (see FIG. 5).
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the end face side of the substrate 80 is supported by groove portions 14 (see FIG. 3) provided on both lower side surfaces of the front side (inner side) of the housing 10.

FIG. 10A is a partial perspective view for explaining the arrangement of the power supply terminals 82 on the printed wiring board 81 of the substrate 80, and FIG. 10B is a perspective view of the power supply terminals 82.
FIG. 11 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view for explaining a method of fixing the substrate 80.
One end 82 d of the three power supply terminals 82 is inserted in the thickness direction of the printed wiring board 81 and is soldered onto the printed wiring board 81. The other end 82 e has a bent portion 82 a that faces the end of the printed wiring board 81 at the end of the printed wiring board 81, and the bent portion 82 a moves forward and backward between the end of the printed wiring board 81 and the housing 10. It is sandwiched and fixed in a direction that coincides with the direction (see the arrow in FIG. 11).

Therefore, it is possible to prevent external force in the pushing direction and pulling direction acting on the power supply terminal 82 from reaching the soldered portion between the power supply terminal 82 and the printed wiring board 81, and to ensure connection reliability of the soldered portion. .
Further, the three power supply terminals 82 are formed with protruding portions 82 b and 82 c as detents with respect to the printed wiring board 81. Therefore, it can be directly arranged on the printed wiring board 81 alone, and the board 80 can be manufactured at low cost.

A position sensor 83 is provided on the printed wiring board 81 of the board 80. The position sensor 83 is composed of a slide resistor, and is composed of a main body portion 84 incorporating a resistor and a slide portion 85.
As shown in FIG. 5, the slide portion 85 is connected to the connecting portion 34 of the shaft 30. Then, as the slide portion 85 moves in conjunction with the axial advance and retreat of the shaft 30, the resistance value of the slide resistance changes, and the tilt angle of the reflector 140 can be measured and grasped by the change in the resistance value.

The board 80 is sandwiched and fixed between the housing 10 and the front cover 20 in the direction in which the end of the printed wiring board 81 is orthogonal to the plate thickness in accordance with the advancing / retreating direction of the shaft 30 (see FIG. 10).
Therefore, in the direction orthogonal to the plate thickness of the substrate 80 in which the moving direction of the slide portion 85 of the position sensor 83 that moves while being connected to the shaft 30 on the printed wiring board 81 of the substrate 80 coincides with the fixing direction of the substrate 80. It is stably fixed, and the tilt angle of the reflector 140 can be measured and grasped stably and accurately.

(3) Leveling Device and Optical Axis Adjusting Action / Effect of Vehicle Lamp Provided with Leveling Device The optical axis adjusting action of the leveling device 1 and the vehicle lamp 100 provided with the leveling device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described.

(3.1) Initial setting of the optical axis of the vehicular lamp 100 First, the initial setting of the optical axis in the vertical direction of the vehicular lamp 100 will be described.
When a cross screwdriver (plus screwdriver), which is an operating jig, is engaged with the crown gear portion 67 of the crown gear 65 and is manually rotated through the cross screwdriver, it is formed at the shaft end of the cross screwdriver. The crown gear portion 67 meshed with the tooth portion is rotated and the aiming gear 64 fitted in the connecting hole opened at the front end of the crown gear 65 is rotated.
Then, the gear portion 64 a of the aiming gear 64 meshes with the gear portion 63 of the aiming shaft 61, and the rotation is transmitted to the aiming shaft 61.

When the aiming shaft 61 is rotated, the projecting portion 42 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the pivot 40 is engaged with the guide groove portion 62a formed on the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 62 of the aiming shaft 61, and the pivot 40 is engaged with the aiming shaft. Rotate with 61.
On the other hand, the pivot 40 has a screw hole 43 formed on the inner surface on the rear end side thereof and is screwed with the trapezoidal screw 31 of the shaft 30. The shaft 30 is attached to the gear cover 58 so as not to rotate.
For this reason, when the pivot 40 is rotated together with the aiming shaft 61, the pivot 40 advances and retracts in the axial direction by a screw feeding action.
Therefore, the rotation of the pivot 40 does not affect the first drive transmission mechanism 50 and the motor 70 via the shaft 30.
As a result, the reflector 140 tilts in the vertical direction with the pivot 171 as the pivot, and the initial setting of the vertical optical axis of the vehicular lamp 100 is performed.

(3.2) Optical axis adjustment of vehicular lamp When the vertical optical axis adjustment of the vehicular lamp 100 is performed by remote control, for example, a change in the attitude of the vehicle is detected, and a change in the attitude of the vehicle is detected. Based on this, the motor 70 is driven to rotate.
When the motor 70 is driven to rotate, the sun fixed to the output shaft 71 of the motor 70 inside the first internal gear 54 formed on the inner surface of the gear case body 55 fixed to the housing 10 so as not to rotate. The rotation of the gear 51 causes the planetary gears 53, 53, 53 to rotate and revolve while meshing with the first internal gear 54 together with the planetary carrier 52.
The planetary gears 53, 53, 53 supported by the planetary carrier 52 are the inner surfaces of the gear case body 55 and rotate while meshing with a second internal gear 57 that is rotatably provided. 57 trapezoidal screws 56 rotate.

The trapezoidal screw 56 of the second internal gear 57 is screwed into the screw hole 32 provided on the inner peripheral surface on the rear end side of the shaft 30. The shaft 30 is attached to the housing 58 and the front cover 20 in the cylindrical portion 58a of the gear cover 58 so that the shaft 30 can advance and retreat in the front-rear direction, that is, the axial direction of the shaft 30 and cannot rotate. Therefore, when the second internal gear 57 rotates, the shaft 30 advances and retreats in the axial direction in a non-rotatable state with respect to the housing 10 and the front cover 20 by a screw feed action.

In the pivot 40, a screw hole 43 formed in the inner surface on the rear end side is screwed with the trapezoidal screw 32 of the shaft 30. Therefore, the pivot 40 moves forward and backward together with the shaft 30.
The ball portion 41 of the pivot 40 is attached to the ball receiving member 180 of the reflector 140. Therefore, when the pivot 40 advances and retracts in the direction of the solid arrow in FIG. 11 (the axial direction of the shaft 30) with respect to the housing 10 and the front cover 20 by the rotational drive of the motor 70, the ball receiving member 180 is moved to the broken arrow in FIG. The shaft 30 moves forward and backward in the direction.
As a result, the reflector 140 tilts up and down in the direction of the two-dot chain line in FIG. 11 around the horizontal line, and the optical axis of the vehicular lamp 100 is automatically adjusted in response to a change in the posture of the vehicle.

(4) Effect The first drive transmission mechanism 50 that remotely adjusts the optical axis of the vehicular lamp 100 uses a planetary gear mechanism as a speed reduction mechanism, and advances and retreats with respect to the output shaft 71 of the motor 70 and the housing 10. A shaft 40 and a pivot 40 that adjusts the optical axis of the vehicular lamp 100 by moving forward and backward while rotating with respect to the housing 10 by a screw feed action by screwing with the shaft 30 have the same axis center and the same. It is arranged on a straight line.
Therefore, the output shaft 71 of the motor 70 and the reflector 140 are arranged on the same straight line via the pivot 40 and the shaft 30, and the projection area for mounting on the vehicular lamp 100 is small, and the deceleration is performed. A leveling device 1 having a large ratio and high transmission efficiency is realized.
Moreover, since the board | substrate 80 and the 1st drive transmission mechanism 50 can be attached or detached integrally with respect to the housing 10, the leveling apparatus excellent in assembly property and maintainability can be provided.

The second drive transmission mechanism 60 for manually performing the initial setting of the optical axis of the vehicular lamp 100 is such that the shaft 30, the pivot 40, and the aiming shaft 61 are the axial centers of the first drive transmission mechanism 50. Are arranged on the same straight line.
The aiming gear 64 has one end of the shaft portion 64 b fitted into the crown gear 65, the front side of the shaft portion 64 b is supported by a bearing portion 55 a provided on the outer periphery of the gear case body 55, and the gear portion 64 a is connected to the aiming shaft 61. The gear portion 63 meshes with the meshing pitch circle to transmit the rotational drive of the crown gear 65 to the aiming shaft 61.
For this purpose, the bearing portion 55a provided on the outer periphery of the gear case body 55 is provided on the meshing pitch circle in accordance with the insertion direction of the cross screwdriver (plus screwdriver) as an operation jig, whereby the aiming operability is achieved. An excellent leveling device can be provided.

The leveling device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a substrate 80 for controlling the advance and retreat of the shaft 30 for remotely adjusting the optical axis of the vehicular lamp 100.
The three power supply terminals 82 for supplying electric power to the motor 70 are fixed by being sandwiched between the end portion of the printed wiring board 81 and the housing 10 in a direction in which the bent portion 82a coincides with the advancing / retreating direction of the shaft 30.
Therefore, when the leveling device 1 is mounted on the lamp housing 110 of the vehicular lamp 100 and a connector or the like (not shown) is connected with power supply from the outside, the external force acting on the power supply terminal 82 in the push-in direction and the pull-out direction is applied. Can be prevented from reaching the soldering portion between the power supply terminal 82 and the printed wiring board 81, and the connection reliability of the soldering portion can be ensured.

The movement direction of the slide portion 85 of the position sensor 83 that moves while being connected to the shaft 30 on the printed wiring board 81 of the board 80 is stable in the direction orthogonal to the thickness of the board 80 where the fixing direction of the board 80 coincides. It is fixed and the tilt angle of the reflector 140 can be measured and grasped stably and accurately.
Further, since the three power supply terminals 82 are directly and independently disposed on the printed wiring board 81, the board 80 can be manufactured at low cost.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described with specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. It is possible to make changes.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Leveling apparatus 10 ... Housing 11 ... Cylindrical part (housing)
12 ... Connector connecting part 13 ... Convex part 14 ... Groove (housing)
15 ... Recess (housing)
16 ... Holding part (housing)
20 ... front cover 21 ... cylindrical part (front cover)
22 ... Supporting part (front cover)
23 ... Projection 30 ... Shaft 31 ... Trapezoidal screw (shaft)
32 ... Screw hole 33 ... Projection (shaft)
34 ... Connecting part 40 ... Pivot 41 ... Spherical part 42 ... Protrusion (pivot)
43 ... Screw hole (pivot)
50 ... first drive transmission mechanism 51 ... sun gear 52 ... planet carrier 52a ... support shaft 52b ... carrier cover 53 ... planetary gear 54 ... first internal gear 55 .... Gear case body 55a ... Bearing part 55b ... Rotation stop 56 ... Trapezoid screw (second internal gear)
57 ... second internal gear 58 ... gear cover 58a ... cylindrical part (gear cover)
58b ... groove (gear cover)
60 ... Second drive transmission mechanism 61 ... Aiming shaft 62 ... Cylindrical part (Aiming shaft)
62a ... Guide groove (Aiming shaft)
63 ... Gear part (Aiming shaft)
64 ... Aiming gear 64a ... Gear part (Aiming gear)
64b ... Shaft (Aiming Gear)
65 ... Crown gear 66 ... Cylindrical part (crown gear)
67 ... Crown gear (crown gear)
70 ... motor 71 ... output shaft 72 ... feeding terminal 73 ... rear end projection 80 ... substrate 81 ... printed wiring board 82 ... feeding terminal 82a ... bent part 82b, 82c ... projection 83 ... position sensor 84 ... main body 85 ... slide 100 ... vehicle lamp 110 ... lamp housing 120 ... lens 130 ... light source bulb 140 ... reflector 150 ... lamp chamber 160 ... pivot point 170 ... pivot pin 171 ... pivot 175 ... bearing 176 ... bearing recess 180 ... ball receiving member S1 ... Seal member

Claims (5)

A housing;
A front cover,
A motor disposed within the housing;
A shaft that is non-rotatable and movable back and forth with respect to the housing, and that moves forward and backward with respect to the housing;
A pivot that adjusts the optical axis of the vehicular headlamp by screwing with a screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft and moving forward and backward with respect to the housing;
A first drive transmission mechanism that is disposed between the motor and the shaft, and advances and retracts the shaft relative to the housing by driving the motor;
A second drive transmission mechanism for manually moving the pivot forward and backward from the outside of the housing;
A board provided with a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to the motor,
The motor, the shaft, and the pivot are arranged such that the rotation center line of the output shaft of the motor, the advance / retreat center line of the shaft, and the rotation center line of the pivot coincide with each other.
A leveling device for a vehicular lamp characterized by the above. The first drive transmission mechanism is a sun gear fixed to the output shaft of the motor;
A plurality of planetary gears revolving while meshing with the sun gear;
A first internal gear meshing with the planetary gear and fixed to the housing;
A second internal gear having a trapezoidal screw formed concentrically with the rotation center line of the output shaft of the motor and rotating in mesh with the planetary gear,
The leveling device for a vehicular lamp according to claim 1. The second drive transmission mechanism includes a rotatable aiming shaft having a gear portion formed on one end side of a cylindrical portion in which a plurality of guide groove grooves are formed on an inner surface;
A gear member having a crown gear portion in a cylindrical portion in which a connecting hole opened at a front end is formed;
An aiming gear having a gear portion that has one end inserted into the coupling hole of the gear member and the other end meshing on a meshing pitch circle of the gear portion of the aiming shaft to transmit rotation of the gear member; Consists of
The leveling device for a vehicular lamp according to claim 1. The direction orthogonal to the plate thickness of the substrate is fixed by being sandwiched between the housing and the front cover in a direction that coincides with the advance / retreat direction of the shaft below the first drive transmission mechanism in the housing. Yes,
The leveling device for a vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The substrate includes a plurality of power supply terminals, one end of the power supply terminal is inserted in the thickness direction of the substrate, and the other end has a bent portion facing the end of the substrate at the end of the substrate. The bent portion is sandwiched and fixed between the end portion of the substrate and the housing in a direction coinciding with the advancing / retreating direction of the shaft,
The leveling device for a vehicle lamp according to claim 4.

Images