JP2015069699A - Vehicle lighting appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle lighting appliance which is excellent in an assembling property, and can surly obtain desired seal performance.SOLUTION: A cylindrical opening edge 23 protruding to a housing back face side, and an opening edge engagement protrusion 24 protrusively formed at an internal peripheral side of the opening edge 23 are formed at a housing bottom hole 22 which is formed at a back face of a housing 2. Cylindrical sidewalls 32, 52 smaller in diameters than the opening edge, and sidewall engagement protrusions 33, 53 are formed at a socket cover 30 or a lamp socket 50. The sidewalls 32, 52 and the opening edge 23 have a clearance between themselves, and a seal gasket 40 is fixed to the clearance. The seal gasket suppresses the twist of a gasket with a direction P in which the seal gasket is compressed as a direction orthogonal to a direction M in which the socket cover 30 or the lamp socket 50 is attached.

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighting device for a vehicle such as a motorcycle or a four-wheeled vehicle, and a light source provided with a socket can be replaced in a lamp chamber sealed by a lamp housing and a lens cover covering a front opening of the lamp housing. The present invention relates to a vehicle signal lamp to be attached.

  2. Description of the Related Art A tail / stop lamp provided at the rear of a vehicle body has recently incorporated a plurality of lamps such as a tail / stop top lamp and a turn lamp in a single lamp housing as a rear combination lamp. In addition, a tail lamp of a motorcycle has a turn lamp or the like incorporated in the body cover. In these vehicle signal lamps, a light source unit is incorporated in a space formed by a lamp housing and a lens cover, and the lamp housing is fixed to a vehicle body using a screw member.

  FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view of a main part of a conventional vehicle signal lamp. The illustrated vehicle signal lamp 101 covers a lamp housing 102 that opens toward the front of the vehicle (downward in FIG. 5) and its opening. A lamp chamber 104 that is hermetically sealed by the lens cover 103 is configured to accommodate a bulb 105 that is a light source and a reflector 106 that reflects light emitted from the bulb 105, and the light from the bulb 105 is reflected by the reflector 106. Then, the light passes through the lens 103 and is irradiated forward of the vehicle.

  The valve 105 is supported by a socket 107, and a claw-like hook is formed on the outer periphery of the socket 107. Then, the socket 107 supporting the bulb 105 is inserted into the light source insertion hole 102a formed in the housing 102 from the rear of the housing 102, and the hook formed on the outer periphery thereof is engaged with the peripheral edge of the light source insertion hole 102a of the housing 102. As a result, the valve 105 is inserted into the housing 102 together with the socket 107. This type of vehicle signal lamp is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

  Further, a headlight provided in front of the vehicle body is installed such that a light source such as a halogen bulb or a discharge lamp can be exchanged for the reflector. In order to perform the replacement work, the housing is provided with an opening for replacing the light source, and the opening is closed with a socket cover.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a socket cover mounting portion of a conventional vehicle headlamp. The lamp housing 102 houses a light source and a reflector (not shown) in the lamp chamber as in FIG. In addition, an opening for exchanging a light source (not shown) is provided on the back side of the lamp housing 102. The socket cover 110 is detachably attached to the opening peripheral edge 112. The socket cover 110 is formed of the same material as the lamp housing 102 and closes the opening so as to cover a socket of a light source (not shown). An opening peripheral rib 113 is formed on the peripheral edge 112 of the opening to which the socket cover 110 is attached so as to protrude rearward. A socket cover flange surface 115 is formed around the socket cover 110 so as to protrude outward. A seal gas gasket 111 is installed in a space surrounded by the opening peripheral rib 113, the socket cover flange surface 115, and the opening peripheral edge portion 112, and the socket cover 110 is attached in a state where pressure in the direction indicated by the arrow M is applied to the seal gas gasket 111. Thus, the socket cover 110 is attached. A vehicle signal lamp provided with a socket cover is disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example.

JP 2004-281314 A JP 2005-071638 A

  The vehicular lamp 101 shown in FIG. 5 is configured so that the replacement of the light source body (insertion / removal of the socket) can be performed while maintaining a waterproof function, and the socket insertion hole is secured by an O-ring 108. . The mounting direction of the socket 107 is the direction indicated by the arrow M in the drawing. The mounting direction M and the compression direction of the O-ring 108 are equal.

  In the vehicular lamp shown in FIG. 6, the socket cover 110 is waterproofed by a seal gasket 111. The mounting direction of the socket cover 110 is the direction indicated by the arrow M in the figure, and the mounting direction M and the compression direction of the seal gasket 111 are equal.

  5, the mounting direction M of the socket 107 is equal to the compression direction of the O-ring 108, and in FIG. 6, the mounting direction M of the socket cover 110 is equal to the compression direction of the seal gasket 108. When the mounting direction and the compression direction of the O-ring or the like are made equal in this way, the O-ring or the seal gasket is mounted on the lamp housing 102 while being compressed. In order to install while being compressed, the assembly work must be carried out against the repulsive force generated during the assembly. Further, when tightened by rotating during assembly, there is a problem that the O-ring or the seal gasket is assembled in a twisted state due to frictional resistance by tightening, and the sealing performance may be deteriorated.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp that has a housing bottom hole sealing structure that is excellent in assemblability and that can reliably obtain desired sealing performance.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention forms a housing bottom hole having a cylindrical opening edge projecting toward the back side of the housing in the lamp housing, and forms a cylindrical outer peripheral side wall in the lamp socket or socket cover. A gap is formed between the opening edge and the outer peripheral side wall. The gap is characterized in that an elastic member is held in a compressed state by the outer peripheral wall and the opening edge.

  In addition, the elastic member mainly includes an outer peripheral surface bulging portion swelled toward the outer peripheral surface side and an inner peripheral surface bulging portion swelled toward the inner peripheral surface side.

  In the vehicular lamp of the present invention, the assembling direction when the lamp housing and the lamp socket or the socket cover are assembled in a watertight manner and the compression direction of the elastic member having a waterproof function are different directions. As a result, it is possible to improve the assembling property and to make it difficult to cause problems such as twisting of the elastic member, thereby reducing the mounting failure and facilitating the mounting work. Further, the mounting direction of the lamp socket or the socket cover and the compression direction of the elastic member can be made different so that the compression force of the elastic member does not greatly depend on the mounting pressure. Thus, the compressive force applied to the elastic member can always control the water tightness stably at a desired pressure, and the water tight seal performance between the lamp housing and the lamp socket or the socket cover can be ensured.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a main part of a headlamp provided in front of a vehicle of a vehicle signal lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic horizontal sectional view showing a state immediately before a socket cover is attached. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a main part of a headlamp provided in front of the vehicle signal lamp according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state in which a socket cover is attached in a cross section at a position different from FIG. It is a schematic horizontal sectional view. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a circled portion in FIG. . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of the socket according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view of a main part of a conventional vehicle signal lamp. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a socket cover mounting portion of a conventional vehicle headlamp.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings for a headlamp to which a socket cover is attached as an example of a vehicle lamp.

  As in the case of the rear combination lamp 101 shown in FIG. 5, the vehicular lamp 1 that is a headlamp has a front surface (front side of the vehicle) of the lamp housing 2 covered with a transparent lens cover, and is not shown with the lamp housing 2. A light source 5 and a reflector 6 are disposed in a lamp chamber 4 surrounded by a lens cover.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a main part of a headlamp provided in front of the vehicle, and is a schematic horizontal sectional view showing a state immediately before the socket cover 30 is attached. FIG. 2 is a schematic horizontal sectional view showing a state in which the socket cover 30 is attached in a cross section at a position different from that in FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a circled portion in FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a headlamp which is a vehicular lamp.
The lamp housing 2 has a bottom that opens to the front, and is formed in a concave shape that bulges in a curved surface toward the vehicle body. The inside of the recess is the lamp chamber 4. A circular housing bottom hole 22 is formed in the lamp housing bottom 21 so as to face the lens cover. The housing bottom hole 22 is configured to cover the socket cover 30 via a seal gasket 40.

  The housing bottom hole 22 is provided in correspondence with the illumination unit including the reflector 6 and the light source 5 disposed in the lamp chamber 4. The light source 5 is detachably attached to the reflector, and the housing bottom hole 22 is formed at a position corresponding to the light source attaching / detaching part, and the light source 5 can be inserted and removed through the housing bottom hole 22. When watertight sealing is performed with the socket cover 30, attachment is performed without using an O-ring described later when the light source 5 and the reflector 6 are fitted.

  A cylindrical opening edge 23 is integrally formed around the housing bottom hole 22 so as to extend rearward from the lamp housing bottom 21, that is, toward the vehicle body side that is the rear side of the housing. The inner diameter of the opening edge 23 is set such that the light source 5 can be exchanged through the housing bottom hole 22. Opening edge engaging protrusions 24 that protrude in a direction substantially orthogonal to the opening edge 23 are formed at a plurality of locations on the inner peripheral side of the opening edge 23. The opening edge engaging protrusion 24 is formed on the inner peripheral surface 23a of the opening edge. Further, a locking portion (not shown) is formed on the light source side surface 24a of the opening edge engaging protrusion 24, and engages a socket cover 30 described later. The locking portion is preferably provided with a hook structure or a screw structure.

  The socket cover 30 is formed separately from the lamp housing 2 so as to be detachable so as to cover the housing bottom hole 22 and close the hole. The socket cover 30 has a cylindrical shape having a bottom surface 31 and an opening facing the bottom surface 31. The cylindrical side wall 32 is formed substantially orthogonal to the bottom surface 31.

  A plurality of side wall engaging projections 33 are formed at the tip of the side wall 32 as shown in FIG. The side wall engaging protrusion 33 is formed so as to protrude in the outer peripheral direction substantially orthogonal to the side wall 32 and is configured to engage with the opening edge engaging protrusion 24 provided on the housing 2. A locking portion (not shown) is formed on the opening edge engaging protrusion 24 and the surface 33a opposite to the light source of the side wall engaging protrusion 33, and engages with the opening edge engaging protrusion 24 described above. It is preferable that the locking portion is provided with a hook structure or a screw structure corresponding to the opening edge engaging protrusion 24.

  On the outer peripheral surface 32 a of the side wall 32, a flange portion 34 is formed between the bottom surface 31 and the tip. When the socket cover 30 is engaged with the lamp housing 2, the flange 34 is located at the upper part of the upper end of the opening edge 23 as shown in FIG. In order to protrude, it is formed upright with respect to the outer peripheral surface 32a. Thereby, the seal gasket accommodating part 45 between the side wall 32 of the socket cover and the opening edge 23 of the lamp housing can be covered, and water and dust can be prevented from entering the seal gasket accommodating part 45. A surface 34a on the side wall tip of the flange 34 is formed in a step shape as shown in an enlarged view in FIG.

  Further, a rib 35 is formed on the outer peripheral surface 32 a of the side wall 32 between the flange portion 34 and the tip. As shown in FIG. 3, the rib 35 protrudes into the seal gasket housing portion 45 and abuts against the inner peripheral surface 41 of the seal gasket 40 to control the movement of the seal gasket 40.

  The seal gasket 40 is formed in an annular shape by an elastic member such as rubber. The inner peripheral surface 41 of the seal gasket and the outer peripheral surface 42 of the seal gasket are formed with an inner peripheral surface bulging portion 41a and an outer peripheral surface bulging portion 42a extending in the circumferential direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the seal gasket 40 is positioned so that the inner peripheral surface bulged portion 41 a is positioned between the rib 34 and the surface 34 a on the side wall tip side of the flange portion formed in a step shape. And attached to the socket cover 30.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the seal gasket 40 is attached to the lamp housing 2 while being attached to the outer periphery of the side wall of the socket cover 30. When the socket cover 30 is assembled, the seal gasket 40 is held in a compressed state inside the seal gasket housing 45 as shown in FIG. The inner peripheral surface bulging portion 41 a abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the side wall of the socket cover 30, and the outer peripheral surface bulging portion 42 a abuts on the inner peripheral surface 23 a of the opening edge of the lamp housing 2. The opening edge engaging protrusion 24 and the side wall engaging protrusion 33 are engaged.

  Next, the relationship between the assembly direction of the socket cover 30 and the compression direction of the seal gasket 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  Reference symbol M is an arrow indicating the assembly direction of the socket cover 30, and reference symbol P is an arrow indicating the compression direction of the seal gasket 40 by the socket cover 30 when the socket cover 30 is assembled.

  In the state before the socket cover 30 is assembled, as shown in FIG. The lamp housing 2, the socket cover 30, and the seal gasket 40 are formed in a predetermined relationship so as to have a size located at the position. When the socket cover 30 is inserted into the opening edge 23 in the direction of the arrow M and rotated and fitted in the circumferential direction, the outer periphery direction of the socket cover 30, that is, the opening edge 23 is expanded as shown in FIG. The assembly is performed with the directional pressure applied to the seal gasket 40.

  With the above configuration, when the seal gasket 40 is attached, the insertion direction M and the compression direction P when the socket cover 30 is inserted are substantially orthogonal to each other. When the socket cover 30 attached with the seal gasket inner peripheral surface 41 in contact with the side wall 32 is attached to the lamp housing 2, the seal gasket outer peripheral surface 42 is inserted while being in contact with the opening edge inner peripheral surface 23a. A frictional force is generated by the insertion, and a rotational force indicated by an arrow R in FIG. 1 is applied to the seal gasket 40. The seal gasket 40 is positioned between the rib 35 and the surface 34a on the side of the side wall of the flange. Therefore, the seal gasket 40 is prevented from being twisted.

  Therefore, as compared with the case where the mounting direction M and the compression direction are the same as in the conventional structure, the assembling work can be easily performed with less force. Further, the occurrence of twisting of the seal gasket 40 when the socket cover 30 is rotated and fitted in the circumferential direction of the side wall is also suppressed.

  In addition, when each of the lamp housing 2 and the socket cover 30 is molded by an injection molding method, the parting line of a mold for molding each product is a surface in contact with the seal gasket 30 in the seal gasket housing portion 45. So as not to be provided on the surface. This is because if the parting line is a surface in contact with the seal gasket, a step, a burr or the like that may occur in the parting line may reduce the sealing performance.

(Second Embodiment)
Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings for a rear combination lamp having a structure in which a socket cover is used as an example of a vehicle lamp.

  The vehicular lamp, which is a rear combination lamp, has a front surface (front side of the vehicle) of the lamp housing covered with a transparent lens cover in the same manner as the rear combination lamp 101 shown in FIG. A light source and a reflector are arranged in the lamp chamber surrounded by. The light source is watertightly fixed to the lamp housing using a socket.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of the socket according to the second embodiment.

  A light source mounting portion 51 is formed on one side of the socket 50. A power supply terminal (not shown) is provided in the light source attachment portion 51, and a light source (not shown) attached to the light source attachment portion is fixed. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a wedge base bulb socket 50 when a wedge base bulb is used as a light source. The type of light source is not limited to the wedge-based light bulb, and other types of light sources may be used. Further, the socket 50 to which the light source is attached is configured to be detachably attached to a bottom hole of a lamp housing (not shown) through a seal gasket 40 in a watertight manner.

  A connector portion 55 is formed on the side of the socket 50 opposite to the side where the light source mounting portion 51 is provided. The connector portion 55 has a power supply terminal (not shown) provided in the light source mounting portion 51 extending. Between the light source mounting portion 51 and the connector portion 55, a flange portion 54 that extends in the circumferential direction is formed. On the distal end side in the circumferential direction of the flange portion 54, a side wall 52 that rises toward the light source attachment portion 51 side with respect to the circumferential direction in which the flange portion 54 spreads is formed. A plurality of side wall engaging projections 53 are formed at the tip of the side wall 52 as shown in FIG. The side wall engaging projection 53 is formed so as to protrude in the outer peripheral direction substantially orthogonal to the side wall 52 and is configured to engage with an opening edge engaging projection provided on a housing (not shown). Since the engagement structure of the opening edge engaging protrusion and the side wall engaging protrusion 53 is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here. Reference sign M is an arrow indicating the assembly direction of the socket 50 and is orthogonal to the compression direction of the seal gasket 40.

  With the above configuration, when the seal gasket 40 is attached, the insertion direction M when the socket 50 is inserted and the compression direction of the seal gasket are substantially orthogonal to each other. When the socket 50 attached with the inner peripheral surface of the seal gasket in contact with the side wall 52 is attached to the lamp housing, the outer peripheral surface of the seal gasket is inserted in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the opening edge.

  Therefore, as compared with the case where the mounting direction M and the compression direction are the same as in the conventional structure, the assembling work can be easily performed with less force. Further, the occurrence of twisting of the seal gasket 40 when the socket cover 30 is rotated and fitted in the circumferential direction of the side wall is also suppressed.

  The above embodiment is merely an example in all respects. The present invention is not construed as being limited to these descriptions. For example, although an example in which a light bulb such as a wedge base light bulb is used as a light source has been described, the present invention can be applied to a case where a socket or a socket cover is provided even when an LED is used as a light source.

  According to the vehicular lamp according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicular lamp that is excellent in assembling property and can reliably obtain a desired sealing performance. Therefore, not only stop lights, direction indicators, reverse lights, illumination lamps, high-mount stop lamps, etc. provided at the rear of the vehicle, various vehicle signal lamps, turn lamps provided at the side of the vehicle, headlamps provided at the front of the vehicle, It can be applied to various vehicle lamps such as fog lamps.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle lamp 2 Lamp housing 3 Lens cover 4 Lamp chamber 5 Light source 6 Reflector 21 Lamp housing bottom part 22 Housing bottom part hole 23 Opening edge 24 Opening edge engagement protrusion 30 Socket cover 31 Bottom face 32 Side wall 33 Side wall engagement protrusion 34 Gutter 35 Rib 40 Seal gasket 50 Socket 51 Light source mounting portion 52 Side wall 53 Side wall engaging projection 54 Hook portion 55 Connector portion 101 Vehicle lamp 102 Lamp housing 103 Lens cover 104 Lamp chamber 105 Light source (bulb)
106 Reflector 110 Socket cover 111 Seal gasket

Claims (2)

A lamp housing to be attached to the vehicle body, a lens cover that covers the front surface of the lamp housing, and at least one light source provided in a lamp chamber surrounded by the lamp housing and the lens cover,
A housing bottom hole is formed on the back surface of the lamp housing facing the lens cover,
In a vehicle lamp for attaching a lamp socket or a socket cover to be detachably attached to the bottom hole of the housing in a watertight manner,
The housing bottom hole includes a cylindrical opening edge protruding toward the housing rear side, and an opening edge engaging protrusion protruding on the inner peripheral side of the cylindrical opening edge,
The lamp socket or the socket cover includes a cylindrical wall having a diameter smaller than that of the opening edge, a side wall engaging protrusion protruding from the side wall in an outer peripheral direction, and an elastic member fixing step.
An annular elastic member that is in contact with the side wall at the inner peripheral surface and in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the opening edge at the outer peripheral surface is attached to the fixed step portion,
Fixed to the lamp housing through the above,
The side wall and the opening edge are engaged with the side wall engaging protrusion and the opening edge engaging protrusion so that a gap is formed between the side wall and the opening edge,
In the gap, the elastic member is held in a compressed state by the side wall and the opening edge.
The elastic member includes an outer peripheral surface bulging portion swelled on the outer peripheral surface side, and an inner peripheral surface bulging portion swelled on the inner peripheral surface side,
The said outer peripheral surface bulging part and the said inner peripheral surface bulging part are formed in the elliptical curved surface in the cross-sectional shape of the direction orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the said elastic member. The vehicle lamp as described.

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