JP2813854B2 - Headlamp leveling mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel headlamp leveling mechanism. More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel headlamp leveling mechanism which is excellent in versatility without having to change specifications for each vehicle type, and which can be reduced in size and number of parts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An adjusting screw connected to a tilting member for changing an irradiation angle of irradiation light by being tilted, holding the adjusting screw and being non-rotatably and axially movable on a case body. There is a headlamp leveling mechanism that includes a screw holding shaft supported by the case body, and a worm wheel rotatably supported by the case body and immovable in the axial direction and screwed with the screw holding shaft.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional example a of such a headlamp leveling mechanism.

[0004] Reference numeral b denotes a case body, and c denotes a worm wheel rotatably supported by the case body b so as not to move in the axial direction, and is meshed with a worm gear e rotated by a motor d.

The worm wheel c is formed integrally with a cylindrical tubular portion f, and a thread groove g is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tubular portion f.

Reference numeral h denotes a screw holding shaft, which has a cylindrical shape and is provided with detent protrusions i, i at a substantially middle portion thereof, and a screw j is formed on an outer peripheral surface behind the detent protrusions i, i. Are formed. The thread j is screwed into the thread groove g of the worm wheel c.

[0007] k is a holding cylinder portion protruding from the front surface of the case body b, and engagement concave grooves l, 1 extending in the axial direction are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the holding cylinder portion k.

[0008] The locking protrusions i, i of the screw holding shaft h are slidably engaged with the engaging grooves l, l. Accordingly, the screw holding shaft h is supported by the case body b so as to be movable in the axial direction and not to rotate.

Then, an adjusting screw m is held by the screw holding shaft h.

Then, the adjusting screw m
Are connected to a not-shown reflecting mirror. The reflecting mirror is tiltably supported by a lamp body (not shown).

When the worm wheel c rotates, the screw holding shaft h screwed with the worm wheel c is moved forward or backward in accordance with the rotation direction of the worm wheel c, and the adjusting screw h m is moved forward or backward. Thereby, the reflecting mirror connected to the adjusting screw m is tilted to change the irradiation direction.

Reference numeral n denotes a movable contact plate that rotates integrally with the worm wheel c. Reference numeral o denotes a substrate supported by the case body b. A contact portion on which a contact is formed is formed. When the worm wheel c rotates, the connection relationship of the plurality of contacts of the contact portion formed on the substrate o by the movable contact plate n which rotates according to the rotation angle changes, whereby the rotation angle of the worm wheel c is detected. It is supposed to be. Then, the tilt angle of the reflecting mirror is indirectly detected based on the detected rotation angle. In addition, as an example of such a movable contact plate and a contact portion, for example, JP-A-1-2837
No. 02 can be mentioned.

[0013]

In the above-mentioned conventional headlamp leveling mechanism a, a worm wheel c is used.
The rotation angle of the worm wheel c is detected via the movable contact plate n which rotates integrally with the worm wheel c, and the tilt angle of the reflecting mirror is detected therefrom. If the relationship between the stroke and the tilt angle of the reflecting mirror is different, a movable contact plate or a contact portion dedicated to the vehicle type is required, and a dedicated device is required for each vehicle type.

In addition, there is a problem that the number of parts is large, the mounting space is required to be large, and the entire mechanism becomes large.

[0015]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a headlamp leveling mechanism according to the present invention comprises an adjusting screw connected to a tilting member whose irradiation angle is changed by being tilted. A screw holding shaft that holds the adjusting screw and is non-rotatably and axially movably supported by the case body; and is supported by the case body so as to be rotatable and immovable in the axial direction. a worm wheel screwed with the shaft, and a sensor for detecting the amount of movement in the axial direction of the screw holding the shaft, the sensor is illuminated light by detecting the amount of movement in the axial direction of the screw holding shaft directly Detects irradiation angle
Is what you do.

[0016]

Therefore, in the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention , the amount of movement of the screw holding shaft in the axial direction , that is, the amount of movement of the adjusting screw in the axial direction is directly detected. However, even if the adjusting screw stroke changes with respect to the tilting angle of the tilting member, it can be handled by changing the software of the detection circuit. Wealth, and thus significant cost reduction due to mass production effects.

Further, the number of parts is small, and furthermore, it is possible to reduce the size of the entire mechanism without taking a space for disposing the sensor.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a headlamp, 2 denotes a lamp body thereof, 3 denotes a reflecting mirror rotatably supported by the lamp body 2 in a vertical direction, and 4 denotes a lens which covers a front opening of the lamp body 2. It is.

In this embodiment, the reflecting mirror 3 is a tilting member whose irradiation angle is changed by tilting the reflecting mirror. In addition, the reflecting mirror 3 may be formed in a space defined by a lamp body and a lens. The lamp unit itself, in which a reflecting mirror and a light source are disposed, is rotatably supported with respect to the vehicle body, and this lamp unit may be used as a tilting member.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a headlamp leveling mechanism fixed to a vehicle body (not shown).

Reference numeral 6 denotes a case body, which is formed by integrally combining a front case 7 and a back case 8 which are divided into two parts.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a worm wheel, and the case body 6
It is supported rotatably. The worm wheel 9 cannot be moved in the front-rear direction.

The worm wheel 9 is formed with a cylindrical portion 10 having a cylindrical shape, and a thread groove 11 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 10. An annular groove 12 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 10 near the front end.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a positioning member, which is formed integrally with a cylindrical main portion 14 which is short in the axial direction and mounting pieces 15 projecting from the main portion 14 in opposite directions. An annular ridge 1 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the main portion 14.
6 are formed.

The mounting pieces 15 of the positioning member 13 are fixed to the case body 6 by screws, and the cylindrical portion 10 of the worm wheel 9 is rotated in the main portion 14 of the positioning member 13. The ridge 1 of the positioning member 13 is inserted into the concave groove 12 of the worm wheel 9 freely.
6 are slidably engaged. As a result, the worm wheel 9 is supported in the case body 6 so as to be rotatable and immovable in the axial direction.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a motor fixed in the case body 6,
Reference numeral 18 denotes a worm gear rotated by a motor 17, and the worm gear 18 is meshed with the worm wheel 9. Therefore, when the motor 17 is driven, the worm wheel 9 is rotated.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a screw holding shaft which has a cylindrical shape having a length twice as long as the cylindrical portion 10 of the worm wheel 9, and has a thread 20 formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof. In addition, detent projections 21, 21 projecting in opposite directions are integrally provided at the rear end.

The screw holding shaft 19 is located inside the cylindrical portion 10 of the worm wheel 9 so as to be fitted therein.
The thread 20 is screwed with the thread groove 11 of the worm wheel 9.

Reference numerals 22 and 22 denote guide projecting walls projecting forward from the back case 8 and each have a semicircular shape when viewed from the front-back direction. It is located on the circumference, and is positioned with a slight interval between the edges thereof, and the two intervals are defined by the sliding slits 23, 2
It is set to 3.

The detent projections 21, 21 of the screw holding shaft 19 are slidably engaged with the sliding slits 23, 23, respectively. As a result, the screw holding shaft 19 cannot be rotated.

When the worm wheel 9 is rotated, the screw holding shaft 1 screwed with the worm wheel 9 is rotated.
Since the worm wheel 9 is non-rotatably supported by the case body 6, the worm wheel 9 is fed forward or backward depending on the direction of rotation of the worm wheel 9.

Numeral 24 denotes an adjusting screw having an intermediate portion serving as a columnar supported portion 25, a front end portion serving as a screw shaft portion 26, and a rear end portion serving as a quadrangular prism-shaped operation portion 27. I have.

Then, the adjusting screw 2
4 indicates that the supported portion 25 is the screw holding shaft 1
It is supported rotatably at 9, but not axially movable. A substantially front half of the adjusting screw 24 is projected forward from the case body 6 and
Is projected to the rear of the case body 6. And
The screw shaft portion 26 is screwed to a nut 28 supported at a position near the turning end of the reflecting mirror 3, thereby connecting the headlamp leveling mechanism 5 and the reflecting mirror 3 as a tilting member.

When the worm wheel 9 rotates and the screw holding shaft 19 moves in the front-rear direction (axial direction) , the adjusting screw 24 supported by the screw holding shaft 19 moves in the front-rear direction (axial direction) . The reflecting mirror 3 is tilted up and down.

Reference numeral 29 denotes a resistance type sensor, and a case 30
The movable element 31 is supported movably in the front-rear direction, and the resistance value changes depending on the relative position of the movable element 31 with respect to the case 30. Further, a spring means (not shown) is associated with the moving element 31, and a moving force toward the front is elastically urged. The movable element 31 of such a sensor 29 has its end positioned within one of the sliding slits 23, 23, and is elastically contacted with one of the detent projections 21, 21 of the screw holding shaft 19 from behind. I have.

As the screw holding shaft 19 moves in the front-rear direction (axial direction) , the position of the moving element 31 of the sensor 29 changes, and the resistance value of the sensor 29 changes. Accordingly, by detecting this resistance value, the position of the screw holding shaft 19, and thus the position of the adjusting screw 24, can be detected, and from this, the tilt angle of the reflecting mirror 3 can be detected.

In this embodiment, a spring means is connected to the movable element 31 to elastically urge the forward moving force.
When the screw holding shaft 19 moves rearward, the mover 3 is pushed rearward by the rotation stopping projection 21 and moves.
When the screw holding shaft 19 moves forward, the moving element 31 moves forward by the moving force urged by the rotation stopping projection 21 as it moves forward. The spring means can be omitted by providing a holding projection at a small distance from one of the rotation stopping projections 21 so as to sandwich the movable element 31 between the rotation stopping projection 21 and the holding projection.

[0039]

According to the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention,
As described above, an adjusting screw connected to a tilting member whose irradiation angle of irradiation light is changed by being tilted, and a case body that holds the adjusting screw and is non-rotatably and axially fixed to the case body. A screw holding shaft movably supported, a worm wheel rotatably supported by the case body and immovable in the axial direction and screwed with the screw holding shaft, and an axial movement of the screw holding shaft and a sensor for detecting the amount, the sensor is characterized by detecting the irradiation angle of <br/> Therefore the irradiation light to detect the amount of movement in the axial direction of the screw holding shaft directly.

Therefore, in the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention, the amount of movement of the screw holding shaft in the axial direction , that is, the amount of movement of the adjusting screw in the axial direction is directly detected. Therefore, even if the vehicle type is different and the adjusting screw stroke changes with respect to the tilting angle of the tilting member, it can be dealt with by changing the software of the detection circuit, so there is no need to prepare different ones for each vehicle type. It is highly versatile, so that significant cost reduction due to mass production effects can be achieved.

Further, the number of parts is small, and furthermore, it is possible to reduce the size of the whole mechanism without taking a space for disposing the sensor.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective parts shown in the above-described embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is limited. Should not be interpreted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an outline of a headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a main part.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of a positioning member.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a conventional headlamp leveling mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Reflecting mirror (tilting member) 6 Case body 9 Worm wheel 19 Screw holding shaft 24 Adjusting screw 29 Sensor

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An adjusting screw connected to a tilting member for changing an irradiation angle of irradiation light by being tilted; holding the adjusting screw; and being non-rotatably and axially movable in a case body. A worm wheel rotatably supported by the case body so as to be immovable in the axial direction and screwed with the screw holding shaft; and an amount of movement of the screw holding shaft in the axial direction. and a sensor for detecting, the sensor detects the irradiation angle of the irradiation light by detecting the transfer <br/> momentum in the axial direction of the screw holding shaft directly
A headlamp leveling mechanism that emits light.