JP3226318B2 - Automotive headlamp tilt measuring instrument - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a measuring device for confirming whether the irradiation direction of a headlamp for a vehicle in the left-right direction, that is, the irradiation angle in the left-right direction of the lamp is at a proper position. If not, the present invention relates to an inclination measuring device for a headlamp for an automobile, which can easily be adjusted so that the irradiation angle in the left-right direction of the headlamp becomes a normal position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A headlamp for an automobile will be described by taking a reflector movable headlamp in which a reflector is tiltably supported in a lamp body as an example. As shown in FIG. The back side of 202 is supported by three aiming screws 203 and 204 extending forward and backward and one swing fulcrum 205. FIG. 7 is a front view of the reflector.
Reference numerals 3 and 204 respectively extend in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The aiming screws 203 and 204 are used for the lamp body 20.
1 is supported rotatably on the rear wall of the reflector 20 by aiming screws 203 and 204.
The two support points are arranged, for example, orthogonally to the swing fulcrum 205 when viewed from the front of the lamp. By turning the aiming screws 203 and 204, the reflector 202 is tilted around the horizontal axis Lx and the vertical axis Ly, respectively, to adjust the irradiation angle of the lamp. Reference numeral 206 denotes a bulb which is a light source mounted on the reflector 202.

[0003] Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a guide member 202 fixed to the rear wall of the lamp body 201 and extending in parallel with the aiming screw 203 is shown in FIG.
And the nut 20 screwed into the aiming screw 203
4, a slide case 205 slidably mounted on the nut 204 and the guide member 202, and a reference point 2 provided between the guide member 202 and the slide case 205.
06 and a linear scale 207, and a zero-point adjusting screw 208 which is screwed into the female screw portion 206 a of the slide case 205 and the female screw portion 204 a of the nut 204 and slides the nut 204 forward and backward with respect to the slide case 205.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional inclination measuring instrument has a problem that the number of parts is large, the structure is very complicated, the cost is high, and the assembling to the headlamp is complicated. . SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an inclination measuring device for a headlamp for an automobile which has a small number of parts, has a simple structure, and is easy to assemble.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a tilting member having a light reflecting surface for setting an irradiation direction of a lamp is provided as a reference member. One swinging fulcrum supported by the member, and a left-right aiming screw and a vertical aiming screw supported by the reference member, penetrating the reference member back and forth, and supported by three points, rotating the aiming screw. By operating the tilting member in the vertical and horizontal directions with respect to the reference member, respectively,
A tilting member movable type automobile headlamp for adjusting an irradiation angle of a headlamp, wherein a male screw portion is formed at a protruding portion of the left-right direction aiming screw backward of the reference member, and the aiming screw is supported by a reference member. A guide member extending substantially in parallel with the external thread portion, and being assembled between the external thread portion and the guide member, a tilt measuring device for measuring the tilt of the tilting member in the left-right direction,
An opening portion for introducing a male screw portion is formed on one side of the inclination measuring device, and a nut member having a U-shaped cross section to be screwed into a male screw portion of the aiming screw projecting rearward of the reference member, and the guide member A slide member integrally slidably engaged with the nut member and attached to the nut member to prevent the nut member from rotating, and a slide member provided between the guide member and the slide member, and an amount of movement of the nut member relative to the guide member. And a relative scale indicating the following.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the slide member is assembled to the nut member so as to be slidable back and forth, and the zero point of the scale can be adjusted by sliding the slide member back and forth. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the means according to the first aspect is applied to a reflector movable head lamp in which the reference member is a lamp body and the tilting member is a reflector that can tilt in the lamp body.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the reference member is a lamp housing, and the tilting member is a lamp body / reflector unit in which a reflector is integrally formed on an inner peripheral surface of the lamp body. The first means is applied.

[0008]

[Function] When the left-right aiming screw is turned,
The tilting member tilts with respect to the reference member (tilts around the tilting central axis), and the nut member advances and retreats along the male screw portion. The amount of tilt of the tilting member relative to the reference member due to the rotation of the aiming screw (the amount of movement of the point at which the tilting member is supported by the left-right aiming screw in the front-rear direction) is proportional to the amount of movement between the slide member and the guide member; The amount of tilting of the tilting member with respect to the reference member, ie, the amount of deviation of the irradiation angle of the head lamp, appears as a change in the scale between the slide member and the guide member attached to the nut member. For this reason, it is possible to know from the change in the scale whether or not the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction is appropriate, and, if not, the amount of deviation. If there is a deviation, the irradiation angle may be adjusted by an aiming screw so as to eliminate the deviation in the scale.

When the male screw portion of the aiming screw is pressed against the male screw portion introduction opening of the nut member, the U-shaped horizontal bar-shaped region forming the opening of the nut member is expanded, and the male screw portion is engaged with the nut member. Then, the slide member engaged with the guide member is attached to the nut member. In claim 2, the scale can be zero-adjusted by sliding the slide member back and forth with respect to the nut member.

[0010]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 6 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a reflector movable type headlamp in which a reference member is a lamp body and a tilting member is a reflector. FIG. 1 is assembled with a tilt measuring instrument. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the headlamp (a sectional view taken along line II-II shown in FIG. 1), and FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the headlamp (a line shown in FIG. 1). 4 is a perspective view of a tilt measuring device for measuring the inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the tilt measuring device, and FIG. It is a cross-sectional view of a measuring device.

In these figures, reference numeral 2 denotes a container-like lamp body as a reference member, and a parabolic reflector 4 as a tilting member into which a bulb 3 as a light source is inserted is provided in the lamp body 2. The front lens 6 is mounted on the front opening of the lamp body 2 and is integrated as a headlamp. The reflector 4 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, the lamp body 2 is supported by three points, a ball joint 10, a horizontal aiming screw 20, and a vertical aiming screw 30. The ball portion 12 of the ball joint 10 is fixedly supported on the lamp body 2 side, and the ball receiving portion 14 engaging with the ball portion 12 is inserted and fixed to a bracket 7 protruding from the rear side of the reflector 4. Has a structure capable of swinging about this ball joint 10. Also aiming screw 20,
30 extend forward and backward through the lamp body 2 and are supported by the lamp body 2 at the penetrating portion. The front ends of the screws 20 and 30 are screwed to the screw support nuts 21 and 31 on the reflector 4 side. . Jig engaging portions 23 and 33 such as a screwdriver are formed at the extending ends of the aiming screws 20 and 30 to the rear of the lamp body, and the nuts 21 and 31 are turned by turning the aiming screws 20 and 30. It advances and retreats along the screws 20 and 30, whereby the inclination of the reflector 4 is changed.

That is, the left-right aiming screw 20
Of the reflector 4 (the engaging portion between the aiming screw 20 and the screw support nut 21) is orthogonal to the irradiation axis L of the headlamp (see FIG. 2) and the ball joint 1
0, which is located on the horizontal axis Lx and is supported by the vertical aiming screw 30 for the unit 4 (engagement portion between the aiming screw 30 and the screw support nut 31)
Is perpendicular to the irradiation axis L of the headlamp and the ball joint 10
Are located on a vertical axis Ly passing through. Therefore, when the aiming screw 20 is rotated, the screw support nut 21 advances and retreats along the screw 20, and the reflector 4 tilts around the vertical axis Ly, and the lamp body 2, which is a reference member of the reflector 4, which is a tilting member, , That is, the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction can be adjusted. On the other hand, aiming screw 3
0, the screw support nut 31 advances and retreats along the screw 30, and the reflector 4
By tilting around a horizontal axis Lx orthogonal to y, the vertical tilt of the reflector 4 as a tilting member with respect to the lamp body 2 as a reference member, that is, the vertical irradiation angle of the headlamp can be adjusted. As described above, the tilting of the reflector 4, that is, the irradiation angle of the headlamp can be adjusted by the two aiming screws 20 and 30.

In FIGS. 4 to 6, reference numeral 20a denotes a male screw portion 20a formed on the rear projection of the lamp body of the left-right aiming screw 20. The male screw portion 20a is formed on the rear wall of the lamp body 2 in parallel with the male screw portion 20a. Lamp body 2
A guide member 60 having an L-shaped cross section is integrally formed with the guide member. Reference numeral 50 denotes a first inclination measuring device which is assembled between the male screw portion 20a of the aiming screw and the guide member and measures the inclination of the reflector 4 in the left-right direction, that is, the inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction. is there. The tilt measuring device 50 includes a nut member 52 screwed into the aiming screw male screw portion 20a, and a guide member 6.
And a slide member 70 attached to the nut member 52 to prevent the nut member 52 from rotating.

The nut member 52 is made of synthetic resin and is formed in a U-shape in cross section with an opening 53 for introducing a male screw on the lower surface, and a male screw portion of a screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the nut member 52. A female screw portion 54 that engages with 20a is formed. Then, by aligning the opening 53 with the male screw portion 20a and pressing the nut member 52, the nut member 52 can be easily assembled to the male screw portion 20a.

On the side of the nut member 52 opposite to the opening 53, a rectangular plate-shaped slide member 70 is attached and integrated by screws 56. Reference numeral 55 denotes the nut member 52
The slide member 70 is formed with a screw insertion hole which can be inserted through the screw 56 and has an elongated hole 71 corresponding to the hole 55. A groove 72 extending in the front-rear direction is formed on a side edge of the slide member 70 opposite to the long hole 71 side.
The side edge 61 of the guide member 60 is engaged with the groove 72. A sharp cursor 74 is formed on the slide member 70, and a linear scale 62 is formed on the upper surface of the guide member 60.
Are formed.

When the aiming screw 20 is turned, the slide member 70 integrated with the nut member 60 is rotated.
Move back and forth along the guide member 60. For this reason, the amount of movement of the reflector 4 in the left-right direction (the amount of tilt around the vertical axis Ly) appears as the amount of movement of the cursor 74 of the slide member 70, and the cursor 74 is previously set to the zero point 6 of the scale 62.
By adjusting the scale to the position 2a (hereinafter referred to as the zero adjustment of the scale), the degree of inclination of the reflector 4 in the left-right direction can be known from the scale display indicated by the cursor 74.
The zero adjustment of the scale is performed by loosening the screw 56 and sliding the slide member 70 along the nut member 52, that is, along the guide member 60.

Next, a procedure for assembling the first inclination measuring device 50 to the aiming screw 20 will be described. Prior to assembling the tilt measuring device 50, aiming adjustment (tilt adjustment of the reflector 4 in the vertical and horizontal directions) is performed.
The case where the inclination measuring device 50 is assembled to the aiming screw 20 of the headlamp whose aiming has been adjusted will be described. The nut member 52 is pressed from the opening 53 side, and the nut member 52 is attached to the male screw portion 20a. Next, the groove 72 of the slide member 70 is engaged with the side edge 61 of the guide member 60, and the screw 56 is screwed into the hole 55 to temporarily fix the slide member 70 to the nut member 52. Then, the slide member 70 is slid back and forth so that the cursor 74 matches the zero point 62a of the scale.
6, the slide member 70 is fixed to the nut member 52.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 80 denotes a bubble tube tilt measuring instrument for measuring the vertical tilt of the reflector 4, that is, the vertical tilt of the irradiation angle of the headlamp. The measuring device 80 is a container-like casing 8 opening upward.
1, a lid 82 supported on the casing 81 so as to be swingable with respect to the horizontal axis Lx, and a straight bubble tube 84 suspended from the lid 82 and accommodated in the casing 81. I have. Reference numeral 86 denotes an adjustment screw for adjusting the zero point of the bubble tube 84.

In the above embodiment, the guide member 60 is used.
Is described as a structure integrally formed with the lamp body 2, but a structure in which a guide member 60 formed separately from the lamp body 2 is fixed to the lamp body 2 by screws or the like may be used. In the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been described by taking the reflector movable head lamp as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the reflector movable head lamp, and the reference member is a lamp housing, and the tilting member is a lamp body. A movable headlamp as a reflector unit, that is, a lamp body / reflector unit which is a tilting member in which a reflector is integrally formed on the inner peripheral surface of a container-like lamp body, and a lamp which is a reference member by an aiming mechanism The same applies to headlamps of the type that are tiltably supported with respect to the housing.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, the inclination measuring device for a vehicle headlamp according to the present invention is composed of only three members, a nut member, a guide member and a slide member, and has a small number of parts. The configuration is very simple,
It can be provided at a lower price. In addition, the opening for introducing the male screw of the nut member is pressed against the male screw of the aiming screw, the nut is assembled to the male screw of the aiming screw, and then the slide member is engaged with the guide member and attached to the nut member. Since the inclination measuring device can be assembled to the headlamp, the assembling of the inclination measuring device to the headlamp is greatly simplified.

According to the second aspect, the scale can be easily adjusted to the zero point by sliding the slide member back and forth with respect to the fixed holder.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a reflector movable headlamp.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the headlamp (the line II shown in FIG. 1).
Sectional view along -II)

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the headlamp (line III shown in FIG. 1).
Sectional view along -III)

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tilt measuring device for measuring the tilt of the irradiation angle in the left-right direction.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the tilt measuring instrument.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the tilt measuring instrument.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a headlamp to which a conventional inclination measuring device is attached.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the tilt measuring instrument.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Lamp body as a reference member 3 Bulb as a light source 4 Reflector as a tilting member 6 Front lens 10 Ball joint as a swing fulcrum of the reflector 20 Left / right direction aiming screw 20a Right / left direction aiming screw is projected to the rear of the lamp body. Formed male screw part 30 Vertical aiming screw 50 Tilt measuring device for measuring the inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction 52 Nut member 53 Opening for introducing a male screw part 54 Female screw part 56 Screw for zero point adjustment 60 Guide member 62 Scale 62a Scale zero 70 Slide member 71 Slot 74 Cursor L Headlamp irradiation axis Lx Horizontal axis Ly Vertical axis

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tilting member having a light reflecting surface for setting an irradiation direction of a lamp penetrates one swinging fulcrum portion supported by a reference member and a reference member back and forth, and is supported by the reference member. It is supported at three points of a horizontal aiming screw and a vertical aiming screw, and by rotating the aiming screw, the tilting member is tilted up and down and left and right with respect to the reference member, respectively, so that the irradiation angle of the headlamp is increased. In the tilting member movable type automobile headlamp to be adjusted, a male screw portion is formed in a protrusion of the left-right direction aiming screw backward of the reference member, and the male screw portion is supported by the reference member and substantially parallel to the male screw portion of the aiming screw. A guide member is formed to extend and is assembled between the male screw portion and the guide member,
An inclination measuring instrument for measuring the inclination of the tilting member in the left-right direction, wherein the inclination measuring instrument has an opening for introducing a male screw on one side, and the male screw of the aiming screw protruding rearward of the reference member. A U-shaped nut member having a U-shaped cross section screwed into the guide member, a slide member engaged with the guide member so as to be able to slide back and forth, and integrated with the nut member to prevent the nut member from rotating; An inclination measuring device for an automobile headlamp, comprising: a relative scale provided between a member and a slide member, the relative scale indicating an amount of movement of the nut member with respect to the guide member. 2. The inclination measuring device for a headlamp for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the slide member is assembled to the nut member so as to be slidable back and forth, and the slide member is slidable back and forth to adjust a zero point of a scale. . 3. The headlamp inclination measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the reference member is a lamp body, and the tilting member is a reflector that can tilt in the lamp body. 4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the reference member is a lamp housing, and the tilting member is a lamp body / reflector unit in which a reflector is integrally formed on an inner peripheral surface of the lamp body. Headlamp tilt measuring instrument.