JP6223700B2 - Vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp including an aiming mechanism for adjusting an optical axis.

  Vehicle lamps such as headlamps and fog lamps arranged on the left and right of the front end of the vehicle are provided with an aiming mechanism for adjusting the optical axis. In this aiming mechanism, the reflector is rotatably supported with respect to the light source held in the housing, and the optical axis is adjusted by tilting the reflector with respect to the light source and the housing by turning an adjusting screw.

  Incidentally, Patent Document 1 proposes an aiming mechanism as shown in FIG.

  4 is a side sectional view of a headlamp provided with an aiming mechanism proposed in Patent Document 1. In the illustrated headlamp 101, the reflector 105 can be rotated with respect to the light source held by the housing 102. FIG. A gear (rack) 108 is formed on a part of the back surface of the reflector 105.

  In addition, on the back side of the reflector 105 (on the right side in FIG. 4), an adjustment screw 110 arranged vertically is rotatably inserted into and supported by the housing 102, and its intermediate height position (opposite the gear 108 of the reflector 105). A screw (pinion) 110b is formed at a position where the screw is to be moved. The screw 110b and the gear 108 formed on the reflector 105 are engaged with each other to constitute a rack and pinion mechanism, and the adjusting screw 110 and the gear 108 constitute an aiming mechanism.

  In the headlamp 101 having the aiming mechanism, when the adjustment screw 110 is turned for adjusting the optical axis, the rotation of the reflector 105 is rotated by the screw 110b formed on the adjustment screw 110 and the gear 108 meshing with the screw 110b. It is converted into motion, and the required optical axis adjustment is performed in order for the reflector 105 to tilt up and down around a fulcrum (pivot point).

EP1055556A1

  In the aiming mechanism provided in the headlamp 101 shown in FIG. 4, the screw (pinion) 110b of the adjusting screw 110 and the gear (rack) 108 of the reflector 105 are in elastic contact and mesh with each other. For this reason, even if both are provided with backlash, since both are in elastic contact as described above, this backlash is absorbed, and there is a problem that the frictional resistance of the meshing portion of both is increased. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp capable of suppressing the occurrence of rattling due to vibration and performing optical axis adjustment with a small torque. It is in.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1
A reflector or a light source held by the housing and the reflector are housed in a lamp chamber defined by an outer lens that covers the housing and its opening, and the reflector can be rotated at least in the vertical direction with respect to the housing. A vehicle lamp provided with an aiming mechanism in which an adjustment screw that is supported and rotatably supported by the housing is arranged vertically in the lamp chamber, and a rack provided in the reflector is engaged with the adjustment screw.
The reflector is supported so as to be rotatable up and down around a fulcrum with respect to the housing,
The rear surface of the rack is configured as an arc curved surface centered on the fulcrum on the rear surface of the reflector, and a plurality of teeth extending in the width direction of the rack are engraved on the rear surface.
The adjustment screw includes a screw portion at a portion facing the lamp chamber,
The screw portion and the rack teeth mesh to form a rack and pinion mechanism,
The hardness of the adjusting screw is set higher than the hardness of the rack,
A protrusion protrudes from the center in the width direction of the surface of each tooth constituting the rack and pinion mechanism of the rack.

According to a second aspect of the invention of claim 1 Symbol mounting, characterized in that the said adjusting screw and protrusions formed on each tooth of the rack was point contact or line contact.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the projection is provided at the center in the width direction of each tooth of the rack provided on the reflector, the portion other than the projection provided on the rack is engaged with the adjustment screw (pinion). It is possible to provide a backlash in the part. For this reason, the adjustment screw can be turned with a small torque, and the protrusion of the rack and the adjustment screw are in contact with each other. Problems such as light shaking are eliminated.

In addition, the hardness of the reflector rack is lower (softer) than that of the adjusting screw, so that the protrusions protruding from the teeth of the rack are crushed by the engagement with the adjusting screw (pinion) and are in close contact with the adjusting screw. To do. For this reason, a part contacts in the meshing part of a rack and an adjustment screw, and the rattling of a reflector is suppressed more effectively.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the protrusion formed on each tooth of the reflector rack and the adjustment screw are brought into point contact or line contact, the frictional resistance between the meshing portions of the two can be kept small, and the adjustment screw is made small. Since it can be rotated by torque, smooth optical axis adjustment becomes possible.

It is a side sectional view of the engagement Ru full Oguranpu the present invention. It is the A section expansion perspective view of FIG. (A)-(c) is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the various form of the protrusion protrudingly provided by each tooth of the rack. It is a sectional side view of a headlamp provided with the aiming mechanism proposed in patent documents 1.

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

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of the engagement Ru full Oguranpu the present invention, FIG. 2 A section enlarged perspective view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 (a) ~ (c) various projections projecting from the respective teeth of the rack It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows a form.

A fog lamp 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a lamp disposed on the left and right of the front end of a vehicle, and holds a light source (not shown) in a lamp chamber 4 defined by an outer lens 3 that covers a housing 2 and a front opening thereof. a reflector 5 made Te, an extension 6 for covering the periphery of the reflector 5, and is configured to accommodate the error Mingu mechanism or the like. Since the basic configuration of the left and right fog lamps 1 is the same, only one of them will be illustrated and described below.

  The housing 2 is integrally formed with a light-impermeable resin, and the outer lens 3 covering the front opening is integrally formed with a light-transmitting transparent resin. The outer lens 3 is fixed to the housing 2 by being fitted into a fitting groove 2 a formed on the periphery of the front opening, and the fitting portion is adhered by an adhesive 7 such as hot melt. The extension 6 is integrally formed of a light impermeable resin similar to the housing 2.

  The reflector 5 reflects light emitted from a light source (not shown) held at the center of the reflector 5 toward the front (left side in FIG. 1), and its inner surface forms a reflecting surface 5a. The reflection surface 5a is subjected to a reflection process such as aluminum vapor deposition.

  By the way, the reflector 5 is supported so as to be rotatable up and down around a fulcrum (pivot point) (not shown) with respect to the housing 2, and a hollow rack 8 is provided on the upper surface of the reflector 5. The rear surface of the rack 8 is configured as an arcuate curved surface centered on a fulcrum (pivot point) of the reflector 5, and a plurality of teeth 8a extending linearly in the width direction are formed on the rear surface as shown in FIG. It is engraved. And the protrusion 9 is each protrudingly provided by the width direction center of each tooth | gear 8a. Here, as the protrusion 9, a semi-cylindrical shape that is long in the width direction as shown in FIG. 3A, a semi-cylindrical shape that is long in the front-rear direction as shown in FIG. 3B, FIG. A hemispherical shape as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical holder portion 2b is integrally formed in the vertical direction on the back side of the housing 2, and an adjustment screw 10 is inserted into the holder portion 2b from below to be rotatable. It is supported by. The adjustment screw 10 is clamped by the holder portion 2b of the housing 2 so as not to be deformed when engaged with the teeth 8a of the rack 8. The adjustment screw 10 has a lower end head portion 10a protruding below the housing 2, and a screw portion (pinion) 10b formed at the upper end portion of the portion facing the lamp chamber 4. The teeth 8a of the rack 8 provided on the reflector 5 are meshed with a threaded portion (pinion) 10b of the adjusting screw 10, and the threaded portion 10b and the rack 8 constitute a rack and pinion mechanism. The adjusting screw 10 and the rack 8 constitute an aiming mechanism. In the present embodiment, PC is used as the material of the rack 8, and POM having higher hardness than the material (PC) of the rack 8 is used as the material of the adjusting screw 10.

  In the fog lamp 1 having the aiming mechanism, when the head 10a of the adjustment screw 10 is operated to adjust the optical axis and the adjustment screw 10 is rotated in any direction, the rotation is the screw portion at the tip of the adjustment screw 10. 10b and the rack 8 of the reflector 5 meshing therewith are converted into a vertical movement of the reflector 5, and the reflector 5 tilts up and down around a fulcrum (pivot point) together with a light source (not shown). 1 is adjusted.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, since the protrusion 9 as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C is provided in the center in the width direction of each tooth 8a of the rack 8 provided in the reflector 5, Backlash can be provided at a portion where the portion other than the protrusion 9 provided on the rack 8 and the threaded portion (pinion) 10b of the adjusting screw 10 are engaged, and the protrusion 9 causes backlash due to vibration of the reflector 5 due to backlash. It is suppressed, and problems such as generation of abnormal noise and shaking of illumination light during lighting are solved. In addition, since an appropriate backlash can be provided on the portion other than the protrusion 9 of the rack 8 and the screw portion 10b of the adjustment screw 10, the adjustment screw 10 can be rotated with a small torque, and a smooth optical axis adjustment is possible. It becomes. In this embodiment, since the hardness of the rack 8 is lower (softer) than the hardness of the adjusting screw 10, the protrusions 9 protruding from the teeth 8 a of the rack 8 are threaded portions of the adjusting screw 10 ( It is crushed by meshing with the pinion) 10b and is brought into close contact with the threaded portion (pinion) 10b of the adjusting screw 10. For this reason, a part will contact in the meshing part of the rack 8 and the screw part 10b of the adjustment screw 10, and the rattling of the reflector 5 will be suppressed more effectively.

  Further, as the protrusions 9 formed on each tooth 8a of the rack 8, a semi-cylindrical shape as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B or a hemispherical shape as shown in FIG. If used, the protrusion 9 and the screw portion 10b of the adjusting screw 10 can be brought into line contact or point contact, so that the frictional resistance of the meshing portion between them can be kept small, and the adjusting screw 10 can be rotated with a small torque. Therefore, the effect that smooth optical axis adjustment becomes possible is obtained.

The above has been described embodiment was applied against the present invention to fog, the present invention, it is of course for again and again any other vehicle lighting such as headlights is also equally applicable is there.

  In the above description, the light source is held by the reflector 5. However, the light source may be held by the housing 2, and the reflector 5 may be rotatably supported with respect to the light source and the housing 2.

1 Fog lamp (vehicle lamp)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Housing 2a Housing fitting groove 2b Housing holder part 3 Outer lens 4 Lamp chamber 5 Reflector 5a Reflecting surface of reflector 6 Extension 7 Adhesive 8 Rack 8a Rack tooth 9 Protrusion 10 Adjustment screw 10a Adjustment screw head 10b Adjustment screw Screw part (pinion)

Claims (2)

A reflector or a light source held by the housing and the reflector are housed in a lamp chamber defined by an outer lens that covers the housing and its opening, and the reflector can be rotated at least in the vertical direction with respect to the housing. A vehicle lamp provided with an aiming mechanism in which an adjustment screw that is supported and rotatably supported by the housing is arranged vertically in the lamp chamber, and a rack provided in the reflector is engaged with the adjustment screw.
The reflector is supported so as to be rotatable up and down around a fulcrum with respect to the housing,
The rear surface of the rack is configured as an arc curved surface centered on the fulcrum on the rear surface of the reflector, and a plurality of teeth extending in the width direction of the rack are engraved on the rear surface.
The adjustment screw includes a screw portion at a portion facing the lamp chamber,
The screw portion and the rack teeth mesh to form a rack and pinion mechanism,
The hardness of the adjusting screw is set higher than the hardness of the rack,
A vehicular lamp characterized in that a protrusion protrudes from the center in the width direction of the surface of each tooth constituting the rack and pinion mechanism of the rack.
The vehicular lamp according to claim 1 Symbol mounting, characterized in that the said adjusting screw and protrusions formed on each tooth was point contact or line contact of the rack.

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