JPH0318280Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a device for adjusting the optical axis direction of an automobile headlamp.

[Background of the idea]

The direction of the optical axis of an automobile headlamp must be adjusted correctly so that it illuminates the road surface in front of the vehicle in which it is installed, and does not dazzle oncoming vehicles.

At automobile manufacturers and specialized maintenance shops,
Correctly adjust the optical axis direction of the headlights attached to the vehicle body based on legal regulations (this operation is called aiming).

However, in the case of freight vehicles, the weight and weight of the cargo
There is also a problem in that the amount of deflection of the suspension spring changes depending on the position of the center of gravity of the cargo, and the optical axis of the aimed headlight is biased upward or downward. Therefore, the driver must adjust the optical axis direction up or down depending on the loaded state (this operation is called leveling).

An automobile headlamp must be equipped with an optical axis adjustment device capable of both aiming and leveling as described above.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the above-mentioned aiming and leveling.

A lamp housing (which may be a reflector) 2 is rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft 3 on a bracket 1 fixed to a vehicle body.

Aiming is an operation in which the lamp housing 2 is rotated around the horizontal axis 3 and locked in the long term, and leveling is an operation in which the lamp housing 2 is rotated easily and at any time and locked in the short term. This is an operation to set the

For this reason, the arm 4 attached to the lamp housing (which may also be a reflector) 2 and the bracket 1
Conventionally, a structure in which a feed screw 6 is used to connect a drive means 5 attached to a drive means 5 has been widely used.

In order to perform the above aiming and leveling quickly and easily by manual operation, the leveling is performed using the feed screw 6 shown in FIG. 3, and a spiral step-shaped cam 7 shown in FIG. 4 is also used. A structure that performs aiming is conceivable. This structure is a patent application (hereinafter referred to as the prior application) filed by the present applicant (Utility Application No. 120221/1982).

FIG. 5 shows the device of the earlier application.

The spiral cam 7 in FIG. 4 has a four-step spiral step surface 7.
b-1 to 7b-4, and three slopes 7b-5 to 7
It is equipped with b-7. 7a is an operating lever, and 7C is a center hole.

As shown in FIG. 5, the arm 4' is rotatably supported on the lamp housing 2 by a shaft 9, and the spiral stepped cam 7 is mounted on the rivet 10.
It is rotatably attached to the arm 4', and its cam surface is brought into contact with the lamp housing 2.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a spring that biases the arm 4' with rotational force so as to apply a contact pressure to the cam.

According to the device of the prior application (FIG. 5), the leveling operation can be performed by turning the feed screw 6 and feeding the arm 4' through the nut 8. Further, an aiming operation can be performed by turning the spiral step-like cam 7 using the lever 7a. According to the device of this prior application, leveling and aiming can be performed by manual operation, and in particular, aiming can be performed in stages.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

The device of the prior application has the advantage of being able to manually perform step-by-step aiming by using a spiral step-like cam, but since the aiming and leveling operations must be performed from different directions, both There are significant restrictions on the equipment that can be placed around the device so as not to interfere with its operation.

This idea was created in view of the above circumstances.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical axis adjustment device that can perform both aiming and leveling operations from one direction without impairing the advantages of using a spiral step-like cam.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the optical axis adjustment device for an automobile headlamp of the present invention includes a gear chamber configured to be fixed to the vehicle body, a screw rod protruding from the gear chamber, and a screw rod attached to the screw rod. a leveling bevel gear fitted externally so as to lock its relative rotation and to be slidable in the axial direction; and an aiming bevel gear supported concentrically with the threaded rod so as to be rotatable relative to the threaded rod. and two concentric tube-shaped operating shafts protruding from the gear chamber in a direction perpendicular to the threaded rod, and a base member fixed to each of the two operating shafts and meshing with each of the leveling and aiming bevel gears. a bevel gear; a spiral step-like cam provided on the boss portion of the aiming receiving gear supported in a relatively rotatable manner; a cam follower that is engaged with the threaded rod and comes into sliding contact with the cam; a spring means for biasing the screw rod in a direction to press against the cam follower; and a nut member fixedly supported by at least one of the lamp housing and the reflector and screwed into the screw rod. It is characterized by having the following.

However, the above-mentioned concentric tubular operation shaft refers to a concentric shaft consisting of an outer tube and an inner shaft connected to the outer tube.
The inner shaft does not necessarily have to be a tube. Also,
In the present invention, engagement includes contact.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, any one of the two concentric shafts is operated from the same direction, and the leveling operation is performed by the screw feeding action of the threaded rod and the nut via the bevel gear, and the aiming operation is performed by the spiral stepped cam. You can do this.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention.

Gear chamber 2 fixed to a fixing member 20 to the vehicle body
A threaded rod 22 constituting the gear chamber 21 protrudes to the left of the gear chamber 21 (forward with respect to the vehicle body), and is screwed into a nut 23 near the protruding end.

The screw rod 22 is locked against rotation by a key 24 and allowed to slide in the axial direction,
Fit the leveling gear 25 externally.

For the above threaded rod 22, the spiral stepped cam surface 2
An aiming receiving gear 26 having a boss portion 6a is concentrically and rotatably supported. 27 is a cam follower member that slides on the cam surface 26a. A coil spring 28 urges the threaded rod 22 to the right in the figure so as to press the cam follower 27 against the cam surface 26a. 29 is a spring receiving washer.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the components described above.

As shown in FIG. 1, a double concentric operating shaft (outer tube 3
0 inner shaft 31) is provided. 32 is a sealing member.

An aiming gear 33 meshing with the aiming receiving gear 26 is integrally connected to the outer tube 30.

A leveling original gear 34 that meshes with the leveling receiving gear 25 is coupled to the inner shaft 31.

Optical axis adjustment device configured as above (Fig. 1)
According to the above, when the inner shaft is rotated, the threaded rod 22 is rotated via the leveling master gear 34 and the receiving gear 25, and the nut 23 is screwed to move the arm 4 to the left and right in the figure to perform the leveling action. will be fulfilled.

Further, when the outer tube 30 is rotated, the aiming gear 33 and the receiving gear 26 are rotated, so the spiral stepped cam surface 2 provided on the boss portion of the receiving gear is rotated.
6a pushes the cam follower 27 step by step to the left in the figure, thereby achieving an aiming action step by step.

Both the outer tube 30 and the inner shaft 31 can be manually operated from above in the figure, so there is no restriction on arranging other equipment around the gear chamber 21 except above the gear chamber 21 in the figure.

When implementing the present invention, it is also possible to remotely control the concentric operating shaft formed by the combination of the inner shaft 31 and the outer tube 30 by connecting it to a coaxial cable.

[Effect of idea]

As detailed above, when the present invention is applied, both aiming and leveling operations can be performed from the same direction via concentric operation shafts.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the above embodiment. FIG. 3 is a general explanatory diagram of the optical axis adjustment operation. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a spiral step-like cam, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the optical axis adjustment device of the prior application. 2...Lamp housing, 4...Arm, 21
... Gear room, 22 ... Screw rod, 23 ... Nut,
25... Leveling receiving gear, 26... Aiming receiving gear, 26a... Spiral stepped cam surface, 27...
Cam follower, 30...Outer tube of concentric operating shaft, 31
...Inner shaft of concentric operation shaft, 31 ...Seal member, 3
3... Aiming source gear, 34... Leveling source gear.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] At least one of the lamp housing and the reflector of the headlamp is rotatably supported by a horizontal axis, and the lamp housing or the reflector is provided with a rotation driving means to move the optical axis direction of the headlamp up and down. The adjusting device includes a gear chamber configured to be fixed to the vehicle body, a screw rod protruding from the gear chamber, and a screw rod that locks relative rotation to the screw rod so as to be slidable in the axial direction. a leveling bevel gear externally fitted on the screw rod, and an aiming bevel gear supported concentrically with the screw rod so as to be rotatable relative to the screw rod;
two concentric tube-shaped operating shafts protruding from the gear chamber in a direction perpendicular to the threaded rod; and a former bevel gear that is fixed to each of the two operating shafts and meshes with each of the leveling and aiming bevel gears. and,
a spiral step-like cam provided on the boss portion of the aiming receiving gear supported in a relatively rotatable manner; a cam follower that is engaged with the threaded rod and slides on the cam; and the cam follower is connected to the cam. and a nut member fixedly supported by at least one of the lamp housing and the reflector and screwed onto the threaded rod. An optical axis adjustment device for an automobile headlamp, which is characterized by: