JPH036961Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a headlamp for a vehicle such as an automobile, and is a front headlight in which a reflecting mirror body is rotated to obtain a traveling beam light and a passing beam light. Regarding lighting.

[Conventional technology]

In the headlights of automobiles, there are two types: driving beam light (high beam) and passing beam light (low beam).
It is necessary to switch, and one of the ways to do that is to
It is known that one light source is provided in a reflecting body and the beam light is switched by rotating the reflecting body itself upward and downward.

In this device, a reflector housing a light source is supported by a housing by a center pivot and a left and right aiming adjustment mechanism arranged on both the left and right sides, and the center pivot and left and right aiming adjustment mechanisms are connected to the reflector. The reflecting mirror body is supported so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction using a line connecting the connecting portion with the body as a rotation center line, and the reflecting mirror body is rotated in the vertical direction by an actuator. When the actuator is operated to rotate the reflector upward, the light beam emitted from the reflector becomes upward and becomes a running beam (high beam), and the actuator is operated to rotate the reflector downward. When rotated,
The beam of light irradiated from this reflecting mirror body is directed downward and can be switched to low beam light.

In such a headlamp, the actuator is configured to rotate the reflector in the vertical direction, and the operation of the actuator is transmitted to the reflector through a connecting member such as a link lever. .

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in this type of headlamp, the reflector is heated by the heat radiated from the light source and reaches a high temperature. Especially when a high-pressure metal vapor discharge lamp is used as the light source, the temperature of the reflector increases significantly. Become. The heat of such a reflecting mirror body is transmitted to the actuator through the connecting member, raising the temperature of the actuator to a high temperature, which is likely to cause failure or malfunction of the actuator.

In particular, when using a servo motor as an actuator, it needs to be kept at about 80°C or less because it has a built-in feedback circuit including a rotary encoder.

In addition, as an aiming adjustment mechanism that supports the reflector, the reflector is held between an adjustment member such as a nut and an elastic member such as a spring, and the adjustment member is adjusted to adjust the horizontal direction of the reflector. In the case of a structure in which the reflector is changed, the biasing force of the elastic member is applied to the reflector, so there is resistance when changing the direction of the reflector up or down, and the reflector must be actuated with a large force. Therefore, an actuator with a large output is required, resulting in a large size.

Therefore, the present invention reduces the influence of heat transmitted from the reflector to the actuator through the connecting member, and also allows the reflector to be actuated with a small force, making it possible to make the actuator compact. The object is to provide a vehicle headlamp that is free from failures and malfunctions.

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, a connecting member that transmits the operation of the actuator to the reflector is attached to a low temperature part of the reflector, and this low temperature part is
Through studies by the inventors of the present invention, it has been found that it is sufficient if the front part is located at least 2/3 of the depth of the reflector from the rear end of the reflector.

[Operation] With this configuration, the high temperature of the reflector body is less likely to be thermally conducted to the actuator.
Actuator failures and malfunctions are reduced.

In addition, since the actuator is connected at a location away from the aiming adjustment mechanism, a large torque can be applied even with a small force, and even if there is resistance due to the biasing force of the elastic member, the small actuator can actuate the reflector. I can do it.

[Example of idea]

The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing fixed to a vehicle body (not shown), and is made of, for example, glass cloth resin. Reference numeral 2 denotes a translucent cover that transmits the beam light emitted from the headlamp forward, and serves as a front lens.

A headlamp 3 is housed in a space surrounded by the housing 1 and the translucent cover 2.

The headlight 3 is formed by accommodating, for example, a small metal vapor discharge lamp 5 as a light source in a reflector body 4, and the reflector body 4 is made of a metal material with excellent reflection efficiency such as high brightness aluminum. There is.

The reflecting mirror body 4 is supported by the housing 1 by center pivots 6 provided on both left and right sides and by left-right aiming bolts 7 that constitute a left-right aiming adjustment mechanism. That is, brackets 8 and 9 are joined to the back surface of the reflector body 4, and a rod 10 constituting the center pivot 6 is fixed to the housing 1, and the horizontal aiming bolts are fixed to the housing 1. 7 is inserted. One bracket 8 is rotatably connected to the rod 10 of the center pivot 6 via a ball joint 11. The other bracket 9 has the above-mentioned horizontal aiming bolt 7 inserted therein, and this horizontal aiming bolt 7 has a nut 12 and a spring washer 1.
3 and a spring 14 are attached.

The other bracket 9 can be displaced back and forth by adjusting the position of the nut 12, and this displacement allows the reflector body 4 to rotate in the left-right direction (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2) about the ball joint 11. It is becoming. Therefore, the left-right aiming adjustment mechanism 7 can adjust the direction of the reflecting mirror body 4 in the left-right direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 2).

Further, the reflecting mirror body 4 is connected to the center pivot 6
A line P-P (first
The front opening side is supported so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, with the front opening side being a rotation center (indicated by point P in the figure).

Such a reflecting mirror body 4 is rotated upward and downward (in the direction of arrow B) by an actuator 15 fixed to the bottom of the housing 1. The actuator 15 is composed of, for example, a DC servo motor, and the motor 15 and the reflecting mirror 4 are connected by a link lever 16 as a connecting member joined to the reflecting mirror 4.

This link lever 16 is joined, for example, to the lower surface of the reflecting mirror body 4, and the joining position, which will be described later, is restricted to a region C indicated by diagonal lines on the left and right sides of FIG. 6.

Further, in the figure, reference numeral 18 denotes a rubber cover that covers the rear opening of the housing 1, which insulates and covers the power supply terminal portion of the small metal vapor discharge lamp 5 as a light source, and also allows the reflector 4 to face upward and downward. Small metal vapor discharge lamp 5 when rotated
movement is allowed. In addition, this rubber cover 18
A drain hole 19 is formed in the reflector body 4 to release water when it enters the upper part of the reflector body 4.

The operation of the headlight having such a configuration will be explained.

When the small metal vapor discharge lamp 5 as a light source is turned on, the light emitted from the light source is reflected by the reflecting mirror body 4 and irradiated forward as a beam of light. This light beam illuminates the road ahead through the translucent cover 2.

In this case, when the servo motor 15 as an actuator is operated, the headlight 3 moves along the rotation center line P.
- Rotates around P and points its optical axis upward O1
-O1 or downward O2 -O2.

If the beam light is directed upward O1-O1, a traveling beam can be obtained, and if it is directed downward O2-O2, a differential beam can be obtained.

Therefore, the link lever 16 for transmitting the operation of the servo motor 15 to the reflector body 4 is restricted to the area shown by C in FIG. 6, and the reason for this will be explained.

That is, FIG. 3 is an isothermal diagram showing the temperature distribution on the lower surface of the reflector body 4, with the highest temperature immediately below the light source 5 and decreasing toward the front of the reflector body 4. When using the servo motor 15 as an actuator, the servo motor 15 has a built-in feedback circuit including a rotary encoder (not shown), so the servo motor 15 operates at 80°C.
need to be kept below that level. Therefore, it is necessary to mount the link lever 16 while avoiding a high temperature area of 80° C. or higher, and this area is the shaded area shown in FIG. 4. The shaded area shown in FIG. 4 is the front part D that is more than 2/3 of the reflector depth L from the rear end of the reflector 4, or the area E of the outer surface of the reflector on the light source installation side. It is a part.

If the link lever 16 is installed in such area D or E, the temperature rise of the reflector body 4 is low, so less heat is conducted to the servo motor 15 through the link lever 16, and the servo motor 15 The temperature rise of the servo motor 15 can be kept below 80° C., making it possible to prevent thermal damage and malfunction of the servo motor 15.

On the other hand, when the nut 12 of the left-right aiming bolt 7 is screwed back and forth, the bracket 9 is displaced back and forth, and at this time, the reflector body 4 is moved in the left-right direction (arrow A in FIG. 2) centering on the ball joint 11. However, it is desirable to prevent the reflecting mirror body 4 from rotating in the vertical (arrow B) direction as much as possible when adjusting the aiming adjustment mechanism for the left and right directions. To prevent the reflector body 4 from rotating in the vertical (arrow B) direction,
Ideally, the attachment position of the link lever 16 is located on a line Q--Q that passes through the center pivot 6 and is parallel to the center line O--O of the reflector body 4.

However, it has been confirmed that the influence can be ignored if it goes inward from this line Q-Q and is within 1/4 of the width W of the reflector 4. If the link lever 16 is placed in an area of 1/4 or more of the width W of the reflector 4 toward the center pivot 6 from the center line O-O of The influence of vertical rotation of the reflecting mirror body 4 when adjusting the directional aiming can be ignored.

For this reason, in this embodiment, the link lever 16 is attached to a common area C between area D in FIG. 4 and area F in FIG. 5.

Further, the reflector body 4 is held between a nut 12 and a spring 14, and the nut 12 is actuated to change the horizontal direction of the reflector body 4. Since the biasing force is applied to the reflector body 4, there is resistance when changing the direction of the reflector body 4 up and down, and it is necessary to operate the reflector body 4 with a large force. For this reason, an actuator with a large output is required, and there is a problem that it becomes large. However, in this embodiment, the link lever 1 of the servo motor 15 as an actuator is used.
By connecting link lever 6 to area C in FIG.
6 can be connected. Therefore, the servo motor 15 can apply a large torque to the rotating portion of the reflector 4 even with a small force, and even if there is resistance due to the biasing force of the spring 14, the small servo motor 15 can still move the reflector 4. It can be activated.

For this reason, it is possible to avoid attaching the link lever 16 to the rear portion of the reflector body 4 indicated by G in FIG.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the one that prevents the reflector body 4 from vertically rotating when adjusting the aiming in the left and right directions;
Other means may be used to avoid vertical rotation.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the use of a small metal vapor discharge lamp as the light source of the headlight, but may also be an incandescent light bulb such as a halogen light bulb.

Further, as long as the lamp housing one light source is moved together with the envelope by an actuator, it is also possible to use a sealed beam type lamp, for example.

Further, the actuator is not limited to a servo motor, and various types such as an electromagnetic type, a hydraulic type, or a pneumatic type can be used.

Furthermore, the connecting member that transmits the operation of the actuator to the reflecting mirror body is not limited to the link lever.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the connecting member that transmits the actuation of the actuator to the reflector is attached to the front of the reflector, at least 2/3 of the depth of the reflector from the rear end of the reflector. Therefore, it is connected to the low-temperature portion of the reflector, and the high temperature of the reflector is less likely to be thermally conducted to the actuator, reducing the possibility of failure or malfunction of the actuator.

In addition, since the actuator is connected to the reflector at a position away from the aiming adjustment mechanism, a large torque can be applied to the reflector with a small force, and the resistance due to the biasing force of the elastic member used in the aiming adjustment mechanism is Even if there is a problem, there is an advantage that the reflecting mirror can be operated with a small actuator.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the whole, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the whole, Fig. 3 is an isothermal diagram showing the temperature distribution on the lower surface of the reflector, and Fig. 4
The figure is a diagram explaining the low temperature region of the reflector body, Figure 5 is a diagram explaining the attachment position of the link lever so that the reflector body will not be rotated in the vertical direction when adjusting the aiming in the left and right directions, and Figure 6 FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the attachment position of the link lever of this embodiment. 1...Housing, 2...Translucent cover, 3...
...Headlight, 4...Reflector, 5...Light source, 6...
Center pivot, 7... Aiming bolt for left and right directions, 8, 9... Bracket, 11... Ball joint, 12... Nut, 15... Actuator, 16... Link lever (connecting member).

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A reflecting body housing a light source is supported by a housing by a center pivot and a left/right aiming adjusting mechanism, and the left/right aiming adjusting mechanism supports the reflecting body by an adjusting member and an elastic member. The adjustment member is used to adjust the horizontal direction of the reflector, and the center of rotation is a line connecting the center pivot and the connecting portion of the left and right aiming adjustment mechanism with the reflector. The reflector body is supported as a line so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction, and the reflector body is rotated in the vertical direction by an actuator to switch the beam light irradiated from the reflector body between upward and downward directions. In a vehicle headlamp, a connecting member for transmitting the operation of the actuator to the reflector is located at the front of the reflector at a distance of at least 2/3 of the depth of the reflector from the rear end of the reflector. A vehicle headlight characterized by being installed.