JPH0582665U - Vehicle auxiliary headlights - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] This is an auxiliary headlight for automobiles, which can illuminate the shoulders and the direction of travel of a curve on a dark mountain road, and may cause a problem in safety. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a structure that can be used as a fog lamp or the like and that can be easily mounted on an existing automobile. [Structure] The auxiliary headlight 1 of the present invention is mounted on a bracket 11 so as to be rotatable around a vertical shaft 13, and the bracket 11 is fixedly mounted on a vehicle body. By operating the switches 4 and 5 provided in the driver's seat, the left and right auxiliary headlamps 1 and 1 are simultaneously driven to rotate in opposite directions by the motor 22 capable of forward and reverse rotation. The turning range of the auxiliary headlights 1 and 1 is the range from the front of the vehicle to the outside. When the auxiliary headlight 1 is rotated inward, a stopper or the like is used to stop the rotation of the auxiliary headlight 1 at a position facing the front of the vehicle.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a structure of an auxiliary headlight such as a fog lamp attached to a vehicle, and relates to an auxiliary headlight capable of biasing the irradiation direction obliquely with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle. is there.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 The headlight of an ordinary automobile is mounted with its optical axis fixed in front of the automobile, and when making a right or left turn on a dark mountain road, there is a problem that the direction in which the automobile will travel is not sufficiently illuminated. ..

In order to solve this problem, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-6646, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-33147, and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-72145, the steering operation intention of the driver is detected. There has been proposed a technique for biasing the optical axis of the headlight in the direction in which the vehicle is going to move, by operating the headlight in conjunction with the steering wheel or the front wheels. Further, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-85236, an auxiliary headlight facing outward at an angle of 45 degrees from the center line of the vehicle is provided, and this auxiliary headlight is interlocked with the operation of the direction indicator of the automobile. A technology has been disclosed in which the width of the road can be confirmed by making it blink and making a right turn and a left turn on a dark night road. Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-270650, by detecting that a vehicle is approaching a curved road and changing the light distribution pattern of the headlight of the vehicle so as to spread it to the left and right, it is possible to visually recognize the front when driving at night. The technology which improved the property is disclosed.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In addition to the publications exemplified above, many proposals have been made for technologies that illuminate the direction in which the vehicle is going to move by displacing or expanding the optical axis of the main headlight to the left or right when the course of the vehicle is changed. However, such technology has serious safety issues. In other words, the technology to change the optical axis and the amount of diffusion of the main headlight of an automobile is such that the optical axis of the headlight remains unbalanced or the light is diffused when its control device or drive device fails. If left unattended, the visibility of oncoming vehicles may be impaired and the visibility in front may be reduced. In order to avoid such a danger, it is necessary to provide double and triple safety means in the control device and drive device of the headlight, which makes the device expensive and complicated. Also, since the main headlight has a built-in structure in the vehicle body, it is difficult to significantly deviate its optical axis, and it is also difficult to add or remove devices as needed. is there.

Further, the auxiliary headlight as proposed by Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-85236 has a utility value only when the course is changed on a dark night road. Can not be arbitrarily selected according to the road conditions, so its effectiveness is exhibited only in a limited number of cases.For example, fog lamps etc. have to be installed separately from the above auxiliary headlights. is there.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, can be used as a fog lamp, etc. without causing a problem in safety, and the driver can adjust the lighting depending on the road conditions. The purpose was to obtain an auxiliary headlight whose direction can be set freely and which can be easily mounted on existing vehicles as necessary.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The auxiliary headlight 1 of the present invention is attached to a bracket 11 so as to be rotatable around a vertical shaft 13, and the bracket 11 is fixed to the automobile body. In the housing 14 of the auxiliary headlamp, a motor 22 capable of rotating the auxiliary headlamp 1 about the vertical axis 13 and capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions is built in. The rotation range of the housing 14 is the range from the front of the vehicle to the outside. The left and right auxiliary headlamps 1 and 1 are rotated by a motor 22 so that the left and right auxiliary headlamps 1 and 1 rotate in opposite directions by operating the switches 4 and 5 provided in the driver's seat. Driven. When the auxiliary headlight 1 is rotated inward, a stopper or the like is used to stop the rotation of the auxiliary headlight 1 at a position facing the front of the vehicle.

As the structure for rotating the auxiliary headlight 1 described above, the structure used for the foldable door mirror can be used as it is, and the auxiliary headlight 1 is attached to the housing of the door mirror, It suffices to fix the fixed bracket 11 to the front left and right of the vehicle body. Since the turning mechanism of the door mirror described above is provided with a position stopping mechanism that fixes the left and right turning ends of the door mirror, when the one side 41 of the position stopping mechanism is operated, the light of the auxiliary headlight 1 is emitted. Mount the shaft so that it faces the front of the car.

[0009]

[Action]

 When the switches 4 and 5 on the driver's seat are operated to rotate the auxiliary headlight 1 to the inner rotation end, the optical axis of the auxiliary headlight 1 is located in a position facing the front of the vehicle. Holds the auxiliary headlight 1 in that position and uses it as a normal fog lamp. When driving on a mountain road with many dark curves, the switches 4 and 5 on the driver's seat are operated to rotate the optical axis of the auxiliary headlight 1 to the outside, and at an arbitrary angle according to the road conditions. It is stopped so that the auxiliary headlight 1 illuminates the shoulders of the road and the new direction of travel of the vehicle as it curves. In this case, when the curve is gentle and the traveling speed of the vehicle is high, the outward turning angle of the auxiliary headlight 1 is reduced, and when the road width is narrow and the hairpin curve is continuous, the auxiliary headlight 1 is Increase the outward turning angle so that the shoulders of the road are well illuminated.

If the road becomes a straight road and lighting of the shoulders is no longer needed, the switches 4 and 5 on the driver's seat can be operated to rotate the auxiliary headlight 1 inward, and The light 1 stops at the position facing the front of the vehicle and returns to the normal state. In such a case, even if the optical axis of the auxiliary headlight 1 is left and right expanded, the auxiliary headlight 1 is mounted downward to illuminate a nearby road surface, so There is no risk of dazzling the field of vision of the vehicle, and the front of the vehicle is illuminated by the main headlight, so there is no safety problem even if the driver forgets to return the optical axis of the auxiliary headlight. Even if the optical axis does not return due to a failure, there is no problem because the auxiliary headlight 1 can be turned off when the illumination of the road shoulder becomes unnecessary.

Further, the left and right auxiliary headlamps 1 can be rotated to the inner end even if the optical axis of the left and right auxiliary headlamps 1 is asymmetrical due to repeated vibrations and turning operations of the automobile, but the left and right auxiliary headlamps 1 can be rotated. Since the optical axis of 1 is accurately matched to the front, the motors 22 of the left and right auxiliary headlights do not require a precise synchronization mechanism.

In the auxiliary headlamp 1 and the operating device therefor having the above-described structure, the fixed bracket 11 is fixed to the vehicle body of the automobile, the electric wires 25 and 26 for driving are guided from the motor 22 to the driver's seat 6, and the driver's seat 6 It is only necessary to attach one 3-position switch or two push-button switches 4 and 5 to it, and it is extremely easy to install it on an existing vehicle.

[0013]

【Example】

 The drawing shows an embodiment of the present invention. The auxiliary headlight 1 of the present invention is fixed to the vehicle body 3 by a fixed bracket 11 separately from the main headlight 2 of the vehicle, and its operation switches 4 and 5 are arranged in the driver's seat 6. As shown in FIG. 2, a vertical shaft 13 whose lower end is fixed by a nut 12 is erected on the fixed side bracket 11, and the housing 14 of the auxiliary headlight 1 is provided with bearings 15, 16 on this vertical shaft. Is rotatably supported by a vertical shaft 13, and is pressed against the thrust surface 18 of the stationary bracket 11 by a spring 17 fitted to the vertical shaft 13, and the friction thereof provides resistance to the rotational movement of the housing 14. ing.

A fixed gear 21 is fixed to the upper end of the vertical shaft 13, and rotation of a motor 22 fixed to the housing 14 is applied to the fixed gear 21 via a worm speed reducer 23 and a three-step reduction gear train 24. Since the fixed gear 21 is fixed to the fixed bracket 11, the motor 22 itself, that is, the housing 14 rotates about the vertical shaft 13.

The vertical shaft 13 is a hollow shaft, through which the electric wires 25 and 26 of the motor 22 and the power line of the auxiliary headlight 1 (not shown) pass, and a fan-shaped conductive plate 31 is provided at the upper end of the vertical shaft 13. The insulating disc 33 with (FIG. 3) is fixed. On the other hand, a contact disk 34 is fixed to the housing 14 so as to face the insulating disk 33, and the contact disk 34 is provided with two contacts 35 and 36. Further, between the housing 14 and the fixed side bracket 11, there is provided a position stopping mechanism 41 for fixing the fixed side bracket 11 and the housing 14 in the direction in which the optical axis of the auxiliary headlight 1 is directed to the front of the vehicle 3. It is provided. The position stopping mechanism 41 has a structure in which a ball 43 urged by a spring 42 is engaged with a hole 44 provided in the fixed bracket 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, two electric wires 25 and 26 are connected to the motor 22. One of the electric wires 25 is branched into two wires, one of which is a contact circle via a diode 37. It is connected to the contact 35 of the plate 34 and the other is connected to the contact 36 of the contact disc 34 via a diode 38 in the opposite direction. The other electric wire 26 connected to the motor 22 and the electric wire 27 connected to the conductive plate 31 of the insulating disc 33 pass through the hollow hole 19 of the vertical shaft 13 and the forward rotation side switch 4 of the driver's seat 6. It is guided to the reverse rotation side switch 5. The forward rotation side switch 4 and the reverse rotation side switch 5 connect the electric wires 26 and 27 to the battery 39, but the connection polarities of the switches 4 and 5 are reversed.

When the auxiliary headlight 1 shown in FIG. 3 is in a position facing the front of the vehicle, the reverse rotation side contact 36 is disengaged from the conductive plate 31 of the insulating disc 33, and at this position, the position stop mechanism 4 described above is used. 1 positions the housing 14 and the fixed-side bracket 11 in position.

When the driver presses the forward rotation side switch 4 from the state shown in FIG. 3, the forward rotation side contact 35 is in contact with the conductive plate 31 of the insulating disc 33, so that the motor 22 rotates normally. The auxiliary headlamp 1 is rotated toward the outside of the vehicle (see FIG. 1). When the driver releases the forward rotation side switch 4, the auxiliary headlight 1 is held at that position by the friction between the housing 14 and the fixed side bracket 11 by the spring 17. When the driver continues to press the forward rotation side switch 4, the contact disc 34 rotates relatively to the insulating disc 33, and the forward rotation side contact 35 separates from the conductive plate 31 and its position. The auxiliary headlight 1 stops rotating outward. If the angle is set to about 80 degrees, it is convenient to be able to illuminate the wall surface of the garage when, for example, entering the garage in a dark place.

When the auxiliary headlight 1 is in the position rotated outward, the reverse rotation side contact 36 of FIG. 3 comes into contact with the conductive plate 31 of the insulating disc 33, so that the driver is in the reverse rotation side. When the switch 5 is pressed, the motor 22 is rotated in the reverse direction so that the auxiliary headlamp 1 can be rotated inward, and the rotation end of the auxiliary headlamp 1 is located in front of the vehicle stopped by the position stopping mechanism 41 as described above. It is the facing position.

[0020]

[Effect of the device]

 According to the auxiliary headlight of the present invention described above, it has both the function of a fog lamp, the function of illuminating the shoulder and the traveling direction of the vehicle on a dark mountain road, and the function of illuminating the side of the vehicle when the vehicle is parked. You can get an auxiliary headlight. The headlight of the present invention has an extremely simple structure, and can be easily attached to and detached from a vehicle so that it can be easily attached to an existing vehicle. In addition, the driver can set the lighting direction of the auxiliary headlights arbitrarily according to the road conditions, and even if the driver neglects to return to the lighting direction or a failure occurs, the vehicle is equipped with it. It does not impair the original safety at all.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a mounted state of an auxiliary headlight.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an auxiliary headlight.

FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing the motor wiring inside the housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Auxiliary headlight 4 Switch 5 Switch 11 Fixed side bracket 13 Vertical shaft 14 Housing 22 Motor

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A bracket (11) fixed to an automobile body
A housing (14) for accommodating the auxiliary headlight (1) is rotatably mounted from the front toward the outside around a vertical shaft (13) installed upright on the motor (22). ) Is provided, and switches (4), (5) for simultaneously driving and stopping this motor (22) so that the left and right auxiliary headlights (1) rotate in opposite directions are provided in the driver's seat. Is an auxiliary headlight for automobiles.