JPH0755766Y2 - Optical axis adjustment device for vehicle lighting - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Utilization of the Invention] The present invention relates to a device for adjusting the optical axis direction of an illumination lamp mounted on a vehicle, such as a vehicle headlamp. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device for adjusting the optical axis of a vehicle lamp whose optical axis is installed substantially horizontally so that the optical axis can be vertically tilted.

[Conventional technology]

Headlights for automobiles are dangerous because they dazzle an oncoming vehicle if they are facing upwards too much. If it is too downward, the road ahead in the direction of travel will not be illuminated well and it will be difficult to drive.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a vehicle headlamp with a device for adjusting the optical axis of the vehicle headlamp slightly upward or downward with the headlamp mounted on the vehicle body.

The headlamp generally has a structure in which a concave reflecting mirror is provided in the lamp housing, and a light source bulb is positioned near the focal point of the concave reflecting mirror, and the optical axis of the headlamp is the symmetry axis of the concave reflecting mirror. I mean

Therefore, in order to adjust the optical axis, (a) tilt the lamp housing up and down while keeping the relative position of the lamp housing and the concave reflecting mirror constant, or (b) attach the lamp housing to the vehicle body. There are two methods, one is to tilt the concave reflecting mirror up and down without moving it with one hand.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional example of an optical axis adjusting device in which the lamp housing is tilted.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional example of an optical axis adjusting device of a type in which a concave reflecting mirror is tilted up and down.

(See FIG. 5) 1 is a lamp housing, and its inner surface 1a is a concave reflecting mirror. ZZ is an optical axis and F is a focus. The light source bulb 2 is provided near the focus F.

3 is a front lens.

The lamp housing 1 is tiltably supported by a ball joint 4, a nut member 5 is attached to the lamp housing 1, and a male screw member 6 screwed to the nut member 5 makes the nut member substantially parallel to the optical axis ZZ. It is configured so that it can be screw fed. As a result, when the male screw member 6 is turned, the optical axis ZZ is reciprocally tilted forward (upward left in the figure) and downward (downward left).

The lamp housing 1'is fixed to the vehicle body (see FIG. 6).

A concave reflecting mirror 7 is tiltably supported on the lamp housing 1'via a ball joint 4 '. A nut member 5'is attached to the concave reflecting mirror 7 and a male screw member 6'is screwed therein.

When the male screw member 6'is turned to screw-feed the nut member 5 ', the optical axis ZZ is tilted up and down.

Although the optical axis Z-Z can be adjusted so as to be tilted up and down as described above, an aimer (aiming adapter) has been generally used in the past in order to align the direction of the optical axis as specified.

The front lens of the headlight is provided with a projection (aiming boss) for pressing and positioning the aimer, and the aiming member is positioned and brought into contact with the aiming boss to adjust the optical axis direction. See Kaisho 61-30844).

[Problems to be solved by the device]

The conventional optical axis adjusting technique using the aimer described above has the following problems.

(I) An aiming boss must be provided on the front lens of the headlight. Therefore, the front lens reduces the design value and increases the manufacturing cost of the front lens.

(Ii) The optical axis cannot be adjusted unless an aimer is installed.

Although the optical axis is adjusted by using an aimer in a specialized manufacturing factory, the aiming cost must be increased because the aimer must be installed in the small and medium-sized maintenance factories.

(Iii) The front lens is oblique to the vertical plane,
In a so-called slant type headlight, it is difficult to adjust the optical axis when the slant angle is large.

Headlamps are shipped after being inspected for light distribution characteristics as a single headlamp at a specialized manufacturing factory. At this time, the optical axis of the headlight is set accurately so that it becomes a regular optical axis when mounted on the vehicle body.

In an automobile manufacturing plant, a single headlamp shipped from a specialized manufacturing plant is mounted on the vehicle body, and at that time, the optical axis is adjusted based on the optical axis standard set in the specialized manufacturing plant (aiming). ) Perform the operation.

Based on this consideration of the adjustment procedure, the inventor of the present invention takes the idea that the adjustment of the optical axis is to be redone and restores the adjustment state at the time of shipment from the manufacturing factory. It holds.

(A) Mount a level on the lamp housing.

(B) The above-mentioned level is arranged substantially parallel to the optical axis so that the vertical tilt of the optical axis can be detected.

(C) When adjusted to have proper light distribution characteristics,
The level is attached so that the tilting direction can be adjusted in a vertical plane parallel to the optical axis so that the level is horizontal.

(D) As the adjustable mounting structure described above (i) At least two protrusions are provided on the lamp housing in a direction substantially parallel to the optical axis.

(Ii) The height of the protrusions should be adjustable in some way. Then, the spirit level is attached to the above-mentioned at least two protrusions. If the above-mentioned projection is provided on the upper surface of the lamp housing, the electronic level can be easily seen and is convenient.

The above-mentioned configuration is separately filed by the present applicant (actual application No. 1-93406, hereinafter referred to as prior application).

Applying the configuration of the above-mentioned prior application and attaching the spirit level by straddling it over the two protrusions arranged in parallel with the optical axis direction, the level can be adjusted by adjusting the height of the above-mentioned protrusion. It tilts in a vertical plane parallel to the optical axis. Therefore, the electronic level can display the vertical tilt of the optical axis.

Then, after confirming that the headlight shows a normal light distribution characteristic at the time of shipping inspection, if the mounting state is adjusted so that the above level is displayed horizontally, after that, In, the light distribution characteristic at the time of the shipping inspection is reproduced by adjusting the mounting state of the headlight with respect to the vehicle body so that the level is horizontal.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a headlamp provided with an embodiment of the optical axis adjusting device according to the invention of the above-mentioned prior application.

Reference numeral 1 is a lamp housing, and 2 is a light source bulb.

A front lens 3 is attached to the lamp housing 1,
In addition, the lamp housing 1 is mounted on the vehicle body (not shown) via the base member 11.

A spirit level 15 is arranged along a line z'-z 'parallel to the optical axis Z-Z of the headlight and is attached to the lamp housing 1.

A cross section taken along the vertical plane AA passing through the level 5 is shown in FIG. 8, and an exploded perspective view of this portion is shown in FIG. z'-
z'is an imaginary line parallel to the optical axis.

The spirit level 15 is housed and fixed in a mounting plate 16 of the spirit level. 15a is a bubble and 15b (Fig. 9) is a scale.

On the other hand, a pair of protrusions 17a and 17b are provided on the upper surface of the lamp housing 1 side by side in the z'-z 'direction.

A level plate mounting plate 16 which is hung over the pair of protrusions 17a and 17b.
Place it and fix it with the mounting screw 18.

A method of using the adjusting device according to this prior application will be described below.

At the time of shipping inspection by a specialized manufacturer of headlights, keep this headlight in a posture that shows the normal light distribution characteristics, and in this state, make sure that the bubble 15a of the level bubble matches the reference line of the scale 15b. The height of the protrusions 17a or 17b is adjusted and the seal is easily made.

As a result, the headlight can store the regular adjustment state with respect to the earth, regardless of the vehicle body.

The adjustment / sealing by the protrusions 17a and 17b may be performed in the shipping inspection of the automobile manufacturer.

As described above, after the reference level of the level 15 is adjusted, even if the optical axis is adjusted for some reason, the level 15
If the mounting relationship of the headlight with respect to the vehicle body is adjusted so that the bubbles 15a of the headlight match the reference line of the scale 15b, the optical axis adjustment state is restored so that the headlight has a normal light distribution characteristic. It

As is apparent from the above operation, no aimer is required for the optical axis adjustment (restoration of the adjusted state) according to the invention of the prior application, and thus no aiming boss is required.

Moreover, even a slant type headlight does not have a problem.

In addition, the manufacturing cost is low because it has a simple structure in which a spirit level is mounted over a plurality of protrusions.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In the invention (FIGS. 7 to 9) of the prior application, the mounting state of the level 15 must be adjusted by alternately tightening and loosening the two mounting screws 18 (see FIG. 8). Therefore, the adjustment work requires skill, and much time and labor are required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and does not impair the advantages of the invention of the prior application (no need for aiming), has a small number of constituent parts, does not require skill, and can quickly and easily set a level. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical axis adjusting device that can be adjusted.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the device of the present invention is provided with a concave reflecting mirror in a lamp housing, and at least one of a lamp housing and a reflecting mirror in a vehicle lamp in which a light source bulb is located near the focal point of the reflecting mirror. In an optical axis adjusting device in which one of the two is tiltably supported with respect to a fixing member of a vehicle, a substantially horizontal surface fixed to at least one of the tiltably hindered lamp housing and the reflecting mirror is provided. A cylindrical case, a cap rotatably fitted in the opening of the cylindrical case, a recess provided inside the cap, and a level having one end fitted in the recess. And a means for fixing the rotation of the cap with respect to the case, wherein the recess is eccentric with respect to the center of rotation of the cap. Is characterized by.

[Action]

According to the above configuration, since the recess is eccentric with respect to the center of rotation of the cap, when the cap is rotated, the recess moves in a circle. Therefore, the level of which one end is fitted in the recess moves up and down in a circle.

Stopping the rotation of the cap at an appropriate point completes the adjustment of the spirit level.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an essential part of the optical axis adjustment according to the present invention, and its II cross section is shown in FIG. 1 and the III-III cross section is shown in FIG.

The case 22 has a cylindrical shape with a bottom and is fixed to a tilting member 23 of a vehicular lamp.

Here, the tilting member means a member that can be tilted by an optical axis adjusting operation, such as the lamp housing 1 in FIG. 5 and the concave reflecting mirror 7 in FIG.

The cylindrical case 22 is arranged in a substantially horizontal posture, and its topless opening is oriented horizontally.

The cap 24 is rotatably fitted into the topless opening.

The level 15 has one end fitted into a recess 22b provided on the bottom surface of the case 22, and the opposite end fitted into a recess 24a on the inner surface of the cap 24.

The center O'of the recess 24a is eccentric with respect to the rotation center O-O of the cap 24. The illustrated dimension e is the amount of eccentricity.

An exploded perspective view of this portion is shown in FIG.

(See FIG. 1) When the cap 24 is rotated with respect to the case 22, the recess 24a moves up and down in the figure (three-dimensionally,
Circular movement along a plane perpendicular to the central axis OO). As a result, the support angle of the level 15 is changed, and the level 15 is tilted so that the inclination angle is changed as compared with the horizontal direction.

When using the apparatus of this example, first, the tilting member 23 shown in FIG. 1 is tilted to adjust the optical axis. This adjustment is done in a specialized factory using a dedicated machine.

After the optical axis is adjusted, an adhesive is applied to the cap 24, the cap 24 is fitted to the case 22 as shown in FIG. 1, and the bubble 15a is rotated about the central axis O--O to make the scale 15b ( (Fig. 2)
To match.

When the bubbles 15a are aligned with the scale 15b and left still for a while, the adhesive solidifies and the work is completed. The above adjustment operation is performed in a specialized factory.

Next, when the vehicle equipped with the vehicular lamp of this embodiment is carried into a winding maintenance shop, a technician of the maintenance shop does not tamper with the support state of the level 15 and the tilting member (FIG. 1).
Adjust the tilt angle of the bubble to align the bubble 15a with the scale 15b (second
Figure).

As a result, the adjustment state made in the specialized factory is reproduced,
A correct optical axis adjustment state can be obtained.

In this way, "a function to reproduce the correct optical axis adjustment state"
Is very effective when a vehicle manufacturer is refurbished so that the position of the center of gravity of the vehicle is changed (for example, by mounting a crane on a light truck).

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the optical axis adjusting device of the present invention,
Without compromising the merits of the invention of the prior application that does not require aiming, we have improved it, have a small number of component parts, do not require skill, and quickly and easily regulate the mounting state of the level and Axis adjustment work can be done conveniently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an essential part of an embodiment of an optical axis adjusting device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, and FIG.
III-III sectional drawing of a figure, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view. 5 and 6 are explanatory views of the optical axis adjustment in the vehicle lamp. 7 to 9 are explanatory views of the device according to the prior application. 15 …… Level, 15a …… Bubble, 15b …… Scale, 22 …… Case, 22a …… Opening, 22b …… Concave, 24 …… Cap, 24a
…… A recess.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Claims: 1. A concave reflector is provided in a lamp housing, and at least one of the lamp housing and the reflector in a vehicle lamp having a light source bulb positioned near a focal point of the reflector is fixed to a vehicle fixing member. An optical axis adjusting device which is tiltably supported with respect to the tiltingly supported lamp housing and / or a reflecting mirror is fixed to a substantially horizontal cylindrical case, A cap that is rotatably fitted to the opening of the case; a recess provided inside the cap; and a level that has one end fitted to the recess, and The optical axis of the vehicular lamp is characterized in that the recess is eccentric with respect to the center of rotation of the cap, and means for fixing the rotation of the cap with respect to the case is provided. Integer unit.