JPH0757508A - Headlight leveling mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a new headlight leveling mechanism capable of being miniaturized. CONSTITUTION:This headlight leveling mechanism is provided with a worm wheel 9 rotatably supported in a case body 6 and a screw holding shaft 19 rotatably and axially unmovably supporting an adjusting screw 24 connected to the tiltable reflecting mirror 3 of a headlight 1. A guide protruded wall 22 protruded forward from the rear inner face of the case body 6 is formed, a slide slit extended in the longitudinal direction is formed on the guide protruded wall 22, and a whirl stop lug slidably coupled with the slide slit is formed on the screw holding shaft 19. The screw holding shaft 19 is made movable in the longitudinal direction but unrotatable against the case body 6, and the screw holding shaft 19, i.e., the adjusting screw 24, is moved in the longitudinal direction by the rotation of the worm wheel 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel headlamp leveling mechanism. Specifically, it is intended to provide a novel headlamp leveling mechanism that can be miniaturized.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An adjusting screw connected to a tilting member for changing the irradiation angle of irradiation light when tilted, and holding the adjusting screw and being non-rotatably and axially movable in a case body. There is a headlamp leveling mechanism that includes a screw holding shaft supported by the case and a worm wheel that is rotatably and immovably supported by the case body and is screwed into the screw holding shaft.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional example a of such a headlamp leveling mechanism.

Reference numeral b is a case body, and c is a worm wheel rotatably and immovably supported by the case body b, and is meshed with a worm gear e rotated by a motor d.

Further, the worm wheel c is integrally formed with a cylindrical tubular portion f, and a spiral groove g is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tubular portion f.

Reference numeral h designates a screw holding shaft, which has a cylindrical shape, and is provided with anti-rotation protrusions i, i at a substantially intermediate portion thereof, and a thread j is provided on the outer peripheral surface behind the anti-rotation protrusions i, i. Are formed. The thread j is screwed into the thread groove g of the worm wheel c.

Reference numeral k denotes a holding cylinder portion that is provided so as to project from the front surface of the case body b. Engagement grooves 1 and 1 extending in the axial direction are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the holding cylinder portion k.

The rotation preventing projections i of the screw holding shaft h are slidably engaged with the engaging concave grooves 1, 1. As a result, the screw holding shaft h is axially movable and non-rotatably supported by the case body b.

Then, the adjusting screw m is held by the screw holding shaft h.

The adjusting screw m
Is connected to a reflecting mirror (not shown). The reflecting mirror is tiltably supported by a lamp body (not shown).

Further, n is a cylindrical supporting cylinder portion projecting rearward from the inner surface of the front wall of the case body b, and the front half of the cylinder portion f of the worm wheel c is fitted in the supporting cylinder portion n. Is rotatably supported.

When the worm wheel c is rotated, the screw holding shaft h screwed with the worm wheel c is moved forward or backward depending on the rotating direction of the worm wheel c, and the adjusting screw held by the worm wheel c is moved. m is moved forward or backward. As a result, the reflecting mirror connected to the adjusting screw m is tilted and the irradiation direction is changed.

Reference numeral o denotes a movable contact plate that rotates integrally with the worm wheel c, p denotes a substrate supported by the case body b, and a plurality of substrates p are provided at positions facing the movable contact plate o. A contact portion in which a contact is formed is formed. When the worm wheel c rotates, the movable contact plate o, which rotates in accordance with the rotation angle, changes the connection relationship of a plurality of contacts of the contact portion formed on the substrate p, thereby detecting the rotation angle of the worm wheel c. It is supposed to be done. Then, the tilt angle of the reflecting mirror is indirectly detected by the detected rotation angle.

[0014]

By the way, in the above-described conventional headlamp leveling mechanism a, the screw holding shaft h is supported so as not to be rotatable with respect to the case body b but to be movable in the axial direction. The holding cylinder portion k is projected from the case body b toward the front.

Of course, there is no problem if there is a margin to arrange such a substitute for the detent mechanism behind the worm wheel c, but in the headlamp leveling mechanism a, the rotation angle of the worm wheel c is detected. Since the movable contact plate o and the substrate p are provided for this purpose, there is no such margin.

Therefore, there is a problem that the size of the entire mechanism is increased by the amount that the holding cylinder portion k is projected forward, which hinders downsizing.

[0017]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention includes a worm wheel rotatably supported in a case body and a tilting member of the headlamp, that is, a tilting member. A moving member that is coupled to the tilting member whose irradiation direction is changed by being screwed into the worm wheel and is screwed into the worm wheel so as to be axially movable, but is not rotatable. A guide wall protruding forward from the inner surface of the rear portion of the case body is formed, a guide slit extending in the front-rear direction is formed in the guide wall, and an engaging protrusion that slidably engages with the guide slit is provided on the moving member. This allows the moving member to move in the front-back direction with respect to the case body but does not rotate, and the rotation of the worm wheel causes the moving member to move in the front-back direction. In which was to so that.

[0018]

Therefore, in the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention, the guide for moving the moving body in the axial direction but not rotating the moving body is arranged on the rear side of the worm wheel in the case body. Therefore, the case body does not have a large protrusion to the front, and the entire mechanism can be downsized.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In the figure, 1 is a headlamp, 2 is its lamp body, 3 is a reflecting mirror rotatably supported by the lamp body 2 in the vertical direction, and 4 is a lens covering the front opening of the lamp body 2. Is.

In this embodiment, the reflecting mirror 3 is a tilting member in which the irradiation angle is changed by tilting the reflecting mirror 3. However, in addition to this, in the space defined by the lamp body and the lens. It is also possible to support the lamp unit itself, which is provided with a reflecting mirror and a light source, rotatably with respect to the vehicle body, and use this lamp unit as a tilting member.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a headlamp leveling mechanism fixed to the vehicle body (not shown).

Reference numeral 6 denotes a case body, which is formed by combining a front case 7 and a back case 8 which are divided into two parts in the front and rear.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a warm wheel, which is a case body 6.
It is rotatably supported by. The worm wheel 9 cannot move in the front-rear direction.

A cylindrical portion 10 having a cylindrical shape is formed on the worm wheel 9, and a thread groove 11 is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 10. Further, an annular groove 12 is formed on the outer peripheral surface near the front end of the tubular portion 10.

Reference numeral 13 is a positioning member, which is formed by integrally forming a main portion 14 having a short cylindrical shape in the axial direction and mounting pieces 15 and 15 projecting from the main portion 14 in directions opposite to each other. Then, on the inner peripheral surface of the main portion 14, the protrusion 1 extending in an annular shape
6 is formed.

The mounting pieces 15, 15 of the positioning member 13 are fixed in the case body 6 by screwing, and the cylindrical portion 10 of the worm wheel 9 rotates in the main portion 14 of the positioning member 13. The ridge 1 of the positioning member 13 is fitted into the groove 12 of the worm wheel 9 in a freely fitted state.
6 is slidably engaged. As a result, the worm wheel 9 is rotatably supported in the case body 6 and cannot be moved in the axial direction.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a motor fixed in the case body 6,
A worm gear 18 is rotated by the motor 17, and the worm gear 18 is meshed with the worm wheel 9. Therefore, when the motor 17 is driven, the worm wheel 9 is rotated.

A screw holding shaft 19 has a cylindrical shape having a length about twice that of the cylindrical portion 10 of the worm wheel 9, and a thread 20 is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. In addition, anti-rotation projections 21, 21 are integrally provided on the rear end portion so as to project in mutually opposite directions.

The screw holding shaft 19 is positioned inside the tubular portion 10 of the worm wheel 9 so as to be fitted therein.
The thread 20 is screwed into the thread groove 11 of the worm wheel 9.

Reference numerals 22 and 22 denote guide projection walls projecting forward from the back case 8, each having a semicircular arc shape when viewed from the front-rear direction, and these two guide projection walls 22 and 22 are one circle. They are located on the circumference and are spaced apart from each other by a marginal interval, and these two intervals are the sliding slits 23, 2.
It is said to be 3.

The rotation preventing projections 21 and 21 of the screw holding shaft 19 are slidably engaged with the sliding slits 23 and 23, respectively. As a result, the screw holding shaft 19 is in a non-rotatable state.

Then, when the worm wheel 9 is rotated, the screw holding shaft 1 screwed to the worm wheel 9 is rotated.
Since the case body 9 is non-rotatably supported by the case body 6, it is sent forward or backward depending on the direction of rotation of the worm wheel 9.

Reference numeral 24 is an adjusting screw, the middle portion of which is a columnar supported portion 25, the front end portion of which is a screw shaft portion 26, and the rear end portion of which is a square columnar operating portion 27. There is.

Then, the adjusting screw 2
4, the supported portion 25 is the screw holding shaft 1
It is rotatably supported on the shaft 9, but not axially movable. The approximately front half of the adjusting screw 24 is projected forward from the case body 6, and the operating portion 27
Is in a state of being projected to the rear of the case body 6. And
The screw shaft portion 26 is screwed into a nut 28 supported at a position near the turning end of the reflecting mirror 3, whereby the headlamp leveling mechanism 5 and the reflecting mirror 3 which is a tilting member are connected.

When the worm wheel 9 rotates and the screw holding shaft 19 moves in the front-rear direction, the adjusting screw 24 supported by the worm wheel 9 moves in the front-rear direction, so that the reflecting mirror 3 tilts in the up-down direction. To be done.

Reference numeral 29 is a resistance type sensor, and a case 30
The movable element 31 is movably supported in the front-rear direction, and the resistance value changes depending on the relative position of the movable element 31 with respect to the case 30. Further, a spring unit (not shown) is associated with the mover 31, so that the moving force toward the front is elastically biased. The end of the mover 31 of the sensor 29 is located in one of the sliding slits 23, 23 and is elastically contacted with one of the rotation stop projections 21, 21 of the screw holding shaft 19 from behind. There is.

However, as the screw holding shaft 19 moves in the front-rear direction, the position of the mover 31 of the sensor 29 changes, and the resistance value of the sensor 29 changes. Therefore,
By detecting this resistance value, the screw holding shaft 19, and by extension, the adjusting screw 24
Can be detected, and from this, the tilt angle of the reflecting mirror 3 can be detected.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, in the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention, the worm wheel rotatably supported in the case body and the tilting member of the headlamp, that is, the tilting member. The case body is provided with a moving member that is coupled to the tilting member whose irradiation direction is changed, is screwed into the worm wheel so as to be fitted internally, and is movable in the axial direction but not rotatable. A guide wall protruding forward from the inner surface of the rear portion is formed, a guide slit extending in the front-rear direction is formed in the guide wall, and an engaging protrusion that slidably engages with the guide slit is formed on the moving member. , By this, the moving member can be moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the case body but cannot be rotated, and the moving member is moved in the front-rear direction by the rotation of the worm wheel. And it said that there was Unishi.

Therefore, in the headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention, the guide portion for moving the moving body in the axial direction but not for rotating the moving body is arranged on the rear side of the worm wheel in the case body. Therefore, the case body does not have a large protrusion to the front, and the entire mechanism can be downsized.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective parts shown in the above embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment when the present invention is carried out, and the technical scope of the present invention is limited by these. Must not be interpreted as.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an outline of a headlamp leveling mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an enlarged main part.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of the positioning member.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing an example of a conventional headlamp leveling mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Headlamp 3 Reflector (tilting member) 5 Headlamp leveling mechanism 6 Case body 9 Worm wheel 19 Screw holding shaft (moving member) 21 Rotation stop protrusion (engaging protrusion) 22 Guide protrusion wall (guide wall) 23 Sliding slit (Guidance slit)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A worm wheel rotatably supported in a case body and a tilting member of a headlamp, that is, a tilting member whose irradiation direction is changed by tilting the headlamp, are connected to the worm wheel. A guide member protruding forward from the inner surface of the rear portion of the case body, the guide wall being provided with a moving member that is screwed into the inside and is movable in the axial direction but is not rotatable. A guide slit extending in a direction, and an engaging projection slidably engaged with the guide slit is formed on the moving member, whereby the moving member can be moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the case body. However, the headlamp leveling mechanism is characterized in that the rotation is disabled and the moving member is moved in the front-rear direction by the rotation of the worm wheel.