JPH09240368A - Irradiation direction variable type vehicular room lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably maintain an irradiating angle and to provide a feeling of moderation during changing of the irradiating angle by providing a spring for press-contacting an angle adjusting projecting with an angle setting member side and forming the sliding surface of the angle setting member for sliding of the angle adjusting projection to be circular-arc around the rotational center of a lamp unit. SOLUTION: An angle adjusting projection 70 is housed in a cylindrical body 74 so as to be moved back and forth via a spring 73 and the peripheral surface of a part is protruded from the opening part of the cylindrical body 74 to the outside and press-contacted with the front face of an angle setting member 71. The front face having a locking groove 77 is formed to be circular- arc around the rotational center of a lamp unit 11 in order to form a sliding surface 78 for sliding of the angle adjusting projection 70 during the angle changing of the lamp unit 22. During changing of an irradiating angle, the angle adjusting projection 70 is slid along the sliding surface 78 of the angle setting member 71 and since the peripheral surface of its part enters the locking groove 77 during passing through the locking groove 77, a feeling of moderation is provided to a finger for pressing a front lens.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an interior light installed in a vehicle interior, and more particularly to a vehicle interior light with a variable irradiation direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various illumination direction variable indoor lamps of this type arranged on the ceiling surface or wall surface of the interior of an automobile have been proposed. This type of room light is configured to change the irradiation direction to a desired direction by rotating a lamp unit that is rotatably provided with respect to the housing. The irradiation angle of the lamp unit is generally held by frictional force.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway front view showing a conventional example of such an irradiation direction variable type vehicle interior light, and FIG. 8 is shown in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. In these figures, an interior lamp 1 includes a housing 4 fixed to a ceiling surface or an inner wall surface of a vehicle body interior, a room lamp 2 whose irradiation direction cannot be changed, a reading lamp 3 whose irradiation direction can be changed, and A switch 5 for both lamps 2 and 3 is provided. The reading lamp 3 includes a lamp body 7 that houses the light source 6, a front lens 8 and an inner lens 9 that cover the front opening of the lamp body 7, and the lamp body 7 is rotatably supported by a pair of shafts 11. The front lens 8 faces the opening 10 of the housing 4. A pair of shafts 11
Are held by the lamp mounting portion 12 provided in the housing 4. Further, a washer 13 is interposed between the mounting portion 12 and the side wall of the lamp body 7,
The irradiation angle of the leading lamp 3 is maintained by the frictional force between the washer 13, the mounting portion 12, and the lamp body 7. In order to apply the frictional force, the washer 13 is held between the side wall of the lamp body 7 and the mounting portion 12, and the nut 14 is screwed into the male screw portion provided at the tip of the shaft 11 to attach the lamp body 7 and the mounting portion. Tighten 12.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional interior lighting for a vehicle with variable irradiation direction, since the irradiation angle is held by the frictional force, a moderation feeling at the time of adjusting the angle cannot be obtained. Also, if the frictional force is small, the irradiation angle is likely to change due to slight vibrations during running, and if it is too large, it is difficult to finely adjust the irradiation angle, and therefore it is difficult to set the optimum frictional force.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the purpose thereof is to be able to stably maintain the irradiation angle and to obtain a moderation feeling when changing the irradiation angle. Provided is an interior lighting for a vehicle having a variable irradiation direction.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to an interior of a vehicle with a variable irradiation direction in which a lamp unit including a lamp body, a front lens and a light source is rotatably arranged with respect to a housing. In the lamp, an angle adjusting protrusion is provided on the lamp body so as to be movable back and forth, and a plurality of locking grooves for selectively locking the angle adjusting protrusion are arranged in parallel in the rotating direction of the lamp body. A setting member is provided in the housing, a spring for pressing the angle adjusting protrusion to the angle setting member side is provided, and the sliding surface of the angle setting member on which the angle adjusting protrusion slides is connected to the rotation of the lamp unit. It is characterized in that it is formed in an arc surface centered on the center of motion. Further, the present invention is characterized in that the angle adjusting protrusion is a ball.

In the present invention, the angle adjusting protrusion slides along the sliding surface of the angle setting member when the lamp unit is rotated and engages with the locking groove to give a detent feeling to the hand. Further, in this engaged state, the irradiation angle is held in a stable state. The elastic member presses the protrusion and presses the sliding surface of the angle setting member.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of a variable-illumination-direction vehicle interior light according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a right side view of the interior light, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the interior light. Is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bearing structure of the lamp unit, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an angle setting mechanism. In these drawings, the interior lamp 20 includes a housing 21 and a lamp unit 22, and the lamp unit 22 is rotatably attached to the housing 21 to form a leading lamp.

The housing 21 is formed of a synthetic resin in an elongated rectangular shape. The rear end of the housing 21 is fitted into an opening 24 provided in a ceiling plate 23 in the vehicle body compartment near the driver's seat, passenger seat or rear seat, and 1 It is detachably fixed by one engaging portion 25 and three vehicle body mounting springs 26.
That is, when the engaging portion 25 is engaged with the hole wall of the opening 24 provided in the ceiling plate 23 of the vehicle body, one end side of the housing 21 is locked, and the three vehicle body mounting springs 26 are also attached to the opening 24. When the housing 21 is pressed against the hole wall, the other end of the housing 21 is locked, whereby the housing 21 can be detachably fixed.

On the front surface of the housing 21, two openings 27a and 27b are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the housing 21. One opening 27a is formed in a rectangular hole that is long in the longitudinal direction of the housing 21, and the lamp unit 2
2 is rotatably incorporated. The other opening 27b
A knob 33 of a switch 32 for turning on / off the interior light 20 is inserted into and retracted from the housing, and projects toward the front of the housing 21.

On the back side of the housing 21, a unit mounting portion 35 in which the lamp unit 22 is incorporated and a switch mounting portion 37 are integrally projected. The unit mounting portion 35 includes a pair of side wall portions 35A and 35B surrounding both ends of the lamp body 42 in the longitudinal direction, which will be described later.
Grooves 38 (see FIG. 3) into which one end of the vehicle body mounting spring 26 is detachably inserted are formed on the outer side surfaces thereof.

The switch mounting portion 37 has the opening 2
The switch 32 is projectingly provided on both sides of the housing 7b, and the switch 32 is fixed from the rear of the housing 21 by a pair of tapping screws 39.

The lamp unit 22 includes a bulb 41 as a light source, and the lamp body 42 for housing the bulb 41.
A front lens 43 that closes the front opening of the lamp body 42, a shade 44, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lamp body 42 has a rear plate 42a that is curved in a parabolic shape so as to be convex toward the rear, and faces forward from both side edges of the rear plate 42a. Pair of side plates 42b, 42c extending parallel to each other
And the front surface is the opening 27a of the housing 21.
A rectangular opening 46 having a substantially similar shape and smaller than that is formed, and the entire inner surface forms a reflection surface by vapor deposition of aluminum or the like. A bulb mounting hole 47 (see FIG. 4) is formed in the rear top portion of the back plate 42a, and the bulb 41 is inserted into the lamp body 42 through the bulb mounting hole 47.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bulb 41 is, for example, an incandescent bulb, and the base portion 41a of the bulb 41 is the socket 4.
8 is connected. The socket 48 is held by a mounting member 49, and the mounting member 49 is fixed to the rear plate 42a from behind by a set screw (not shown).
Further, the socket 48 is connected to the cord 52 together with the switch 32 and the connector 51, and these constitute a cord assembly 50. The cord 52 is connected to the battery mounted on the vehicle body through the connector 51 and the power source side cord. Therefore, when the switch 32 is turned on and off by pressing the knob 33, the valve 41 can be blinked. The bulb 41 has a filament whose lamp body 42
It is arranged in the lamp body 42 so as to be substantially coincident with the focal position of the parabolic reflection surface.

The front lens 43 is composed of a rectangular flat plate-shaped front surface portion 43a and a frame-shaped side wall portion 43b integrally provided on the outer peripheral edge portion of the front surface portion 43a on the back surface side.
A diffusing step 55, which is a small convex lens and diffuses the light from the bulb 41, is formed on the inner surface of, and a cylindrical lens 56 is formed on the entire inner surface of the side wall portion 43b. Such a front lens 43
Is fitted in the front opening 46 of the lamp body 42 from the front side, and is detachably fixed by the engagement of a plurality of elastic locking pieces 57 and the engaging holes 58.

The shade 44 is provided for cutting the direct light of the bulb 41 to prevent glare, has a large number of small holes 59 and a pair of fixing portions 44a, and is provided on both side wall plates 42b and 42c of the lamp body 42. The fixing portions 44a are inserted into the shade mounting portions 60 provided on the inner surface, and are positioned in front of the valve 41.

A lamp unit 22 having such a structure
Is inserted from the front into the opening 27a of the housing 21, is rotatably held in the directions of arrows A and B in FIG. 1 by a pair of shaft members 62, and the irradiation angle is set by an angle setting mechanism 63 described later. It is configured to be set automatically.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the shaft member 62 includes an L-shaped main body 62a, a shaft 62b, and the shaft 62.
b has a plate-like elastically deformable portion 62c for connecting the main body 62a integrally with each other, and the main body 62a has the unit mounting portion 35.
Is inserted into the locking groove 64 (see FIG. 4) provided between the base end of the housing 21 and the inner wall surface of the housing 21 so as to be insertable and removable from the rear of the housing 21. The shaft 62b extends from the hole 65 (see FIG. 3) provided on the base side of the unit mounting portion 35 to the opening 2
7a, and the protruding end portion is inserted into a bearing hole 66 provided in the side wall portion 43b of the front lens 43. The bearing hole 66 is formed at the center of the long side wall of the four side walls forming the side wall portion 43b as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the elastically deformable portion 62c has a shaft 6
By connecting the end portion on the opposite side to 2b to the main body 62a, it is elastically deformable in the plate thickness direction, and is elastically deformed in the direction of arrow C when the shaft 62b is inserted into the bearing hole 66. It should be noted that the lamp unit 22 is provided between the side walls on both short sides of the opening 27a and the side walls on the short side of the front lens 43.
An appropriate gap d (FIG. 1) is set to enable the rotation of the. The maximum rotation angle of the lamp unit 22 in the directions of arrows A and B is about 17 °, respectively.

The angle setting mechanism 63 of the lamp unit 22
Is an angle adjusting protrusion 70 provided on the back side of the lamp body 42 and the unit mounting portion 3 of the housing 21.
The angle setting member 71 provided on the No. 5 side, and the spring 73 including a compression coil spring that presses the angle adjusting protrusion 70 against the angle setting member 71 are included. The angle adjusting protrusion 70 is made of a ball as shown in FIG.
It is retractably stored in the inside through the spring 73,
A part of the peripheral surface projects outward from the opening of the cylindrical body 74 and is pressed against the front surface of the angle setting member 71. The opening diameter of the cylindrical body 74 is
The diameter is set smaller than the diameter of the protrusion 70 in order to prevent the angle adjusting protrusion 70 from coming off. The cylindrical body 74 is embedded in the tip end surface of the projection 75 provided on the rear surface of the lamp body 42.

The angle setting member 71 is integrally formed of synthetic resin or the like, and both ends thereof are the unit mounting portion 35.
Is detachably locked to the rear ends of the pair of side wall portions 35A and 35B. Therefore, a plate-shaped engaging piece 71a is integrally projectingly provided at one end in the longitudinal direction of the angle setting member 71, and a pair of elastically deformable engaging pieces 76 is integrally projectingly provided at the other end. ing. The engagement piece 71a is provided on one side wall portion 35.
The groove (not shown) provided in A is inserted from the other side wall portion 35B side. The pair of engagement pieces 76 are provided on the other side wall portion 35B.
Is engaged from the front into an engagement hole (not shown) provided on the back surface of the. On the front surface of the angle setting member 71, that is, the surface with which the angle adjusting protrusion 70 abuts, a plurality of locking grooves 77 for selectively locking the angle adjusting protrusion 70 are provided in the rotating direction of the lamp unit 22. Are arranged side by side at a constant interval in the moving direction of the protrusions 70. Further, the front surface in which the locking groove 77 is formed forms a sliding surface 78 on which the angle adjusting projection 70 slides when the angle of the lamp unit 22 is changed.
The lamp unit 22 is formed in an arc surface centered on the center of rotation 0 (see FIG. 2) of the lamp unit 22. Further, the angle setting member 71 has a connector locking hole 79 (see FIG. 3),
In this locking hole 79, the protrusion 8 provided on the connector 51 is provided.
1 is detachably inserted from the rear.

In the interior light 20 having such a structure, when the irradiation direction of the interior light 20 is changed, the end portion of the front lens 43 on the angle changing side may be pressed by hand. Then, the lamp unit 22 rotates around the shaft 62b of the pair of shaft members 62 as the rotation center toward the lens pressing side.
The irradiation direction of 0 can be easily changed. Further, the adjusting protrusion 70 of the angle setting mechanism 63 is provided with an arbitrary locking groove 7
When it is engaged with 7, the lamp unit 22 can be locked at that angular position, so that the irradiation angle can be held in a stable state, and the irradiation angle can be prevented from changing due to vibration or the like during traveling. be able to. Further, when the irradiation angle is changed, when the angle adjusting protrusion 70 slides along the sliding surface 78 of the angle setting member 71 and passes through the locking groove 77,
A part of the peripheral surface of the finger enters the locking groove 77, so that the finger pressing the front lens 43 can be given a moderation sensation.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional angle setting mechanism utilizing the frictional force, it is difficult to adjust the frictional force, and if it is used for a long period of time, the frictional force may decrease and the desired function may not be exhibited. However, since the angle setting mechanism 63 in the present invention uses the angle adjusting protrusion 70, the angle setting member 71 and the spring 73, there is no fear of that.
It can exhibit stable performance over a long period of time.

The angle setting member 71 is used for the housing 2
Since it is removably attached to the unit attachment portion 35 of No. 1 by engaging the engagement groove and the engagement hole with the engagement piece, fixing work such as a set screw is not required, and the work of attaching the angle setting member 71 is easy. Is. Furthermore, since the lamp unit 22 itself is detachably attached to the housing 21 together with the pair of shaft members 62, fixing means such as a set screw is not required, and the attaching operation of the lamp unit 22 is facilitated.

Although the incandescent lamp is used as the light source in the above embodiment, a bulb bulb may be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the vehicle is mounted on the ceiling plate 23 in the interior of the automobile has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be an interior light attached to a wall surface in the room or an inner surface of a door. . Further, if the interval between the locking grooves 77 of the angle setting member 71 is narrowed, the irradiation direction can be finely adjusted, and the desired irradiation area can be surely illuminated.

[0026]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the vehicle interior light according to the present invention is for a vehicle with a variable illumination direction in which a lamp unit including a lamp body, a front lens and a light source is rotatably arranged with respect to the housing. In an interior light, an angle adjusting protrusion is provided on the lamp body so as to be able to move forward and backward, and a plurality of locking grooves for selectively locking the angle adjusting protrusion are arranged in parallel in the rotating direction of the lamp body. An angle setting member is provided in the housing, a spring for pressing the angle adjusting projection to the angle setting member side is provided, and a sliding surface of the angle setting member on which the angle adjusting projection slides is provided on the housing of the lamp unit. Since it is formed on an arc surface centering on the center of rotation, the irradiation angle is unlikely to change due to vibration etc. during running, and the irradiation angle can be held stably, and when changing the irradiation angle,
Since the angle adjusting protrusion fits into the locking groove of the angle setting member, it is possible to give a detent feel to the finger that is rotating the lamp unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of a vehicle interior light according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the room light.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the room light.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a bearing structure of the lamp unit.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an angle setting mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway front view showing a conventional example of a variable-illumination-direction interior lamp for a vehicle.

8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Room light, 2 ... Room lamp, 3 ... Reading lamp, 4 ... Housing, 5 ... Switch, 20 ... Room light, 2
1 ... Housing, 22 ... Lamp unit, 41 ... Bulb,
42 ... Lamp body, 43 ... Front lens, 63 ... Angle setting mechanism, 70 ... Angle adjusting protrusion, 71 ... Angle setting member, 7
3 ... Spring, 77 ... Locking groove, 78 ... Sliding surface.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An illumination direction variable type vehicle interior lamp in which a lamp unit including a lamp body, a front lens and a light source is rotatably arranged with respect to a housing, and an angle adjusting protrusion is reciprocated in the lamp body. An angle setting member, which is freely provided and has a plurality of locking grooves for selectively locking the angle adjusting protrusion arranged in parallel in the rotating direction of the lamp body, is provided in the housing, and the angle adjusting protrusion is provided. Is provided on the side of the angle setting member, and the sliding surface of the angle setting member on which the angle adjusting protrusion slides is formed in an arc surface centered on the rotation center of the lamp unit. Interior lighting for vehicles with variable irradiation direction. 2. The interior lighting for a vehicle with variable irradiation direction according to claim 1, wherein the angle adjusting protrusion is a ball.