JPH0636601A - Car headlamp - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a headlamp for an automobile, which is provided with an inclination measuring device having a small vertical height, a small number of constituent parts, and excellent strength. A headlamp in which a reflector 12 is tiltably supported by a aiming screw 14, 16 and a ball joint 18 with respect to a lamp body 10 around a horizontal axis Lx and a vertical axis Ly. An inclination measuring device 30 is attached to the rear protruding portion of the lamp body. The tilt measuring device 30 includes a nut holder 33 fixed to the lamp body 10 and a nut 36 that is screwed into the screw 14 and slides back and forth along the holder 33.
And a cursor member 44 provided between the nut 36 and the holder 33, and a scale 40 formed on the holder 33.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a headlamp for an automobile equipped with a measuring device for confirming whether the irradiation direction of the headlamp in the left-right direction, that is, the irradiation angle in the left-right direction of the lamp is in a regular position. In particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle headlamp that can be easily adjusted so that the irradiation angle in the left-right direction of the headlamp is in the regular position when the headlamp is not in the regular position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automobile headlamp will be described by taking a movable reflector type headlamp in which a reflector is tiltably supported in a lamp body as an example, as shown in FIG. The back side of b is supported by three aiming screws c and d extending in the front-rear direction and one swing fulcrum e. Note that FIG. 7 is a front view of the reflector, and the aiming screws c and d respectively extend in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The aiming screws c and d are rotatably supported on the rear wall of the lamp body a, and the reflector b by the aiming screws c and d is supported.
The support points of are arranged, for example, at right angles to the swing fulcrum d when viewed from the front of the lamp. Then, the reflector b is moved to the horizontal axis L by rotating the aiming screws c and d.
The irradiation angle of the lamp is adjusted by inclining around x and the vertical axis Ly. Reference numeral f is a bulb that is a light source mounted on the reflector b.

Although not shown, a unit movable headlamp in which a lamp body / reflector unit having a reflector integrally formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lamp body is supported so as to be tiltable with respect to the lamp housing is also shown in FIG.
Similar to the movable reflector headlamp shown in FIG. 3, the lamp body / reflector unit is supported by the lamp housing by one swinging fulcrum and two aiming screws. By rotating the aiming screw, the lamp body / reflector unit is tilted to adjust the irradiation angle of the lamp.

As described above, in a headlamp for an automobile,
By tilting the two aiming screws, the tilting member has a light-reflecting surface that sets the illumination direction of the lamp (a reflector movable headlamp is a reflector, and a unit movable headlamp is a lamp body / reflector unit. The same) is tilted in the vertical direction (around the horizontal axis) and in the horizontal direction (around the vertical axis) with respect to the reference member (the lamp body for the reflector movable headlamp, the lamp housing for the unit movable headlamp. The same applies below). It is designed to adjust the irradiation angle of the lamp.

In recent years, various proposals have been made as means for simply measuring the irradiation angle of the lamp in the left-right direction, Japanese Patent Application No. 63-154630 and Japanese Utility Model Application No. 63-983.
No. 97, Jpn. Application No. 63-121576, Jpn.
No. 979 and the like are earlier proposals already filed by the same applicant as the present application. However, the series of proposals so far has a structure in which a measuring instrument for measuring the lateral inclination of the tilting member is mainly installed between the tilting member and the reference member, which is convenient for reading the scale of the measuring instrument. As such, there is a tendency to install the measuring device at the upper position of the lamp. Therefore, there is a problem that the vertical height of the lamp becomes large, which does not meet the recent demand for a lamp having a small vertical height. Particularly in a reflector-movable headlamp, there is a problem that it is inconvenient to read the scale because the measuring device is arranged inside the lamp body.

FIG. 8 shows an inclination measuring device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-6726, in which a transparent case g extends rearward from the lamp body a and the lamp body a penetrates into the case g. Then, a slider h that is biased and abutted against the back surface (side bracket) of the reflector b is accommodated, and a relative scale is attached between the rear end portion h ₁ of the slider h and the case g. The structure is such that the amount of inclination of the reflector b in the left-right direction can be measured from the amount of displacement with respect to g. Reference numeral i is a compression coil spring.

However, in the structure of the measuring instrument shown in FIG. 8, it is necessary to make a hole for inserting the slider h in the lamp body a which is the reference member, which is troublesome to process, and the measuring instrument is assembled to the lamp. There is also a problem that adjustment when attaching is troublesome.

[0008]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application No. 2-334383 by the same applicant, which has not been disclosed yet.
Issue has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 9, this inclination measuring device extends a guide member 101 on the back surface of a lamp body a, and attaches a slide case 102 which can be slid back and forth in the guide member extending direction to the guide member 101. The guide member 101 and the slide case have a structure in which a nut 103 that is screwed into the aiming screw c and is slidable back and forth inside the slide case 102 is provided, and a zero point adjusting screw 104 is interposed between the nut 103 and the slide case 102. Zero point 1 of scale 105 between 102
By matching 05a and the index 106 in advance, the amount of tilting of the reflector in the left-right direction is shown as a scale indicated by the index. Also, the zero adjustment screw 104
By rotating the, the index 106 is adjusted to the position of the scale zero point 105a. In this technique, a measuring device for measuring the inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction is attached to a rearward projecting portion of the aiming screw from the reference member, so that a special member for disposing the measuring device is provided on the reference member. No processing is required and the height of the headlamp can be made thinner.

However, in the inclination measuring device shown in FIG. 9 described above, since the rod-shaped guide member 101 having the scale is thin, it is necessary to fix the headlamp to the vehicle body, aiming or adjusting the zero point. There is a risk that the driver or spanner used may hit the guide member 101 and the guide member may be damaged or broken. Further, the inclination measuring device is composed of four members, that is, the guide member 101, the slide case 102, the nut 103, and the zero point adjusting screw 104, and there is a problem that the number of parts is large and the cost is high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is a head for an automobile equipped with an inclination measuring device having a small vertical height, a small number of constituent parts, and being hard to be damaged. To provide a lamp.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in a vehicle headlamp according to claim 1,
A tilting member having a light-reflecting surface for setting the irradiation direction of the lamp has one swinging fulcrum portion supported by the reference member, and a left-right direction aiming screw penetrating the reference member in the front-rear direction and supported by the reference member, A tilting member movable type that is supported by three points of an up-down direction aiming screw, and tilts the tilting member vertically and horizontally with respect to the reference member by rotating the aiming screw to adjust the irradiation angle of the headlamp. In the automotive headlamp, the inclination measuring device for measuring the inclination of the tilting member in the left-right direction is provided between the reference member and the protruding portion of the left-right direction aiming screw toward the rear of the reference member. A nut holder that is fixed to the reference member and surrounds a protruding portion of the left-right direction aiming screw toward the rear of the reference member; And a nut member that is assembled to the holder and is slidable along the front and rear grooves that extend parallel to the extending direction of the aiming screw formed in the nut holder, and that is screwed into the protruding portion of the aiming screw toward the rear of the reference member. It is fixed to the upward protruding portion of the nut member from the front-rear groove and is formed at a predetermined position between the nut holder and the slide case, and a zero-point adjusting slide case that can slide in the front-rear direction with respect to the nut holder by releasing the fixation. And a scale indicating the amount of relative displacement between the two.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the means of the first aspect is applied to a reflector movable headlamp in which the reference member is the lamp body and the tilting member is a reflector that can tilt in the lamp body. . According to a third aspect of the present invention, the unit of the first aspect is applied to a unit movable headlamp in which the reference member is a lamp housing and the tilting member is a lamp body / reflector unit in which a reflector is integrally formed on the inner peripheral surface. Is.

[0013]

[Function] When the left and right aiming screws are rotated,
The tilting member tilts with respect to the reference member (tilts about a vertical axis), and the nut member slides in the front-rear direction along the nut holder. And the tilting amount of the tilting member with respect to the reference member due to the rotation of the lateral aiming screw (the moving amount along the aiming screw at the point where the tilting member is supported by the aiming screw) is proportional to the moving amount of the nut member with respect to the nut holder, The tilting amount of the tilting member with respect to the reference member, that is, the amount of deviation of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction, is fixed to the zero point adjusting slide case fixed to the nut member screwed to the aiming screw and the reference member. It appears as a change in the scale between the nut holders that extend rearward. Therefore, it is possible to know from the change in the scale whether or not the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction is proper, and if not, the deviation amount. If there is a deviation, the irradiation angle may be adjusted in the left-right direction by rotating the left-right aiming screw so as to eliminate the deviation on the scale. The zero point position of the scale can be easily adjusted by sliding the zero point adjusting slide case back and forth with respect to the nut member.

Further, the tilt measuring device has a structure in which it is interposed between the reference member and the rearward projecting portion of the left and right aiming screw from the reference member, and the reference member is not perforated for inserting the slider. No need at all. Further, since the inclination measuring device is arranged behind the reference member, the height of the headlamp in the vertical direction is reduced. The inclination measuring device is composed of three members, a nut holder, a nut member, and a zero-point adjusting slide case, and has a smaller number of parts than the previously proposed structure (see FIG. 9).

Further, the tilt measuring device does not have a thin guide member such as the structure proposed previously (see FIG. 9), and the tilt measuring device may be damaged or broken by a driver, a spanner or the like. Absent.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a reflector-movable headlamp in which a reference member is a lamp body and an inclined member is a reflector. FIG. 1 shows the irradiation angle in the left-right direction of the lamp. FIG. 2 is a front view of a reflector-movable headlamp equipped with a tilt measuring device for measuring tilt, and FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the headlamp (line II-II shown in FIG. 1).
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a tilt measuring instrument that measures the tilt of the headlamp in the left-right direction, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the tilt measuring instrument, and FIG. 5 is a cross section of the tilt measuring instrument. It is a front view (view seen from the back side of the headlamp).

In these drawings, reference numeral 10 is a container-shaped lamp body in which a parabolic reflector 12 has two aiming screws 14 and 16 (a left-right aiming screw 14 and a vertical aiming screw). Screw 16) and one ball joint 18
It is supported so that it can be tilted. Screw 14,1
6 penetrates the back wall of the lamp body 10 and is rotatably supported at the penetrating portions, and the front end of the screw is screwed into brackets 15 and 17 fitted to the back side of the reflector 12. The ball joint 18 has a structure in which a ball portion 18a protruding forward from the rear wall of the lamp body 10 is supported by a ball receiving portion 18b fitted to the back side of the reflector 12, and the nuts 15, The structure is such that 17 moves back and forth along the screws 14 and 16, and the reflector 12 tilts around the horizontal axis Lx and the vertical axis Ly. Reference numeral 11 is a front lens, and reference numeral 13 is a bulb which is a light source inserted into a bulb insertion hole of the reflector 12. The left-right aiming screw 14 is disposed so as to pass through the lamp body 10 in the front-rear direction, and the snap ring 14d mounted on the constricted portion 14c of the screw shaft portion and the flange portion 14e formed on the shaft portion cooperate with each other. The lamp body 10 is positioned by clamping the thick wall portion 10a of the lamp body,
Is supported by. A male screw portion 14b having a pitch larger than the pitch of the screw front end side male screw portion 14a is formed on the protruding portion of the aiming screw 14 toward the rear of the lamp body.

Reference numeral 30 is interposed between the lamp body 10 and the projection of the left-right aiming screw 14 toward the rear of the lamp body 10, and the inclination of the reflector 12 in the left-right direction, that is, the irradiation angle of the headlamp. It is the 1st inclination measuring device which measures the inclination of a direction. Reference numeral 50 denotes a bubble tube type inclination measuring device attached to the upper surface wall of the reflector 12 for measuring the inclination of the reflector 12 in the vertical direction, that is, the inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the vertical direction. . The measuring device 50 is a container-shaped case 51 in which a linear bubble tube 52 is housed and integrated.
By rotating 3 the bubble position can be adjusted, that is, the zero point can be adjusted.

Next, the details of the inclination measuring device 30 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. A U-shaped synthetic resin nut 36 is screwed into the male screw portion 14b of the left-right direction aiming screw 14, and the nut 36 has a front end flange portion 33a.
Is attached to the lamp body 10 by screwing and is slidably mounted in a nut holder 33 made of a synthetic resin and having a cross section of a gate type that surrounds the aiming screw 14.
The upper wall of the nut holder 33 has an opening 3 extending in the front-rear direction.
4 is provided, and a constricted portion 36 a at a substantially central portion in the vertical direction of the nut 36 is engaged with a peripheral edge of the opening 34 of the nut holder 33. A pair of inner flanges 33b extending in the front-rear direction at the lower end portions of the side walls of the nut holder 33 are engaged with the lower end portions of both sides of the screw engaging recess 37 formed in the lower end portion of the nut 36. An arcuate slide protrusion 38 so that smooth sliding can be obtained.
A front and rear arm 38 having a is formed to extend.

A pair of flange portions 33c projecting outward in the width direction are formed on the upper surface wall of the nut holder 33, and linear scales 40 are formed on the flange portions 33c, respectively. Reference numeral 41a indicates the zero point of the scale. In addition, the nut 3 protruding upward from the opening 34 of the nut holder 33
In the upper protruding portion 39 of 6, a rectangular cap type frame-shaped slide cursor 44 formed by cutting and raising a thin metal plate is formed.
Are fixed with screws. Reference numeral 45 is a cursor portion which is an index, and by reading the scale 40 on the nut holder side pointed by the cursor portion 45, the reflector 12
The amount of tilt in the left-right direction, that is, the tilt of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction can be known. Reference numeral 46 denotes a slide cursor fixing screw, which penetrates a long hole 47 formed in the slide cursor 44 and is screwed to the upper end surface of the nut. By loosening the fixing screw 46, the slide cursor 44 is fixed to the nut 3.
6 can slide along the side. Slide cursor 4
A slide guide portion 48 that is bent and extends outward in the width direction is provided below the side surface of the slide guide portion 4.
8 slides on the smooth opening peripheral region 33d which is one step lower than the flange portion 33c of the nut holder 33. At this time, the cursor portion 45 of the slide cursor 44 slides on the scale forming surface of the nut holder 33.

When the aiming screw 14 is rotated, the nut 36 screwed with the male screw portion 14b of the screw slides back and forth with respect to the nut holder 33, that is, the cursor portion 45 slides along the scale 40. That is, the tilting amount of the reflector 12 appears as the moving amount of the scale 40 in the cursor portion 45, and the cursor portion 4 is previously moved.
Set 4 to the zero point 41 position of the scale 40 (called zero point adjustment)
By doing so, the scale 4 indicated by the cursor portion 45
From 0, the degree of tilt of the reflector 12 (the amount of tilt in the left-right direction of the headlamp irradiation direction) can be known. Further, the amount of movement of the nut 36, that is, the relative amount of movement of the scale 40 and the cursor portion, is because the pitch P ₂ of the male screw portion 14b of the aiming screw is larger than the pitch P _{1 of the} male screw portion 14a.
It becomes P ₂ / P ₁ times the tilt amount of the reflector 12. For this reason, the tilting of the reflector 12 is enlarged and appears on the scale, which is advantageous in that the scale can be read easily and the measurement accuracy is high.

Next, an example of a procedure for assembling the inclination measuring device 30 to a headlamp will be described. First, the nut 36 is slid into the nut holder 33, and the slide cursor 44 is attached to the protruding portion 39 of the nut 36 above the holder using elasticity. Move the cursor part 45 to the scale zero point 40.
, The slide cursor 44 is screwed to the nut 36, and the tilt measuring unit is assembled. Next, this inclination measuring unit is assembled to the headlamp attached to the vehicle. By simply press-fitting the nut 36 from above into the lamp body rear projection of the left and right aiming screws 14, the assembly is easily integrated. Can be converted. In addition, when the left and right aiming screws 14 freely rotate and the zero point shifts when the tilt measuring unit is assembled to the headlamp, the screw 46 is loosened and the slide cursor 44 is moved to adjust the zero point.

In FIG. 6, the reference member is a lamp housing, and the tilting member is a lamp body / reflector unit (a structure in which a reflector is integrally formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lamp body, which will be referred to as a lamp body unit hereinafter). 1 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a unit movable type headlamp. A first inclination measuring device 30 for measuring the inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction is interposed between the male housing 14 b of the left-right aiming screw 14 protruding rearward of the lamp housing 62 and the lamp housing 62. ing. In addition, the lamp body unit 64
A second inclination measuring device 50 for measuring the vertical inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp is provided on the upper wall of the. These first inclination measuring device 30 and second inclination measuring device 50
The structure is the same as that of the tilt measuring device shown in the above-described reflector movable headlamp, and the description thereof will be omitted by giving the same reference numeral. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 66 is a bulb, and reference numeral 65 is a locking cap for fixing the bulb 66 in the bulb insertion hole of the lamp body unit 64.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, in the automobile headlamp according to the present invention, the tilting member (a reflector in a reflector movable headlamp, a lamp body / reflector unit in a unit movable headlamp. The same) relative to the reference member (the lamp body for the reflector movable headlamp, the lamp housing for the unit movable headlamp. The same applies below) is the inclination measured between the horizontal aiming screw and the reference member. It appears as a change in the scale of the container, and the amount of inclination of the tilting member in the horizontal direction, that is, the amount of inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the horizontal direction can be read from the change in the scale.

In order to adjust the irradiation angle of the displaced headlamp in the left-right direction, the left-right direction aiming screw is rotated to tilt the tilting member so that the scale of the tilt measuring device is at a predetermined position. It is sufficient to make the adjustment, and since the zero point of the scale can be adjusted by adjusting the position of the slide case with respect to the nut, anyone can easily adjust the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction.

Further, the tilt measuring device has a structure in which it is interposed between the reference member and the rearward projecting portion of the left and right aiming screw from the reference member. As in the conventional case, the tilt measuring device is a component of the tilt measuring device. No processing such as drilling a hole for inserting a slider is required. Also, since the inclination measuring device is arranged behind the reference member, it is easy to read the scale, the height of the headlamp is low in the vertical direction, and the lamp can be made thin. It also has the advantage of being small.

Further, the number of constituent parts of the tilt measuring device is as small as 3, and the structure is very simple, so that the cost is low. Further, since there is no weak portion in the tilt measuring device that may be broken or damaged by a tool such as a screwdriver or a spanner, work such as headlamp inspection or aiming can be performed with peace of mind.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a reflector movable headlamp that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the headlamp (line II shown in FIG. 1).
-Cross section along II)

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inclination measuring device that measures the inclination of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the tilt measuring device.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the tilt measuring device (viewed from the back side of the headlamp).

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a part of a movable unit type headlamp that is another embodiment of the present invention in section.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a structure of a movable reflector headlamp.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a conventional inclination measuring device.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Lamp body as reference member 11 Front lens 12 Reflector as tilting member 14 Aiming screw for tilting and adjusting the reflector as tilting member in the left-right direction 16 Aiming screw for tilting and adjusting the reflector as tilting member in the vertical direction 18 Ball joint as a swinging fulcrum of a reflector which is a tilting member 30 First tilt measuring device for measuring the tilt of the irradiation angle of the headlamp in the left-right direction 33 Slide case 40 Scale 41 Scale zero position 44 Slide cursor as a slide case 45 cursor part 46 slide cursor fixing screw 50 second tilt measuring device for measuring the tilt of the vertical illumination angle of the headlamp 62 lamp housing as a reference member 64 lamp body reflector unit L headlamp as a tilting member Irradiation axis Lx horizontal axis Ly vertical axis

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A tilting member having a light-reflecting surface for setting an irradiation direction of a lamp is rotatably supported by a reference member and one swinging fulcrum part supported by the reference member. It is supported by three points, the horizontal aiming screw and the vertical aiming screw, and by rotating the aiming screw, the tilting member is tilted in the vertical and horizontal directions with respect to the reference member to adjust the irradiation angle of the headlamp. In the tilting member movable type automobile headlamp, an inclination measuring device for measuring the inclination of the tilting member in the left-right direction is interposed between the reference member and the protrusion of the left-right direction aiming screw to the rear of the reference member. This tilt measuring device is fixed to the reference member and is a nut that surrounds the protrusion of the left and right aiming screws to the rear of the reference member. A holder and a nut that is assembled to the nut holder and is slidable along a front and rear groove formed in the nut holder and extending parallel to the extending direction of the aiming screw, and screwed into a protruding portion of the aiming screw toward the rear of the reference member. A member, a slide case for adjusting the zero point, which is fixed to an upward projecting portion of the nut member from the front and rear groove and is slidable in the front and rear direction with respect to the nut holder by releasing the fixation, and between the nut holder and the slide case. A headlamp for an automobile, comprising: a scale formed at a predetermined position to indicate a relative displacement amount between the two. 2. The headlamp for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the reference member is a lamp body, and the tilting member is a reflector that can tilt within the lamp body. 3. The headlamp for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the reference member is a lamp housing, and the tilting member is a lamp body / reflector unit having an inner peripheral surface integrally formed with a reflector.