JPH1083703A - Vehicle headlights - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] In a vehicle headlamp provided with a discharge bulb,
The possibility that the lead wire support is damaged when the discharge bulb is attached to or detached from the reflector is reduced. A concave notch (52) is formed at a lower end of an outer peripheral edge of a front end of a valve insertion hole (48) of a reflector (16). Thereby, when the bulb socket 24 is pulled out from the base 34 of the discharge bulb 18, even if the discharge bulb 18 is grabbed by the elastic deformation of the wire spring 22 and is inclined with respect to the optical axis Ax of the reflector 16, the lead wire support 3 is not used.
2 does not easily come into contact with the lower end of the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the valve insertion hole 48.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular headlamp having a discharge bulb, and more particularly to a structure for mounting a discharge bulb to a reflector of the vehicular headlamp.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a discharge bulb has been used as a light source of a vehicle headlamp since it can emit high-intensity light.

[0003] As the above-mentioned discharge bulb, one having a structure having an arc tube, a lead wire support extending substantially in parallel with the arc tube, and a base for supporting these rear ends is known. The discharge bulb is attached to the reflector by inserting the arc tube and the lead wire support into the bulb insertion hole of the reflector from the rear, and inserting the arc tube and the lead wire support into the base support formed at the rear end outer peripheral edge of the bulb insertion hole. This is performed by fixing the discharge bulb to the reflector with a bulb fixture while the base is positioned and supported.

[0004]

The conventional vehicle headlamp having the above-described discharge bulb mounting structure has the following problems.

That is, since the above-mentioned lead wire support is generally made of a material such as ceramics which is relatively weak against an impact load, when the discharge bulb is attached to or detached from the reflector, the discharge bulb is moved with respect to the optical axis of the reflector. If the inclination is more than a certain degree, the lead wire support may come into contact with the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole and be damaged.

In particular, when a valve fixing tool having a relatively small positioning holding force, such as a wire spring, is used as a valve fixing tool, a bulb socket mounted on the base is pulled out from the base to supply power to the discharge bulb. At that time, the discharge bulb becomes rough and it is easy to tilt with respect to the optical axis of the reflector,
It is easy to cause damage to the lead wire support.

Further, since the arc tube is generally arranged at the center of the bulb insertion hole, the lead wire support extending substantially parallel to the arc tube is necessarily arranged at a position deviated from the center of the bulb insertion hole. Also, the lead wire support can easily contact the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in a vehicle headlamp provided with a discharge bulb, there is a possibility that a lead wire support may be damaged when the discharge bulb is attached to or detached from a reflector. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle headlamp that can reduce the amount of light.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention focuses on the fact that the contact position of the lead wire support on the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole is a portion near the lead wire support at the outer peripheral edge of the front end thereof. By forming a notch,
It is intended to achieve the above object.

That is, the present invention provides an arc tube, a lead wire support extending substantially parallel to the arc tube, and a base for supporting the rear ends of the arc tube and the lead wire support. When,
A discharge bulb having a bulb insertion hole for inserting the arc tube and the lead wire support from the rear, and a base supporting portion for positioning and supporting the base formed at a rear end outer peripheral portion of the bulb insertion hole. A headlamp for a vehicle, comprising: a reflector having a reflector and a valve fixture for fixing the discharge bulb to the reflector while the base is positioned and supported by the base support. A concave notch is formed in a peripheral portion near the lead wire support.

The above-mentioned "part near the lead wire support" means a part at the angular position closest to the lead wire support at the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the valve insertion hole.

The above-mentioned "concave notch" may be any one that can prevent the lead wire support from contacting the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the bulb insertion hole even when the discharge bulb is inclined. The specific configuration such as shape and size is not particularly limited.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the concave notch is formed in the vicinity of the lead wire support at the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the valve insertion hole, the concave notch is formed. Even if the discharge bulb is tilted to a greater angle with respect to the optical axis of the reflector when the discharge bulb is attached to or detached from the reflector than the conventional headlamp without the lead wire, the lead wire support inserts the bulb. There is no contact with the peripheral wall of the hole, so that the possibility of breakage of the lead wire support is reduced.

As described above, according to the present invention, in a vehicle headlamp provided with a discharge bulb, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the lead wire support is damaged when the discharge bulb is attached to or detached from the reflector.

Generally, the base of the discharge bulb has a flange and a main body formed to have a smaller diameter than the flange, and the base of the reflector is correspondingly supported. The portion performs positioning in the front-rear direction of the discharge bulb by a front wall abutting on a front end surface of the flange portion, and an annular wall formed to project rearward from the front wall so as to surround the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion. It is often configured to perform positioning in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis.
In such a case, when the discharge bulb is displaced rearward by a tensile load when the bulb socket is pulled out from the base, the discharge bulb is displaced rearward to a position where the flange portion comes off the rear end face of the annular wall. Therefore, the lead wire support can come into contact with the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole because the lead wire support can be freely displaced in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis.

Therefore, in such a case, as described in claim 2, a protruding piece projecting rearward from other portions of the annular wall is formed at a portion of the annular wall near the lead wire support. By doing so, even when the discharge bulb is displaced rearward to such a position that the flange part comes off the rear end face of the annular wall, the lead wire support comes into contact with the peripheral wall of the bulb insertion hole by the projection piece. Displacement of the discharge bulb in the direction can be regulated, thereby preventing damage to the lead wire support.

In this case, as described in claim 3, at two predetermined portions of the annular wall other than the portion near the lead wire support, projecting pieces projecting rearward from other portions of the annular wall. Is formed, the following operation and effect can be obtained.

That is, even if the discharge bulb is displaced in a direction other than the direction in which the lead wire support comes into contact with the peripheral wall of the bulb insertion hole, the lead wire support is not damaged by itself, but the discharge is caused by the displacement. Since the bulb can be easily inclined with respect to the optical axis, as a result, the lead wire support may come into contact with the peripheral wall of the bulb insertion hole and be damaged. On the other hand, if the projecting pieces are also formed at the predetermined two places, even when the discharge bulb is displaced rearward to a position where the flange portion comes off the rear end face of the annular wall, the projection piece is kept at 3 positions. The two projections make it possible to prevent the discharge bulb from being displaced in any direction perpendicular to the optical axis. As a result, it is possible to ensure the prevention of breakage of the lead wire support. At the same time, damage to the arc tube can be prevented.

The above "predetermined two places" means that the projecting piece near the lead wire support and the two projecting pieces do not displace the discharge bulb in any direction perpendicular to the optical axis. It means two positions in a possible angular positional relationship.

If the annular wall is formed so as to extend rearward over the entire circumference, it is possible to prevent the discharge bulb from being displaced in any direction orthogonal to the optical axis. It is generally difficult to extend the annular wall uniformly rearward since it is necessary to provide the above structure around the annular wall. Therefore,
It is effective to adopt the configuration of the third aspect.

In general, a concave portion is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion of the discharge bulb, and a convex portion for engaging with the concave portion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the annular wall of the reflector. The positioning of the discharge bulb in the direction around the optical axis is thereby performed. As described in claim 4, the projection is formed so as to extend backward from the rear end face of the annular wall. With this configuration, even when the discharge bulb is displaced rearward to a position where the flange portion comes off the rear end surface of the annular wall, the engagement between the convex portion and the concave portion can be maintained. By adopting such a configuration, even in a case where the structure for attaching and detaching the bulb socket to and from the base of the discharge bulb involves a rotating operation such as a bayonet structure, the rotation of the discharge bulb is reliably prevented. Therefore, the detaching operation of the valve socket can be performed smoothly. Further, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the lead wire support is inadvertently brought into contact with the reflector and damaged due to the discharge bulb rotating along with the bulb socket.

At this time, if the convex portion is formed integrally with any one of the three projecting pieces, the number of structures projecting rearward from the rear end face of the annular wall is not increased unnecessarily (this allows the reflector The above-mentioned effects can be obtained after the space for the valve fixture mounting structure can be easily secured around the annular wall.

The "valve fixing device" is not limited to a specific structure, but as described in claim 6,
When this is a wire spring, the positioning and holding force is relatively small, and when the bulb socket is pulled out from the base, the discharge bulb tends to be roughened. Therefore, it is particularly effective to adopt each of the above configurations.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, a headlight 1 according to the present embodiment is shown.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a reflector 16 to which a discharge bulb 18 and a shade 20 are attached is provided in a space formed by the lens 12 and the body 14 so as to be tiltable in the vertical and horizontal directions.

The discharge bulb 18 is a metal halide discharge bulb whose optical axis (reference axis) is
6 is attached to the reflector 16 by a wire spring 22 so as to coincide with the optical axis Ax of No. 6. Since this discharge bulb 18 requires a high voltage for its lighting,
It is connected to a lighting circuit (not shown) via a valve socket 24 and a high-voltage cord 26. An extension 28 is provided in front of the reflector 16.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1 showing a structure for mounting the discharge bulb 18 to the reflector 16 in detail, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the mounting structure in detail.

As shown in these figures, the discharge bulb 18 includes a glass arc tube 30, a ceramic lead wire support 32 extending substantially parallel to the arc tube 30, and the arc tube 30 and the lead wire. A base 34 for supporting the rear end of the support 32 is provided.

The arc tube 30 is provided with the reflector 1
6 is provided on the optical axis Ax, and the lead wire support 32 is provided so as to be located below the arc tube 30.

The base 34 includes a flange 36 and the flange 3
And a main body 38 having a diameter smaller than that of the main body 38. A rectangular recess 40 is formed at the upper end of the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion 36, and an arc-shaped recess 42 is formed near the rectangular recess 40. A pair of pins 44 projecting outward in the radial direction is formed on one diameter of the outer peripheral surface of the main body 38.

On the other hand, the reflector 16 has a reflecting surface 46.
A valve insertion hole 48 for inserting the arc tube 30 and the lead wire support 32 from the rear toward the front of the reflection surface 46; and the base 34 formed on the outer peripheral edge of the rear end of the valve insertion hole 48. And a base supporting portion 50 for positioning and supporting the base.

A concave notch 52 is formed at the lower end of the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the valve insertion hole 48 so as to cut out a corner at the boundary between the valve insertion hole 48 and the reflection surface 46 in a concave shape. ing. The front shape of the concave cutout portion 52 is set to a substantially rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 4 which is a view taken in the direction of arrow IV in FIG.

The base supporting portion 50 is provided between the front wall 54 for abutting the front end surface of the flange 36 to position the discharge bulb 18 in the front-rear direction and the front wall 54 for surrounding the outer peripheral surface of the flange 36. The discharge bulb 1 is formed so as to protrude backward.
8 and an annular wall 56 for positioning in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis.

At the lower end of the annular wall 56, the annular wall 5 is provided.
6 are integrally formed with a protruding piece 58 protruding rearward from other portions. On the inner peripheral surface of the annular wall 56, a rectangular convex portion 60 is formed at an upper end thereof, and an arc-shaped convex portion 62 is formed near the rectangular convex portion 60. The rectangular convex portion 60 and the arc-shaped convex portion 62 engage with the rectangular concave portion 40 and the arc-shaped concave portion 42 of the flange 36, respectively, to position the discharge bulb 18 in the direction around the optical axis. I have. The above-mentioned rectangular convex portion 60 is for accurately performing the above-mentioned positioning by engaging with the rectangular concave portion 40, and the above-mentioned arc-shaped convex portion 62 is made of the arc-shaped concave portion 4.
2 to perform the above-described positioning roughly and to function as a guide for smoothly engaging the rectangular convex portion 60 with the rectangular concave portion 40. The rectangular convex portion 60 is set to have a height substantially equal to the thickness of the flange portion 36, but the arc-shaped convex portion 62 is formed to extend rearward from the rear end surface of the annular wall 56. Thus, the height is set to be the same as the height of the projection 58. Further, on the side of the annular wall 56 opposite to the arc-shaped convex portion 62, a projecting piece 64 projecting rearward from another portion of the annular wall 56 is integrally formed.
The protrusion 64 is set to the same height as the protrusion 58.

A wire spring support 66 is formed integrally with the annular wall 56 on the outer peripheral side of the projecting piece 64 in the annular wall 56. In the wire spring support portion 66, the wire spring 22 is set in the narrow groove 68.
Are fixed by screws 70 to rotatably support the wire spring 22 and a pair of upper and lower guide projections 7.
2, the posture of the wire spring 22 is stabilized. An L-shaped lever 74 for locking the distal end of the wire spring 22 is formed integrally with the annular wall 56 on the outer peripheral side of the side of the annular wall 56 facing the projection piece 64. . Then, with the base 36 of the discharge bulb 18 being positioned and supported by the base support 50 of the reflector 16, the wire spring 22 is rotated to lock the tip of the wire spring 22 with the L-shaped lever 74. 18
Is fixed to the reflector 16.

As shown in FIG.
A pair of J-slots 78 are formed on one inner diameter of the base mounting opening 76 of the base 4, and these J-slots 78 are engaged with the pair of pins 44 formed in the base 36. By combining them, the bulb socket 24 is mounted on the discharge bulb 18.

Arrows A and B shown in FIG. 2 indicate operations performed on the bulb socket 24 when the bulb socket 24 mounted on the discharge bulb 18 is detached. That is, after the bulb socket 24 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the direction of arrow A around the optical axis Ax from the state in which the bulb socket 24 is attached to the discharge bulb 18 (see FIG. 1) (the bulb socket 24 in FIG. By drawing the bulb socket 24 in the direction of arrow B, that is, backward, the operation of detaching the bulb socket 24 from the discharge bulb 18 is performed. The bulb socket 24 to the discharge bulb 18 is completely reversed.
Is performed.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In FIG. 2, since the wire spring 22 for fixing the discharge bulb 18 to the reflector 16 uses the elastic force to fix the discharge bulb 18, the positioning and holding force is relatively small. . For this reason, when the bulb socket 24 is pulled out from the base 34 of the discharge bulb 18, the elastic deformation of the linear spring 22 causes the discharge bulb 18 to be rough and easily inclined with respect to the optical axis Ax of the reflector 16. At that time, as shown in FIG. 5, when the discharge bulb 18 is inclined so as to lower its front end, the lead wire support 32 may come into contact with the lower end of the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the bulb insertion hole 48. . Since the lead wire support 32 is made of ceramics, the lead wire support 32 may be damaged by an impact at the time of contact.

However, in this embodiment, since the concave notch 52 is formed at the lower end of the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the bulb insertion hole 48, even if the discharge bulb 18 is inclined to a considerably large angle, The lead wire support 32 does not come into contact with the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole 48, so that the risk of breakage of the lead wire support 32 can be reduced.

The inclination of the reflector 16 of the discharge bulb 18 with respect to the optical axis Ax is determined not only when the bulb socket 24 is detached from the discharge bulb 18 but also when the reflector 16 is moved.
Also occurs when the discharge bulb 18 is attached to or detached from the
Since the concave notch 52 is formed, contact between the lead wire support 32 and the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole 48 is less likely to occur, so that the attachment / detachment operation can be easily performed without using excessive nerves to prevent this contact. Can be performed.

Further, in this embodiment, the lower end of the annular wall 56 is integrally formed with a projecting piece 58 projecting rearward from the other portion of the annular wall 56, as shown in FIG. In addition, even when the lower end of the flange 36 is disengaged from the rear end surface of the annular wall 56 due to the lifting of the discharge bulb 18, the downward displacement of the discharge bulb 18 can be regulated by the projection 58. Thus, it is possible to prevent the lead wire support 32 from contacting the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole 48 and being damaged beforehand.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the projecting piece 64 and the arc-shaped convex portion 62 extending to the rear from the rear end face of the annular wall 56 are formed at a portion other than the lower end of the annular wall 56. The following operation and effect can be obtained.

That is, the discharge bulb 1
Even if the lead 8 is displaced, the lead wire support 32 itself will not be damaged, but the displacement will allow the discharge bulb 18 to be easily inclined with respect to the optical axis Ax. There is a possibility that the wire support 32 may be damaged by contacting the peripheral wall of the valve insertion hole 48. On the other hand, by forming the projecting piece 64 and the arc-shaped convex portion 62, even when the discharge bulb 18 is displaced rearward to a position where the flange portion 36 comes off the rear end face of the annular wall 56. , The discharge bulb 18 can be prevented from being displaced in any direction orthogonal to the optical axis,
As a result, it is possible to ensure the prevention of breakage of the lead wire support 32. At the same time, the arc tube 30 can be prevented from being damaged.

On the other hand, the projecting piece 5 on the annular wall 56
The portions other than 8, 64 and the arc-shaped convex portion 62 are relatively low in height, so that the rotation and locking operation of the wire spring 22 can be performed smoothly.

Further, since the arc-shaped convex portion 62 is formed to extend rearward from the rear end surface of the annular wall 56, the discharge bulb is moved to a position where the flange portion 36 comes off the rear end surface of the annular wall 56. Even when the rear end 18 is displaced rearward, the arc-shaped convex portion 62 and the arc-shaped concave portion 42
Can be maintained in an engaged state. Then, since the rotation of the discharge bulb 18 is reliably prevented, the detachment operation of the bulb socket 24 can be performed smoothly. Also, the discharge bulb 18 rotates together with the bulb socket 24, and the lead wire support 32 is connected to the reflector 16.
Inadvertent contact and damage can be prevented.

Further, since the arc-shaped convex portion 62 has both the function of preventing the displacement of the discharge bulb 18 in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis and the function of preventing the rotation of the discharge bulb 18 in the direction around the optical axis, the annular wall 56 extends rearward from the rear end face. The above effects can be obtained after the structure that protrudes to the minimum is minimized so that the rotation and locking operation of the wire spring 22 can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1, showing in detail a structure for attaching a discharge bulb to a reflector in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the mounting structure in detail.

FIG. 4 is a view taken in the direction of arrow IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing the operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Headlight 16 Reflector 18 Discharge bulb 22 Wire spring (Valve fixture) 24 Valve socket 30 Arc tube 32 Lead wire support 34 Base 36 Flange 38 Main body 40 Rectangular recess 42 Arc recess (recess) 44 Pin 46 Reflection Surface 48 Valve insertion hole 50 Base support 52 Concave cutout 54 Front wall 56 Annular wall 58 Projection piece 60 Rectangular projection 62 Arc-shaped projection (convex) 64 Projection piece 66 Wire spring support 74 L-shaped lever 76 Base opening 78 J slot Ax Optical axis

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A discharge bulb comprising: an arc tube; a lead wire support extending substantially parallel to the arc tube; and a base for supporting a rear end portion of the arc tube and the lead wire support; A reflector having a valve insertion hole through which a wire support is inserted from the rear, and a base support formed at an outer peripheral edge of a rear end of the valve insertion hole for positioning and supporting the base; and a base supporting the base. A lamp fixture for fixing the discharge bulb to the reflector in a state where it is positioned and supported in a position near the lead wire support at the outer peripheral edge of the front end of the bulb insertion hole. And a concave notch formed in the vehicle headlight. 2. The discharge bulb according to claim 1, wherein the base includes a flange, and a main body formed to have a smaller diameter than the flange. The base supports abut on a front end surface of the flange to discharge the discharge bulb. A front wall for positioning in the front-rear direction, and an annular wall formed to project rearward from the front wall so as to surround the outer peripheral surface of the flange portion, and to position the discharge bulb in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis, 2. The vehicle headlight according to claim 1, wherein a projecting piece protruding rearward from another part of the annular wall is formed in a part of the annular wall near the lead wire support. 3. A projection protruding rearward from other portions of the annular wall is formed at two predetermined portions of the annular wall other than a portion near the lead wire support. The vehicle headlight according to claim 2. 4. A concave portion is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the flange portion, and a convex portion engaging with the concave portion and positioning the discharge bulb in a direction around the optical axis is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the annular wall. The vehicle headlight according to claim 2, wherein the projection is formed so as to extend rearward from a rear end surface of the annular wall. 5. The vehicle headlight according to claim 4, wherein the projection is formed integrally with one of the projection pieces. 6. The headlight for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said bulb fixing member is made of a wire spring.