System for mounting a headlight on the front side of a motor vehicle

Abstract

Mounting system (1) for a headlight in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle, for inserting the headlight (2) between the adjacent wing (3) and the adjacent vertical lateral upright (4) of the technical front face, called FAT, in a lateral space (33) open at the front of the wing and over an insertion length (d) defined by the length of an advanced part (31) of the upper part that the wing comprises, said system comprising: - first guide elements (210, 300), some carried by a fixing support (20) that said headlight comprises and others by the adjacent wing (3) and having first complementary guide shapes (210, 300) in the vertical and longitudinal directions, - second guide elements (22, 40), some carried by the fixing support (20) of the headlight and others by said adjacent vertical lateral upright (4) of the FAT and having second complementary guide shapes (210, 300) in the vertical and longitudinal directions, guidance (220,400) in the vertical and longitudinal directions, and so that, when mounting the projector from front to rear along said insertion length, said first and second complementary guide shapes create a spacing between the end of the forward part of the upper part of the wing and the part of the projector located opposite, and the projector rests on at least one of said first guide elements carried by the adjacent wing and on at least one of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent lateral upright of the FAT. Figure to be published with the abstract: Fig. 2,

Description

Title of the invention: System for mounting a headlight on the front side of a motor vehicle

[0001] The invention relates to a system for mounting a headlight in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle, between the adjacent wing and the technical front face.

[0002] The term "projector" should be understood as "light projector", or in other words a headlight.

[0003] The front part of a motor vehicle comprises a support structure which is called in the trade "technical front face", or commonly by its acronym "FAT", which is located in the front part of the vehicle, in particular in front of the engine block, and which has in particular the function of supporting various components including certain organs dedicated to heat exchange. This structure usually comprises two vertical lateral uprights and an upper transverse upright extending between the two vertical lateral uprights. This technical front face can also support the front headlights of the vehicle.

[0004] It is usual for a front headlight to be fixed in particular on the one hand to the vertical lateral upright of the FAT which is adjacent to it, and on the other hand to the front wing opposite. The headlight generally comprises a fixing support which includes docking lugs, lower and upper lugs, some fixing to said upright of the FAT and the others fixing to the wing.

[0005] The projector comprises a protective glass which is usually made of polycarbonate covered with a protective coating against the ultraviolet radiation of natural light, called an anti-UV coating, to prevent its premature aging. It is therefore advisable to avoid scratching this anti-UV coating when mounting the projector, because any scratch can cause the coating to start peeling, and lead to premature aging of the glass.

[0006] With reference to [Fig.l], certain wings A may comprise an upper part with an advanced part Al comprising a pointed end A0 which has an “aggressive” shape, and under which the projector P must pass during its assembly so that it is inserted from the front (arrow F0) into the lateral space open towards the front which has a substantially triangular shape delimited by the lower surface of the advanced wing part and the contiguous wing portion with a more or less oblique front surface A3. The length “D” of this advanced part Al of the upper part of the wing may be for example of the order of 230 millimeters. This length “D”, which corresponds to the insertion length of the projector P, therefore increases the risk of scratching the anti-UV coating when the projector passes at the level of the wing tip A0.

[0007] This risk of scratching is all the more significant for a projector of relatively large size and / or weight. For example, a projector may have a length of 560 mm and a height of 400 mm, and a weight of 5 kg.

[0008] The operator, who manually mounts the projector, can hardly simultaneously view the docking lugs (relating to the wing and the FAT) due to the large size of the projector, while taking care not to touch the wing tip. The weight of the projector causes fatigue for the operator, and creates risks of rough handling, and therefore of touching the wing tip.

[0009] The invention aims to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks. It aims to facilitate the mounting of a headlight in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle, between the adjacent wing and the adjacent lateral pillar of the technical front face.

[0010] To this end, the invention provides a system for mounting a headlight in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle, for inserting the headlight between the adjacent wing and the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the technical front face (FAT), in a lateral space open at the front of the wing and over an insertion length defined by the length of an advanced part of the upper part that the wing comprises. The said system includes: - first guide elements, some carried by a fixing support which comprises said projector and others carried by the adjacent wing and having first complementary guide shapes in the vertical and longitudinal directions, - second guide elements, some carried by the projector fixing support and others carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT and having second complementary guide shapes in the vertical and longitudinal directions, and so that, when mounting the projector from front to rear along said insertion length, said first and said second complementary guide shapes create a spacing between the end of the advanced part of the upper part of the wing and the part of the projector located opposite,and the projector rests on at least one of said first guide elements carried by the adjacent wing and on at least one of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT. The first complementary forms of guidance between at least one of the first guide elements carried by the projector and at least one other carried by the wing, as well as the second complementary forms of guidance between at least one of the second guide elements carried by the projector and at least one other carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT, thus make it possible to guide the projector when mounted in support and by moving it sufficiently away from the tip of the wing to prevent the latter from damaging the surface of the projector.

[0011] Advantageously, the guide shape of one of the first guide elements and / or the guide shape of one of the second guide elements comprise a rear end configured to adjust the final position of the projector in the vertical direction, between the upper part of the projector and the lower surface of the forward part of the upper part of the wing located opposite, at the end of mounting of the projector, in particular to be able to bring the projector closer to the forward part of the wing in the vertical direction.

[0012] In particular, one of said first guide elements carried by the projector is a lateral element of transverse direction carried by the external side of the fixing support of the projector and the other of said first guide elements carried by the wing is a longitudinal direction element.

[0013] In particular, one of said second guide elements carried by the projector is a transverse direction lateral element carried by the internal side of the projector and the other of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT is a longitudinal direction element.

[0014] According to a preferred embodiment, the guide element of said first guide elements carried by the headlight fixing support is a first guide tab, proximal to the wing, one guide shape of which is a guide pin directed towards the wing, and the guide element of said first guide elements carried by the wing comprises a complementary guide shape which is an elongated guide slot substantially along the transverse direction Y, receiving the guide pin. Said guide slot has a main part open at the front and of constant height, corresponding substantially to the diameter of the pin. Furthermore, the guide slot has an upward inclination (Z direction) from front to rear, so that the guide pin of the projector rests on the lower edge of the slot, to follow it at least along the length of the main part.

[0015] Advantageously, said guide slot has a rear end whose opening is substantially oriented towards the top of said slot (Z direction) and of a height greater than that of the main part allowing the final position of the projector to be adjusted. In particular, the guide pin of the projector rests on the lower edge of the slot, to follow it along the length of the main part until it reaches the rear end part of the slot.

[0016] In particular, said guide slot carried by the wing is located on a lower extension of the wing to which the adjacent guide tab of the projector mounting bracket is fixed.

[0017] According to a preferred embodiment, the guide element of said second guide elements carried by the projector fixing support is a tab guide oriented substantially in the transverse direction, one guide shape of which is a guide groove, and the guide element of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT is an elongated guide ramp in the longitudinal direction (X), said guide groove comprising an internal guide shape which is complementary to the shape of the adjacent lateral edge of said guide ramp, the groove being extended by a transverse upper branch which, when mounting the projector, comes to bear on the upper surface of the ramp.

[0018] The invention also relates to a method for mounting a headlight in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle, for inserting the headlight between the adjacent wing and the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the technical front face (FAT) of the vehicle, in a lateral space open at the front of the wing and over an insertion length defined by the forward part of the upper part that the wing comprises, in which a mounting system as described above is used, and in which: 1 / there is simultaneously, in front of said open lateral space: - a guide element for the first guide elements carried by the projector mounting bracket, bearing on a guide element for said first guide elements carried by the adjacent wing, and - a guide element for the second guide elements carried by the projector mounting bracket, resting on a guide element for said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT, then 2 / the projector thus guided is pushed in support from front to rear on the said insertion length.

[0019] Advantageously, in a following step, the final position of the projector is adjusted, in particular when the guide shape of one of the first guide elements and / or the guide shape of one of the second guide elements comprises a rear end configured to adjust the final position of the projector in the vertical direction, between said upper part of the projector and the lower surface of the advanced part of the upper part of the wing at the end of mounting of the projector.

[0020] Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from reading the description given below of several particular embodiments of the invention, given for informational purposes but not as a limitation, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

[0021] [Fig. 1] is a perspective view of a front left part arrangement of a Motor vehicle with a prior art headlight mounted with a wing with a forward portion above the headlight.

[0022] [Fig.2] is a view, in partial perspective from the front left, illustrating a mode for producing a system for mounting a headlight in the front side part of a motor vehicle in accordance with the invention.

[0023] [Fig.3] is a perspective view from the left front of the projector of the system of assembly shown in [Fig.2].

[0024] [Fig.4A] is a three-quarter perspective view from the right of the vehicle, illustrating part of the mounting system shown in [Fig.2] to 3.

[0025] [Fig.4B] is a schematic view, in substantially transverse section (YZ plane), of two guide elements of the part of the mounting system of [Fig.4A].

[0026] [Fig.5A] is a three-quarter perspective view from the left of the vehicle illustrating another portion of the mounting system shown in Figures 2 to 4.

[0027] [Fig.5B] is a schematic view, in substantially longitudinal section (XZ plane), of two guide elements of the part of the mounting system of [Fig.5A].

[0028] [Fig.6] represents a view, in three-quarter perspective from the front left of the vehicle, illustrating the projector once mounted according to the mounting system shown in figures 2 to 5

[0029] [Fig.7] is a perspective view of a classic orthonormal XYZ frame of a motor vehicle.

[0030] The orientations expressed in the description are given with reference to an orthonormal XYZ reference frame of a motor vehicle, in which the axes X, Y, Z, correspond respectively to the longitudinal axis (from front to back), transverse axis (oriented towards the right of the vehicle) and vertical axis of the vehicle (oriented from bottom to top), as shown in [Fig.7].

[0031] The orientations of the arrangement which will be described therefore refer to these orientations of the vehicle, the terms front, rear, and upper, lower referring to the directions respectively front, rear, and upper, lower of the vehicle, when the projector is mounted on the vehicle.

[0032] The terms "interior" and "exterior" refer respectively to the interior and exterior of the engine compartment closed by a hood.

[0033] It is recalled that the term "external" refers to a position oriented towards and close to a lateral edge of the vehicle relative to the center of the vehicle, and the term "internal" refers to a position oriented towards the center of the vehicle (plane Y=0 in [Fig.7]).

[0034] [Fig. 1] was commented on in the introduction to describe the problem of an arrangement of a prior art headlight mounted with a wing with a part advanced above the headlight in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle.

[0035] Figures 2 to 6 which illustrate a mounting system 1 of a projector 2, in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle in accordance with the invention, will be commented together. Only the left side of the vehicle is shown, as the right side of the vehicle is equipped with the same right headlight mounting system.

[0036] The mounting system 1 of a projector 2 comprises a wing 3 with a front lower extension 30 and a lateral vertical upright 4 of the technical front face (FAT) of the vehicle. The wing 3 has an upper part comprising an advanced part 31 coming towards the front edge of the hood 5, this advanced wing part having a pointed front end 310, therefore of a shape which can be “aggressive” when mounting the projector 2 ([Fig.6]). The length “d” of this advanced part 31 of the wing with the pointed end 310 corresponds to the insertion length of the projector 2 in the open space 33 at the front of the wing, of substantially triangular shape delimited by the lower surface of the advanced wing part 31 and the contiguous wing portion with an oblique front surface 32 ([Fig.5A]).

[0037] The projector 2 comprises a fixing support 20 which comprises a lower guide lug 22 on the internal side, proximal side of the vertical lateral upright 4 of the FAT, configured to come into contact with this upright 4, and a lower guide lug 21 on the other side (external side, proximal side of the wing), configured to come into contact with the wing 2. These guide lugs also constitute the lower fixing lugs of the projector respectively to the upright 4 of the FAT and to the wing.

[0038] The fixing support 20 of the projector also comprises two fixing lugs in its upper part 23, 24, on either side of the support, visible in [Fig.3], corresponding to upper fixing lugs known respectively to the FAT and to the wing.

[0039] This fixing support 20 of the projector generally comprises, and according to the example, a housing receiving lighting elements such as bulbs or LEDs. This mounting bracket supports on its surface the protective glass 25 of the projector (see [Fig.2]) made of polycarbonate coated with an anti-UV treatment.

[0040] On the internal side, the lower guide lug 22 is oriented substantially in the transverse direction Y, and comprises a guide groove 220, of an internal shape complementary to the shape of the adjacent lateral edge 400 of a guide ramp 40 elongated in the longitudinal direction (direction X), which the upright 4 of the FAT comprises. This lower fixing lug 22 has a substantially U-shape, the transverse upper branch 221 of which, when mounted, rests on the upper surface of the ramp 40, its length (direction Y) being furthermore greater than the width of the ramp so that the support of the projector on the ramp is well maintained. The curved interior of the U, in other words the groove 220 which is open towards the ramp, follows the adjacent lateral edge 400 of the ramp, according to the slope of the ramp, rising from front to rear, when mounting the projector, and the lower branch 222 placing under this adjacent lateral edge 400 of the ramp without hindering the translational movement of the projector 2 towards the rear.

[0041] On the external side, the lower guide lug 21 proximal to the wing 3 comprises a guide pin 210 directed towards the wing 3. The lower extension 30 of the wing comprises a guide slot 300 elongated substantially along the transverse direction Y, receiving the pin 210. Said guide slot 300 has a main part 301 open at the front and of constant height, corresponding substantially to the diameter of the pin 210. Said slot 300 has a rising rear end 302, the opening being oriented substantially upwards (Z direction), that is to say that this end 302 is of a height greater than that of the main part 301. In addition, the guide slot 300 has an upward inclination (Z direction) from front to rear ([Fig.5B]), of a slope similar to that of the guide ramp 40 carried by the upright 4 of the FAT, on the internal side of the projector 2. The guide pin 210 has a cylindrical shape and is fully inserted into the guide slot 300 when the projector 2 is mounted, and it comes to rest on the lower edge 303 of the slot, to follow it along the length of the main part 301 until reaching the rising end part 302. Said lower edge 303 of said slot 300 has a length at least substantially equal to the length “d” of the advanced part 31 of the upper part of the wing with the pointed end 310, a length which corresponds to the insertion length of the projector.

[0042] When an operator mounts the projector 2 between the vertical lateral upright 4 of the FAT and the wing 3, in the open space 33, of substantially triangular shape under the advanced part 31 with the pointed end 310 of the upper part of the wing, he places the projector 2 so that the upper branch 221 of the lower guide lug 22 adjacent to the FAT rests on the ramp 40 carried by the upright of the FAT and the guide pin 210 of the lower guide lug 21 adjacent to the wing rests on the lower edge 303 of the guide slot 300 of the wing. The surface of the upper part of the glass 25 of the projector is therefore sufficiently spaced from the tip 310 of the projection of the wing 31, by a spacing, for example of a few millimeters, so that the operator does not risk touching this surface of the glass 25 of the projector. The operator then slides the projector 2 from the front to the rear of the vehicle ([Fig.5B], arrow F) simultaneously on the main part 301 of the guide slot 300 of the wing and on the ramp 40 of the FAT upright, the surface of the upper part of the projector passing at the level of the wing tip 310 remaining spaced from the wing tip 310 as the projector is introduced into the open space 33 over the length of the advanced part of the wing 31. When the guide pin 210 arrives in the rising rear end 302 of the guide slot 300, the operator can adjust the final position of the projector, by moving the projector in the vertical direction (Z+ direction), to bring the upper part of the projector closer to the lower surface of the forward wing part 31 so that the projector occupies its final position ([Fig.6]).

[0043] During assembly, the upper fixing lugs 23, 24 of the projector fixing bracket are also put in place so as to come up to their respective receiving surfaces.

[0044] The movement of the projector is thus controlled at least in the vertical direction over its insertion length, which makes it possible to significantly limit the risk of scratching the glass of the projector during its installation.

Claims

1. Claims Front side part of a motor vehicle comprising: a headlight (2), a technical front face, called FAT, a wing, a headlight and a mounting system (1) of the headlight, for inserting the headlight (2) between the adjacent wing (3) and the adjacent vertical lateral upright (4) of the technical front face, in a lateral space (33) open at the front of the wing (3) and over an insertion length (d) defined by the length of an advanced part (31) of the upper part that the wing comprises, said system comprising: - first guide elements (210, 300), one carried by a fixing support (20) that said headlight comprises and the other by the adjacent wing (3) and having first complementary guide shapes (210, 300); said first complementary guide forms (210, 300) being configured to ensure translational guidance in the vertical and longitudinal directions - of the second guide elements (22, 40),one carried by the headlight mounting bracket (20) and the other by said adjacent vertical lateral upright (4) of the FAT and having second complementary guide shapes (220, 400), said second complementary guide shapes (220, 400) being configured to provide translational guidance in the vertical and longitudinal directions, and so that, when mounting the headlight from the front to the rear (of the vehicle) along said insertion length, said first and said second complementary guide shapes create a spacing between the end of the forward part of the upper part of the wing and the part of the headlight located opposite,and the projector is supported on at least one of said first guide elements carried by the adjacent wing and on at least one of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT; the system for mounting a projector being characterized in that at least the guide shape of one of the first guide elements and / or the guide shape of one of the second guide elements comprise a rear end (302) configured to adjust the final position of the projector in the vertical direction, between the upper part of the projector and, the lower surface of the advanced part (31) of the upper part of the wing located opposite, at the end of mounting of the projector.

2. Front side part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that one of said first guide elements carried by the headlight is a transverse direction lateral element (210) carried by the external side of the headlight fixing support and the other of said first guide elements carried by the wing is a longitudinal direction element (300).

3. Front side part of a motor vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that one of said second guide elements carried by the headlight is a transverse direction lateral element (22) carried by the internal side of the headlight and the other of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright (4) of the FAT is a longitudinal direction element (40).

4. Front side part of a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the guide element of said first guide elements carried by the headlight fixing support is a first guide lug (21), proximal to the wing (3), one guide shape of which is a guide pin (210) directed towards the wing (3), and the guide element of said first guide elements carried by the wing comprises a complementary guide shape which is a guide slot (300) elongated substantially along the transverse direction Y, receiving the guide pin (210), and said guide slot (300) has a main part (301) open at the front and of constant height, corresponding substantially to the diameter of the pin (210), and the guide slot (300) has an upward inclination from front to rear, so that the guide pin (210) of the headlight comes to rest on the lower edge (303) of the slot,to follow it at least along the length of said main part (301).,

5. Front side part of a motor vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that said guide slot (300) carried by the wing is located on a lower extension (30) of the wing to which the adjacent guide tab (21) of the headlight mounting bracket is arranged to be fixed.

6. Front side part of a motor vehicle according to claims 4 to 5, characterized in that said guide slot has a rear end (302) whose opening is substantially oriented towards the top of the slot and of a height greater than that of said main part (301).

7. Front side part of a motor vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the guide element of said second guide elements carried by the headlight fixing support is a guide tab (22) oriented substantially in the transverse direction (Y) of which a guide shape is a guide groove (220), and the guide element of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright (4) of the FAT is a guide ramp (40) elongated in the longitudinal direction (X), said guide groove (220) comprising an internal guide shape which is complementary to the shape of the adjacent lateral edge (400) of said guide ramp, said groove (220) being extended by a transverse upper branch (221) which, when mounting the headlight, comes to bear on the upper surface of the ramp (40).

8. Method for mounting a headlight in the front lateral part of a motor vehicle, for inserting the headlight (2) between the adjacent wing (3) and the adjacent vertical lateral upright (4) of the technical front face, called FAT, of the vehicle, in a lateral space (33) open at the front of the wing and over an insertion length (d) defined by the length of the advanced part (31) of the upper part that the wing comprises, in which the front lateral part is according to one of claims 1 to 7, and comprising the following steps: 1 / there are simultaneously arranged, at the front of said open lateral space (33): - a guide element for the first guide elements carried by the headlight fixing support, bearing on a guide element for said first guide elements carried by the adjacent wing, and - a guide element for the second guide elements carried by the headlight fixing support,resting on a guide element of said second guide elements carried by the adjacent vertical lateral upright of the FAT, then 2 / the projector thus guided is pushed resting from front to rear on said insertion length;, said method being characterized in that, in a step following steps 1 and 2, the final position of the projector (2) is adjusted in the vertical direction.

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