Attachment structure of lamp cleaner

Abstract

To provide an attachment structure of a lamp cleaner which has good design despite having a simple structure.SOLUTION: An attachment structure of a lamp cleaner 20 includes: a head lamp 10 provided at an end of a vehicle and having a lamp lens 12; a bezel cover 14 provided with a lamp opening 16; a lamp cleaner 20 configured to jet a cleaning fluid to a surface of the lamp lens 12; and a bracket 26 which holds the lamp cleaner 20 and is fastened to a rear surface of the bezel cover 14. The bezel cover 14 has a cleaner opening 18 through which the cleaning fluid jetted from the lamp cleaner 20 passes. The bracket 26 has a cover part 30 which covers the cleaner opening 18 from the vehicle inner side. The bracket 26 holds the lamp cleaner 20 at a position offset from the cleaner opening 18 in a front view.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This specification discloses a mounting structure for a lamp cleaner that sprays a cleaning liquid onto an in-vehicle lamp. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, lamps are provided at the ends of vehicles to illuminate the surroundings or to transmit information to the surroundings. Naturally, such lamps are required to maintain a sufficient amount of light. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-99113 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Therefore, lamp cleaners have been proposed that spray cleaning liquid onto the surface of lamps to clean the surface of the lamps. In many cases, the periphery of the lamp is covered with a resin panel member called a bezel or bumper, and the lamp cleaner protrudes from the surface of this panel member to the outside of the vehicle. In this case, the lamp cleaner may detract from the design of the vehicle.

[0005] In view of this, some have proposed movable lamp cleaners. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a movable lamp cleaner. When not in use, the lamp cleaner retreats to the back side of the panel member, and when in use, it advances to the outside of the panel member. Such a lamp cleaner can improve the design.

[0006] However, in the case of a movable lamp cleaner as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the structure becomes complicated, which leads to an increase in costs and the like.

[0007] Therefore, this specification discloses a mounting structure for a lamp cleaner that is simple in configuration but has a highly aesthetic design. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The lamp cleaner mounting structure disclosed in this specification comprises an on-board lamp provided at an end of a vehicle and having a lamp lens exposed to the outside of the vehicle, a panel member in which a lamp opening is formed to expose the surface of the lamp lens to the outside, a lamp cleaner that sprays cleaning liquid onto the surface of the lamp lens, and a bracket that holds the lamp cleaner and is fixed to the back surface of the panel member, wherein the panel member has a cleaner opening through which the cleaning liquid sprayed from the lamp cleaner passes, the bracket has a cover portion that covers the cleaner opening from the inside of the vehicle, and the bracket holds the lamp cleaner in a position offset from the cleaner opening when viewed from the front.

[0009] With this configuration, the lamp cleaner cannot be seen from outside the vehicle. Also, since the cleaner opening is covered by the cover portion, the cleaner opening is not noticeable. As a result, a high level of design is maintained while maintaining a simple configuration.

[0010] In this case, the lamp cleaner is located on the opposite side of the cleaner opening to the lamp opening, and the cover portion is a wall extending from a position on the periphery of the cleaner opening closer to the lamp lens, across the cleaner opening to the vicinity of the lamp cleaner, and the cover portion extends in a direction away from the decorative surface of the panel member as it moves toward the outside of the surface of the lamp lens, and the cover portion may extend in a direction approximately parallel to the spray direction of the cleaning liquid.

[0011] With this configuration, the cleaner opening becomes less noticeable. Also, since the cover portion extends in a direction substantially parallel to the spray direction of the cleaning liquid, the cover portion functions as a guide member that guides the spray direction of the cleaning liquid. As a result, the cleaning liquid can be sprayed more appropriately.

[0012] In addition, the cleaner opening may be located near an upper corner of the lamp opening, the panel member may protrude like an eave above the lamp lens, and the lamp cleaner may spray the cleaning liquid diagonally downward.

[0013] With this configuration, the cleaner opening is less visible to a standing user. As a result, the vehicle's design is maintained at a high level. In addition, because the nozzle for the cleaning liquid faces diagonally downward, snow and dust are less likely to accumulate at the nozzle. As a result, the performance of the lamp cleaner is more likely to be maintained.

[0014] In this case, the vehicle lamp is a headlamp provided at the front end of the vehicle, the panel member expands in a cone shape from the lamp opening toward the front of the vehicle, and the cleaner opening may be located forward of the center of the lamp lens.

[0015] With this configuration, the cleaning liquid sprayed from the lamp cleaner is not blocked by the periphery of the lamp lens and is more likely to reach the center of the lamp lens, resulting in more appropriate cleaning of the lamp lens.

[0016] The texture and color of the cover portion may be substantially the same as the texture and color of the panel member.

[0017] With this configuration, the cleaner opening becomes less noticeable, which results in an improved design of the vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0018] According to the technology disclosed in this specification, a high level of design is maintained while maintaining a simple configuration. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. [Diagram 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] The mounting structure of the lamp cleaner 20 will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the periphery of a headlamp 10 provided at the front end of a vehicle. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a bracket 26. In each drawing, Fr, Up, and Rh respectively indicate the front, upper, and right side of the vehicle.

[0021] A headlamp 10 is provided at the front end of the vehicle. The headlamp 10 is a type of vehicle-mounted lamp that illuminates the area ahead of the vehicle. A lamp lens 12 that transmits light from a light source (not shown) is provided at the front end of the headlamp 10. The lamp lens 12 is exposed to the outside of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the lamp lens 12 is curved so as to be convex toward the front of the vehicle.

[0022] The bezel cover 14 is a panel member disposed so as to surround the lamp lens 12. The bezel cover 14 is a design panel made of resin. A lamp opening 16 is formed in the bezel cover 14, which exposes the surface of the lamp lens 12 to the outside of the vehicle. The bezel cover 14 expands in a cone shape from the lamp opening 16 toward the front of the vehicle. In other words, the center of the bezel cover 14 is recessed toward the rear of the vehicle, and the lamp opening 16 is formed within the recess. Therefore, the bezel cover 14 protrudes like a canopy above the lamp lens 12.

[0023] The bezel cover 14 is further formed with a cleaner opening 18. The cleaner opening 18 is disposed in the vicinity of an upper corner of the lamp opening 16. The cleaner opening 18 is a hole through which a cleaning liquid sprayed from a lamp cleaner 20, which will be described later, passes.

[0024] The lamp cleaner 20 is a device that sprays a cleaning liquid onto the surface of the lamp lens 12, thereby cleaning the surface of the lamp lens 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the lamp cleaner 20 has a substantially cylindrical shape. The front end of the lamp cleaner 20 is provided with an injection port 22 for forcefully spraying the cleaning liquid. The lamp cleaner 20 sprays the cleaning liquid from the injection port 22 toward the approximate center of the lamp lens 12. In this example, the cleaner opening 18 is formed near the upper corner of the lamp lens 12. The center of the lamp lens 12 is located diagonally downward as viewed from the lamp cleaner 20. Therefore, the injection port 22 of the lamp cleaner 20 faces approximately diagonally downward, and the cleaning liquid is sprayed from the injection port 22 diagonally downward. Here, the angle θ formed between the injection direction of the cleaning liquid and the surface of the lamp lens 12 is an acute angle. More specifically, the angle θ is smaller than 45 degrees, for example, 30 degrees or less. In this way, by making the angle θ smaller, the area on which the cleaning liquid directly hits the lamp lens 12 increases.

[0025] The bracket 26 is a resin part that holds the lamp cleaner 20. As shown in Fig. 2, the bracket 26 is adhered to the back surface (i.e., the surface that cannot be seen from outside the vehicle) of the bezel cover 14 with double-sided adhesive tape. The thick lines in Fig. 2 indicate the adhesion points.

[0026] The texture and color of the bracket 26 are substantially the same as those of the bezel cover 14. For example, the bracket 26 may be made of the same type of resin as the bezel cover 14. The bracket 26 has a retaining tube 28 into which the lamp cleaner 20 is inserted. When the lamp cleaner 20 is inserted into the retaining tube 28, it is engaged with a part of the retaining tube 28 by means of tabs.

[0027] A cover portion 30 extends from the front end of the retaining tube 28. The cover portion 30 is a wall that covers the cleaner opening 18 from the inside of the vehicle. In this example, the cover portion 30 extends from a position on the periphery of the cleaner opening 18 near the lamp lens 12 to a position that completely crosses the cleaner opening 18. The cover portion 30 also extends in a direction away from the design surface of the bezel cover 14 as it moves toward the outside of the surface direction of the lamp lens 12. The inclination direction of the cover portion 30 is approximately parallel to the spray direction of the cleaning liquid. In other words, the cover portion 30 also functions as a guide member that guides the discharge direction of the cleaning liquid. Furthermore, the cover portion 30 has a size that completely covers the cleaner opening 18.

[0028] The retaining tube 28 is connected to the rear end of the cover portion 30. Therefore, the retaining tube 28 is located on the opposite side of the cleaner opening 18 from the lamp lens 12. As a result, the lamp cleaner 20 is held at a position offset from the cleaner opening 18 in a front view. Therefore, when a user looks at the vehicle from the front, only the cover portion 30 is visible from the cleaner opening 18, and the lamp cleaner 20 is not visible.

[0029] Here, as described above, the lamp lens 12 is curved convexly toward the front of the vehicle. The bezel cover 14 expands in a cone shape toward the front of the vehicle from the lamp opening 16 toward the front of the vehicle. The cleaner opening 18 is formed in the cone-shaped bezel cover 14. Therefore, the cleaner opening 18 is located forward of the center of the lamp lens 12. By injecting the cleaning liquid from the cleaner opening 18, the cleaning liquid can reach the target position of the lamp lens 12 without interfering with the peripheral portion of the lamp lens 12. The target position of the lamp lens 12 is usually the center of the lamp lens 12 or a position slightly above the center. By injecting the cleaning liquid at such a position, the cleaning liquid is likely to spread over the entire lamp lens 12 along the surface of the lamp lens 12.

[0030] As is clear from the above description, in this example, the bracket 26 is fixed to the rear surface of the bezel cover 14, and the lamp cleaner 20 is held by the bracket 26. The reason for adopting such a configuration will be briefly explained.

[0031] It has been widely proposed to provide a lamp cleaner 20 for cleaning the lamp lens 12. However, conventional lamp cleaners 20 often protrude outside the panel member (bezel cover, bumper, etc.), impairing the design of the vehicle. Some have therefore proposed making the lamp cleaner 20 movable. In this case, the lamp cleaner 20 protrudes outside the panel member only when spraying cleaning liquid, and retreats behind the panel member when not in use. Such a movable lamp cleaner 20 can maintain the design of the vehicle at a high level. However, the movable lamp cleaner 20 has a complex configuration and is expensive.

[0032] In this example, as described above, the lamp cleaner 20 is disposed behind the bezel cover 14, which is a panel member, and the cleaner opening 18 through which the cleaning liquid passes is formed in the bezel cover 14. With this configuration, the cleaning liquid can be sprayed onto the lamp lens 12 without the lamp cleaner 20 protruding outside the bezel cover 14. However, if the lamp cleaner 20 is located immediately behind the cleaner opening 18, the lamp cleaner 20 can be seen from the cleaner opening 18, which reduces the design quality.

[0033] In this example, a bracket 26 having a cover portion 30 is fixed to the bezel cover 14, and the lamp cleaner 20 is held by the bracket 26 at a position offset from the cleaner opening 18. As a result, only the cover portion 30 of the bracket 26 is visible from the cleaner opening 18. The bracket 26 including the cover portion 30 is of the same material and color as the bezel cover 14. Therefore, even if the cover portion 30 is located at the back side of the cleaner opening 18, the cover portion 30 is hardly noticeable. As a result, the user is unlikely to notice the presence of the cleaner opening 18, and therefore the lamp cleaner 20. As a result, the design quality of the vehicle is maintained at a high level.

[0034] As explained above, the bezel cover 14 spreads in a cone shape from the lamp opening 16 toward the front of the vehicle. The cleaner opening 18 is located near the upper corner of the lamp opening 16. The headlamp 10 of the vehicle is usually located below the eye level of a standing person. Therefore, when a standing user looks around the headlamp 10, the lamp opening 16 is blocked by the bezel cover 14 that protrudes like an eave. Therefore, the lamp opening 16 is almost invisible to a standing user. As a result, the design of the vehicle is maintained at a high level.

[0035] Furthermore, because the lamp cleaner 20 is positioned diagonally above the lamp lens 12, the nozzle 22 of the lamp cleaner 20 faces diagonally downward. In this case, the snow and dust are blocked by the bezel cover 14 that protrudes like an eave on their way to the nozzle 22. Furthermore, the snow and dust that reaches the nozzle 22 tends to fall due to gravity. As a result, the above-mentioned configuration effectively prevents the nozzle 22 from being clogged with snow and dust, and effectively prevents performance degradation of the lamp cleaner 20.

[0036] Note that the configurations described so far are all examples, and other configurations may be changed as long as the configuration described in claim 1 is included. For example, in the above description, the cleaner opening 18 is formed near an upper corner of the lamp opening 16. However, the cleaner opening 18 may be formed in another location. For example, the cleaner opening 18 may be formed near a lower corner of the lamp opening 16.

[0037] The shape of the bezel cover 14 can also be changed. For example, the bezel cover 14 can be a flat plate extending in a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the lamp lens 12. In the above description, the lamp cleaner 20 for cleaning the headlamp 10 has been taken as an example. However, the technology disclosed in this specification can be applied to a lamp cleaner for cleaning other vehicle-mounted lamps. For example, the technology disclosed in this specification can be applied to the installation of a lamp cleaner for cleaning a tail lamp. The shape of the lamp lens 12 can also be changed, and it can be a flat surface that is not curved. The panel member surrounding the lamp opening 16 is not limited to the bezel cover 14, and can be another panel member, for example, a bumper. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 10 headlamp, 12 lamp lens, 14 bezel cover, 16 lamp opening, 18 cleaner opening, 20 lamp cleaner, 22 nozzle, 26 bracket, 28 retaining tube, 30 cover portion.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle lamp provided at an end of a vehicle and having a lamp lens exposed to the outside of the vehicle; a panel member having a lamp opening for exposing a surface of the lamp lens to the outside; a lamp cleaner that sprays a cleaning liquid onto the surface of the lamp lens; a bracket for holding the lamp cleaner and fixed to a rear surface of the panel member; Equipped with the panel member has a cleaner opening through which the cleaning liquid sprayed from the lamp cleaner passes, The bracket has a cover portion that covers the cleaner opening from the inside of the vehicle, The bracket holds the lamp cleaner at a position offset from the cleaner opening in a front view. A lamp cleaner mounting structure comprising:

2. 2. The lamp cleaner mounting structure according to claim 1, the lamp cleaner is located on the opposite side of the cleaner opening to the lamp opening, the cover portion is a wall extending from a position on a periphery of the cleaner opening closer to the lamp lens to a position adjacent to the lamp cleaner across the cleaner opening, The cover portion extends in a direction away from the design surface of the panel member as it moves toward an outer side in a surface direction of the lamp lens, The cover portion extends in a direction substantially parallel to a spray direction of the cleaning liquid. A lamp cleaner mounting structure comprising:

3. 2. The lamp cleaner mounting structure according to claim 1, the cleaner opening is disposed adjacent an upper corner of the lamp opening, The panel member protrudes in an eave-like shape above the lamp lens, The lamp cleaner sprays the cleaning liquid in an obliquely downward direction. A lamp cleaner mounting structure comprising:

4. The lamp cleaner mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The vehicle lamp is a headlamp provided at the front end of a vehicle, The panel member expands in a cone shape from the lamp opening toward the front of the vehicle, The cleaner opening is located forward of the center of the lamp lens. A lamp cleaner mounting structure comprising:

5. 2. The lamp cleaner mounting structure according to claim 1, The texture and color of the cover portion are substantially the same as the texture and color of the panel member. A lamp cleaner mounting structure comprising:

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