Vehicular lamp

Abstract

To obtain a vehicular lamp having excellent recyclability of a light source unit provided in the lamp.SOLUTION: A vehicle lamp 10 includes a housing 20 that houses and supports a light source unit 14, and a lens that is joined to the housing 20 to close a space in which the light source unit 14 is housed. The light source unit 14 has a substrate 16 that faces the lens. The housing 20 has a fragile part 28 on an outward side of an area that overlaps with the substrate 16 when viewed from a normal direction of the lens.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp.

Background Art

[0002] In a vehicle lamp in which a lens is mounted covering the outer periphery of a lens mounting wall formed in a housing that holds a light source, the stepped surface of the lens is opposed to the upper end surface of the lens mounting wall, and an adhesive is applied between the upper end surface and the stepped surface to join and integrate the housing and the lens. Further, engaging claws are formed on the lens, and the engaging claws are configured to face the back surface on the side opposite to the lens mounting surface side from a hole formed in the housing and be locked to an engaged portion formed in the housing. This has been proposed in the past (see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In a vehicle lamp, in order to prevent water and foreign matter from entering the lamp, the housing and the lens are joined by an adhesive or ultrasonic welding. However, when the housing and the lens are joined by an adhesive or ultrasonic welding, when the lamp is discarded, it becomes difficult to take out and recycle the light source unit (substrate and electronic components) provided in the lamp. Thus, from the viewpoint of improving the recyclability of the light source unit provided in the lamp, there is still room for improvement.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to obtain a vehicle lamp excellent in recyclability of a light source unit provided in the lamp.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle lamp according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a housing that houses and supports a light source unit, and a lens that is joined to the housing to make the space in which the light source unit is housed a closed space. The light source unit has a substrate facing the lens, and the housing has a fragile portion on the outer side of the region overlapping the substrate when viewed from the normal direction of the lens.

[0007] According to the invention described in claim 1, the light source unit housed and supported in the housing has a substrate facing a lens that is joined to the housing to make the space in which the light source unit is housed a closed space. And this housing has a fragile portion on the outer side of the region overlapping the substrate when viewed from the normal direction of the lens. Therefore, when the vehicle lamp is discarded, if the fragile portion is broken, it is possible to separate the housing into the side that supports the light source unit (substrate) and the side to which the lens is joined. As a result, the recyclability of the light source unit is improved.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a vehicle lamp excellent in recyclability of the light source unit provided in the lamp.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For the sake of convenience of explanation, in each figure, the arrow UP shown as appropriate is the upward direction of the vehicle, the arrow FR is the forward direction of the vehicle, and the arrow LH is the leftward direction of the vehicle. Therefore, in the following description, when the directions of up and down, front and back, and left and right are described without special mention, they indicate up and down, front and back, and left and right in the vehicle. Also, the left and right directions are synonymous with the vehicle width direction.

[0011] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a license plate lamp 12 as an example of a vehicle lamp 10 according to the present embodiment is provided on the back side of a license plate attached to the rear part of a vehicle (not shown), for example. This license plate lamp 12 includes a light source unit 14, a resin (e.g., ABS) housing 20 that houses and supports the light source unit 14, and a resin (e.g., PMMA) lens 30 (see FIG. 2) that closes the space in which the light source unit 14 is housed by being joined to the housing 20.

[0012] The light source unit 14 has a substrate 16 having a light source 15 (see FIG. 1) facing the lens 30 in the front-rear direction on its surface (one side), and a pair of left and right terminals 18 (see FIG. 2) connected to the back surface (the other side) of the substrate 16. The substrate 16 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape with a predetermined thickness having the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal direction.

[0013] The housing 20 is formed in a substantially hat shape in a plan view and a side view. That is, the housing 20 has a housing portion 22 having a predetermined depth and a predetermined thickness with the vehicle width direction as the longitudinal direction, and a flange portion 25 that projects integrally outward from the opening peripheral edge portion of the housing portion 22 with a predetermined width and a predetermined thickness.

[0014] A pair of left and right hole portions 24A for inserting each terminal 18 provided on the substrate 16 are formed in the bottom wall 24 of the housing portion 22, and at least on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of each hole portion 24A on the outer surface of the bottom wall 24, long ribs 24B that project forward and also serve as a fitting shape to a connector (not shown) are integrally formed.

[0015] In a plan view, on the inner surface of the bottom wall 24 outside the vehicle width direction from each long rib 24B, a pair of left and right claw portions 26 with the left - right direction as the thickness direction project rearward, and on the outer surface of the bottom wall 24 outside the vehicle width direction from each claw portion 26, a short rib 24C projecting forward is integrally formed.

[0016] The substrate 16 constituting the light source unit 14 is supported by a pair of left and right claw portions 26 projecting from the inner surface of the bottom wall 24. That is, through - holes 16A into which each claw portion 26 can be inserted are formed in the substrate 16 at a predetermined interval in the left - right direction, and each claw portion 26 is configured to be inserted into and locked in each through - hole 16A. Thereby, the substrate 16 (light source unit 14) is configured to be housed and supported in the housing portion 22.

[0017] The lens 30 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape with a size capable of closing the internal space of the housing portion 22 by overlapping the peripheral edge portion 32 thereof with the flange portion 25 of the housing 20 and being joined by joining means such as an adhesive, ultrasonic welding, vibration welding, hot plate welding, or laser welding. And the housing 20 has a fragile portion 28 on the outer side (a range larger than the substrate 16) of a substantially rectangular region overlapping the substrate 16 when viewed from the normal direction (rearward side) of the lens 30.

[0018] That is, this fragile portion 28 is configured by forming a groove portion 22A having a substantially "U" - shaped cross - section on the inner surface at the boundary portion between the peripheral wall 23 and the bottom wall 24 of the housing portion 22. In other words, this fragile portion 28 is configured by reducing the plate thickness at the boundary portion between the peripheral wall 23 and the bottom wall 24 of the housing portion 22.

[0019] When the housing 20 is broken from this fragile portion 28, as shown in FIG. 3, this housing 20 is configured to be separable into a side supporting the bottom wall 24 of the light source unit 14 (substrate 16) and a side of the flange portion 25 (including the peripheral wall 23) to which the lens 30 is joined.

[0020] Next, the operation of the license plate lamp 12 as an example of the vehicle lamp 10 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

[0021] As described above, the light source unit 14 housed and supported in the housing 20 has a substrate 16 facing a lens 30 that closes the space in which the light source unit 14 is housed by being joined to the housing 20. And this housing 20 has the weak part 28 in the outer side of the area | region which overlaps with the board | substrate 16, seen from the normal direction of the lens 30.

[0022] Therefore, when discarding the license plate lamp 12, if the weak part 28 is broken, the housing 20 can be separated into the bottom wall 24 side that supports the light source unit 14 (substrate 16) and the flange part 25 (including the peripheral wall 23) side to which the lens 30 is joined (see FIG. 3). Thereby, the light source unit 14 (substrate 16) can be easily taken out from inside the housing 20 (inside the lamp), and the recyclability of the light source unit 14 (substrate 16) can be improved.

[0023] In addition, this housing 20 can break the weak part 28 easily by hitting the front-end | tip part of the long rib 24B or the short rib 24C with a hammer etc. which are not shown from the protrusion direction side. Moreover, since it is only necessary to hit the front-end | tip part of the long rib 24B or the short rib 24C with a hammer etc. in this way, compared with the case of a housing (illustration omitted) which requires a cutting tool for separation, for example, it is excellent in disassemblability and does not cost for the disassembly.

[0024] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the housing 20 and the lens 30 are formed of different resin materials has been described as an example. However, if the housing 20 and the lens 30 are formed of the same resin material (for example, both are made of PC), it is preferable because they can be recycled while being joined together. That is, since the housing 20 and the lens 30 can be treated as a single resin material, there is no need to separate the housing 20 and the lens 30, and their recyclability can also be improved.

[0025] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the license plate lamp 12 has been described as an example of the vehicle lamp 10. However, the vehicle lamp 10 according to the present embodiment is not limited to the above-described license plate lamp 12. Although illustration is omitted, for example, the configuration according to the present embodiment can also be applied to a headlamp, a side turn lamp, a rear combination lamp, etc.

[0026] As described above, the vehicle lamp 10 according to the present embodiment has been described based on the drawings. However, the vehicle lamp 10 according to the present embodiment is not limited to the illustrated one, and can be appropriately designed and changed within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the ribs formed on the outer surface of the bottom wall 24 of the housing 20 are not limited to the illustrated long rib 24B and short rib 24C, and instead of the long rib 24B and short rib 24C, ribs having different lengths from them (not shown) may be formed at appropriate positions.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0027] 10 Vehicle lamp 14 Light source unit 16 Substrate 20 Housing 28 Weak part 30 Lens

Claims

【Claim 1】 A housing that houses and supports a light source unit, A lens that is joined to the housing to make the space in which the light source unit is housed a closed space, Comprising, The light source unit has a substrate facing the lens, The housing is a vehicle lamp having a vulnerable part on the outer side of a region overlapping the substrate when viewed from the normal direction of the lens.

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