Opening / closing mechanism, vehicle lighting fixture, and vehicle headlight

Abstract

To provide a vehicle lighting fixture with a new design.SOLUTION: An opening / closing mechanism 22 is disposed inside a lamp body 16 of a vehicle lighting fixture 12, and moves a shielding member 24 between a first position P1 for hiding a light emitting part 20 of the vehicle lighting fixture 12 from the outside and a second position P2 retreated from the first position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an opening and closing mechanism used in a vehicle lamp. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, retractable headlamps for automobiles have been known in which the headlamp is rotated and stored in a storage section within the vehicle body when not in use, and the vehicle body opening is closed, but when in use, the vehicle body opening is opened and the headlamp is rotated and raised from the exterior surface of the vehicle body (see Patent Document 1). Retractable headlamps have been mainly used in sports cars and luxury cars because of their high design quality. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-123827 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In recent years, LEDs (Light Emitting Devices) have become popular as light sources for headlamps. LED-based headlamps have made it possible to create designs that were not possible with conventional non-LED light sources, thanks to the miniaturization and thinning of the light source.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and one of its exemplary purposes is to provide a new design for a vehicle lamp. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, one embodiment of the opening / closing mechanism of the present invention is an opening / closing mechanism that is arranged inside a lamp body of a vehicle lamp and moves a shielding member between a first position that hides the light-emitting portion of the vehicle lamp from the outside and a second position that is retracted from the first position.

[0007] According to this aspect, the light emitting portion can be hidden from the outside depending on the situation, thereby providing a new design to the vehicle lamp.

[0008] The shielding member may be movable up and down in front of the light emitting portion, thereby allowing the light emitting portion to be hidden with a simple movement.

[0009] The vehicle lamp may further include a movement mechanism that moves the shielding member to a first position when the light-emitting unit is in a non-illuminated state and moves the shielding member to a second position when the light-emitting unit is in a lit state. This allows the light-emitting unit to be hidden from the outside when the vehicle lamp is not in use, thereby adding a new design to the vehicle lamp.

[0010] The shielding member may be a horizontally long plate-like member, and the moving mechanism may have a parallel link mechanism connected to an end of the plate-like member. In this way, when the light-emitting unit is horizontally long, the shielding member, which has a small area, can be moved to a predetermined position with little movement.

[0011] The movement mechanism may have a first drive transmission mechanism that operates the parallel link mechanism using a motor, and a second drive transmission mechanism that manually moves the members that make up the first drive transmission mechanism. This allows the shielding member to be moved manually by the second drive transmission mechanism even if the first drive transmission mechanism does not function due to a malfunction of the motor.

[0012] The lamp may include a light-emitting unit, a lamp body that houses the light-emitting unit, a transparent cover that closes a front opening of the lamp body, and an opening / closing mechanism. The shielding member may move up and down between the light-emitting unit and the cover. This allows the shielding member to move between the light-emitting unit and the cover without being exposed to the outside.

[0013] Another aspect of the present invention is a vehicle headlamp. This vehicle headlamp includes a pair of vehicle lamps arranged on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle, a linear design element between the pair of vehicle lamps, and an opening / closing mechanism arranged inside the lamp body of each vehicle lamp. The opening / closing mechanism has a horizontally elongated shielding element that moves between a first position that hides the light-emitting element of the vehicle lamp from the outside and a second position retracted from the first position. In the first position, the shielding element is aligned in a straight line with the design element.

[0014] According to this aspect, when the light-emitting part can be hidden from the outside without using the vehicle lamp, a new design can be realized in which the decorative member and the shielding member are aligned in a straight line by moving the shielding member to the first position.

[0015] Any combination of the above components, and conversion of the present invention between a manufacturing method, a lighting fixture or lighting device, a light emitting module, a light source, etc. are also valid aspects of the present invention. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] According to the present invention, a new design for a vehicle lamp can be realized. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a front view of a vehicle lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a front view of the opening / closing mechanism according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 is a perspective view of an opening / closing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed obliquely from above and to the rear right of a vehicle. [Figure 5] 1 is a side view of an opening / closing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the left side of a vehicle. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a top view of a main part of the opening and closing mechanism according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams for explaining the movement of the shielding member by the opening and closing mechanism according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a side view of the opening and closing mechanism when the shielding member is in a fourth position (reference position). [Figure 9] 10 is a side view for explaining a state in which the connecting member is manually moved by the second drive transmission mechanism. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, parts, and processes shown in each drawing will be given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted where appropriate. Furthermore, the embodiments are illustrative and do not limit the invention, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

[0019] (vehicle headlights) 1 is a front view of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle headlamp according to this embodiment. The vehicle headlamp according to this embodiment includes a pair of vehicle lamps 12R, 12L disposed on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle 10, and a linear design element 14 disposed between the vehicle lamps 12R, 12L. The design element 14 may be illuminated by a light guide or the like. Note that the opening / closing mechanism described below may be mounted on rear combination lamps disposed on the left and right sides of the rear of the vehicle, instead of the vehicle headlamp.

[0020] Fig. 2 is a front view of a vehicle lamp according to this embodiment. Note that the vehicle lamps 12R and 12L are bilaterally symmetrical to each other, and other components and layout configurations are the same. Therefore, the following description will be given using the vehicle lamp 12L shown in Fig. 2 (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle lamp 12" as appropriate) as an example.

[0021] The vehicle lamp 12 shown in Fig. 2 includes a lamp body 16 having a horizontally elongated opening 16a formed in the front, and a transparent front cover 18 attached to the periphery of the opening of the lamp body 16 so as to close the horizontally elongated opening 16a. A light-emitting unit 20 is housed inside the lamp body 16. The light-emitting unit 20 emits light that forms a low-beam light distribution pattern and a high-beam light distribution pattern, and is positioned so as to be visible from the opening 16a.

[0022] The light-emitting section 20 according to this embodiment has a plurality of light source units 20a that use semiconductor light-emitting elements such as LEDs, and the plurality of light source units 20a are arranged in a horizontal row. This allows the light-emitting section 20 to be thin and horizontally elongated. The opening / closing mechanism 22 according to this embodiment is disposed inside the lamp body 16 of the vehicle lamp 12, and moves the shielding member 24 between a first position P1 that hides the light-emitting section 20 from the outside and a second position P2 that is retracted from the first position P1. This allows the light-emitting section 20 to be hidden from the outside depending on the situation, thereby giving the vehicle lamp 12 a new design.

[0023] Furthermore, the shielding member 24 moves up and down in front of the light-emitting unit 20. This allows the light-emitting unit 20 to be hidden with a simple movement. The opening / closing mechanism 22 also includes a movement mechanism 26 that moves the shielding member 24 to a first position P1 when the light-emitting unit 20 is not lit, and moves the shielding member 24 to a second position P2 when the light-emitting unit 20 is lit. In other words, the shielding member 24 is aligned in a straight line with the design member 14 at the first position P1.

[0024] As a result, when it is acceptable for the light-emitting unit 20 to be hidden from the outside when the vehicle lamp 12 is not in use, a new design can be realized in which the design member 14 and the shielding member 24 are aligned in a straight line by moving the shielding member 24 to the first position P1. For example, by selecting the material, color, and shape of the shielding member 24 that hides the light-emitting unit 20 in consideration of the design member 14 during the daytime when the vehicle headlights of the vehicle 10 are not turned on, the vehicle lamps 12R, 12L and the design member 14 can be recognized as an integrated design.

[0025] (Opening and closing mechanism) Next, a specific configuration of the opening / closing mechanism 22 according to this embodiment will be described. Fig. 3 is a front view of the opening / closing mechanism according to this embodiment. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the opening / closing mechanism according to this embodiment, seen diagonally from above and to the rear right of the vehicle. Fig. 5 is a side view of the opening / closing mechanism according to this embodiment, seen from the left side of the vehicle. Fig. 6 is a top view of the main parts of the opening / closing mechanism according to this embodiment. As shown in each figure, the shielding member 24 according to this embodiment is a horizontally long plate-like member curved along the shape of the front cover 18, and is a substantially rectangular member when viewed from the front.

[0026] The movement mechanism 26 has parallel link mechanisms 28, 30 connected to both ends of the shielding member 24. The parallel link mechanism 28 is connected to one end of the shielding member 24 and a first drive transmission mechanism 32 that operates the parallel link mechanism using a motor. The parallel link mechanism 30 is connected to the other end of the shielding member 24 and an attachment part 34 that is attached to the vehicle body or the lamp body.

[0027] Next, the operation of the shielding member by the parallel link mechanism will be described mainly with reference to Figure 5. Note that in Figure 5, some of the components are not shown so that some of the pinions can be seen. Figure 5 shows a state in which the shielding member 24 is in a shielding position (first position P1) that hides the light-emitting unit 20. From this state, when a drive signal (a signal for moving the shielding member 24 to second position P2) is input to an actuator 36 that incorporates a motor, the rod 38 moves in the direction of arrow A.

[0028] A spherical portion 40 is provided at the tip of the rod 38, and the spherical portion 40 is held at the rear end of a connecting member 42, which has a rack 42a at its tip. Therefore, when the rod 38 moves in the direction of arrow A, the rack 42a rotates the pinion 44 in the direction of arrow R1, and the pinion 46 meshing with the pinion 44 rotates in the direction of arrow R2. A rotating shaft 46a fixed to the pinion 46 is connected to the drive link 28a of the parallel link mechanism 28, and as the pinion 46 rotates, the drive link 28a also rotates in the direction of arrow R3. At this time, the driven link 28b of the parallel link mechanism 28 and the driven links 30a, 30b of the parallel link mechanism 30 move in the same manner as the drive link 28a. In this way, the movement mechanism 26 has a first drive transmission mechanism that operates the parallel link mechanisms 28, 30 using the motor of the actuator 36.

[0029] 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the movement of the shielding member by the opening / closing mechanism according to this embodiment. As described above, the movement of the motor of the actuator 36 moves the shielding member 24 from the first position P1 to the second position P2 via the parallel link mechanisms 28 and 30. The shielding member 24 also passes through a third position P3 while moving from the first position P1 to the second position P2. By optimizing the length and layout of each link of each parallel link mechanism, the amount of displacement of the shielding member 24 toward the front of the vehicle relative to the first position P1 or the second position P2 can be reduced at the third position P3.

[0030] In this way, the shielding member 24 according to this embodiment moves up and down between the light-emitting unit 20 and the front cover 18. In other words, the shielding member 24 can be arranged in the narrow space between the front cover 18 and the light-emitting unit 20, and can move between the light-emitting unit 20 and the front cover 18 without being exposed to the outside. Furthermore, when the light-emitting unit 20 is horizontally long, as in the vehicular lamp 12, the opening / closing mechanism 22 according to this embodiment can move the small shielding member 24, which has approximately the same area as the light-emitting unit 20, to a predetermined position with little movement.

[0031] Next, a second drive transmission mechanism that can manually move the shielding member 24 separately from the first drive transmission mechanism 32 will be described in the event that a malfunction occurs in the motor of the actuator 36 and the shielding member 24 cannot be moved normally. Fig. 8 is a side view of the opening and closing mechanism with the shielding member 24 in the fourth position (reference position). The fourth position P4 of the shielding member is a position that is defined for detecting the reference position of the shielding member, for example, when starting the vehicle or when restarting the opening and closing mechanism after error processing.

[0032] The screw 50 according to this embodiment is held by the lamp body 16, and movement in the direction of the rotation axis is restricted. In other words, the distance L1 between the case 54 that houses the pinions 44, 46 and the head of the screw 50 is always constant even when the screw 50 is rotated. Therefore, when the screw 50 is rotated, the holding member 52 moves forward and backward.

[0033] The second drive transmission mechanism 48 includes a screw 50 that is rotatably held in the lamp body 16, a T-shaped holding member 52 to which the screw 50 is screwed, and the actuator 36 that is held by the holding member 52. The holding member 52 has a circular holding portion 52a that directly holds and fixes the outer periphery of a cylindrical opening 36a through which the rod 38 passes. When the screw 50 is rotated, it moves forward and backward relative to the holding member 52.

[0034] When the shielding member 24 shown in Fig. 8 is at the fourth position P4, the rack 42a is in a state in which it has moved furthest toward the front of the vehicle. If the actuator 36 is not driven in this state, the shielding member 24 cannot be moved to the first position P1 or the second position P2. Therefore, the opening / closing mechanism 22 according to this embodiment is provided with a second drive transmission mechanism 48 that manually moves the connecting member 42 that constitutes the first drive transmission mechanism 32 (see Figs. 4 and 6).

[0035] Fig. 9 is a side view illustrating how the connecting member 42 is manually moved by the second drive transmission mechanism. For example, when the screw 50 shown in Fig. 8 is rotated in the direction of arrow R3, the holding member 52, the actuator 36 held by the holding member 52, and the connecting member 42 holding the spherical portion 40 of the actuator 36 move together in the direction of arrow B. As a result, the distance L2 between the holding member 52 and the case 54 shown in Fig. 8 changes to a distance L2' (L2'>L2) as shown in Fig. 9.

[0036] As shown in Fig. 9, when the connecting member 42 moves in the direction of arrow B by rotating the screw 50, the pinion 44 rotates in the direction of arrow R4, and the pinion 46 rotates in the direction of arrow R5. As a result, the drive link 28a of the parallel link mechanism 28 rotates in the direction of arrow R6, and the shielding member 24 moves from the fourth position P4 shown in Fig. 8 to the first position P1 shown in Fig. 9. This allows the shielding member 24 to be moved manually by the second drive transmission mechanism 48, even if the first drive transmission mechanism 32 does not function due to a malfunction of the motor of the actuator 36. The second drive transmission mechanism 48 can move the shielding member 24 from the first position P1 to the second position P2 or the fourth position P4.

[0037] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and suitable combinations and substitutions of the configurations of the embodiments are also included in the present invention. Furthermore, it is possible to suitably rearrange the combinations and processing orders in the embodiments based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, and to make modifications to the embodiments such as various design changes, and such modified embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 10 vehicle, 12 vehicle lighting fixture, 14 design member, 16 lamp body, 16a opening, 18 front cover, 20 light emitting portion, 20a light source unit, 22 opening / closing mechanism, 24 shielding member, 26 moving mechanism, 28 parallel link mechanism, 28a driving link, 28b driven link, 30 parallel link mechanism, 32 first drive transmission mechanism, 36 actuator, 38 rod, 40 spherical portion, 42 connecting member, 42a rack, 44 pinion, 46 pinion, 48 second drive transmission mechanism, 50 screw, 52 holding member, 52a holding portion, 54 case, P1 first position, P2 second position.

Claims

1. An opening and closing mechanism disposed inside a lamp body of a vehicle lamp, An opening / closing mechanism that moves a shielding member between a first position that hides a light-emitting portion of a vehicle lamp from the outside and a second position that is retracted from the first position.

2. The opening / closing mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein the shielding member moves up and down in front of the light emitting portion.

3. 2. The opening / closing mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a moving mechanism that moves the shielding member to the first position when the light-emitting unit is in a non-illuminated state and moves the shielding member to the second position when the light-emitting unit is in a lit state.

4. the shielding member is a horizontally elongated plate-like member, 4. The opening and closing mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the moving mechanism has a parallel link mechanism connected to an end of the plate-like member.

5. The moving mechanism includes: a first drive transmission mechanism that operates the parallel link mechanism using a motor; a second drive transmission mechanism for manually moving a member constituting the first drive transmission mechanism; The opening and closing mechanism according to claim 4, further comprising:

6. A light-emitting portion; a lamp body that houses the light-emitting portion; a transparent cover that closes a front opening of the lamp body; and the opening / closing mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The vehicle lamp, wherein the shielding member moves up and down between the light emitting portion and the cover.

7. A pair of vehicle lamps arranged on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle, a linear design member located between the pair of vehicle lamps; an opening / closing mechanism disposed inside the lamp body of each vehicle lamp; the opening / closing mechanism has a horizontally elongated shielding member that moves between a first position that hides a light-emitting portion of the vehicle lamp from the outside and a second position that is retracted from the first position, The vehicle headlamp, wherein the shielding member is aligned in a straight line with the design member at the first position.

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