Vehicular lamp

Abstract

To provide a vehicular lamp capable of supporting a substrate with a simple configuration.SOLUTION: A third lamp unit 20 of a vehicular lamp 10 comprises an LED 22, a substrate 26 on which a control circuit 24 for controlling the LED 22 is formed, and a support structure 30 that supports the substrate 26. The support structure 30 comprises a rail part 40 that guides a first side 31 of the substrate 26, and a lance part 42 that engages the substrate 26 when it is inserted along the rail part 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a vehicle lamp including a light source such as an LED and a substrate on which a circuit for controlling the light source is formed is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-168894 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the vehicle lamp disclosed in Patent Document 1, the substrate is supported on the lamp body using screws, but in order to realize an inexpensive vehicle lamp, it is desirable to support the substrate with a simple structure.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp that can support a board with a simple structure. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention provides a vehicle lamp including a light source, a substrate on which a control circuit for controlling the light source is formed, and a support structure for supporting the substrate. The support structure includes a rail portion for guiding a first side of the substrate, and a lance portion for engaging the substrate inserted along the rail portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle lamp that can support a substrate with a simple structure. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic perspective view of a vehicle lamp according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a third lamp unit. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of a third lamp unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic front view showing the configuration of a third lamp unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the third lamp unit shown in FIG. 3 taken along line AA. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the third lamp unit shown in FIG. 3 taken along the line BB. [Figure 7] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the third lamp unit shown in FIG. 4 taken along line CC. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The following configurations are for illustrative purposes only to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined solely by the appended claims. Identical or equivalent components and members shown in each drawing are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions will be omitted where appropriate. The dimensions of the components in each drawing are enlarged or reduced as appropriate for ease of understanding. Some components that are not important for explaining the embodiments are omitted from the drawings. Furthermore, when terms indicating directions, such as "up," "down," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "inside," and "outside," are used in this specification, they refer to the directions in the position of the vehicular lamp when mounted on a vehicle.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a vehicle lamp 10 according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle lamp 10 includes a lamp body 12 and a transparent outer cover (not shown) that covers the front opening of the lamp body 12. The lamp body 12 and the outer cover form a lamp chamber.

[0011] The vehicle lamp 10 shown in Figure 1 is a combination headlamp located on the front right side of the vehicle, and has a first lamp unit 14, a second lamp unit 16, and a third lamp unit 20 arranged within the lamp chamber.

[0012] The first lamp unit 14 is a lamp unit that functions as a low beam lamp. The second lamp unit 16 is a lamp unit that functions as a high beam lamp. The structures of the first lamp unit 14 and the second lamp unit 16 are not particularly limited, and for example, reflector type or projector type lamp units can be used. The third lamp unit 20 is a lamp unit that functions as a side marker lamp.

[0013] Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of the third lamp unit 20. Fig. 3 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the third lamp unit 20. Fig. 4 is a schematic front view showing the configuration of the third lamp unit 20. Fig. 5 is a schematic AA cross-sectional view of the third lamp unit 20 shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a schematic BB cross-sectional view of the third lamp unit 20 shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a schematic CC cross-sectional view of the third lamp unit 20 shown in Fig. 4.

[0014] The third lighting unit 20 includes an LED 22 as a light source, a substrate 26 on which the LED 22 is mounted and on which a control circuit 24 for controlling the LED 22 is formed, an inner lens 28 (see Figure 1) for controlling the light emitted from the LED 22, and a support structure 30 for supporting the substrate 26.

[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates the substrate 26 before it is attached to the support structure 30. The substrate 26 may be a flat, rigid substrate such as a glass epoxy substrate. The substrate 26 has a generally rectangular shape when viewed from the front. The substrate 26 has a first side 31 located on the upper side, a second side 32 located on the lower side opposite the first side 31, a third side 33 located on the left side, and a fourth side 34 located on the right side. The sides do not necessarily have to be formed in a straight line, and one or more steps may be formed. Note that in this embodiment, the substrate 26 is attached to the support structure 30 with its main surface vertical, but the orientation of the substrate 26 is not particularly limited. In another embodiment, the substrate 26 may be attached to the support structure with its main surface horizontal, for example.

[0016] An LED 22 is mounted on a fourth side 34 of the front surface of the substrate 26, and a control circuit 24 is also formed thereon. A rectangular lance insertion hole 35 is provided on a third side 33 of the front surface of the substrate 26. A receiving side connector 36 is provided at the lower left corner of the substrate 26. A movable side connector 38 provided at the tip of a power supply cable 37 is fitted into the receiving side connector 36.

[0017] The support structure 30 is formed integrally with the lamp body 12 by injection molding. The support structure 30 includes a rail portion 40 that guides the first side 31 of the substrate 26 and a lance portion 42 that engages the substrate 26 inserted along the rail portion 40. The rail portion 40 is configured to sandwich the first side 31 of the substrate 26. The rail portion 40 extends in the left-right direction when viewed from the front of the third lamp unit 20, and is configured so that the first side 31 of the substrate 26 can be inserted from the right to the left. The direction in which the substrate 26 is inserted into the rail portion 40 is referred to as the "substrate insertion direction D." The substrate insertion direction D is from right to left when viewed from the front of the third lamp unit 20. The rail portion 40 is formed so that the width of the rail gradually increases from the back to the front in the substrate insertion direction D, taking into account the draft angle during injection molding.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 6 , the lance 42 has a leg 42a extending from the lamp body and a locking portion 42b protruding from the leg 42a. When the board 26 is inserted along the rail 40, the locking portion 42b is pressed by the third side 33 of the board 26, causing the leg 42a to bend. When the board 26 is further inserted, the locking portion 42b fits into the lance insertion hole 35 of the board 26. As shown in FIG. 6 , the biasing force of the lance 42 causes the locking portion 42b of the lance 42 to lock onto the edge 35a of the lance insertion hole 35 of the board 26. In addition, an abutment surface 44 is formed on a portion of the lamp body 12 located below the lance 42. The biasing force of the lance 42 causes a portion of the board 26 to abut against the abutment surface 44, whereby the board 26 is locked by the lance 42.

[0019] 7, the support structure 30 includes a first board positioning portion 46 that positions a portion 31a on the rear side in the board insertion direction of the first side 31 of the board 26. The first board positioning portion 46 is formed by narrowing the rear portion of the rail portion 40 in the board insertion direction so as to clamp the portion 31a of the board 26.

[0020] The support structure 30 also includes a second board positioning portion 48 that positions a portion 31b of the first side 31 of the board 26 on the front side in the board insertion direction. The second board positioning portion 48 is formed to clamp the portion 31b of the board 26. As described above, the rail portion 40 is formed so that the rail width gradually increases from the rear side to the front side in the board insertion direction D, taking into account the draft angle in injection molding. Therefore, it is not possible to clamp the board 26 by narrowing the front side of the rail portion 40 in the insertion direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, by providing the second board positioning portion 48 separately from the rail portion 40, both the draft angle of the rail portion 40 and the positioning of the board 26 are achieved.

[0021] The support structure 30 further includes a third board positioning portion 50 that positions a portion 32a of the second side 32 of the board 26 on the front side in the board insertion direction. The third board positioning portion 50 is formed to clamp the portion 32a of the board 26.

[0022] By positioning portions 31a, 31b, and 32a of substrate 26 using first substrate positioning portion 46, second substrate positioning portion 48, and third substrate positioning portion 50, respectively, rattling of substrate 26 in a direction perpendicular to the main surface of substrate 26 can be prevented.

[0023] 5, first substrate positioning portion 46 and second substrate positioning portion 48 press down portions 31a and 31b of substrate 26 from above, and third substrate positioning portion 50 presses down portion 32a of substrate 26 from below. This prevents rattling in the in-plane direction of the main surface of substrate 26.

[0024] The procedure for attaching the board 26 to the support structure 30 in the third lamp unit 20 according to this embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2 , the movable connector 38 is connected to the receiving connector 36 of the board 26. Then, with the first edge 31 of the board 26 sandwiched between the rail portions 40, the board 26 is inserted in the insertion direction D. The first edge 31 of the board 26 is guided by the rail portions 40, and the third edge 33 of the board 26 reaches the lance portion 42. When the board 26 is further inserted, the locking portion 42b of the lance portion 42 fits into the lance insertion hole 35 of the board 26. The biasing force of the lance portion 42 causes a portion of the board 26 to abut against the abutment surface 44, whereby the board 26 is locked by the lance portion 42. At this time, a portion 31a of the board 26 on the rear side in the board insertion direction D is clamped by the first board positioning portion 46, and portions 31b and 32a of the board 26 on the front side in the board insertion direction D are clamped by the second board positioning portion 48 and the third board positioning portion 50, respectively. In this manner, the board 26 is supported by the support structure 30. Since the board 26 is positioned at three points, the first board positioning portion 46, the second board positioning portion 48, and the third board positioning portion 50, rattle of the board 26 can be prevented.

[0025] Thus, with the third lamp unit 20 according to this embodiment, the substrate 26 can be attached to the support structure 30 simply by inserting the substrate 26 along the rail portion 40 and locking the substrate 26 with the lance portion 42. Since there is no need to use fastening members such as screws as in the past, the substrate 26 can be supported with an extremely simple configuration, and the vehicle lamp 10 can be made inexpensively.

[0026] 2 and 4, in the third lamp unit 20 according to this embodiment, a connector pressing portion 52 is provided in a portion of the lamp body 12 that is further back in the insertion direction than the movable connector 38. As described above, before the board 26 is attached to the support structure 30, the movable connector 38 is mated with the receiving connector 36, but there is a risk that the board 26 will be inserted in an incomplete state. In such a case, the connector pressing portion 52 presses the movable connector 38 against the receiving connector 36. This prevents the incomplete mating of the receiving connector 36 and the movable connector 38. The connector pressing portion 52 is formed with a slight gap (approximately a few millimeters) from the end of the movable connector 38 when the receiving connector 36 and the movable connector 38 are completely mated.

[0027] The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. These embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of each component and each treatment process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 10 Vehicle lamp, 12 Lamp body, 14 First lamp unit, 16 Second lamp unit, 20 Third lamp unit, 22 LED, 24 Control circuit, 26 Board, 30 Support structure, 31 First edge, 32 Second edge, 33 Third edge, 34 Fourth edge, 35 Lance insertion hole, 36 Receiving side connector, 38 Movable side connector, 40 Rail portion, 42 Lance portion, 44 Abutment surface, 46 First board positioning portion, 48 Second board positioning portion, 50 Third board positioning portion, 52 Connector pressing portion.

Claims

1. A light source and a substrate on which a control circuit for controlling the light source is formed; a support structure for supporting the substrate; Equipped with The support structure includes: a rail portion that guides a first side of the substrate; a lance portion that locks the substrate inserted along the rail portion; A vehicle lamp comprising:

2. The support structure includes: a first board positioning portion that positions a rear portion of the first side of the board in a board insertion direction; a second board positioning portion that positions a portion of the first side of the board on the front side in a board insertion direction; a third board positioning portion that positions a portion of a second side of the board that faces the first side and is on the front side in the board insertion direction; 2. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, further comprising:

3. 3. The vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein the first board positioning portion is formed so as to narrow the innermost portion of the rail portion in the board insertion direction and to clamp the innermost portion of the first edge of the board in the board insertion direction.

4. the second board positioning portion is formed to clamp a portion of the first side of the board on the front side in the board insertion direction, 4. The vehicle lamp according to claim 2, wherein the third board positioning portion is formed to clamp a portion of the board on the front side in the board insertion direction of the second side of the board.

5. the substrate includes a receiving connector into which the movable connector is fitted, 2. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, further comprising a connector pressing portion that presses the movable side connector against the receiving side connector when the circuit board is inserted along the rail portion in a state where the receiving side connector and the movable side connector are not fully engaged.

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