Vehicle lighting

Abstract

To provide a vehicle lighting device that improves the workability when assembling an aiming device. [Solution] The vehicle lighting fixture includes a tilt bracket 31 that supports the lamp unit and is tiltable in at least one direction, and an aiming device 3 that tiltably supports the tilt bracket 31 relative to the lamp housing 100. The aiming device 3 includes an adjustment part 5 that includes an aiming screw 51 supported by the lamp housing 100 and an aiming nut 52 supported by the tilt bracket 31 and screwed into the aiming screw 51. The tilt bracket 31 is provided with a viewing part (viewing window) 35 that makes at least a portion of the aiming nut 52 visible from the front side of the tilt bracket 31.

Description

Technical Field

[0004] , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

[0003]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp provided with an aiming device for adjusting the light irradiation direction of a lamp of a vehicle such as an automobile, that is, the direction of the lamp optical axis.

Background Art

[0002] In a lighting lamp such as a headlamp of an automobile, an aiming device for adjusting the lamp optical axis directed toward the center of the light distribution irradiated by the lamp in the left - right direction and the up - down direction with respect to the vehicle body is provided. For example, there is an aiming device provided with a fulcrum portion serving as a tilting fulcrum at one location of a lamp unit, and adjustment portions for adjusting the angles of the lamp optical axis in the left - right direction and the up - down direction at different positions in the left - right direction and the up - down direction with respect to this fulcrum portion. As this adjustment portion, a configuration including an aiming screw that is normally pivot - operated and an aiming nut that is screwed onto the aiming screw and moved in the axial direction of the aiming screw is usually adopted.

[0003] In this type of aiming device, in order to improve the tilting accuracy of the lamp unit performed in the adjustment portion, there is a device provided with a guide mechanism for regulating the moving direction of the aiming nut, that is, the axial direction of the aiming screw. For example, in Patent Document 1, a guide directed in the axial direction of the aiming screw is provided on a lamp body, and a slider fitted into this guide is provided on the aiming nut (nut member) to prevent the aiming nut from rotating along with the aiming screw and to regulate its moving direction.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The technology described in Reference 1 requires that when assembling the aiming device, the slider of the aiming nut on the adjustment section be aligned with the guide before being fitted in place. In Reference 1, since the guide and slider are located on the upper side of the lamp unit, they can be seen from the front side of the reflector and fitted in place easily. However, depending on their placement, the guide and slider may be hidden by the reflector and become invisible from the front side, which may worsen the fitting process, i.e., the workability when assembling the aiming device. In particular, when the overall height dimension of the lamp unit is reduced, or when the height dimension of the upper area of ​​the lamp unit is reduced, the height position of the adjustment section may be lowered, and in such cases it becomes difficult to work while being able to see.

[0006] The objective of this invention is to provide a vehicle lighting device that improves the workability when assembling an aiming device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention relates to a vehicle lighting fixture comprising a tilting bracket that supports a lamp unit and is tiltable in at least one direction, and an aiming device that tiltably supports the tilting bracket relative to the lamp housing. The aiming device comprises an adjusting part that includes an aiming screw supported by the lamp housing and an aiming nut supported by the tilting bracket and screwed into the aiming screw. The tilting bracket is provided with a viewing portion that makes at least a part of the aiming nut visible from the front side of the tilting bracket.

[0008] In the present invention, the lamp housing is provided with a guide rail, and the aiming nut is provided with a slider portion that is inserted into the guide rail and moves along the guide rail, and at least the slider portion is visible from the viewing area.

[0009] In the present invention, the viewing portion is provided at a position that faces at least the guide rail when the tilting bracket is assembled to the lamp housing. The tilting bracket is formed of an opaque material, and the viewing portion consists of a viewing window opened in a part of the tilting bracket. Alternatively, the tilting bracket is formed of a transparent material, at least in the viewing portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, when assembling an aiming device in a vehicle lighting fixture, visibility is ensured, particularly when assembling the aiming screw and aiming nut that constitute the adjustment part of the aiming device, enabling reliable and rapid assembly. This improves the workability of assembling the aiming device and, furthermore, the vehicle lighting fixture. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] A schematic perspective view of an automobile in which the vehicle lighting device of the present invention is applied to the headlamp. [Figure 2] Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a portion of the front lamp. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the headlamp aiming device. [Figure 4] Exploded perspective view of the pivot point. [Figure 5] Exploded perspective view of the adjustment unit. [Figure 6] A longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main part of the aiming device. [Figure 7] A diagram illustrating the assembly process of an aiming device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of an automobile CAR equipped with the vehicle lighting equipment of the present invention. Front lamps FL are installed on the left and right sides of the front of the automobile CAR. Figure 1 shows a perspective view in which a part of the left front lamp FL is cut off, and the right front lamp FL has a symmetrical configuration. The front lamp FL has two lamp units CL and HL arranged inside a lamp housing 100 which is composed of a lamp body 101 with an opening at the front and a light-transmitting cover 102 attached to the opening of the lamp body 101. The lower lamp unit CL is configured as a clearance lamp using a light guide. The upper lamp unit HL is configured as a headlamp and is equipped with an aiming device according to the present invention, which allows for aiming adjustment of the lamp optical axis.

[0013] Figure 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the front lamp FL shown in Figure 1. Although the light-transmitting cover 102 is not shown, an extension 103 is disposed within the lamp housing 100, and a clear lamp CL is disposed in the lower front region of this extension 103. This clearance lamp CL consists of a light source 21 including an LED (light-emitting diode) and a light guide lamp unit 2 including a light guide 22 that guides and emits the light from the light source 21. Furthermore, by appropriately controlling the color of the light and the timing of emission of the light source 21, this clearance lamp CL may be configured as a side marker lamp, a DRL (daytime running lamp), a turn signal lamp, or other auxiliary lamp. Since such a light guide lamp unit 2 is already known, its explanation is omitted here.

[0014] On the other hand, the headlamp HL, which is positioned above the clear lamp CL, has a projector-type lamp unit (hereinafter simply referred to as the lamp unit) 1 that is capable of ADB (Adjustable Beam Distribution) control and is configured to emit light in the direction of the lamp forward with the required beam pattern when it is turned on. A detailed illustration and description of this lamp unit 1 is omitted, but for example, it is equipped with a micro-LED array, which is an array of many LEDs (light-emitting diodes), as a light source, and the emission of light from this micro-LED array is controlled to form a desired light pattern, and this light pattern is projected in front of the vehicle by a projection lens 11 to form various beam patterns such as low beam beam pattern and high beam beam pattern.

[0015] The lamp unit 1 is positioned on the rear side of the extension 103, with the projection lens 11 exposed to the front side through an opening 104 provided in the extension 103. The lamp unit 1 is supported by the lamp body 101 via an aiming device 3, which allows the lamp's optical axis to be angled vertically and horizontally relative to the lamp body 101.

[0016] The aiming device 3 is equipped with a tilting bracket 31 made of a plate-shaped member, and the lamp unit 1 is supported by this tilting bracket 31. The tilting bracket 31 is tilted in the front-rear and left-right directions by a single pivot point 4 and two adjustment parts 5, which will be described later. As a result, the lamp unit 1 is tilted integrally with the tilting bracket 31, and the vertical and left-right angle adjustment of the lamp optical axis of the lamp unit 1 is performed, i.e., aiming adjustment.

[0017] Figure 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the aiming device 3, and the lamp unit 1 supported by the tilting bracket 31 is shown by a phantom line. The aiming device 3 includes a tilting bracket 31, an aiming mechanism that supports the tilting bracket 31 so as to be tiltable in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, a fulcrum portion 4 that functions as a fulcrum when the tilting bracket 31 tilts, and two adjusting portions 5, 5 that tilt the tilting bracket 31 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction with the fulcrum portion 4 as a fulcrum. Since the configurations of these two adjusting portions 5, 5 are substantially the same, hereinafter, they will be described as the adjusting portion 5.

[0018] The tilting bracket 31 is formed of an opaque plate member having a substantially rectangular outer shape. A lamp mounting hole 32 having a required shape and dimensions is opened at the center thereof, and the lamp unit 1 is supported in the lamp mounting hole 32. The description of the structure for supporting the lamp unit 1 on the tilting bracket 31 will be omitted. When viewed from the front (front face) side of the lamp unit 1, the fulcrum portion 4 is disposed at the lower left portion of the tilting bracket 31. Also, one adjusting portion 5 is disposed directly above the fulcrum portion 4, and another adjusting portion 5 is disposed at a position on the right side at the same height.

[0019] In the fulcrum portion 4, a rectangular mounting hole 33 is opened in the tilting bracket 31, and the components constituting the fulcrum portion 4 are attached to the mounting hole 33. In the two adjusting portions 5 as well, rectangular mounting holes 34 are respectively opened at corresponding positions of the tilting bracket 31, and the components constituting the adjusting portion 5 are attached to the mounting holes 34. Further, in this embodiment, visual recognition windows 35 having required shapes and dimensions are respectively opened in the upper regions of the mounting holes 34 of the two adjusting portions 5. The visual recognition window 35 is one form of the visual recognition portion of the present invention, and as will be described later, when the tilting bracket 31 is attached to the lamp body 101, it is formed in a shape and dimensions such that at least a part of the adjusting portion 5 on the rear surface side of the tilting bracket 31 can be visually recognized through the visual recognition window 35 from the front surface side of the tilting bracket 31. Here, it has a horizontally long oval opening shape with required vertical and horizontal dimensions.

[0020] In this embodiment, in order to configure a thin headlamp HL with the height dimension minimized as much as possible, the height dimension of the tilting bracket 31 is also made as short as possible. Correspondingly, the height positions of the two adjustment parts 5, that is, the height positions of the mounting holes 34, are set at substantially the central position in the vertical direction of the tilting bracket 31. That is, if the mounting holes 34 and the viewing window 35 are arranged at positions close to the upper edge of the tilting bracket 31, the mechanical strength of the tilting bracket 31 at the upper edge is likely to be reduced, so this is to prevent that. Here, the two mounting holes 34 are set at the intermediate position in the vertical direction of the lamp unit 1, for example, at substantially the same height position as the lamp optical axis. In order to increase the mechanical strength of the tilting bracket 31 at the part where the two mounting holes 34 are opened, ribs 36 for reinforcement are formed around each mounting hole 34. Alternatively, the plate thickness around this may be partially increased.

[0021] As described above, the tilting bracket 31 is supported by the lamp body 101 at one fulcrum part 4 and the two left and right adjustment parts 5. The fulcrum part 4 has a ball stud 41 erected on the inner surface of the rear wall of the lamp body 101 and a ball socket 42 fitted and supported in the mounting hole 33 of the tilting bracket 31. The two left and right adjustment parts 5 have aiming screws 51 pivotally supported on the inner surface of the rear surface of the lamp body 101 respectively and aiming nuts 52 fitted and supported in the mounting holes 34 of the tilting bracket 31 and screwed to the aiming screws 51.

[0022] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the fulcrum part 4, and FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. The fulcrum part 4 includes a rod-shaped ball stud 41 provided with a ball part (spherical part) at the tip and a ball socket 42 fitted to the ball stud 41 to form a ball joint (ball coupling). The base end part 411 of the ball stud 41 is fixedly supported by the lamp body 101, and the tip end part 412 is formed as a spherical ball part.

[0023] The ball socket 42 has a body portion 421 in which the ball portion 412 of the ball stud 41 is inserted and supported, and a fitting piece portion 422 that protrudes from the body portion 421 and fits into the mounting hole 33 of the tilting bracket 31. With this configuration, the tilting bracket 31 can be tilted in the front-rear and left-right directions relative to the lamp body 101, with the ball portion 412 as the pivot point.

[0024] Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the adjustment unit 5, and Figure 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof. It comprises an aiming screw 51 pivotally supported on the lamp body 101, an aiming nut 52 that is screwed onto the threaded portion (male threaded portion) 511 of the aiming screw 51, and a guide rail 53 provided on the lamp body 101.

[0025] The aiming screw 51 penetrates the ramp body 101 in the front-rear direction at its base end 510 and is pivotally supported in a manner that prevents it from falling out of the ramp body 101 (details omitted). The rear end portion of the aiming screw 51 is exposed to the outside of the rear wall of the ramp body 101, and a pivot rotation operating portion 512 is formed on this rear end portion. This pivot rotation operating portion 512 is pivotally rotated by a jig such as a screwdriver (screwdriver) or an automatic drive machine (not shown). Here, an example of a bevel gear is shown, but the screw head structure may have a + groove or a - groove, or it may be a crown gear.

[0026] The guide rail 53 is integrally formed on the inner surface (lower surface) of the upper wall of the ramp body 101, along the axial direction of the aiming screw 51. This guide rail 53 consists of a pair of rail pieces 531, each with a semi-circular cross-sectional shape, arranged facing each other in the left-right direction at a required distance. In addition, guide relief grooves 532 of a required width are cut out between these rail pieces 531 along the axial direction of the extension screw 51.

[0027] The aiming nut 52 is made of resin or the like, and the threaded portion 521, connecting portion 522, and slider portion 523 are integrally formed. The threaded portion 521 has an internal female thread that is screwed into the threaded portion 511 of the aiming screw 51, and when screwed in, it moves axially due to the rotation of the aiming screw 51. The threaded portion 521 is also equipped with an elastically deformable snap piece 524, which is engaged when inserted into a mounting hole 34 opened in the tilting bracket 31. Through this engagement, the aiming nut 52 is connected to and integrated with the tilting bracket 31.

[0028] The slider portion 523 is connected to the upper part of the screw portion 521 by a columnar connecting portion 522, and has a pair of elastic contact pieces 525 at its upper end that are curved in a folded manner from both sides in the left-right direction toward the center. These elastic contact pieces 525 are inserted inside the guide rail portion 53. The connecting portion 522 is also inserted inside the guide groove 532. As a result, the slider portion 523 is able to move in the axial direction of the aiming screw 51 inside the guide rail 53.

[0029] Here, when the slider portion 523 is inserted into the guide rail 53, the elastic contact piece 525 elastically contacts the inner surface of the rail piece 531 of the guide rail 53, and the outer surface of the connecting portion 522 abuts against the inner edge of the guide groove 532, thereby restricting the position of the slider portion 523 in the left-right and up-down directions relative to the guide rail 53. In other words, the aiming nut 52 is positioned in the left-right and up-down directions relative to the guide rail 53, and more precisely, relative to the aiming screw 51.

[0030] When assembling the aiming device 3 described above, the lamp unit 1 is supported by the main mounting window 32 of the tilting bracket 31. At the pivot point 4, a ball socket 42 is attached to the mounting hole 33 from the rear side of the tilting bracket 31. At the two adjustment parts 5, aiming nuts 52 are attached to each mounting hole 34. This results in the lamp unit 1 and the tilting bracket 31 being sub-assembled.

[0031] Then, the tilting bracket 31 is fitted into the lamp housing 100 from the front opening side, and brought closer to the front of the rear wall of the lamp body 101. The ball socket 42 is fitted onto the ball rod 41, and the aiming nut 52 is screwed onto the aiming screw 51. The ball socket 42 and the ball rod 41 can be fitted together by pressure, and the aiming nut 52 is screwed on while rotating the aiming screw 51.

[0032] During this assembly process, once the aiming screws 51 and aiming nuts 52 of the two adjustment parts 5 are positioned and assembled, the pivot part 4 is automatically positioned, making the assembly of the pivot part 4 easy. When positioning the adjustment parts 5, the aiming screws 51 and the guide rail 53 are in a predetermined positional relationship, so this can be done by positioning and fitting the slider part 523 of the aiming nut 52 onto the guide rail 53. In this positioning, the pair of elastic contact pieces 525 of the slider part 523 are inserted into the pair of rail pieces 531 of the guide rail 53. This insertion allows the position of the aiming nut 52 relative to the guide rail 53, that is, the position of the aiming nut 52 relative to the aiming screw 51, to be determined.

[0033] In this assembly, as described above, in this embodiment, in order to reduce the height dimension of the headlamp HL, the height positions of the two adjustment parts 5 arranged on the tilting bracket 31 are set to a lower position than before. As a result, when the tilting bracket 31 is viewed from the front, the aiming nuts 52 that constitute the adjustment parts 5 are hidden behind the tilting bracket 31 and become difficult to see. Therefore, when assembling the aiming device 3, it becomes difficult to align and fit the slider part 523 of the aiming nut 52 with the guide rail 53 as described above.

[0034] In the aiming device 3 of this embodiment, the tilting bracket 31 has two viewing windows 35 opening above each of the two adjustment parts 5. These viewing windows 35 are positioned so that the aiming nut 52 can be seen from the front side of the tilting bracket 31 when assembling the aiming device 3, that is, when attaching the tilting bracket 31 to the lamp body 101, and so that at least the guide rail 53 can be seen. Alternatively, they are positioned so as to face the slider portion 523 of the aiming nut 52. Furthermore, it is preferable that the shape and dimensions of the viewing windows 35 are formed so that at least a part of the guide rail 53 or the slider portion 523 can be seen.

[0035] With this configuration, in the aiming device 3 of the embodiment, when attaching the tilting bracket 31, as schematically shown in Figure 7, the aiming nut 52 or slider portion 523 on the rear side of the tilting bracket 31 can be visually inspected through the viewing window 35, and further, the guide rail 53 into which the slider portion 523 is inserted can be visually inspected, thereby aligning the two and allowing the slider portion 523 to be easily inserted into the guide rail 53. In other words, the aiming nut 52 can be easily screwed in by aligning it with the aiming screw 51. This operation may be performed simultaneously in the two adjustment units 5, or individually.

[0036] As a result, as described above, when the two adjustment parts 5 are first positioned and the aiming nut 52 is screwed onto the aiming screw 51 to assemble the tilting bracket 31, the pivot point 4 is inevitably also positioned relative to the lamp body 101, and the ball socket 42 can also be positioned and fitted relative to the ball stud 41, improving the workability of assembling the aiming device.

[0037] In the assembled aiming device 3, when the operating ends 512 of each aiming screw 51 are operated and rotated at the left and right adjustment parts 5, the aiming nuts 52 screwed into the threaded parts 511 move axially, i.e., in the front-to-back direction of the lamp. As a result, the part of the tilting bracket 31 connected to the aiming nuts 52 moves in the front-to-back direction, and the tilting bracket 31 tilts around the pivot point 4, thereby adjusting the angle of the lamp light axis of the lamp unit 1 in the vertical and horizontal directions.

[0038] For example, by synchronously adjusting the left and right adjustment sections 5 as required, the tilting bracket 31 is tilted in the front-to-back direction using the pivot section 4 as the pivot point SP, and the vertical angle of the optical axis of the lamp unit 1 is adjusted. Alternatively, by adjusting only the right adjustment section 5 in Figure 3, the lamp unit 1 is tilted in the left-to-right direction using the virtual vertical axis connecting the pivot section 4 and the left adjustment section 5 as the pivot point, and the left-to-right angle of the optical axis of the lamp unit 1 is adjusted.

[0039] The configuration of the pivot point and the two adjustment parts that make up the aiming device is not limited to the configuration of this embodiment. In particular, regarding the adjustment parts, if the configuration requires that the adjustment parts be assembled in a way that they cannot be seen from the front side of the tilting bracket during the assembly of the aiming device, the workability of assembling the adjustment parts can be improved by providing a viewing part on the tilting bracket.

[0040] The visibility portion in the present invention is not limited to a configuration in which a visibility window 35 is opened in the tilting bracket 31. That is, any configuration that allows members such as the aiming nut 52 on the rear side of the tilting bracket 31 to be seen through the visibility portion is acceptable. Therefore, the visibility portion may be made of a translucent (transparent) material. For example, the tilting bracket may be made by two-color molding in which the visibility window portion of the embodiment is translucent and the other parts are opaque. Alternatively, the entire tilting bracket may be made of a translucent material as long as it satisfies the requirements such as strength required for the tilting bracket.

[0041] The aiming device according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration comprising one pivot point and two adjustment parts as described in the embodiment, but can be applied to any configuration that has at least one adjustment part to tilt the tilting bracket in at least one direction. Furthermore, the aiming nut does not necessarily have a slider part, and the present invention can be applied to any aiming device in which the aiming nut is screwed onto the aiming screw during assembly of the aiming device when screwing the two together.

[0042] The aiming device according to the present invention is not limited to being applied to lamps such as thin headlamps described in the embodiments. Furthermore, the vehicle lighting device of the present invention can also be applied to fog lamps as vehicle lamps equipped with the aiming device. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] 1 Lamp Unit 2. Light guide lamp unit 3. Aiming device 4. Support point 5 Adjustment part 31. Tilting bracket 32 lamp mounting holes 33, 34 Mounting holes 35. Viewing window (viewing section) 41 Ball Studs 42 Ball Sockets 51 Aiming Screw 52 Aiming Nut 53 Guide rails 100 Lamp Housing 101 Lamp Body 102 Translucent Cover 103 Extension 523 Slider section CAR (automobile / vehicle) HL Headlamp CL Clearance Lamp

Claims

1. A vehicle lighting fixture comprising a tilting bracket that supports a lamp unit and is tiltable in at least one direction, and an aiming device that tiltably supports the tilting bracket relative to the lamp housing, wherein the aiming device comprises an adjusting part including an aiming screw supported by the lamp housing and an aiming nut supported by the tilting bracket and screwed into the aiming screw, and the tilting bracket is provided with a viewing part that makes at least a portion of the aiming nut visible from the front side of the tilting bracket.

2. The lamp housing is provided with a guide rail, the aiming nut is provided with a slider portion that is inserted into the guide rail and moves along the guide rail, and the viewing portion is such that at least the slider portion is visible, as described in claim 1.

3. The vehicle light fixture according to claim 2, wherein the aiming device comprises one pivot point and two adjustment parts, and the tilting bracket comprises a viewing part from which at least the slider portion of each of the two adjustment parts' aiming nuts can be seen.

4. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 2, wherein the viewing portion is provided at a position that faces at least the guide rail when the tilting bracket is assembled to the lamp housing.

5. The vehicle light fixture according to claim 1, wherein the tilting bracket is formed of an opaque material, and the viewing portion is a viewing window opened in a part of the tilting bracket.

6. The vehicle light fixture according to claim 1, wherein at least the viewing portion of the tilting bracket is formed of a transparent material.

7. A vehicle light according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vehicle light is configured as a headlamp for a vehicle.

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