Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Light modifier
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-11
2003-04-22
Cariaso, Alan (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Light modifier
C362S528000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06550947
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a vehicle lamp provided with a built-in reflector holding a light source in its lamp body and a device for tilting the reflector so as to allow adjustment of the optical axis angle of the lamp.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A known headlamp for a vehicle such as an automobile is provided with a so-called aiming adjusting mechanism in which a reflector installed in the lamp body is tilted in vertical and lateral directions to adjust the optical axis of the reflector. Also, there is a known headlamp provided with an automatic optical axis leveling mechanism that maintains the optical axis of the headlamp at a certain angle in response to the tilting movement of the vehicle body. In either case, the headlamp is required to have a device for tilting the reflector provided overall or inside the lamp so as to adjust the optical axis angle. For this purpose, the latter case, for example, the reflector installed in the lamp body is supported on one or more pivots so as to move tiltably along the direction required to perform optical axis adjustment in vertical and lateral directions relative to the lamp body. An actuator for tilting movement is provided at a position different from the aforementioned pivot so as to move a part of the reflector towards the tiltable direction. As a result, the reflector can be tilted along the required direction to adjust the optical axis angle.
To realize the aforementioned structure in which the part of the reflector is moved by the actuator for tilting movement, the position where the actuator and the reflector are joined is required to combine the linear movement generated by the actuator and the revolution movement about the pivots generated by the reflector. Both movements do not conflict with each other. For this purpose, there has been proposed a joint structure including a ball bearing of groove type (this structure is referred to as a grooved ball bearing hereinafter).
FIG. 8
is a schematic view showing the structure of the conventional art. Specifically, the reflector
3
installed in the lamp body
1
is in the tiltable state in the vertical direction at the pivot (not shown). An actuator
31
for tilting movement is fixed to the lamp body
1
at the position opposite to the rear surface of the reflector
3
. The actuator
31
for tilting movement has an actuator rod
32
provided with a spherical end
33
having a spherical end portion, which extends toward the optical axis of the lamp. As a result, the actuator rod
32
is structured to perform reciprocating movement along the extending direction upon driving. A stem
3
c
is integrally formed on the rear surface of the reflector
3
to extend from the position opposite to the actuator rod
32
. The grooved ball bearing
21
A is fixed to the tip end of the stem
3
c
using a screw
7
.
The grooved ball bearing
21
A is formed by resin molding and includes a groove
22
of a semi-tubular shape, a pair of engagement pieces
23
disposed along and at both sides of the groove
22
to protrude therefrom, each end piece
24
of which is bent at an acute angle to face the groove
22
, and an anchor part
25
extending outward from the base of the engagement piece
23
. The grooved ball bearing is fixed at its anchor part
25
to the stem
3
c
of the reflector
3
by the screws
7
so that an opening of the groove
22
faces the actuator
31
for tilting movement. The spherical end
33
of the actuator rod
32
is fitted in the gap defined by the groove
22
and the end piece
24
of the pair of engagement pieces
23
. The spherical surface of the spherical end
33
abuts against the inner bottom surface of the groove
22
and the pair of end pieces
24
. As a result, the spherical end
33
is pivotally supported to allow spherical movement at abutment points. In the above structure, the groove
22
and the engagement piece
23
keep their respective cross sections constant at any point along the axis of the groove, thus allowing a free movement of the spherical end
33
in the direction of the groove axis. When the actuator
31
moves the actuator rod
32
reciprocally in the optical axis direction, the grooved ball bearing
21
A secured on the reflector
3
moves as the spherical end
33
moves in the optical axis direction. During this operation, the spherical end
33
is allowed to move along the groove
22
of the ball bearing
21
A in its axial direction such that the reflector
3
is allowed to be relatively tilted in a predetermined direction to the actuator rod
32
, that is, in the vertical direction in the present case.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The grooved ball bearing
21
A is secured at both side anchor parts
25
on the stem
3
c
of the reflector
3
with screws
7
as described above. Such arrangement, therefore, requires the process of securing two screws
7
to mount the grooved ball bearing
21
A onto the reflector, thus increasing man-hours for the assembly process and complicating the assembly work. Furthermore, if the screw
7
is threaded into a hole in an anchor part
25
having a diameter larger than that of the screw with much allowance, the grooved ball bearing
21
is likely to be out of the desired mounting position with respect to the stem
3
c
. Such dislocation may interfere with alignment between the axis of the actuator rod
32
and the center line of the groove
22
of the ball bearing. This prevents the groove
22
from admitting proper insertion of the spherical end
33
of the actuator rod
32
. Even if the insertion is performed, a smooth movement of the actuator rod
32
and the grooved ball bearing
21
may be prevented. In addition, over the extended period of use, the screw
7
may be loosened, which would cause dislocation of the grooved ball bearing
21
relative to the reflector
3
. Dislocation of the relative position between the grooved ball bearing
21
and the actuator rod
32
deteriorates the precise tilting of the reflector
3
.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp having a device for tilting a reflector, which simplifies the work for assembling the grooved ball bearing and prevents deterioration of tilting movement of the reflector and assures smooth movement by preventing dislocation of the grooved ball bearing.
A vehicle lamp of the present invention is provided with a device for tilting a reflector installed in the lamp body for adjusting the optical axis of the reflector. The device comprises an actuator, for tilting movement disposed on the lamp body, having an actuator rod which is actuated to move linearly along the optical axis of the reflector and a ball bearing secured to the reflector to support pivotally the distal spherical end of the actuator rod so as to convert the linear movement into the tilting movement of the reflector. The ball bearing has first and second anchor parts to be secured to the reflector. The first anchor part is constructed to be secured to the reflector by a fastener means, and the second anchor part is constructed to be fitted with the reflector. The second anchor part has a plurality of fitting walls disposed to define a cross-shaped gap between the fitting walls. The reflector is integrally provided with a cross-shaped boss having a cross-shaped cross section, which can be fitted into the cross-shaped gap. Preferably, the second anchor part has a pin hole at the crossing center of the cross-shaped gap, and the reflector is provided with a pin projecting from the top end of the cross-shaped boss so as to be fitted into the pin hole.
In the present invention, the ball bearing is secured to the reflector by inserting the top end of the cross-shaped boss on the reflector into the cross-shaped gap defined by the walls at the second anchor part, while inserting the pin of the cross-shaped boss into the pin hole in the ball bearing. Then at the first anchor part, the ball bearing is secured to the reflector by the screws. In the process for securing the ball bearing to the reflector, the insertion process is only required at the second a
Cariaso Alan
Fish & Richardson P.C.
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
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