Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Light modifier
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-11
2001-09-18
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Light modifier
C362S507000, C362S529000, C362S459000, C362S368000, C362S289000, C439S613000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290379
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to an aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile.
FIGS. 9
to
11
show a conventional aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile of the unit movable type. On the front side of a lamp housing
1
, a lamp unit
2
incorporating a light source
2
a
is supported by an aiming mechanism which is comprised of a ball joint
3
, i.e., a tilting fulcrum, and two aiming screws
4
and
5
respectively capable of advancing and retracting in the axial direction. The lamp housing
1
is provided with a hollow cylindrical bearing
6
extending forwardly, and a nut member
7
, which is threadedly engaged with the aiming screw
4
(
5
) passed through the lamp housing
1
in the depthwise direction and projecting forward, is rotatably supported in this bearing
6
. Further, a ball portion
4
a
(
5
a
) is formed at a forward end portion of the aiming screw
4
(
5
), and is connected to a ball bearing portion
8
a
of a nut
8
fitted to the lamp unit
2
. An engaging projection
4
b
(
5
b
) is formed at a distal end of the ball portion
4
a
(
5
a
), and the engaging projection
4
b
(
5
b
) abuts against an inner wall of the nut
8
to prevent the aiming screw
4
(
5
) from rotating.
In addition, a bevel gear
7
a
is formed integrally with an outer periphery of the nut member
7
, and a hollow cylindrical screwdriver guide
9
extending upward is formed integrally with the bearing
6
. If a cross head screwdriver (hereafter simply referred to as the screwdriver) D is inserted in this screwdriver guide
9
, the teeth of the screwdriver D is engaged with the teeth
7
b
of the bevel gear. Then, if the nut member
7
is rotated by turning the screwdriver D, the aiming screw
4
(
5
), which is prevented from rotating with respect to the lamp unit
2
, is advanced or retracted in the axial direction (in the direction of the double-headed arrow in FIGS.
10
and
11
), which in turn causes the ball bearing portion
4
a
(
5
a
) to move back and forth. Consequently, the lamp unit
2
is tilted about the horizontal axis Lx and the vertical axis Ly, thereby making it possible to effect aiming adjustment.
With the above-described conventional technique, however, since only one screwdriver guide
9
for insertion of the screwdriver D is provided for each bearing
6
, the operation for aiming can be effected only from one limited direction in which the screwdriver D can be inserted, so that the arrangement has been very inconvenient.
In addition, although the members constituting the aiming mechanism, such as the tilting fulcrum (ball joint)
3
and the aiming screws
4
and
5
, can be used in common for the left and right headlamps, since the aiming mechanisms in the left and right headlamps are arranged such that the layouts as viewed from the front side of the tilting fulcrum (ball joint)
3
and the aiming screws
4
and
5
become symmetrical, it is difficult to adopt the lamp housing
1
for the left and right headlamps in common. Thus, there has been a limit in an attempt to make the component parts of the left and right headlamps common.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described problems, and its primary object is to provide an aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile which facilitates the aiming operation using the screwdriver.
Further, its secondary object is to provide an aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile which allow a portion of the lamp housing which is an aiming-mechanism component member to be used in common for the left and right headlamps.
To attain the above primary object, according to the present invention, there is provided an aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile, comprising: a lamp housing which is mounted on a vehicle body; a headlamp unit supported tiltably about a tilting fulcrum provided in front of the lamp housing; a hollow cylindrical nut member supported rotatably about an axis by a bearing provided in the lamp housing; and an aiming screw which is threadedly engaged with the nut member, extends forward, is prevented from rotating with respect to the headlamp unit, and is adapted to advance and retract in an axial direction to tilt the headlamp unit connected to a forward end thereof as the nut member is rotated, wherein a crown-shaped gear capable of meshing with teeth of a screwdriver disposed in a direction perpendicular to the aiming screw is formed integrally on the nut member, and at least two screwdriver guides for guiding the screwdriver are provided in vicinities of the bearing.
In the aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile described above, the lamp housing is comprised of a synthetic resin-made first lamp housing on which a member constituting a fulcrum for tilting a headlamp unit and a vertical aiming screw are disposed as well as a synthetic resin-made second lamp housing on which a horizontal aiming screw provided by being spaced horizontally apart from the first lamp housing is disposed, the bearing for supporting the nut member is formed integrally with each of the first and the second lamp housings, and two or more screwdriver guides are provided on the bearing of at least the second lamp housing.
The lamp housing is separated into two portions, i.e., a first lamp housing and a second lamp housing, and both of them are formed of a synthetic resin. Therefore, the lamp housing as a whole becomes compact and lightweight, and can be molded into an arbitrary shape which matches the shape of the vehicle body. Further, the upper and lower spaces in the rear of the headlamp unit become large, so that positional restraints in the provision of the screwdriver guides can be reduced.
In the aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile described above, the screwdriver guides are provided in an inclined manner on a horizontally outer side in the second lamp housing, and a mounting portion for mounting on a vehicle body is provided on a horizontally inner side in the lamp housing. Since the mounting portion for mounting on a vehicle body is provided on the inner side of the lamp housing, the second lamp housing does not project by a large amount in the outward direction of the headlamp unit.
Further, on the horizontally inner side of the second lamp housing, the interval between the vehicle body and the headlamp unit is small, so that it is inconvenient to insert the screwdriver. On the horizontally outer side of the second lamp housing, the headlamp unit is not located, so that the screwdriver can be easily inserted along the screwdriver guide. Further, foreign objects such as dust and dirt are difficult to enter the screwdriver guides which extend in an inclined manner.
In addition, to attain the above secondary object, in the headlamp for an automobile described above, the screwdriver guides and the mounting portion for mounting on a vehicle body which are provided on the second lamp housing are arranged symmetrically between upper and lower halves or between left and right halves of the second lamp housing. In the case where the screwdriver guides and the mounting portion for mounting on a vehicle body are arranged symmetrically between upper and lower halves or between left and right halves of the second lamp housing, by setting the second lamp housing in a form in which it is rotated 180 degrees, the second lamp housing can be used as the second lamp housing of the aiming mechanism in the other one of the left headlamp and the right headlamp.
In the aiming mechanism of a headlamp for an automobile described above, the mounting portion for mounting on a vehicle is comprised of a mounting hole for fastening by a bolt and a nut and corresponding to a mounting hole on a vehicle body side and a positioning pin corresponding to an engaging hole on the vehicle body side, the mounting hole being constituted by an elongated hole extending in a direction of directly facing the positioning pin. Accordingly, even if there is an error between, on the one hand, the distance between the mounting hole and the pin
Chouji Masataka
Iwasaki Masahito
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
O'Shea Sandra
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Zeade Bertrand
LandOfFree
Aiming mechanism of headlamp for automobile does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Aiming mechanism of headlamp for automobile, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Aiming mechanism of headlamp for automobile will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2451038