Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Adjustable lamp or lamp support
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-30
2001-05-15
Sember, Thomas M. (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Adjustable lamp or lamp support
C362S516000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06231223
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general terms to the fitting of a reflector on to a support element of a motor vehicle headlamp. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a motor vehicle headlamp comprising a reflector which is mounted on a support element of the headlamp by means of an interposed intermediate fastening element having a first end adapted to cooperate with the said support element, and further having a second end which is adapted to cooperate with a mounting component of the said reflector, in a direction of fitting and removal.
The invention also relates to such an intermediate fastening element, for such an assembly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Headlamps are already known, with or without a headlamp housing, in which the reflector is mounted through an intermediate mounting rod, one end of which is screwed, or otherwise secured, in a fixed portion of the headlamp. Such a mounting rod includes at its other end a spherical head which is arranged to be snap-fitted in a mounting socket of the reflector. The spherical head therefore constitutes a support element of the headlamp. In order to enable the spherical head of the mounting rod to cooperate with the mounting socket of the reflector, it is necessary that the mounting socket should have a specific configuration, of the type consisting of a spherical housing the form of which is complementary to that of the spherical head.
In addition, a motor vehicle headlamp is known in which the reflector is mounted by means of an interposed fitting sleeve, on an appropriate support element of the headlamp. This mounting sleeve includes a mounting or fitting tongue which extends in the direction of fitting and removal of the sleeve into the mounting socket of the reflector. The fitting tongue includes at its end a snap-fitting tooth which is adapted to be snapped into engagement on the outer wall of the mounting socket during engagement of the mounting sleeve in the socket in the above mentioned fitting direction.
In all the headlamps of the above known types, it is necessary, for fitting the reflector, to make a mounting socket of a specific form which enables it to cooperate with an intermediate fastening element, and this involves steps in the manufacture of the reflector which are of some complexity, so that there are associated extra manufacturing costs for the headlamp as a whole.
DISCUSSION OF THE INVENTION
In order to overcome the disadvantages of the state of the art described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel headlamp for a motor vehicle, of the general type discussed above, but in which the fitting of the reflector on a support element of the headlamp is particularly simple and inexpensive.
According to the invention in a first aspect, a motor vehicle headlamp comprising a reflector mounted on a support element by means of an interposed intermediate fastening element, having a first end adapted to cooperate with the said support element and a second end adapted to cooperate with a mounting component of the said reflector in a fitting and removal direction, is characterised in that the said intermediate fastening element includes resiliently deformable fins which extend generally and substantially transversely to the said fitting and removal direction, the fins being adapted to engage with a smooth surface of the said mounting component of the reflector, by being deformed so as to retain the intermediate fastening element by friction in the mounting component of the reflector.
In one embodiment of the headlamp according to the invention, each resiliently deformable fin is in the form of a ring which has, firstly, an upper surface facing towards the support element and extending transversely to the said fitting and removal direction, and, secondly, a lower surface which faces towards the reflector and which extends in a direction which is oblique to the said fitting and removal direction, in a sense opposed to that in which the intermediate fastening element is introduced to the mounting component of the reflector, towards the said smooth surface, during assembly.
In a preferred embodiment of the headlamp according to the invention, the intermediate fastening element comprises a cylindrical body which is provided with the said resiliently deformable fins on its outer surface, the said body, or body portion, being adapted to be engaged by insertion in the said fitting and removal direction into a blind hole having a smooth wall of the said mounting component of the reflector, so that the said fins engage with the said smooth wall of the blind hole by being deformed into a form in which they are inclined in a direction that is oblique with respect to the said fitting and removal direction, in a sense opposed to the sense in which the body portion is introduced into the said blind hole during assembly.
According to the invention in a second aspect, an intermediate fastening element, for fastening a reflector on a support element of a motor vehicle headlamp, and having a first end adapted to cooperate with the said support element and a second end adapted to cooperate with a mounting component of the said reflector in a fitting and removal direction, is characterised in that the said intermediate fastening element includes resiliently deformable fins which extend generally and substantially transversely to the said fitting and removal direction, the fins being adapted to engage with a smooth surface of the said mounting component of the reflector, by being deformed so as to retain the intermediate fastening element by friction in the said mounting component of the reflector.
Further features and advantages will appear more clearly upon a reading of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is given by way of non-limiting example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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French Search Report dated Apr. 21, 1997.
Cano Amador
Zucar Juan
Morgan & Finnegan , LLP
Neils Peggy A.
Sember Thomas M.
Valeo Vision
LandOfFree
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