Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Housing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-20
2001-05-01
Tso, Laura K. (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Housing
C362S294000, C362S345000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224247
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp with breathing air holes formed in the rear wall of a lamp body, which cooperates with a front lens to define a lamp chamber.
2. Related Art
A conventional vehicular lamp of this type is typically illustrated in FIG.
7
. The illustrated lamp is a vehicular headlamp. As shown, a lamp chamber of the headlamp is defined and hermetically closed by a lamp body
1
and a front lens
2
. A reflector with a bulb, which is not shown (as a light source) inserted thereinto is supported by an aiming mechanism A such that it is tiltable back and forth as well as to the right and left. The aiming mechanism A is composed of two aiming screws
3
and
4
and one ball joint
5
. An opening
1
a
for facilitating a bulb exchange is formed in the rear wall of the lamp body
1
, and numeral
8
is a bracket used for fixedly mounting the headlamp on a vehicular body.
An air hole
6
is formed in the rear wall of the lamp body
1
as shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8
. The air hole
6
sets up a communication between the inside and outside of the lamp chamber. In other words, the vehicular lamp or its lamp chamber breathes through the air hole
6
to prevent dew from being formed on the front lens
2
.
As illustrated in
FIG. 8
in an enlarged view, the air hole
6
is defined by a cylindrical portion
1
b
protruded outward from the rear wall of the lamp body
1
. A flexible tube
7
is fit to the cylindrical portion lb: one opened end of a flexible tube
7
is tightly coupled with the cylindrical portion
1
b
, while the other opened end is faced downward. Such a coupling of the flexible tube
7
makes it difficult for dust particles and water to enter the lamp chamber S through the air hole
6
.
The diameter of the air hole
6
is small. Because of this, the breathing action of the lamp chamber is unsatisfactory. Further, the air passage continuous to the air hole
6
is possibly narrowed in its diameter or even closed, for example, where another member is put on the flexible tube
7
. The breathing action, which is unsatisfactory, is thus further deteriorated. In this case, the dew-formation preventing effect is also deteriorated, as a matter of course.
One solution for this problem is to increase the diameter of the air hole
6
(which is circular in cross section) and the inside diameter of the flexible tube
7
.
The rear wall of the lamp body
1
is generally curved in shape. Further, various members and components, such as the bulb-exchange opening
1
a
, the aiming mechanism A and the mounting bracket, are attached to the rear wall of the lamp body. For this reason, it is technically difficult to form the air hole
6
of the sufficiently large diameter at a desired location on the rear wall of the lamp body
1
without interfering with the above members and components.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was made in view of the foregoing difficulties accompanying the conventional vehicular lamp. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp in which the air holes each having a sufficiently large diameter are formed at desired positions of the rear wall of the lamp body.
The above and other objects can be achieved by a provision of a vehicular lamp which, according to the present invention, includes a closed lamp chamber defined by a lamp body and a front lens, a light source disposed within the lamp chamber, and air holes for breathing action formed in the rear wall of the lamp body, wherein the air holes are formed by an elongating hole.
The rear wall of the lamp body is generally curved in shape, and hence includes a less flat area. Further, a light-source-exchange opening is formed in the rear wall, a bracket for mounting the vehicular lamp on a vehicle body is mounted on the rear wall while being extended outward therefrom. Further, the aiming mechanism for controlling the optical axis of the vehicular lamp sometimes is mounted on the rear wall. The formation of the opening and the attachment of the bracket and the aiming mechanism make it difficult to form the air hole (circular in cross section) of the sufficiently large diameter at a desired location on the rear wall of the lamp body without interfering with the other members and components of the lamp. This difficulty is overcome when the air holes are elongated in shape, however. To form a circular hole, a flat area equal to the area defined by the diameter of the circular hole is required. In this case, if the elongated hole is horizontally (vertically) oriented or elongated, a space extending in the horizontal (vertical) direction is large, but a space extending in the vertical (horizontal) direction is small. Therefore, a design freedom on the locations to form the air holes is added. Further, the elongating hole is equivalent to the hole whose diameter is increased, in its area.
According to another aspect of the invention, in the vehicular lamp each air hole is formed with a cylindrical upstanding wall passing through the rear wall of the lamp body, while being protruded rearward of the rear wall, a dust-blocking filter is put in the upstanding wall, and a rib for preventing the filter from slipping off the upstanding wall into the lamp chamber is provided on the front side of the upstanding wall, while extending along and in the lengthwise direction of the air holes.
Water and dust particles going to the inside of the lamp chamber through the air holes are blocked by the dust-blocking filter contained in the upstanding wall (air hole). Water that is splashed upward and will enter the lamp chamber through the air hole is blocked by the cylindrical upstanding wall protruding rearward of the rear wall of the lamp body before it reaches the dust-blocking filter. Since the filter is supported at its peripheral edge by the cylindrical upstanding wall, it is reliably held within the upstanding wall.
The rib prevents the filter from slipping off the upstanding wall into the lamp chamber. The rib extends along and in the lengthwise direction of the air hole. With provision of the rib, the shorter diameter of the elongated hole is reduced to make the slipping-off prevention more reliable.
Further, according to the present invention, the front end of the upstanding wall protrudes into the lamp chamber.
The cylindrical upstanding wall containing the dust-blocking filter protrudes to the front of the rear wall of the lamp body, so that the upstanding wall protrudes less from the rear side of the lamp body. With this structure, the cylindrical upstanding wall protrudes into the lamp chamber and out of the rear of the lamp chamber. Therefore, the space on the rear side of the lamp body is correspondingly broadened.
According to another aspect of the invention, the vehicular lamp is characterized in that
A) each air hole is covered with an air passage housing for defining labyrinthine air passages continuous to the outside, and
B) the air passage housing includes
a) a second upstanding wall having a cut-out in the bottom and being disposed around the upstanding wall,
b) a third upstanding wall having a cut-out in the bottom and being disposed around the second upstanding wall, the cut-out of the third upstanding wall being not vertically aligned with the cut-out of the second upstanding wall, and
c) a swing cover extending forward from and along a thinned linear portion serving as a hinge which traverses the upper portion of the third upstanding wall, when the swing cover is lance coupled with the bottom portion of the third upstanding wall, the swing cover covering the end opening of the third upstanding wall.
The labyrinthine air passages in the housing covering the air hole blocks the entering of dust particles and water into the air hole. It is noted that the cut-outs of the second and third upstanding walls, which form the air holes, are formed in their bottom portions. This feature makes it for dust particles and water to enter the inside spaces of those upstanding walls. If entered, the particles
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Tso Laura K.
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