JP2829486B2 - Headlights for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel vehicle headlight device. In detail, a tilting member that is tilted when changing the irradiation direction, an aiming adjustment mechanism for performing the aiming adjustment, and a leveling adjustment mechanism for performing the leveling adjustment are provided, and the aiming adjustment mechanism and the leveling adjustment mechanism are arranged in the front-rear direction. The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight device which is attached to different vehicle-side members separately from each other, and by devising a connection structure between a tilting member and an adjustment rod having one end inserted into a leveling adjustment mechanism, One end is attached to the tilting member and the leveling adjustment mechanism during leveling adjustment, etc.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel vehicle headlight device capable of performing a smooth leveling adjustment without causing excessive force at a connection portion with an inserted adjustment rod .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a headlight device for a vehicle, for example, a headlight device for a vehicle, in addition to a so-called initial aiming adjustment,
In some cases, leveling adjustment, that is, adjustment for correcting an irradiation direction that is disturbed upward or downward due to a change in the number of passengers or the weight of cargo carried on a vehicle or the like, is performed each time.

In such a headlight device, usually,
A leveling adjustment mechanism having an adjustment rod that is moved in the front-rear direction by an appropriate driving means is fixed to the vehicle body or a vehicle body-side member, and the front end of the adjustment rod is tilted by a tilting member such as a headlight unit or a reflector. The tilting member is connected to a connecting member provided at the end, and the tilting member is tilted upward or downward by moving the adjustment rod back and forth.

FIG. 6 schematically shows an example a of a vehicle headlight device provided with such a leveling adjustment mechanism.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral b denotes a headlight unit. The headlight unit b is supported by a vehicle body (not shown) at three points on its rear surface, and the three support points correspond to the headlight unit b. Are located at two places which are appropriately separated to the left and right near the upper end, and three places which are vertically separated from one of the support points.

[0006] Of the three support points, a line connecting two horizontally separated support points (not shown) near the upper end is defined as a tilt axis c, and the remaining support points (hereinafter, referred to as ""). The headlight unit b is tilted by moving the "leveling adjustment point" in the front-rear direction as described later.

That is, a projection d is formed at the lower end of the headlamp unit b so as to protrude downward. The projection d is provided with a connecting shaft e extending rearward, and a rear end of the connecting shaft e. A ball portion f is formed in the portion.

The piston rod of the leveling adjustment mechanism described below and the spherical portion f of the connection shaft e are connected to each other, and the lower support point of the three support points, that is, the leveling adjustment point is formed. Be composed.

Reference numeral g denotes a leveling adjustment mechanism fixed to the vehicle body. A drive mechanism (not shown) is provided inside the casing h, and a piston rod i extending in the front-rear direction is moved in the axial direction by the drive mechanism. And a spherical recess j is formed at the front end of the piston rod i, and the spherical portion f of the connecting shaft e is formed in the spherical recess j.
Are rotatably fitted inside.

When the piston rod i moves, the downwardly protruding portion d of the headlight unit b is moved substantially in the front-rear direction, whereby the headlight unit b is tilted about the tilt axis c as a tilting center, and the headlight is tilted. The irradiation direction of the lamp unit b is adjusted in the vertical direction.

[0011]

However, in such a vehicle headlight device a, since the movement trajectory of the piston rod i does not coincide with the movement trajectory of the spherical portion f of the connecting shaft e, the piston rod There was a problem that the movement of i became heavy.

That is, while the piston rod i moves linearly in the axial direction, the spherical portion f of the connecting shaft e is tilted with the tilting shaft c.
, The movement of the piston rod i and the movement of the connecting shaft e are displaced in the up-down direction, whereby the piston rod i and the piston h move inside the casing h. Side pressure is generated between the rod i and the member slidably supporting the rod i.
This causes a problem in that the movement becomes heavy, and this causes a considerable load to be applied to the drive mechanism to cause malfunction or failure.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vehicle headlight device according to the present invention comprises a tilting member and an adjusting rod having one end inserted into a leveling adjusting mechanism. Connecting via ball-jointed connecting member , leveling adjustment or aiming
By adjusting the connecting member to move in the front and rear direction,
The connecting member is screwed with the aiming adjustment mechanism to adjust the leveling
During setting, the connecting member is moved in the front-rear direction while rotating.

[0014]

Therefore, according to the vehicle headlight device of the present invention, the connecting member rotates the deviation between the moving direction of the adjusting rod and the moving direction of the tilting member when performing leveling adjustment or the like. Since it can be absorbed by moving and changing the posture, no excessive force is applied to the connecting portion between the tilting member and the adjustment rod, and thus the leveling adjustment can be performed smoothly.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the vehicle headlight device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a vehicle headlamp device according to the present invention applied to a vehicle headlamp device 58 of a movable unit type.

Reference numeral 59 denotes a headlight unit, which comprises a lamp body 60, a lens 61 attached to the lamp body 60 so as to cover the front opening thereof, and a bulb 62 supported on the rear top of the lamp body 60. The lamp body 60 has a reflecting surface 60a facing forward, and the light emitting portion of the light bulb 62 is located in a lamp space defined by the lamp body 60 and the lens 61.

Points A, B and C (see FIG. 1) are points at which the headlamp unit 59 is supported by the unit support plate 63, and point A is one side end of the lower end of the rear surface of the lamp body 60. The tilting fulcrum portion at the closer position, the point B is an adjustment portion in the vertical direction at a position away from the point A, and the point C is an adjustment portion in the left and right direction at a position away from the point A to the side. is there.

Reference numerals 64 and 65 denote parts of the vehicle body (hereinafter, referred to as "partial vehicle bodies").
4 and 65 are located apart from each other in the front-rear direction,
The headlamp unit 59 is supported by a unit support plate 63 via a tilt fulcrum shaft and an aiming adjustment mechanism which will be described later so as to be tiltable in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the unit support plate 63 is fixed to the front partial vehicle body 64. .

Reference numeral 66 denotes a tilting fulcrum shaft, the rear end of which is fixed to the unit support plate 63 and the front end of which has a spherical portion 66.
a is formed integrally.

Reference numeral 67 denotes a synthetic resin ball receiver attached to a bracket 68 provided at the point A, which is the tilting fulcrum of the headlamp unit 59. A sphere 66a of the fulcrum shaft 66 is rotatably fitted inside.

Reference numeral 69 denotes an up / down aiming adjustment mechanism.
0 is the casing.

A worm 71 (see FIG. 4) whose axial direction extends vertically is rotatably disposed inside the casing 70 and meshes with a worm gear 71a forming a lower portion of the worm 71. A worm wheel 72 and a pinion gear 71 forming an upper part of the worm body 71
The drive gear 73 meshed with the b is rotatably arranged, and the worm wheel 72 penetrates the axial center portion thereof in the front-rear direction, and has through holes 70a, 70a formed in the front and rear side walls of the casing 70. A coaxial screw hole 72 a is formed, and a lower end of an operation shaft 74 is fixed to a center of the drive gear 73.

Numeral 75 denotes an adjusting screw, which comprises a shaft portion 76 and a connecting portion 77 connected to the rear end of the shaft portion 76.
Are integrally formed of a synthetic resin.

The shaft portion 76 has a front end portion 76a formed on a screw shaft having a smaller diameter than the other portion 76b, and most of the other portion 76b except the front and rear ends is formed on a screw shaft.

The connecting portion 77 has a substantially block shape, and has a cylindrical deep concave portion 77a opened on the upper surface thereof, and a notch 77b formed in a portion between the rear end surface and the concave portion 77a. The width of the notch 77b in the left-right direction is formed smaller than the inner diameter of the recess 77a.

Numeral 78 denotes a lid, which has a plate shape having substantially the same size as the upper surface of the connecting portion 77, and is fixed to the upper surface by a fixing means such as ultrasonic welding.
Is closed.

The adjusting screw 75 has a large-diameter screw shaft portion 76b which is screwed into the screw hole 72a of the worm wheel 72 from the rear, penetrates the worm wheel 72, and has a spherical end portion at the front end portion 76a. 79 is screwed.

Numeral 80 denotes a ball receiver attached to a bracket 81 provided at a point B, which is an adjustment part in the vertical direction of the headlamp unit 59, and has a spherical concave portion 80a opened on the rear surface. Have been.

Thus, the casing 70 is fixed to the rear surface of the upper end of the unit support plate 63 and the adjusting screw 75
Is projected forward through a hole 63a formed in the unit support plate 63, and a sphere 79 attached to the front end thereof.
Is rotatably fitted in the spherical concave portion 80a of the ball receiver 80.

A left and right aiming adjustment mechanism (not shown) is provided at point C of the headlamp unit 59, and the left and right aiming adjustment mechanism has substantially the same structure as the above-described upper and lower aiming adjustment mechanism 69. , The point C of the headlight unit 59 is moved in the front-rear direction.

The headlight unit 59 is supported by the unit support plate 63 via the tilting fulcrum shaft 66, the vertical aiming adjustment mechanism 69, and the left and right aiming adjustment mechanisms (not shown) provided at the point C, and The plate 63 is fixed to the front partial vehicle body 64.

As a result, the headlight unit 59
It is supported by the vehicle body so as to be tiltable at three points, point B, and point C.

Reference numeral 82 denotes a leveling adjustment mechanism.

Reference numeral 83 denotes a casing of the leveling adjusting mechanism 82. A substantially cylindrical tubular portion 83a is provided on the front wall of the casing 83 so as to protrude forward, and coaxial with the tubular portion 83a on the inner surface of the rear wall. A bearing recess 83b (see FIG. 3) is formed at the position.

Reference numeral 84 denotes a driving body (see FIG. 3). The driving body 84 has a substantially cylindrical front portion 85, a substantially cylindrical rear portion 86, and a substantially oval-shaped intermediate portion 87 as viewed from the axial direction. The front part 85 is rotatably inserted into the cylindrical part 83a of the casing 83, and the rear end part is rotatably inserted into the bearing recess 83b of the casing 83.

The hole 85a of the front part 85 is formed so that its cross section is substantially oval.

Reference numeral 88 denotes a worm wheel, which has a circular insertion hole 88a formed in the center thereof and a rear surface formed with the insertion hole 8a.
An annular engaging ridge 88b positioned so as to surround the 8a is integrally formed, and an inner peripheral surface of the engaging ridge 88b is formed to have a substantially oval shape when viewed from the axial direction.

Then, such a worm wheel 88
The portion near the rear end of the front part 85 of the driving body 84 is inserted through the insertion hole 88a, and the intermediate part 87 of the driving body 84 is fitted in the engaging ridge 88b exactly. The driving body 84 is supported so as to rotate integrally therewith.

Reference numeral 89 denotes a motor disposed at a lower portion in the casing 83. Reference numeral 90 denotes a worm gear rotatably supported by the casing 83 and engaged with the worm wheel 88. A transmission gear (not shown) is provided at one end of the worm gear 90. And the transmission gear is meshed with an output gear 89a fixed to the output shaft of the motor 89.

Reference numeral 91 denotes an adjusting rod, which comprises a shaft portion 92 having a substantially oval cross section and a ball portion 93 located at the front end of the shaft portion 92, and two parallel side surfaces 92a of the shaft portion 92. The interval between the notches 77a and 92a is slightly smaller than the width of the notch 77b formed in the connecting portion 77 of the adjusting screw 75 (see FIG. 5).

The rear end of the shaft 92 of the adjusting rod 91
Part is slidably inserted into the hole 85a of the front 85 of the drive member 84, when the drive member 84 is rotated, the adjustment rod 9
1 is connected so as to rotate integrally therewith and to be relatively slidable in the axial direction.

When the motor 89 rotates, the rotation is controlled by the output gear 89a of the motor 89 and the worm gear 90a.
The driving body 84 is transmitted to the driving body 84 via a transmission gear-worm gear 90-worm wheel 88 (not shown) formed at one end of the driving body 84, whereby the adjusting rod 91 is rotated.

Then, such a leveling adjustment mechanism 8
2 has an adjustment rod 91 on the back of the rear partial body 65.
Are attached so as to be substantially coaxial with the adjusting screw 75 of the vertical aiming adjustment mechanism 69.

The adjusting rod 91 projects forward through a rod insertion hole 65a formed in the partial vehicle body 65.

The spherical portion 93 of the adjusting rod 91 is fitted in a concave portion 77a formed in the connecting portion 77 of the adjusting screw 75, and the side surfaces 92a, 92a of the front end of the shaft portion 92 are connected to the connecting portion 77. Notch 77 formed
The adjusting rod 91 is non-rotatably connected to the adjusting screw 75.

After that, the lid 78 is fixed to the connecting portion 77.

Since the front end of the shaft portion 92 of the adjusting rod 91 is engaged with the notch 77b of the connecting portion 77 with a margin in the axial direction, the adjusting rod 91 and the adjusting screw 75 is connected so as to rotate substantially integrally, but the connection is made to be able to rotate to some extent in the vertical and horizontal directions.

Then, the adjusting screw 75
Aiming adjustment mechanism 69 having upper and lower parts and adjustment rod 91
Since the leveling adjusting mechanism 82 having the above-mentioned structure is separately attached to the two partial vehicle bodies 64 and 65 which are separated in the front-rear direction, a slight axial displacement occurs between the adjusting screw 75 and the adjusting rod 91. As described above, the adjusting screw 75 and the adjusting rod 91 are rotatably connected to each other in the up-down direction and the left-right direction, so that even if there is a slight axis shift, the shift is freely rotatable at the connecting portion therebetween. Thus, it is possible to prevent the adjusting screw 75 and the adjusting rod 91 from being subjected to an excessive force that increases the movement thereof.

Therefore, when performing the aiming adjustment in the vertical direction, the operation shaft 74 of the vertical aiming adjustment mechanism 69 is rotated.

Then, the rotation is transmitted to the worm wheel 72 via the drive gear 73 and the worm body 71, and the worm wheel 72 is rotated, and the worm wheel 7 is rotated.
2 is prevented from moving in the axial direction by the casing 70, and the adjusting screw 75 is prevented from rotating by the driving body 84 of the adjusting rod 91 connected thereto, so that the adjusting screw 75 is prevented from rotating. The rotation of the worm wheel 72 acts to feed the adjusting screw 75 screwed into the screw hole 72a in the axial direction.

As a result, the adjusting screw 75 moves in the axial direction while rotating, so that the ball receiver 80 attached to the point B of the headlamp unit 59 is moved substantially in the front-rear direction. Light unit 59 is point A and C
It is tilted in a substantially vertical direction with the straight line connecting the points as the tilt axis,
Thereby, the irradiation direction of the headlight unit 59 is adjusted in the up-down direction.

The aiming adjustment in the left-right direction is performed by a left-right aiming adjustment mechanism (not shown).

The leveling adjustment is performed by rotating the motor 89 of the leveling adjustment mechanism 82 by remote control means (not shown).

That is, as described above, when the motor 89 is rotated, the adjusting rod 91 is rotated, the adjusting screw 75 connected thereto is rotated, and the worm wheel 72 with which the adjusting screw 75 is screwed is connected. Is locked by the engagement with the worm body 71, the adjusting screw 75 is screwed or unscrewed into the screw hole 72a of the worm wheel 72, thereby being moved in the axial direction, Thereby, the headlight unit 59 is tilted in the up-down direction.

[0056]

As is apparent from the above description, the vehicle headlamp according to the present invention comprises a tilting member which is tilted when the irradiation direction is changed, and a front side located rearward of the tilting member. A vehicle comprising: an aiming adjustment mechanism attached to a body member for performing aiming adjustment; and a leveling adjustment mechanism attached to a rear body member located behind the front body member for performing leveling adjustment. A headlight device, wherein the tilting member and an adjustment rod having one end inserted into the leveling adjustment mechanism are connected to each other via a connection member coupled in a ball joint shape, and the leveling adjustment is performed. Or aiming
By adjusting the connecting member to move in the front and rear direction,
The connecting member is screwed into the aiming adjustment mechanism, level
At the time of ring adjustment, the connecting member moves in the front-rear direction while rotating.

Therefore, according to the vehicle headlight device of the present invention, when the leveling adjustment or the like is performed, the connecting member rotates the deviation between the moving direction of the adjusting rod and the moving direction of the tilting member with respect to either of them. Since it can be absorbed by moving and changing the posture, no excessive force is applied to the connecting portion between the tilting member and the adjustment rod, and thus the leveling adjustment can be performed smoothly.

In the above embodiment, the vehicle headlight device of the present invention is applied to a so-called movable unit type vehicle headlamp. The present invention is not limited thereto, and may be applied to a vehicle headlamp of a movable reflector type in which a reflector is tilted with respect to a lamp body. Of course, it can be applied.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 shows an embodiment of a vehicle headlight device according to the present invention together with FIGS. 2 to 5, and FIG. 1 is a front view.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing an example of a conventional vehicle headlight device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 58 Vehicle headlight device (vehicle headlight device) 59 Tilting member (headlight unit) 64 Front body member (partial body) 65 Rear body member (partial body) 69 Aiming adjustment mechanism (vertical aiming) Adjusting mechanism) 75 Connecting member (adjusting screw) 82 Leveling adjusting mechanism 91 Adjusting rod

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60Q 1/06 F21M 3/20

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tilting member that is tilted when changing an irradiation direction, an aiming adjustment mechanism attached to a front vehicle body member located behind the tilting member for performing aiming adjustment, and the front vehicle body A headlight device for a vehicle comprising: a leveling adjustment mechanism for performing leveling adjustment attached to a rear body member located rearward of the member; and one end of the tilting member and the leveling adjustment mechanism. The inserted adjustment rods are connected to the respective adjustment rods via connection members connected in a ball joint shape, and the leveling is performed.
Adjustment or aiming adjustment allows the connecting member to move forward and backward
So as to move in, the connecting member is screwed into the aiming adjustment mechanism, level
A headlight device for a vehicle, wherein the connecting member moves in the front-rear direction while rotating when adjusting the ring .