JP3088075B2 - Vehicle headlights - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular headlamp having a discharge bulb, and more particularly to a structure for mounting a lighting circuit case, which houses a lighting circuit of the discharge bulb, to a lamp body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a discharge bulb has been used as a light source of a vehicle headlamp since it can emit high-intensity light.

[0003] In a headlamp having such a discharge bulb, it is necessary to provide a lighting circuit for applying a high voltage to the discharge bulb and lighting the discharge bulb. Since it is composed of components, it is usually mounted on the lamp of a headlight while being housed in a lighting circuit case. Since this lighting circuit case is relatively large, it is difficult to house it inside the lamp body in terms of securing space.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0, the lighting circuit case is often provided outside the lamp body. The lighting circuit case is generally formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and is mounted on the outer surface of the lamp body so that the substantially rectangular shape is parallel to the vehicle at right angles to the front-rear direction. ing.

[0004]

However, the mounting posture of the lighting circuit case having a substantially rectangular shape to the lamp body is as follows.
In the case of being parallel at right angles to the front-rear direction of the vehicle as in the related art, there are the following problems.

That is, since a lighting circuit for generating a high voltage is accommodated in the lighting circuit case, it is preferable that deformation and breakage of the lighting circuit case be minimized. Behind the vehicle body side members such as shroud panels and cross members, etc., when an impact load is input from the front to the lighting circuit case due to a vehicle collision etc., the lighting circuit case has a rear surface member on the vehicle body side. There is a problem that there is a possibility of being compressed and deformed or damaged due to contact with the substrate.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is intended for a vehicle which can minimize the risk of deformation or breakage of a lighting circuit case due to an impact load input during a vehicle collision or the like. It is intended to provide a headlight.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention achieves the above object by devising a mounting posture of a lighting circuit case to a lamp body.

[0008] That is, according to the present invention, as described in claim 1, a discharge bulb, a lamp housing the discharge bulb, a lighting circuit for lighting the discharge bulb, and a state in which the lighting circuit is housed. A lighting circuit case attached to the outer surface of the lamp body;
The lighting circuit case is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, and is attached to the lamp body in a posture inclined at a predetermined angle in the left-right direction with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction. It is.

The above-mentioned "lamp" is not limited to a specific member as long as it is a component of a headlamp and accommodates a discharge bulb. For example, in a headlamp provided with a reflecting mirror movable type aiming mechanism (an aiming mechanism that tilts a reflecting mirror housed in a space formed by a lens and a body in a lamp in which a lens is attached to a body). A reflector such as a body or a head-mounted reflecting mirror having a movable unit aiming mechanism (an aiming mechanism that tilts the reflecting mirror as a unit together with the lens in a lamp in which the lens is attached to the reflecting mirror) is used as a lamp body. Can be adopted.

The above-mentioned "predetermined angle" means an angle of inclination that can effectively reduce the possibility that the lighting circuit case will be deformed or damaged when an impact load is input, as will be described later. , An angle in the range of 10 to 45 °, and an angle in the range of 25 to 45 ° is more effective.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the present invention, the lighting circuit case, which is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, has the lamp inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the front-rear direction of the vehicle. Because it is attached to the body,
When an impact load is input to the lighting circuit case from the front due to a vehicle collision or the like, the lighting circuit case is retracted until it comes into contact with a member on the vehicle body side located behind the lighting circuit case, and then rotationally displaced until it becomes parallel to the member at right angles. Will be done. Then, at the time of this rotational displacement, it becomes possible to cause the mounting structure of the lighting circuit case to the lamp body to absorb the impact energy, thereby protecting the lighting circuit case from deformation and the like.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the risk of deformation or breakage of the lighting circuit case due to an impact load input at the time of a vehicle collision or the like can be minimized.

Further, according to the present invention, the following operation and effect can be obtained.

That is, in the present invention, the lighting circuit case has a slanted mounting posture of the lighting circuit case, so that the projection in the front view (front view) is different from the conventional case in which the lighting circuit case is parallel at right angles. The area becomes large, so that the vehicle traveling wind can be applied over a wide range of the lighting circuit case. In addition, since each wall surface of the lighting circuit case is inclined left and right when viewed from the front, the vehicle traveling wind can be distributed to the left and right sides of the lighting circuit case so that a smooth flow along each wall surface can be achieved. And this gives
It is possible to efficiently cool a lighting circuit case that easily becomes high in temperature due to heat generated by the lighting circuit.

The material of the "lamp" and the "lighting circuit case" is not particularly limited, but as described in claim 2, the lamp is made of resin and the lighting circuit case is made of metal. When a shock load due to a vehicle collision or the like is input to the headlight, the relatively low-strength lamp body deforms or breaks first and absorbs the impact energy. Since the circuit case starts to be deformed, the protection effect on the lighting circuit case can be enhanced.

The above "lighting circuit case" may be directly attached to the lamp body. However, if the "lighting circuit case" is attached to the lamp body via a bracket as described in claim 3, the "lighting circuit case" can be attached to the bracket. The function as a shock energy absorbing member can be provided, which is more effective.

When the "lighting circuit case" is attached to the lamp body, the lighting circuit case may be brought into close contact with the outer surface of the lamp body. If a gap is formed between the lighting circuit case and the circuit case, the heat dissipation of the lighting circuit case can be enhanced.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line -II and a view in the direction of arrow III.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the headlamp 10 according to the present embodiment is provided with a reflecting mirror 16 in a space formed by a body 12 and a lens 14 so as to be tiltable in the vertical and horizontal directions. It has been done. In addition, this headlight 10
Is a headlamp provided on the right side of the vehicle. The headlamp provided on the left side of the vehicle is symmetrical in structure with respect to the structure of the headlights shown in FIG.

The reflecting mirror 16 has a reflecting portion 16A for a main lamp.
And a reflector 16B serving both as a main lamp and a sub lamp are integrally formed so as to be arranged in a horizontal direction. A point P0 shown in FIG. 1 is an aiming fulcrum where the reflecting mirror 16 is supported by a ball joint on the body 12, and a point P1 is where the reflecting mirror 16 is tilted up and down on the body 12 via an aiming screw (not shown). The point P2 is a left and right aiming point where the reflecting mirror 16 is supported by the body 12 via an aiming screw (not shown) so as to be tiltable in the left and right direction.

The reflector 16A is provided with a halogen bulb 18 having a C-8 type single filament on its optical axis Axa.
Is provided with a C-8 type discharge bulb (metal halide bulb) 20 on its optical axis Axb.
The reflector 16B is provided with a shade 22 so as to be located in front of the bulb 20. The halogen bulb 18 is directly connected to a power supply via a connector (not shown).
Since the lamp requires a high voltage for lighting, the lamp is once connected to a lighting circuit 30 housed in a lighting circuit case 28 via a plug 24 and a cord 26, and then connected to a power supply. ing. A plug cover 32 made of aluminum die-casting is attached to the plug 24, and the cord 26 has a structure in which the cord body is covered by a mesh-type metal shield cover.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lighting circuit case 28 is attached to the bottom surface 12a of the body 12 while being covered by a bracket 34. The lighting circuit case 28 and the bracket 34 are grounded to the vehicle body. As shown in FIG. 2, the lighting circuit case 28 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view.
Further, it is attached to the bottom surface portion 12a in a posture inclined in the left-right direction (outward in the vehicle width direction) by an inclination angle θ (about 30 °) with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction (equal to the direction of the optical axis Axb). .

FIG. 4 is a IV-IV diagram of FIG. 3 and shows how the lighting circuit case 28 is attached to the bracket 34 and how the bracket 34 is attached to the body 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lighting circuit case 2
Numeral 8 is made of aluminum die-cast and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape. The lighting circuit case 28 contains the lighting circuit 30 and is filled with an epoxy resin to form a solid unit with the lighting circuit 30. An opening 2 through which the cord 26 is inserted is provided at an upper portion of the lighting circuit case 28.
8a are formed around the opening 28a.
Heavy opening flange portions 28b and 28c are formed.

The bracket 34 is a press-formed product of a steel plate, and is formed in a box shape. This bracket 3
At four corners of the bottom surface of the case 4, a case mounting portion 34a is formed so as to rise from the general surface of the bottom surface portion, and a case mounting hole 34b is formed in each of the case mounting portions 34a. .

When the lighting circuit case 28 is mounted on the four case mounting portions 34a, the case mounting holes 3 are formed in the two diagonal case mounting portions 34a.
It is attached to the bracket 34 by a screw 36 screwed with 4b. It should be noted that the case mounting hole 34b in which the screw 36 is not screwed is present in the remaining two case mounting portions 34a because the lighting circuit case 28 can be commonly used with headlights on the right and left opposite sides of the vehicle. To do that.

Bosses 12b projecting downward are formed at four locations on the bottom surface 12a of the body 12, and each of the bosses 12b is provided with a stud bolt 38 made of steel. On the other hand, a pair of body mounting seats 34c are provided on upper end flange portions of the front and rear ends of the bracket 34, respectively.
Are formed. Each of these body mounting seats 34
After the stud bolts 38 are respectively inserted into the bolt mounting holes c, the nuts 40 are tightened to the stud bolts 38, respectively.
To be mounted on the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 4, an opening 2 formed in the lighting circuit case 28 is formed on the bottom 12a of the body 12.
An opening slightly larger than 8a is formed, and double opening flanges 12c and 12d are formed around this opening. These double opening flange portions 12c, 1
2d, the double opening flange portion 28 of the lighting circuit case 28 when the bracket 34 is attached to the body 12;
b and 28c are alternately arranged. At this time, the opening flange portion 12d is brought into contact with the upper surface of the lighting circuit case 28, and the opening flange portion 12c is brought into contact with the packing 42 disposed between the opening flange portions 28b, 28c. The sealability is ensured.

As shown in FIG. 3, reinforcing ribs 12e for increasing the rigidity of the bottom surface portion 12a extend in the front-rear direction of the vehicle on the outer peripheral surface of the bottom surface portion 12a of the body 12 around the mounting portion of the bracket 34. Thus, a plurality of wires are formed.

As shown in FIG.
Is such that when it is attached to the body 12, a slight gap is formed between the upper surface of the lighting circuit case 28 supported by the bracket 34 and the lower surface of the reinforcing rib 12e of the bottom portion 12a of the body 12. The height dimension of the standing wall is set.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

The headlamp 10 according to the present embodiment has a lighting circuit case 28 formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view.
The bottom portion 12a of the body 12 is mounted via the bracket 34 in a posture inclined approximately 30 ° to the left and right with respect to the front and rear direction of the vehicle.
When an impact load is input from the front due to a vehicle collision or the like, the lighting circuit case 28 and the bracket 34 are retracted until they come into contact with a body-side member positioned behind the lighting circuit case 28 and the bracket 34. It will be rotationally displaced until it becomes parallel at right angles. Then, at the time of this rotational displacement, it becomes possible for the bracket 34 to absorb the impact energy, whereby the lighting circuit case 28 can be protected from deformation and the like.

At this time, the bracket 34 is formed in a box shape and is fixed to the bottom portion 12a of the body 12 by screws at four places around the lighting circuit case 28. The function as the absorbing member can be sufficiently performed.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the risk of deformation or breakage of the lighting circuit case 28 due to the input of an impact load at the time of a vehicle collision or the like can be minimized.

Particularly, in the present embodiment, the body 12
Is made of resin, and the lighting circuit case 28 and the bracket 34 are made of metal. Therefore, when an impact load due to a vehicle collision or the like is input to the headlight 10, the body 12 having a relatively low strength is used.
First deforms or breaks and absorbs the impact energy, and the bracket 34 starts to deform only when the energy is still not absorbed, and the lighting circuit case 28 starts to deform only when the energy is still not absorbed. Therefore, the protection effect on the lighting circuit case 28 can be sufficiently enhanced.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the following operation and effect can be obtained.

That is, in the present embodiment, the mounting posture of the lighting circuit case 28 to the body 12 is inclined, so that the lighting circuit case 28 is The projection area of the bracket 34 that covers the bracket 28 when viewed from the front (front view) increases, whereby the vehicle traveling wind can be applied over a wide range of the bracket 34, and the vehicle traveling wind can be reduced by the bracket 3.
4 can be distributed to the left and right to provide a smooth flow along each wall surface. As a result, the lighting circuit case 28 which is likely to be heated to a high temperature due to the heat generated by the lighting circuit 30
Can be efficiently cooled.

Further, in the present embodiment, the body 1
Since a gap is formed between the bottom surface portion 12a of the lighting circuit case 2 and the lighting circuit case 28, the vehicle traveling wind can be applied to the lighting circuit case 28 from above the lighting circuit case 28 through the gap. The heat radiation of the lighting circuit case 28 can be improved. Moreover, a plurality of reinforcing ribs 12 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction are provided on the bottom surface 12a of the body 12.
Since e is formed, the vehicle traveling wind can be smoothly guided above the lighting circuit case 28.

In the above embodiment, the headlamp having the structure in which the lighting circuit case 28 is attached to the bottom surface 12a of the body 12 via the bracket 34 has been described. Part 1
The configuration of the present invention can also be applied to a headlamp having a structure attached to 2a, and further to a headlamp having a structure in which the lighting circuit case 28 is attached to the upper surface portion of the body 12, and the like. The same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vehicle headlamp according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of arrow III in FIG. 1;

4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Headlight 12 Body (light body) 12a Bottom part 12b Boss part 12c, 12d Opening flange part 12e Reinforcement rib 14 Lens 16 Reflector 16A, 16B Reflector 20 Discharge bulb 28 Lighting circuit case 30 Lighting circuit 34 Bracket 34a Case mounting Mounting part 34b Case mounting hole 34c Body mounting seat 38 Stud bolt 40 Nut Axa, Axb Optical axis θ Inclination angle

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F21S 8/10

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A discharge bulb, a lamp housing the discharge bulb, a lighting circuit for lighting the discharge bulb, and a lighting circuit case mounted on an outer surface of the lamp with the lighting circuit housed therein. Wherein the lighting circuit case is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, and is inclined at a predetermined angle in the left-right direction with respect to the front-rear direction of the vehicle. A headlight for a vehicle, which is mounted. 2. The headlight for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said lamp body is made of resin, and said lighting circuit case is made of metal. 3. The headlight for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the lighting circuit case is attached to the lamp body via a bracket. 4. A gap is formed between the lamp body and the lighting circuit case.
The vehicle headlight according to any one of the above.