WO2013077826A2

WO2013077826A2 - A unified housing-lens structure for automobile lighting equipments and a production method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2013077826A2
Application number: PCT/TR2012/000184
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ali Yazici; Yunus Emre ESIYOK
Original assignee: Magneti Marelli Mako Elektrik Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S.
Priority date: 2011-10-24
Filing date: 2012-10-23
Publication date: 2013-05-30
Also published as: WO2013077826A3

Abstract

The present invention is an automobile lighting apparatus (10) which comprises a housing (12, 13), that is protecting some components such as a reflector (20), a light source (30) etc., and a lens (11) focusing the light beams coming from the light source (30) at the section where the light beams in the housing (12, 13) goes out to the environment, and which eliminates the need for fixing the housing (12, 13) and neccessity to glues, bonds etc. for that fixing process. The housing (12, 13) and the lens (11) has a unified (monoblock) structure as housing-lens (10) obtained by one and/or two processes from a single mould. Said housing-lens (10) is a transparent plastic coming out by a PC (Polycarbonate) injection process from a single mould or a unified plastic obtained by injection again from a single mould but with two processes such as said lens (11) and some section of side surfaces (12) are made of PC, the remaining section is made of PC/PBT (Polybutylen Tereftalat).

Description

A UNIFIED HOUSING-LENS STRUCTURE FOR AUTOMOBILE LIGHTING EQUIPMENTS

AND A PRODUCTION METHOD THEREOF

Technical Field

The present invention is related to a unified housing-lens structure which generally includes some components such as electronic circuit board, reflector etc. within car lighting equipments such as headlamps, stop lamps etc.

Prior Art

In the prior art technique; some lighting components or equipments such as headlamps, stop lamps of a car are come out by installing parts together which are produced seperately. Especially, inside a housing mounted on a vehicle; in addition to a reflector, a printed circuit board with LED and an integrated cap-connector, on the upper side of the housing, a lens that can be seen from outside the vehicle, are connected generally via welding or bonding. Then the resulting headlamp or stop lamp is installed onto an opening designed for the lighting apparatus by screws and/or claws via various projections, claws or openings configured on the housing. Especially bonding afterwards, the lens and the housing brings lots of disadvantages together. For the operations such as applying bonding agent onto edges of the housing, placing the lens and providing the adhesion, both costs of workmanship and material increase the whole production costs of the lighting apparatus. Other than these facts, because of the bonding or adhesion region is more vulnerable to outer impacts and the environmental conditions after the production, the headlamp or the stop lamp is exposed of some effects causing degradation of the outer appearence and wear.

It is well known that various patent applicaitons or publications exist in the prior art for different applications occurring as unified of some components such as housing with different elements, caps with connectors etc. Said elements are generally components inside the headlamp. Furthermore it has not been thought yet that some elements that can be observed directly by the user are to be unified and it has not been allowable because of the material diversity and mould technology either. However bicomponent injection technology has been developed recently and the improvements achieved on the materials let some solutions and applications possible.

In FR2868149 patent document, it is mentioned that for the head lighting of the vehicles, a housing that a motor, which rotates a rotating plate is placed, and a lens support are unified with case and the case and support form a monoblock casting. Some technical advantages such as easy to install feature are put forward in the document. But there is not any solution or structure disclosing or describing a monoblock structure for lens and housing. In the patent GB2424472, solutions about combining lenses and reflectors in vehicles have been disclosed. A technical solution covering bonding a reflector support or a lamp housing and a lens with a seal or filling material is described. Here is a solution other than a unified structure and more relevant to a filling material and its application used for providing good optimization as a visual manner but not to solve the technical problems described above for unifying lens and reflector.

US6250789 discloses an automobile headlamp housing and a method to combine it. To mount a lens onto a housing, before seating the brackets, created on the lens, to their places on the housing; applying some processes such as applying a bonding agent and afterwards finishing the process as seating it and therefore having a good appearance aesthetically are disclosed.

US6951365 a body subassembly for a vehicle that is designed to be mounted substantially flush with the surrounding vehicle body panels and an impact-absorbing bumper is disclosed.

US20030043592 discloses a lamp housing using a multi-part adhesive paths for holding the parts together. Combining and bonding are able to be made with a single process. In an embodiment of the invention which is aiming to shorten the process time for combining operation duration, the same adhesive, used in bonding the lens and housing, can be used for assembling the components.

In US2005270787 patent application discloses a tail light, for a motor vehicle, includes a lens which covers a housing opening in the beam direction of the light and the lens includes at least two lens sections, which are injection-molded onto each other along a connection region and the injection points of the respective lens sections are arranged in the connection region.

In WO9630696 discloses that to simplify the manufacture of a vehicle lamp and reduce production costs while at the same time retaining or improving its efficiency, the reflector housing is multi-component injection moulded in one piece. In this solution in which the basic section is moulded in a first injection step and the reflector is injection moulded on the basic section with a uniform wall thickness or layer thickness in a second step.

The technical problems defined above resulting from using sticking or fitting methods of a housing seating components which are included by the lighting apparatus, used in front and back of vehicles, and a lens, which light rays are focused through and insufficiency of the prior art solutions and applications described above, make to put forward a unified housing- lens structure an obligation as a solution. The present invention and technical solution is arised as taking into consideration of compatibility of materials to be used to provide unified structure and figuring out operational and economical benefits as applying a proper production process and method.

Objectives and Short Description of the Invention

An objective of the invention is to put forward a unified housing-lens product so as to avoid some problems resulting from bonding or attaching the lens, that focuses the light, and with the housing, that gathers components such as reflector, connector, printed circuit board, in the lighting apparatus such as headlamp, stop lamp used in front and rear sides of the vehicles.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a housing-lens structure saving production and installation costs and at the same time prolonging the life of the lighting apparatus.

Another objective of the invention is to provide more convenience to production by defining a production method as clarifying processes needed for putting a unified housing - lens structure forward.

Short Descriptions of the Figures

In Figure 1 , an exploded perspective view is presented for unified housing-lens and the other components of the invention for a vehicle lighting apparatus.

The housing-lens component and installation brackets of the present invention is seen in Figure 2.

An exploded perspective view of a unified housing-lens and other components of another embodiment of the invention with two materials is given in Figures 3 and 4

The housing-lens component and installation brackets of the other embodiment of the invention, having two materials, are seen in Figures 5 and 6.

Cross sectional views focusing on the junction points of the unified housing-lens of the present invention are given in Figures 7a, b and c.

Reference Numerals

10. Unified housing-lens

1 1. Light rays outlet upper surface

12. Upper side surface

12.1. Upper side surface section 1

12.2. Upper side surface section 2 13. Lower side surface

14. Installation projections (brackets)

14.1. Installation holes

15. Junction line of two materials

5.1. Junction type

20. Reflector

30. Light source and Printed Circuit Board (PCB)

40. Integrated cap and connector

50. Insulation and combining apparatus

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention is related to a novel unified housing-lens embodiment in a lighting apparatus such as headlamps, stop lamps etc. in front or rear side of the vehicles and methods to provide such product. Some components of said lighting apparatus in a housing are seen in Figure 1. Said components may be various depending on the type of the lighting apparatus and the place in where being used. A sample application for a stop lamp is presented in figures. Components that may exist in a vehicle lighting device generally are a housing that all components installed as combining on the vehichle and a lens (10) leaving out by focusing light rays from the upper side and a reflector (20) in the inner side of the housing (10), a light source and its connected printed circuit board (30), a back cap and a connector (40) providing electrical connection with vehicle and at the end a resulting element (50) for insulation and combining purposes.

In Figure 2, a close perspective view of housing-lens of the present invention is seen. There are a lens surface (11), upper and lower side surfaces (12, 13) at the upper side, which letting light rays out by focusing, and which are reflected by a said reflector (20) and provided by a light source (30) and installation projections (14) in accordance with positions and dimensions in where to be installed and installation holes (14.1) thereon. When a plug-in assembly is preferred, there may not be needed to use such holes, another application having nails may be used instead.

With said upper surface (11), upper and lower side surfaces (12, 13) are in monoblock (unified) structure in said housing-lens (10) arrangement. Therefore additional lens, housing and adhesive material that should be used between them are not necessary anymore and moreover a huge time saving, that has been needed for installation of such components will be achieved. In addition, the lighting apparatus having said unified or monoblock housing- lens (10) after installation is stronger to the environmental strain and stresses on the vehicle and provides better insulation and therefore has more lifetime.

Said lens ( 1 ) is made of transparent polycarbonate (PC) in general. Providing a unified structure of whole housing-lens arrangement (10) is possible with a process having a single or double stages as having one-component PC or two-component PC-PC/PBT (Polybuthylene Therefthalat). It is shown in the Figures 1 and 2 that the situation of said whole housing-lens having single component PC. In the other Figures, alternative applications and detailed views are given for the invention having different combining O^'unction) points of said two components obtained by said double componnents and two stages production method. A junction surface (15) can be taken from the middle section (12.1 , 12.2) of said upper side surface (12), which forms the housing-lens (10) (as in Figures 3 and 4) and it can also possible to determine the junction point of said upper and lower side surfaces as the junction surface (15) (as in Figures 5 and 6). For obtaining double- component housing-lens in said double junction structure, before an injection operation, as the lower section (12, 13) with PC/PBT is moulded and before said mould is not wholly cooled, with the upper surface (1 1 ) of the upper section which has a function as lens, PC is injected into the mould. The junction region (15) forms a smooth and flush surface after moulding operation. After the process using a single mould, the obtained housing-lens (10) of the present invention becomes a final product without needing any additional bonding or combining operation. The biggest advantage of the double-components housing-lens (10) is on one hand providing the lens section by PC as a whole, having properties of more transparent and high optical quality, on the other hand the endurance and strength is provided to the lower section having installation parts such as installation projections as using a second material such as PC/PBT that provides more strength and less vulnerability thereon. A unified housing-lens (10) is obtained by processing in a single mould the two materials having different physical advantages when they are cooled.

The drawings showing junction points (15.1) are given in Figures 7a, b and c. As described in the previous Figures, the unified housing-lens (10) may be obtained by wholly PC or as the lens section (11 ) is made of PC and/or the other remaining secitons (12, 13) are of PC/PBT, with double material in a single mould as also being a unified structure. The junction point of the two sections in this situation may have S, U or half O shape as making a shape correlation. According to behaviour of material combination, the strongest junction shape is to be preferrable. Some various junction shapes are seen in drawings as S shape in Figure 7a, U in 7b and half O is in 7c. The most important thing here is the two sections are to be moulded so as to form a shape correlation such as the lens section (1 1 ) and upper side surface section 1 (12.1 ) are of a single material such as PC; the upper side surface section 2 (12.2) that is below the junction line (15) of the lower section and lower side surface (13) are of a second material such as PC and/or PC/PBT (Figures 3 and 5). When a junction is put forward as in Figures 4 and 6, the upper side surface sections (12.1 , 12.2) become a single part and form upper side surface (12). In this case, the lens section (1 ) and upper side surface (12) are PC and lower side surface (13) and therefore the lower sections of the housing-lens (10) can be PC and/or PC/PBT.

Claims

1. The present invention is a vehicle lighting apparatus (10) having a housing (12, 13) covering some components such as a reflector (20), a light source (30) and a lens (11) placed on said housing (12, 13) where light rays obtained from said light source (30), are focused on and given out to the environment and removing the necessity for bonding operation of said lens (1 1) with housing (12, 13) and materials needed for this operation such as adhesive etc., characterized in that it comprises a unified (monoblock) housing-lens (10) obtained by processing said housing (12, 13) and said lens (11) with a single and/or double operation in a single mould .

2. A lighting apparatus according to claim 1 , characterizing in that; said housing-lens (10) is transparent plastic obtained by PC (Polycarbonate) injection operation in a single mould.

3. A lighting apparatus according to claim 1 , characterizing in that; said housing-lens (10) is plastic obtained by injection operation in a single mould with two stages as said lens (11) and a section of side surfaces (12) are of PC, the other remaining section is of PC/PBT (Pol butylen Tereftalat).

4. The present invention is a production method for a vehicle lighting apparatus (10) having a housing (12, 13) covering some components such as a reflector (20), a light source (30) and a lens (11) placed on said housing (12, 13) where light rays obtained from said light source (30), are focused on and given out to the environment and removing the necessity for bonding operation of said lens (11) with housing (12, 13) and materials needed for this operation such as adhesive etc., characterized in providing a unified housing-lens (10) which said housing (12, 13) and lens (1 1) sections are unified or monoblock by injecting PC into a single mould.

5. The present invention is a production method for a vehicle lighting apparatus (10) having a housing (12, 13) covering some components such as a reflector (20), a light source (30) and a lens (11) placed on said housing (12, 13) where light rays obtained from said light source (30), are focused on and given out to the environment and removing the necessity for bonding operation of said lens (11) with housing (12, 13) and materials needed for this operation such as adhesive etc., characterized in providing a unified housing-lens (10) which said housing ( 2, 13) and lens (11) sections are unified or monoblock by injection operation with two components as two stages such as firstly providing housing lower section (13) by injecting PC/PBT and secondly providing lens (11) and/or housing upper section (12).

6. A housing-lens arrangement (10) for vehicle lighting according to anyone of the preceding claims characterizing in that a junction line (15) of the sections (12, 13), being formed during injection operation of single or double material injection for said lens (11), housing upper section (12) and housing lower section (13), constitutes a shape correlation as being S, U or half O.

7. A housing-lens arrangement (10) for vehicle lighting according to anyone of the preceding claims characterizing in that it is a unified housing-lens (10) composed by a unification operation occurs between said upper housing section 1 and section 2 (12.1 and 12.2), or housing upper section (12) and housing lower section (13), according to location of a junction line (15) being determined between said lens (1 1 ) and other remaining parts of the housing (12, 13),