Title of Invention

A VEHICLE LAMP

Abstract

A seal foot portion 2a of a lens 2 is inserted into a seal groove 12 formed by a seal wall 11 provided in a circumferential edge portion of a front opening of a lamp body 1, and the seal foot portion 2a is fixed and sealed by a gasket 13 inserted into the seal groove 12. In addition, a mounting foot portion 7D formed to project from the circumferential edge portion of the lamp body 1 for the purpose of mounting the lamp on a vehicle body is configured so that a longitudinally intermediate portion 74 between a base portion 72 connected to the lamp body 1 and a mounting portion 73 for mounting the lamp on the vehicle body is formed as a bent portion which is-bent into a substantially U-shape in the direction of a mounting force given to the mounting portion.

Full Text

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp which is sealed between a lens and a seal groove provided in an opening circumferential edge portion of a lamp body with a sealing member provided in the seal groove, and which is mounted on a vehicle body by use of a mounting foot portion projecting from this opening Circumferential edge portion, and particularly relates to a Vehicle lamp in which reliability of a lens sealing structure with a sealing member is improved. RELATED. ART In a vehicle lamp for an automobile or the like, a sealing structure in which a sealing member is interposed between a lamp body and a lens attached to a front opening portion of the lamp body is adopted in order to seal the lamp between the lamp body and the lens. Fig. 7(a) is a sectional view illustrating an example of such a sealing structure. A seal wall 11 is formed integrally with an opening portion of a lamp body 1 along the Circumferential edge of the opening portion. With this seal wall 11, a seal groove 12 is formed between the seal wall 11 and an opening edge la of the lamp body 1. A sealing member (gasket) 13 formed of rubber sponge or the like is disposed in this seal groove 12. In addition, in the lens 2 attached to the lamp body 1, a seal foot portion 2a is formed integrally so as to project toward the rear along the circumferential edge of the lens 2. This seal foot portion 2a is inserted into the seal groove 12, brought into contact with the sealing member 13, and integrated therewith by a clip 5 fitted so as to straddle across the seal foot portion 2a and the seal wall 11. Then, the lamp sealed thus is attached to a body B of a vehicle by mounting foot portions 7 formed to project sideways at a plurality places of the opening circumferential edge portion of the lamp body 1. Each of these mounting foot portions 7 is attached to the vehicle body B in such a manner that a fastener 77 formed of resin is fitted and attached to a fitting hole 76 provided in a mounting portion 73 at the forward end of the mounting foot portion 7 in advance, and the mounting foot portion 7 is fastened to the vehicle body B by use of a screw S pressed and screwed into this fastener 77 in the direction of arrow F. In a vehicle lamp having such a structure, there is a case that an internal stress is generated in the mounting foot portion 7 due to a dimensional error between the vehicle body B and the lamp when the lamp is attached to the vehicle body. Particularly, the dimensional accuracy is inferior in a vehicle body having a large size as a whole in comparison with the lamp, so that the dimensional error between the vehicle body and the mounting portion 73 of the mounting foot portion 7 of the lamp tends to be conspicuous. When the lamp is attached to the vehicle body in this state in the above-mentioned manner, the lamp is attached with the resin mounting foot portion 7 being deformed so that an internal stress is generated in the mounting foot portion 7 with this deformation. As a result of this internal stress, as shown in Fig. 7(b), the seal wall 11 is deformed outward together with The mounting foot portion 7, and the seal groove 12 is deformed and expanded. Consequently, there arises a problem that the close contact properties in the adhesion surface between the sealing member 13 and the seal groove 12 or the close contact properties in the close contact surface between the sealing member 13 and the seal foot portion 2A of the lens 2 are lowered, so that the sealing performance is deteriorated in and near the projecting places of these mounting foot portions. considered in which the mounting foot portions are made to project from places except the seal groove of the lamp body so as to prevent a pressing force from being given to the seal groove when the lamp is attached to the vehicle body. However, in order to resin-mold a lamp body having such a structure, an under-cut portion is generated between a mounting foot portion and a seal wall, as diagrammatically shown in a mold structure K for the resin molding in Fig. 8. Because of the requirement of providing a slider in the mold to mold this portion, etc., the mold structure is complicated, and the resin molding becomes difficult. As a result, there arises a problem that the cost is increased. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp in which it is possible to prevent sealing properties from deteriorating because of the influence of a mounting force on a seal groove when the lamp is attached to a vehicle body even in such a lamp body in which mounting foot portions are formed so as to project from a seal groove portion. A vehicle lamp according to the present invention is characterized in that a mounting foot portion has a base portion to be connected to a lamp body, a mounting portion for mounting the vehicle lamp on the vehicle body, and has a bent portion provided in a longitudinally intermediate portion between the base portion and the mounting portion so that the bent portion into • amounting force given to the mounting portion. Here, the U-shape in the present invention may include a V-shape or another shape like this. In addition, preferably, the bent portion is formed by being bent toward the rear of the lamp when the lamp is mounting in the back/forth direction of the vehicle body. In addition, preferably, a reinforcing rib projecting in the bending direction of the bent portion is provided in the mounting foot portion. Further, preferably, the mounting foot portion is formed so that the portion to be connected to a seal groove is shaped into a wide plane. Fig. 1 is a partially broken and separated perspective view illustrating the whole configuration of an embodiment of a lamp according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a front*view of the lamp in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an expanded sectional view taken on line A-- A in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an expanded perspective view of a main part of a lamp according to the present invention? Fig. 5 is a side view of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a main part in two different modifications of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of a mounting foot portion of a conventional lamp, for explaining its disadvantage; and Fig. 8 is a diagrammatical sectional view of a mold for molding a conventionally proposed lamp body with resin. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTTOW Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Pig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a head lamp of a car, Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line A-A of Fig. 2. In this head lamp, a lamp chamber is defined by a lamp body 1 having a front opening portion formed into an approximately rectangular vessel by resin molding, and a lens 2 attached to the opening portion of this lamp body 1. In addition, a reflector 3 is disposed in this lamp chamber, and supported tiltable vertically and horizontally in the lamp body 1 by an aiming adjustment mechanism 6 which will be described later. In addition, a valve 4 is attached as its base metal portion to the reflector 3 so that power supply to the valve 4 is performed through a not-shown valve fitting hole opened on the back of the lamp body 1. In the aiming adjustment mechanism 6, as only partially shown in Fig. 3, a pivot 60 is fixed to a portion of the back of the reflector 1, and a pivot receptacle 62 fitted to this pivot 61 is formed integrally with an upper portion of the inner surface of the lamp body 1. By the pivot structure constituted by these pivot 61 and pivot receptacle 62, the reflector 3 is made tiltable vertically and horizontally with the pivot 61 as a fulcrum. In addition, in the case of Fig. 3, an aiming screw 64 is provided so that it is screwed with a bush nut 63 which is supported pivotally on the lamp body 1 at a position above the pivot receptacle 62 and which is fitted to the reflector 3. By operating the aiming screw 64 to rotate, the reflector 3 is tilted vertically to thereby realize vertical aiming adjustment. In the lamp body 1, as shown in the partially expanded perspective view of Fig. 4 and in the expanded sectional view of Fig. 5 respectively, a seal wall 11 having an L-shaped section is formed integrally with the lamp body 1 along the outer circumferential edge of the opening portion, and a seal groove 12 is formed between this seal wall 11 and an opening edge la of the lamp body 1. A sealing member, which is a gasket 13 here (see Fig. 3), and which is formed of water-proof elastic material such as rubber sponge in accordance with the seal groove 12, is inserted into this seal groove 12, In addition, a seal fool portion 2a projecting from the back surface is formed integrally with the circumferential edge of the lens 2. This seal foot portion 2a is inserted into the seal groove 12 so as to abut, at its front end portion, against the gasket 13. Clips 5 formed by bending springy metal pieces are attached to a plurality of places of the seal wall 11, and fitted between the seal wall 11 and a thick portion of a base portion of the seal foot portion 2a in the 2, so that the lens 2 is supported integrally with the lamp body 1 by the spring force and the lens foot portion 2a is pressed against the gasket 13 by use of this spring force. Consequently, sealing is attained in the abutting portion so that the inside of the lamp body 1 is sealed air-tightly. Further, mounting foot portions 7A to 7D for mounting the lamp on a car body are formed to project sideways at a plurality of circumferential places of the seal wall 11 respectively, for example, at four places near the four corner of the opening portion respectively in this embodiment. Of these mounting foot portions, the mounting foot portions 7A and 7B on the opposite sides in the upper and the mounting foot portion 7C in the left viewed from the lower front are projecting in a short distance from the seal wall 11, while the mounting foot portion 7D in the lower right is formed to project in a longer distance from the seal wall 11 than the other mounting foot portions according to the relation between the mounting foot portion 7D and the shape of the car body to which the lamp is attached. The length of these mounting foot portions 7A to 7D are designed according to the relation of these mounting foot portions with the car body. Fitting holes are formed in the respective forward end portions of the respective mounting foot portions / and fasteiiers 71 formed of resin are fitted and attached to the fitting holes, respectively. Incidentally, of these four mounting foot portions 7A to 7D, the fasteners 71 are attached to the upper mounting foot portions 7A and 7B in the up/down direction of the lamp, while the fasteners 71 are attached to the lower mounting foot portions 7C and 7D in the back/forth direction of the lamp. Then, the three mounting foot portions 7A, 7B and 7C which are made to project in a short distance from the seal wall 11 are easy to be formed with a high mechanical strength because of the short distance, and their rigidity in bending is also made high. On the other hand, the mounting foot portion 7D projecting in a relatively long distance from the seal wall 11 has such a structure that an intermediate portion 74 between a base portion 72 projecting from the seal wall 11 and a forward end portion 73 which will be a mounting portion onto the vehicle body is bent into a substantial U-shape toward the rear of the lamp body 1, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. That is, the mounting foot portion 7D is projecting in a flat plane obliquely downward at the rear of the lamp from the base portion 72 which will be a connection portion to the lower seal wall 11 of the lamp body 1. After this plate portion 75 shaped into a flat plane is provided by a predetermined length, the above-mentioned intermediate portion 74 is formed so as to be a U-shaped bent portion bent toward the rear of the lamp, further projected substantially straightly and obliquely downward in front of the lamp, and set so that the mounting portion 73 is located substantially just under the base portion 72. After that, this mounting portion 73 is formed into a vertical surface, and the fitting hole 76 is formed in its forward end portion. Then the above-mentioned fastener 71 is fitted and attached to this fitting hole 76. In addition, a reinforcing rib 77 projecting at the rear of the lamp along the opposite sides of the mounting foot portion 7D is formed to project on the back side of the area over almost the whole length of the mounting foot portion 7D including the bent portion 74 from the base portion 72 to the mounting portion 73. This reinforcing rib 77 is structured so that its projecting size is expanded in a tapered shape on the side of the base portion 72 of the mounting foot portion 7D,' and the reinforcing rib 77 is connected to the lower surface of the lamp body 1 in its most expanded portion. In addition, the flat plate portion 75 provided in the base portion 72 is configured so that it is wider than the base portion 72, and its opposite edges are projecting from the opposite sides of the base portion In the lamp configured thus, when the lamp is to be attached to the vehicle body, screws inserted into the fitting holes of the vehicle body are forcedly inserted into the fasteners 71 attached to the respective mounting foot portions 7A to 7C in the same manner as in the conventional case^ and then, the screws are rotated so as to be screwed’ into the fasteners 71 to thereby fasten and fix the respective mounting foot portions 7A to 7D to the vehicle body. At this time, the fastening and fixing of the three mounting foot portions 7A to 7C projecting in a short distance are performed first, and the fastening and fixing of the mounting foot portion 7D projecting in a relatively long distance toward the rear of the lamp body is performed last. Therefore, the attachment of the mounting foot portions 7A to 7C fixed previously can be performed even in the case where a dimensional error exists between the vehicle body and the lamp body. However, the influence of the dimensional error appears on the mounting foot portion 7D fixed last, and if the mounting foot portion 7D is fixed to the vehicle body in such a condition, the mounting foot portion 7D is fixed in a state that it is deformed so that an internal stress may be generated/ as described above with respect to Fig. 7(b). However/ in the configuration of this embodiment the mounting foot portion 7D is configured so that its intermediate portion is formed as the bent portion 74 bent so as to be fronted into a U-shape toward the rear of the lamp, particularly, its intermediate portion is bent so as to be formed into a U-shape in the direction in which the mounting foot portion 7D is fastened to the vehicle body. In addition, in this bent portion 74, the projecting size of the reinforcing rib 77 (the size of the lamp in the back/forth direction) is made relatively smaller than that in the other portions. Consequently, the rigidity of this U-shaped bent portion 74 is lowered to some extent in comparison with the other portions, so that this bent portion 74 is bent and deformed by a deformation force (internal stress) generated in the mounting portion 73 of the mounting foot portion 7D. In this state, as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 5, the internal stress generated in the mounting portion 73 is absorbed in the bent portion 74, with a result that the internal stress generated in the mounting foot portion 7D is reduced. Consequently, the moment force in the seal wall 11 connected to the base portion 72 is weakened, so that the seal wall 11 is prevented from being deformed toward the outside. In addition, the flat plate portion 75 of the base portion 72 of this mounting foot portion 7D is projected at its opposite sides outward so as to be formed wider than the base portion 12, so that the mechanical strength of this portion is increased. Accordingly, the deformation of the seal wall 11 is prevented from occurring more effectively. Therefore, the deterioration of the close contact property between the seal wall 11 and the gasket 13 due to the deformation of the seal wall 11 is prevented so that the sealing performance of the gasket 13 between the lamp body 1 and the seal foot portion 2a of the lens 2 can be kept so high that the sealing performance of the lamp can be prevented from deteriorating. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the present invention. In Fig. 6(a), a mounting foot portion 7E is provided so as to be connected to the front edge of the seal wall 11, and the mounting foot portion 7E is bent like a V-shape as a whole. Even the mounting foot portion 7E is formed into a V-shape, its effect is equivalent to that of the U-shape in the above embodiment. Accordingly, such a V-shaped configuration is included in the U-shape in the present invention. Also in this embodiment, a pressing force given to a mounting portion 73 of the mounting foot portion 7E can be absorbed in a bent portion 74 which is an intermediate portion of the V-shape. Accordingly, the influence of the pressing force on a base portion 72 of the mounting foot portion 7E can be softened, and the seal wall 11 can be prevented from being deformed, so that it is possible to keep the sealing performance high. On the other hand, in Fig. 6(b), after a projecting wall 14 is formed outside the seal wall 11, a mounting foot portion 7F is formed to project so as to be connected to the front end portion of this projecting wall 14. The configuration of an intermediate portion 74 in this mounting foot portion 7F is bent so as to be formed into a U-shape in the same manner as that in the above embodiment. Also in this configuration, a pressing force is absorbed in the U-shape bent portion 74 to prevent the seal wall 11 from being deformed, in the same manner as in the above embodiment. In addition, in this embodiment^ with the provision of the projecting wall 14, it is possible to increase the distance between the lower surface of the lamp body 1 and the mounting foot portion 7F, so that the volume of a mold for resin-molding the lamp body 1 can be increased in the range of this distance and the cooling efficiency of the mold after resin molding is improved. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the molding accuracy and shorten the molding time. Although an example in which a gasket formed of rubber sponge or the like is used as a sealing member is shown in the above embodiment, the present invention is applicable also to a lamp using a sealing agent such as hot-melt, etc., injected into a seal groove for sealing. Further, although a structure of fasteners and screws is shown as a mounting structure to a vehicle body in mounting foot portions in the above embodiment, the present invention is not particularly limited to this structure, but it is applicable also to any mounting structure so long as a mounting force is generated in the mounting foot portions, particularly toward the rear of the lamp, at the time of mounting. In addition, the mounting force generated in the mounting foot portions is not always necessary to be in the direction toward just back of the lamp. Even in the case where the mounting force is given obliquely backward, the present invention is applicable thereto if bent portions of the mounting foot portions are directed to this mounting force, As has been described above, according to the present invention, a bent portion bent so as to be formed into a U-shape in the direction in which a mounting force is given to a mounting foot portion for mounting the lamp to a vehicle body when the lamp is mounted thereto is provided in the mounting foot portion. Accordingly, the mounting force given to the forward end portion of the mounting foot portion is absorbed by bending and deforming that the force given to a base portion of the mounting foot portion is reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent deformation in a seal groove connected to the base portion of the mounting foot portion. It is therefore possible to obtain an effect that the sealing performance of a sealing member between a lamp body and a seal foot portion of a lens can be kept high. 1. A vehicle lamp, in which a seal foot portion of a lens to be attached to a front opening of a lamp body is inserted into a seal groove provided in a circumferential edge portion of said opening, and said vehicle lamp is attached to a vehicle by a mounting foot portion formed integrally with said lamp body to project from said circumferential edge portion while sealing is made with a sealing member between said seal groove and said seal foot portion, characterized in that said mounting foot portion has a base portion to be connected to said lamp body, a mounting portion for mounting said vehicle lamp on said vehicle body, and has a bent portion provided in a longitudinally intermediate portion between said base portion and said mounting portion so that said bent portion is bent substantially into a U-shape in the direction of a mounting force given to said mounting portion. 2. A vehicle lamp according to Claim 1, wherein said bent portion is formed by being bent toward the rear of said lamp. 3. A vehicle lamp according to Claim 2, wherein a reinforcing rib projecting in the bending direction of said bent portion is provided in said mounting foot portion. 4. A vehicle lamp according to any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein said mounting foot portion is formed so that the portion connected to said seal groove is shaped into a wide plane. 5. A vehicle lamp substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

375-mas-1998-abstract.pdf

375-mas-1998-claims filed.pdf

375-mas-1998-claims granted.pdf

375-mas-1998-correspondnece-others.pdf

375-mas-1998-correspondnece-po.pdf

375-mas-1998-description(complete)filed.pdf

375-mas-1998-description(complete)granted.pdf

375-mas-1998-drawings.pdf

375-mas-1998-form 1.pdf

375-mas-1998-form 26.pdf

375-mas-1998-form 4.pdf

375-mas-1998-form 5.pdf