JP7713288B2 - Vehicle lighting fixtures - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp.

Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle lamp in which a light source is disposed in each lamp chamber partitioned within a housing. The housing has an opening for emitting light from the light source from each lamp chamber to the outside. Each opening is closed by an outer lens.

JP 2001-110205 A

The inner surface of the housing that constitutes each lamp chamber may be subjected to a surface treatment such as painting. The treatment film formed by the surface treatment acts as a reflector that reflects the light from the light source to the outside. The area on the opening side of the partition that is placed between adjacent lamp chambers does not need to be surface treated. Therefore, when surface treating the inner surface of the housing that constitutes each lamp chamber, the area on the opening side of the partition is masked. However, the treatment liquid may be blown in through the gaps in the masking material. This makes the boundary between the surface treated area and the non-treated area unclear, resulting in a poor appearance.

Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp that has a simple structure, allows surface treatment to be applied to the inner surface of the housing that constitutes each lamp chamber, and has a good appearance.

A vehicle lamp according to one aspect of the present invention comprises:
A vehicle lamp including a housing that defines a plurality of lamp chambers in which light sources are housed,
The housing includes:
A partition portion disposed between adjacent lamp chambers;
an opening for emitting light from the light source to the outside from each of the plurality of lamp chambers;
a surface treatment film provided on an inner surface constituting each of the plurality of lamp chambers,
a cover member for covering a tip surface of the partition portion on the opening side,
The cover member has a positioning portion whose second end is supported by the partition portion so that a first end in the longitudinal direction is rotatable.

As one embodiment of the above vehicle lamp,
the plurality of lamp chambers includes a lamp chamber disposed near the first end,
an optical member covering the opening in the lamp chamber near the first end,
The cover member may include a peripheral portion connected to the first end and disposed along at least a portion of a periphery of the optical member.

When surface treatment is applied to the inner surface of the housing that constitutes each lamp chamber, the treatment liquid may adhere in a mottled manner to the tip surface of the partition. By providing a cover member, the vehicle lamp of the present invention can hide the mottled area with the cover member, even if the treatment liquid adheres in a mottled manner to the tip surface of the partition. Therefore, the vehicle lamp of the present invention can clearly separate the surface treated area from the non-treated area, and has a good appearance.

The vehicle lamp of the present invention can omit the masking required for surface treatment because the cover member can be attached after surface treatment. By omitting masking, the number of manufacturing steps for the vehicle lamp can be reduced, improving productivity. In particular, by providing a positioning portion on the cover member, the cover member can be easily attached to the partition by simply rotating the first end while the second end is supported by the partition. If the operation of attaching the cover member to the housing is the above-mentioned rotation, the movement trajectory of the cover member becomes constant, so that it is possible to prevent the cover member from unexpectedly coming into contact with other components in the vehicle lamp. For this reason, the vehicle lamp of the present invention can easily apply surface treatment to the inner surface of the housing constituting each lamp chamber, and can clearly divide the surface treatment area and the non-treatment area. Therefore, the vehicle lamp of the present invention has excellent productivity.

Furthermore, when the lamp chamber is covered with an optical member, the gap between the optical member and the housing can be covered with the cover member by aligning the cover member along at least a portion of the periphery of the optical member. The optical member is, for example, an inner lens. When aligning the cover member along the periphery of the optical member, there is a risk that the cover member may damage the optical member. As described above, the vehicle lamp of the present invention is provided with a positioning portion on the cover member, and by simply rotating the first end portion while the positioning portion is supported by the partition portion, the peripheral portion can be appropriately positioned around the optical member. Therefore, when aligning the cover member along the periphery of the optical member, the optical member can be prevented from being damaged by the cover member.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a vehicle lamp according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing the vehicle lamp according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a cover member provided in the vehicle lamp of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an outline of the vehicle lamp taken along the line (IV)-(IV) in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an outline of the vehicle lamp taken along the line V-V in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an outline of the vehicle lamp taken along the line (VI)-(VI) in FIG.

An embodiment of the vehicle lamp of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 6. The same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same objects. In the following description, "front," "rear," "left," "right," "upper," and "lower" refer to directions based on the front of the vehicle being the "front." In the figures, the arrow FR indicates the front side in the vehicle's fore-and-aft direction, the arrow RR indicates the rear side, the arrow LH indicates the left side in the vehicle's width direction, the arrow RH indicates the right side, the arrow UP indicates the upper side in the vehicle's up-down direction, and the arrow LWR indicates the lower side.

<Overall composition>
The vehicle lamp 1 of the embodiment includes a housing 2. The housing 2 constitutes a plurality of lamp chambers in which light sources are housed. The vehicle lamp 1 of this example is a rear combination lamp in which a turn signal lamp, a back-up lamp, and a tail lamp are integrated. The rear combination lamp is provided on the left and right sides of the rear of the vehicle, but in this example, the vehicle lamp 1 provided on the right side will be described as a representative, and the vehicle lamp provided on the left side will not be described. The vehicle lamp 1 shown in each figure is also a rear combination lamp provided on the right side. The housing 2 of this example constitutes a first lamp chamber 31 in which a first light source 41 is housed, a second lamp chamber 32 in which a second light source 42 is housed, and a third lamp chamber 33 in which a third light source (not shown) is housed. The first lamp chamber 31 in which the first light source 41 is housed, and the second lamp chamber 32 in which the second light source 42 is housed are shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4. The third lamp chamber 33 in which a third light source (not shown) is housed is shown in Figures 5 and 6. The lamp chambers 31, 32 are partitioned by a partition portion 22 of the housing 2. One of the features of the vehicle lamp 1 of the embodiment is that it includes a cover member 5 arranged in the partition portion 22. Each component will be described in detail below.

〔housing〕
The housing 2 includes an outer wall 21, a partition 22, and an opening 23. The outer wall 21 constitutes the exterior of the vehicle lamp 1. The housing 2 in this example constitutes the lamp chambers 31, 32, and 33 so that the turn signal lamp and the back-up lamp are arranged vertically on the inside in the vehicle width direction, and the tail lamp is arranged on the outside in the vehicle width direction. The housing 2 shown in each figure constitutes the lamp chambers 31, 32, and 33 so that the turn signal lamp is arranged on the upper left, the back-up lamp is arranged on the lower left, and the tail lamp is arranged on the right side. That is, the third lamp chambers 33 are arranged in a direction intersecting the arrangement direction of the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32, which is perpendicular in this example. In this example, three third lamp chambers 33 are formed. The three third lamp chambers 33 are arranged in a line along the arrangement direction of the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32, that is, the vertical direction.

The partition section 22 is disposed between adjacent lamp chambers. Specifically, the partition section 22 is disposed between the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In addition, partition sections (not shown) are disposed between the first lamp chamber 31 and the third lamp chamber 33, and between the second lamp chamber 32 and the third lamp chamber 33. In this example, three third lamp chambers 33 are provided. Therefore, partition sections (not shown) are disposed between adjacent third lamp chambers 33 as well.

The opening 23 is a space through which light from the light source is emitted from each of the lamp chambers 31, 32, and 33 to the outside. In this example, the opening 23 in the first lamp chamber 31 and the opening 23 in the second lamp chamber 32 are not individually covered and are open. On the other hand, the opening 23 in the third lamp chamber 33 is covered with an inner lens 8. In this example, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, each opening 23 in the three third lamp chambers 33 is collectively covered with a single inner lens 8. In Figures 1 and 2, the inner lens 8 is shown with cross-hatching for ease of understanding. An outer lens 9 (Figures 4 to 6) that collectively covers each of the lamp chambers 31, 32, and 33 is disposed in the housing 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the inner surfaces of the housing 2 constituting each of the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32, which open to the opening 23, are provided with a surface treatment film 24. The surface treatment film 24 acts as a reflector that reflects the light of the first light source 41 or the second light source 42 toward the opening 23. The surface treatment film 24 is formed by applying a surface treatment such as painting or vapor deposition. The surface treatment film 24 in the first lamp chamber 31 and the surface treatment film 24 in the second lamp chamber 32 may be formed of different treatment liquids or the same treatment liquid.

In this example, a cover member 5, which will be described later, is disposed in the partition 22 disposed between the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32. Specifically, the cover member 5 is disposed so as to cover the tip surface 220 on the opening 23 side of the partition 22 disposed between the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32. In the following description, the partition 22 disposed between the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32 will be simply referred to as the partition 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22 extends in a direction intersecting the arrangement direction of the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32, in the present example, in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction. An insertion hole 224 is formed in the end region of the tip surface 220 on the side farther from the third lamp chamber 33. The insertion hole 224 is a blind hole that opens into the tip surface 220 as shown in FIG. 6. The positioning portion 53 of the cover member 5 described later is inserted into the insertion hole 224. The insertion hole 224 has a tapered region located on the opening side and a straight region located on the bottom side. The tapered region has a truncated cone-shaped peripheral surface whose inner diameter gradually decreases from the opening edge toward the bottom side. The straight region has a cylindrical peripheral surface with a uniform inner diameter that is the smallest inner diameter in the tapered region. The tapered region contributes to facilitating rotation of the cover member 5 when the positioning portion 53 is fitted only into the tapered region. The straight region helps to lock the rotation of the cover member 5 when the positioning portion 53 is fitted into the straight region.

The remaining area of the tip surface 220 other than the end area where the insertion hole 224 is formed includes a shelf surface 221 and a guide surface 222, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The shelf surface 221 and the guide surface 222 extend from the end area toward the third lamp chamber 33. As shown in Fig. 4, the shelf surface 221 is a surface that extends from one of the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32 toward the other, and is configured as a flat surface. The guide surface 222 is a surface that extends from the shelf surface 221 toward the opening direction of the opening 23. The guide surface 222 is connected to the two shelf surfaces 221. In this example, the guide surface 222 has a plurality of ribs 223 at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the tip surface 220, as shown in Fig. 2. In this example, three ribs are provided. Each rib 223 is made of a triangular plate material that has sides that are connected to the shelf surface 221 and the guide surface 222, and an inclined side whose width decreases from the shelf surface 221 toward the tip of the guide surface 222.

As described above, the housing 2 forms three third lamp chambers 33. The outer wall 21 forming the third lamp chamber 33 in the housing 2 is provided with an insertion hole 213, a first engagement portion 211, and a second engagement portion 212. The insertion holes 213 are provided on the outer sides of the three third lamp chambers 33 in the arrangement direction. In other words, the insertion holes 213 are provided above and below the group of three third lamp chambers 33. Each insertion hole 213 is similar to the insertion hole 224 provided in the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22. The first engagement portion 211 and the second engagement portion 212 are provided on the outer surface on the right side of the outer wall 21. The first engagement portion 211 is provided at a position away from the inner lens 8 arranged in the third lamp chamber 33. On the other hand, the second engagement portion 212 is provided at a position close to the inner lens 8 arranged in the third lamp chamber 33. In other words, the first engagement portion 211 and the second engagement portion 212 are provided at a distance from each other in the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle on the outer wall 21. In this example, two first engagement portions 211 are provided at a distance from each other along the arrangement direction of the third lamp chambers 33, which in this example is the up-down direction. In this example, three second engagement portions 212 are provided corresponding to the number of third lamp chambers 33. The first engagement portion 211 and the second engagement portion 212 are configured with engagement claws that form a snap-fit structure.

[Cover member]
The cover member 5 is a member that covers the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22. As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the cover member 5 includes a main body portion 50 that covers the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22, and further includes a peripheral portion 55 and a tip portion 57 that are integrally molded with the main body portion 50.

The main body 50 is an elongated member. The main body 50 has a first end 51 and a second end 52. The first end 51 is located on the side closer to the third lamp chamber 33. The second end 52 is located on the side farther from the third lamp chamber 33. The first end 51 is located on the right side in FIG. 2, and the second end 52 is located on the left side in FIG. 2.

The second end 52 has a positioning portion 53, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6. The positioning portion 53 is a portion supported by the partition portion 22 so that the first end 51 can rotate freely. The positioning portion 53 is configured to protrude from the surface of the main body portion 50 facing the partition portion 22. The positioning portion 53 is fitted into an insertion hole 224 provided in the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22. As shown in Fig. 6, the positioning portion 53 in this example is cylindrical with an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of the straight region of the insertion hole 224. An insertion hole 530 is formed in the tip surface of the positioning portion 53. The insertion hole 530 is a blind hole that opens into the tip surface of the positioning portion 53. The fastening member 225 (Fig. 6) is fitted into the insertion hole 530 when the positioning portion 53 is fitted into the insertion hole 224.

In the area of the main body 50 other than the positioning portion 53, an opening 54 (FIG. 3) is provided on the side facing the partition 22. As shown in FIG. 4, the opening 54 accommodates the guide surface 222 of the partition 22. In FIG. 4, there is a gap between the surface constituting the opening 54 in the main body 50 and the guide surface 222. This gap corresponds to the size of the rib 223 of the partition 22. Therefore, by accommodating the guide surface 222 in the opening 54, the rib 223 restricts the main body 50 from moving in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal direction.

The peripheral portion 55 is disposed along at least a portion of the periphery of the inner lens 8 disposed in the third lamp chamber 33. The peripheral portion 55 is connected to the first end portion 51. The peripheral portion 55 includes a vertical piece and a plurality of horizontal pieces. The vertical piece extends from the first end portion 51 in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 50, in this example, in a direction perpendicular thereto. Each horizontal piece extends from the vertical piece to the opposite side to the main body portion 50 side. In other words, the peripheral portion 55 includes a vertical piece extending in the up-down direction and a plurality of horizontal pieces extending in the right direction from the vertical piece. The plurality of horizontal pieces are disposed at equal intervals. The vertical piece, the horizontal piece, and a thick portion 571 at the tip portion 57 described later form a frame-shaped body, and an opening is formed inside the frame. The peripheral portion 55 is disposed so as to be in contact with the periphery of the inner lens 8, as shown in FIG. 5. The peripheral portion 55 located on the outer side of the arrangement direction of the three third lamp chambers 33 among the peripheral portions 55 is provided with a positioning portion 56 (FIG. 3). Each positioning portion 56 is similar to the positioning portion 53 provided at the second end portion 52 of the main body portion 50. Each positioning portion 56 is fitted into an insertion hole 213 provided in the outer wall 21.

The tip portion 57 is connected to the opposite side of the main body portion 50 side in the peripheral portion 55 and is arranged along the outer surface of the outer wall 21. The tip portion 57 is arranged in the outer wall 21 along the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The tip portion 57 in this example is composed of a plate-shaped member. The tip portion 57 has a thick portion 571 arranged along the periphery of the inner lens 8 and a thin portion 572 other than the thick portion 571. The thick portion 571 also serves as the peripheral portion 55. In other words, the cover member 5 is arranged around the entire circumference of the inner lens 8 arranged in the third lamp chamber 33. The thick portion 571 and the thin portion 572 form a step portion 573. The step portion 573 is formed on the surface facing the outer wall 21. This step portion 573 engages with the second engagement portion 212 provided on the outer wall 21. Specifically, when the cover member 5 is attached to the housing 2, the engagement claw of the second engagement portion 212 hooks onto the step portion 573. The tip portion 57 also has an engagement portion 574 on the edge of the thin portion 572 that is away from the thick portion 571. The engagement portion 574 is configured as an engagement hole. The engagement portion 574 engages with a first engagement portion 211 provided on the outer wall 21. Specifically, when the cover member 5 is attached to the housing 2, the engagement claw of the first engagement portion 211 gets caught in the engagement hole.

[Method of attaching cover member to housing]
The cover member 5 is attached to the housing 2 as follows.

First, the positioning portion 53 provided on the second end 52 of the main body portion 50 of the cover member 5 is fitted into the insertion hole 224 provided on the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22 of the housing 2. At this time, the positioning portion 53 is fitted into the tapered region of the insertion hole 224, but not into the straight region. This allows the first end 51 side of the cover member 5 to rotate freely with the second end 52 as the starting point. Also, at this time, the first end 51 side of the cover member 5 is kept out of contact with the housing 2.

Next, the first end 51 side is rotated in a direction approaching the housing 2 starting from the second end 52. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide surface 222 provided on the tip surface 220 of the partition 22 is sequentially accommodated in the opening 54 (FIG. 3) of the main body 50 in the cover member 5 from the second end 52 side. At this time, the rib 223 provided on the guide surface 222 fits into the gap between the surface constituting the opening 54 in the main body 50 and the guide surface 222, restricting the main body 50 from moving in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal direction. The end surface of the main body 50 on the partition 22 side faces the shelf surface 221 provided on the tip surface 220 of the partition 22.

Finally, the first end 51 is brought into contact with the housing 2, and the positioning portion 53 is fitted into the straight region of the insertion hole 224. Then, the positioning portion 56 provided on the peripheral portion 55 of the cover member 5 fits into the insertion hole 213 provided in the outer wall 21, and the engagement portion 574 and the step portion 573 provided on the tip portion 57 of the cover member 5 engage with the first engagement portion 211 and the second engagement portion 212 provided on the outer wall 21. With the positioning portion 53 fitted into the insertion hole 224, the fastening member 225 fastens the positioning portion 53 to the housing 2 (Figure 6).

When the cover member 5 is attached to the housing 2, the tip surface 220 of the partition 22 is covered by the main body 50 of the cover member 5. In addition, the periphery of the inner lens 8 arranged in the third lamp chamber 33 is surrounded by the peripheral portion 55 of the cover member 5.

〔effect〕
The inner surface of the housing 2 constituting each of the first lamp chamber 31 and the second lamp chamber 32 is provided with a surface treatment film 24 (FIG. 4) that acts as a reflector. When the surface treatment film 24 is applied to the inner surface of the housing 2, the treatment liquid may adhere in a mottled manner to the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22 of the housing 2. In the vehicle lamp 1 of the present invention, by providing the main body portion 50 on the cover member 5, even if the treatment liquid adheres in a mottled manner to the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22, the mottled area can be hidden by the main body portion 50. At this time, by providing a guide surface 222 on the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22 and accommodating this guide surface 222 in the opening 54 (FIG. 3) of the main body portion 50, it is easy to cover the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22 with the main body portion 50. In particular, by providing the guide surface 222 with the rib 223, the rib 223 fits into the gap between the surface of the main body 50 that defines the opening 54 and the guide surface 222, restricting the main body 50 from moving in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal direction, and allowing the main body 50 to satisfactorily cover the tip surface 220 of the partition 22. Thus, the vehicle lamp 1 of the present invention can clearly separate the surface-treated area from the non-treated area, and has a good appearance.

In the case of a third lamp chamber 33 covered by an inner lens 8, the periphery of the inner lens 8 is surrounded by the peripheral portion 55 of the cover member 5, so that the gap between the inner lens 8 and the housing 2 can be covered by the peripheral portion 55. The cover member 5 is attached to the housing 2 by rotating the first end 51 side in a direction approaching the housing 2, starting from the second end 52 of the main body 50. At this time, the positioning portion 53 of the second end 52 of the cover member 5 is supported by the partition portion 22, and the main body 50 is disposed against the tip surface 220 of the partition portion 22, so that the cover member 5 is disposed at a predetermined position relative to the housing 2. In other words, the peripheral portion 55 can be appropriately disposed around the inner lens 8 simply by rotating the first end 51 with the positioning portion 53 supported by the partition portion 22. Therefore, the vehicle lamp 1 of the present invention can suppress the inner lens 8 from being scratched by the cover member 5 when the periphery of the inner lens 8 is surrounded by the cover member 5. If the action of attaching the cover member 5 to the housing 2 is the above-mentioned rotation, the movement trajectory of the cover member 5 is constant, so that it is possible to prevent the cover member 5 from unexpectedly coming into contact with other components of the vehicle lamp 1. Therefore, the vehicle lamp 1 of the present invention can improve workability because there is no need to worry about damaging the inner lens 8 when assembling the cover member 5 to the housing 2.

The present invention is not limited to these examples, but is intended to include all modifications within the scope of the claims and meaning equivalent to the claims. For example, the following modifications are possible in the above-described embodiment.

The shape of the inner lens can be made to be other than rectangular, and the shape of the periphery can be changed to match that shape. In this way, even with a complex inner lens shape, it is possible to fit the cover member around the periphery of the inner lens while preventing the inner lens from being scratched. In addition, a cover member can also be placed around the light guide as an optical component other than the inner lens.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Vehicle lamp 2 Housing 21 Outer wall 211 First engagement portion 212 Second engagement portion 213 Insertion hole 22 Partition portion 220 Tip surface 221 Shelf surface 222 Guide surface 223 Rib 224 Insertion hole 225 Fastening member 23 Opening 24 Surface treatment film 31 First lamp chamber 32 Second lamp chamber 33 Third lamp chamber 41 First light source 42 Second light source 5 Cover member 50 Main body portion 51 First end portion 52 Second end portion 53 Positioning portion 530 Insertion hole 54 Opening 55 Peripheral portion 56 Positioning portion 57 Tip portion 571 Thick portion 572 Thin portion 573 Step portion 574 Engagement portion 8 Inner lens 9 Outer lens

Claims (1)

A vehicle lamp including a housing that defines a plurality of lamp chambers in which light sources are housed,
The housing includes:
A partition portion disposed between adjacent lamp chambers;
an opening for emitting light from the light source to the outside from each of the plurality of lamp chambers;
a surface treatment film provided on an inner surface constituting each of the plurality of lamp chambers,
a cover member having a main body portion that covers a tip surface of the partition portion on the opening side,
The body portion comprises an elongated member having a first end and a second end,
the second end portion includes a positioning portion supported by the partition portion,
the first end portion is rotatable about the second end portion in a state in which the positioning portion is supported by the partition portion,
The positioning portion has a cylindrical shape protruding from a surface of the main body that faces the partition portion,
The tip surface is
an insertion hole into which the positioning portion is fitted;
a shelf surface formed of an elongated flat surface corresponding to the main body portion in a remaining region other than the end region in which the insertion hole is formed;
a guide surface extending from the shelf surface toward an opening direction of the opening,
The insertion hole includes a tapered region located on an opening side of the insertion hole,
the tapered region has a frustum-shaped peripheral surface whose inner diameter gradually decreases from an opening side of the insertion hole toward a bottom side of the insertion hole such that the first end portion is rotatable around the second end portion when the positioning portion is fitted into the insertion hole,
The main body portion includes a cover opening in which the guide surface is accommodated and an end surface facing the shelf surface,
The direction in which the first end portion is rotated is a direction in which the first end portion is rotated about an axis along the arrangement direction of the adjacent lamp chambers so as to approach the housing and in which the guide surface is accommodated in the cover opening .
Vehicle lighting fixtures.