GB2217827A

GB2217827A - Light structure

Info

Publication number: GB2217827A
Application number: GB8902330A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Olmos Jose Maria Ordonez
Original assignee: Faespa S A
Current assignee: Faespa S A
Priority date: 1988-04-29
Filing date: 1989-02-02
Publication date: 1989-11-01
Anticipated expiration: 2009-02-02
Also published as: FR2630811A1; DE3833316A1; IT1224485B; ES2007217A6; IT8867915A0; FR2630811B1; GB2217827B; GB8902330D0

Abstract

A light structure suitable for a vehicle comprises a reflector (1) releasably secured to an anchoring ring (5) which may support other components of the light structure. The reflector (1) is releasably secured to the anchoring ring (5) by at least one snap type clip (8) of a kind which incorporates a wire spring (9) that may be selectively deformed to facilitate ease of separation of the reflector and anchoring ring. <IMAGE>

Description

# - 1 - 40518 221782.7 LIGHT STRUCTURE 1 This invention relates to a light

structure and in particular, although not exclusively, to a light structure for a vehicle such as an automobile. The light structure may be of a kind for reflecting light incident upon the vehicle or for reflecting light from a lamp carried by the vehicle.

Commonly a vehicle lamp structure comprises a reflector (often of a type referred to as a projection parabola), a lamp holder and lamp, a transparent front cover (commonly in the form of a lens) and a rear protective cover to prevent ingress of dust and other dirt to the light reflecting surface of the reflector. Additionally, the lamp structure conventionally comprises location elements by means of which it may be installed and secured relative to a vehicle.

The need to secure together the afore-described components of a vehicle lamp structure and to secure the vehicle lamp structure to a vehIcle often results in the provision of securing arrangements which are complex and therefore expensive as well as often presenting difficulties in the installation and removal of the lamp structure.

Many types of commonly used securing arrangements occupy an undesirably great amount of space and consequently pose a restriction on the freedom for designing the vehicle structure and body in the regions of the lamp structures.

The present invention seeks t6 provide a light structure, such as a lampstructure for a vehicle, in which the afore-described disadvantages of known light structures are mitigated or overcome.

In accordance with one of its aspects the present invention provides a light structure comprising a lightreflector, an anchoring ring which extends around a perimeter region of the reflector, and retention means whereby said reflector and anchoring ring are secured to one another, said retention means comprising at least one snap type clip of a kind compr ising an insert portion associated-with one of the reflector and anchoring ring and a receiving portion associated with the other of said reflector and anchoring ring and adapted to receive said insert portiong resilient location means being associated with one of said insert and receiving portions to cooperate with the other of said insert and receiving portions whereby when the insert and receiving portions have been assembled the resilient location means acts normally to prevent their separation.

The receiving portion may be in the form of a substantially tubular shaped chamber and a wall portion of said chamber may be arranged to locate resilient location means and permit movement of the location means upon insertion of the insert portion into the tubular chamber of the receiving portion.

Preferably the receiving portion has a pair of 11 confronting wall portions for location of a pair of location means. The tubular shaped chamber may be of a rectangular cross-sectional shape and said confronting wall portions may be comprised by that pair of confronting walls of the chamber which are the more widely spaced.

The or each resilient location means may be comprised by a spring such as a wire spring. Where a pair of - location means is provided, as for example in the case of location means provided in confronting wall portions of a receiving portion in the form of a substantially tubular shaped chamber) the two location means may be comprised by respective portions of a single resilient location device such as a wire type spring of a substantially U-shape form.

In the case of a pair of location means comprised by a U-shape wire spring, the spring may have a central Portion from which a pair of side portions extend substantially perpendicular to the central portion and in like directions. A part, for example a substantially middle part, of each side portion may extend in an inward direction toward the other side portion and a distal part of each side portion may extend outward from the other side portion and away from the central connecting portion for a purpose which will be explained below.

The U-shape wire spring may be adapted for location generally exteriorly of a tubular shaped chamber and the inwardly extending parts of the side portions may be adapted for location respectively in a pair of window-like - 1+ - openings provided in opposed wall portions of said chamber. The inwardly extending parts are arranged to tend inherently to lie-at least in part within the tubular shaped chamber.

Said tubular shaped chamber additionally may be provided with a pair of bearing surfaces which extend obliquely relative to the central portion of a U-shapedwire spring and which are contacted by the respective distal parts of the two side portions of the spring at least in some conditions. In this arrangement it is further provided that the central portion of the spring tends normally to lie spaced from the exterior of the chamber; in consequence the central portion may be pressed selectively toward the chamber whereupon the distal parts of the side portions of the spring will tend to move apart by virtue of contact with the obliquely extending bearing surfaces and thereby result in movement of the inwardly extending parts of the spring outward from the interior of the chamber.

The insert portion may be in the form of a projection and said projection may be adapted for extending into a substantially tubular shaped receiving portion of a kind as recited in-the preceding two paragraphs. Opposite external surfaces of the projection may be adapted to deflect the side portions of the U-shaped spring outward as the insert portion is urged into the chamber and to-provide abutment faces against which those side portions may bear when the 1 1 insert and receiving-portions are in an assembled condition, thereby normally to prevent their subsequent separation.

The projection may have, at opposite external surfaces, abutment formations each comprising an inclined surface adapted gradually to deflect apart the side portions of the spring during assembly and a transverse surface which extends substantially perpendicular to the direction of insertion of the projection into the chamber to act normally as an abutment to prevent movement of the projection from the chamber.

One of the insert and receiving portions may be provided with a resilient buffer arranged normally to hold the abutment faces of an insert portion against a spring side portion.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that select ive separation of the insert and receiving portions may be achieved both quickly and easily by applying a force to the central portion of the spring whereby its side portions slide outward over the bearing surfaces from normal engagement with the abutment formations of the insert thereby to facilitate removal of the insert. Conversely assembly and any need for subsequent re-assembly is readily achieved by the abutment formations temporarily deflecting the spring side portions upon insertion and then allowing inward movement of those side portions thereby to retain the insert portion within the receiving portion.

The anchoring ring typically may extend around and be retained at a rear perimeter portion of the reflector. The retention means to secure together the anchoring ring and reflector may be comprised solely by a single snap type clip as herein described or one or more of said clips may be provided in combination with additional retention means. Additional retention means may comprise for example one or more peg and slot members provided one on the anchoring ring and one on the reflector.

The reflector may be of a substantially rectangular shape in front elevation and one longer edge may be secured to the anchoring ring by retention means of a conventional kind such as of a peg and slot type whilst the other longer edge may be secured to the anchoring ring by a pair of snap type clips of the kind herein described.

The anchoring ring may be employed to provide location for a rear protective cover and directly or indirectly for a transparent front cover. Additionally it may be employed to facilitate location of the light structure to a support such as that provided by the body of the vehicle.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only5 with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a vehicle lamp in accordance with the present invention, in the plane of the line of symmetry of Figure 2, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view in a plane perpendicular to that of Figure 1, c Figure 3 Ls a view similar to that of Figure 1 but in a plane offset from the line of symmetry and extending through a snap type lower clip, Figure L shoWs'a section on the line A-B of Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a part section perspectiv6 view of two components of a snap type clip of Figure A vehicle lamp comprises a parabolic reflector 1 to the perimeter of which is secured a lens 2 arranged to extend over and protect the front reflective surface of the reflector. The reflector incorporates a lamp support 1+ and an electric filament lamp 3.

An anchoring ring 5 typically of plastics material, extends around a rear perimeter region of the reflector.

- The anchoring ring is of a generally rectangular shape and along one, upper longer edge it is secured to the reflector by a conventional attachment arrangement comprising a protrusion 6 that is integral with the anchoring ring and hooks over a complementary peg portion 7 associated with the reflector (see Figure 3). Along a second, lower longer edge the anchoring ring is secured to the reflector by retention means in the form of a pair of snap type clips 8 which will now be described in more detail.

Each snap type clip 8 (see Figures 1+ and 5) comprises an insert portion in the form of a protrusion 15 associated with the rear, outer perimeter region of the reflector 1, and a receiving portion in the form of a substantiaily tubular shaped housing chamber 12 associated with the anchoring ring 5 and resilient location means in the form of a wire spring 9.

The chamber 12 is of a rectangular cross-sectional shape the confronting smaller side walls of which are each formed with a window opening 13 (only one shown in Figure 5).

The wire spring 9 is of a generally U-shape form and has a pair of side arm portions which each have an inwardly bent portion 10 and a distal portion 11 which extends outwardly in an obtuse manner away from the other side arm portion and from a central spring portion which interconnects the side arm portions.

The wire spring 9 is positioned primarily about the exterior of the chamber 12 but with the inwardly bent portions 10 received in the respective window openings 13 of the chamber. In the configuration as shown in Figure the inwardly bent portions 10 extend to lie within the chamber 12.

The window openings 10 each have upper edges 14 which act as bearing surfaces for contact by the distal portions 11 of the spring and are angled in a direction which generally corresponds with the direction in which said distal portions of the spring are angled.

The anchoring ring 5 in the vicinity of each housing chamber 12 has a pair of openings 17 into which the distal portions of the spring 9 may be displaced.

9 - The chamber 12 also comprises two pairs of stabilising protrusions 18 a pair being aligned with the sides of a respective window opening 13 and positioned so as to lie either side of a side portion of the spring.

Each of the above referred protrusions 15 is provided with a pair of major surfaces which are dimensioned to engage tightly in the housing chamber 12. Each pro-. trusion 15 also has a pair of side faces each having a tooth formation 16. Each tooth formation 16 has an inclined face (as visible in Figure 5) and an abutment face which extends substantially perpendicular relative to the side face.

Upon assembly of the protrusion 15 into the chamber 12 the side teeth 16 temporarily displace the inwardly bent spring portions 10 outmardly from the chamber until 'the protrusion is fully inserted. When the protrusion is fully inserted and the teeth have entered the chamber beyond the position of the window openings 13 the spring portions inherently tend to more inwards to bear against the side walls of the protrusion 15. In this condition they abut the above referred abutment faces of the teeth 16 to prevent movement of the protrusion outwardly from the chamber.

A flexible buffer 19 at the inner end of the chamber tends normally to urge the protrusion outwardly from the chamber when in an assembled condition. In consequence the abutment faces of the teeth 16 are maintained in contact with the spring portions 10 and any free-play that might lead to undesirable vibrations is thereby avoided.

When it is desired to release the protrusion 15 from the chamber 12 to separate the reflector 1 and anchoring ring 5 the central Portion of the spring, which - as shown by Figure normally lies spaced from the exterior of the chamber 129 is pushed toward the chamber 12. In consequence the distal, portions 11 of the spring slide outwards over the bearing surfaces 14 to result in separ^ ation of the inwardly bent portions 10 to lie free of the tooth abutment faces 16. The protrusion may then be with drawn from the chamber 12 and pressure on the spring central portion may be released.

The afore-described lamp unit additionally may comprise a rear protective cover 20 which may be a snap fit over the anchoring ring. The ring 5 may be provided with small slits 21 with which the rim 22 of the cover 20 conforms and engages.

The anchoring ring may serve other functions. additional or alternative to the support of a rear protective cover. Thus it may comprise positioning means by which the lamp unit may be attached to a vehicle.

One form of positioning means will now be described with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings. At a lower edge of the lamp the anchoring ring 5 is provided with a part-spherical shaped cap portion 23 and a 1 Z slot 24 extends through a lower part of the portion 23 from a front region of the lamp unit to a rear region thereof, i.e. a slot which lies in.the plane of Figure 1. The cap portion is shaped to seat against the complementary shaped surface 29 of a cap receiving socket 28 which in turn may be seated on, say, a vehicle fender. The cap receiving socket is formed with a central hole of a diameter corresponding to the width of the slot 24 and the shank portion 27 of a bolt 25 is arranged to extend through the slot 24 and that central hole. An annular flat ring 26 is positioned between the head of the bolt 25 and the cap portion 23 so as uniformly to load the cap portion and cause it to frictionally engage the socket 25 when a nut 30 is tightened relative to the bolt head thereby to lock the anchoring ring in position relative to the vehicle fender.

1

Claims

1. A light structure comprising a light reflector, an anchoring ring which extends around a perimeter region of the reflector2 and retention means whereby said reflector and anchoring ring are secured to one another, said retention means comprising at least one snap type clip of a kind comprising an insert portion associated with one of the reflector and anchoring ring and a receiving portion associated with the other of said reflector and anchoring ring and adapted to receive said insert portion, resilient location means being associated with one of said insert and receiving portions to cooperate with the other of said insert and receiving portions whereby when the insert and receiving portions have been assembled the resilient location means acts normally to prevent their separation.

2. A light structure according to claim 1, wherein the receiving portion is comprised by a substantially tubular shaped chamber.

3. A light structure according to claim 2, wherein a wall portion of said chamber provides location for said resilient location means.

1+. A light structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the receiving portion comprises a pair of confronting wall portions for location of a pair g, 1 of said resilient location means.

A light structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said re silient location means comprises a spring.

A light structure according to claim 5, wherein said spring is a wire spring.

7. A light structure according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising a resilient location device which provides at least a pair of said resilient location means.

8. A light structure according to claim 7, wherein said resilient location device comprises a wire type spring of a substantially U-shape form having a central portion from which a pair of side-Portions extend.

9. A light structure according to claim 8, wherein amid part of each side portion extends in an inward direction toward the other side portion.

10. A light structure according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein a distal part of each side portion extends outwards away from the other side portion and away from the central portion.

11. A light structure according to claim 9 or claim 10, when dependant on claim 9, wherein the spring is - l)+ - adapted for location generally exteriorly of a tubular shaped chamber and the inwardly extending parts of said side portions of the spring are arranged to tend inherently to be at least in part within said tubular shaped chamber.

12. A light structure according to claim 11, wherein said tubular shaped chamber comprises a pair of window-like openings which accommodate and locate inwardly extending parts of the side portions of the spring.

13. A light structure according to claim 10 or claim 11, wherein said tubular shaped chamber comprises a pair of bearing surfaces which extend obliquely relative to the central portion of the spring and are arranged for contact by distal parts of the spring side portions.

14. A light structure according to claim 13, wherein the central portion of the spring is arranged normally to lie spaced from the tubular shaped chamber and wherein application of external force to move that central portion towards the tubular shaped chamber causes the distal parts of the spring side portions to move outwardly over said bearing surfaces thereby to cause movement of the inwardly extending parts of the spring side portions outward from the interior of the chamber.

15. A light structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the insert portion is in the form of a projection for extending into a substantially cl tubular shaped chamber.

16. A light structure according to claim 15, wherein the projection is formed with a surface portion adapted to deflect a resilient location means upon insertion of the projection into the tubular shaped chamber.

17. A light structure according to claim 15 or claim 16 wherein the projection is formed with an abutment face against which a resilient location means may bear normally to prevent separation of the projection and chamber from an assembled condition.

18. A light structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the insert and receiving portions is provided with a resilient buffer arranged normally to urge one of said portions against the resilient location means when the two portions are in a mutually assembled condition.

19. A light structure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said anchoring ring extends around and is retained at a rear perimeter portion of the reflector.

20. A light reflector according to claim 19 wherein the anchoring ring is secured to the reflector by at least one of said snap type clips and at least one other type of retention means.

21. A light reflector according to claim 20, wherein the reflector is of a substantially rectangular shape in front elevation, one longer edge of the reflector being secured to the anchoring ring by retention means of a conventional kind and the other longer edge being secured to the anchoring ring by a pair of said snap type clips.

22. A light reflector constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 t 1989 &tTine Patent Offloe. 8 House, 66,71 High Holborn, London WC1-R 4"_. Purther copies MAYbe Obtained from Thp Patent office. Was Bmnell, St.. Ormington, Kent BM 3W. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Cr&y, Kent_ SM 1187