Abstract:
A method for positioning a headlamp on a vehicle body, which includes: setting the headlamp temporarily in a first position on a first member of the vehicle body; and putting the first member and a second member of the vehicle body together, bringing the first member along with the headlamp closer to the second member, allowing the headlamp to move relative to the first member from the first position.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to method and structure for positioning a headlamp on a front section of a vehicle body when assembling the vehicle body with the headlamp.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    In a process of assembling a vehicle body, a front end module which includes a radiator core support and other parts such as a bumper fascia is put together with a front section of the vehicle body. Automotive headlamps are attached to the radiator core support in the front end module.  
           [0005]    Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid-Open No. 2002-264745 discloses a structure, in which a bumper fascia provided with headlamp attachments, is put together with a front section of the vehicle body.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    In the aforementioned structure, the headlamps are fixed to the radiator core support, and the radiator core support is positioned on front fenders which are fixed to hood ridges in the front section of the vehicle body. Accordingly, it is difficult to adjust the alignment of the radiator core support, hood ridges, headlamps and front fenders. Misalignment thereof results in uneven gaps or steps formed on a surface, affecting the appearance of the front section of the vehicle body.  
           [0007]    The present invention was made in the light of this problem. An object of the present invention is to provide method and structure for properly positioning a headlamp on a front section of a vehicle body.  
           [0008]    An aspect of the present invention is a method for positioning a headlamp on a vehicle body, comprising: setting the headlamp temporarily in a first position on a first member of the vehicle body; and putting the first member and a second member of the vehicle body together, bringing the first member along with the headlamp closer to the second member, allowing the headlamp to move relative to the first member from the first position. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure for positioning a headlamp on a vehicle body according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a front end module and a front section of a vehicle body are shown apart from each other.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a left side of the front section of the vehicle body when the front end module is brought closer to the front section of the vehicle body, in which a temporarily holding device for the headlamp is shown.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of pin and hole of the temporarily holding device of FIG. 2.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4A is an enlarged perspective view of a fixing block of FIG. 2.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the fixing block taken along line IVB-IVB of FIG. 4A.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the front end module of FIG. 2 is brought closer to the front section of the vehicle body.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the fixing block in FIG. 5 and a front lower end of a front fender.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state where the front end module of FIG. 5 is brought further closer to the front section of the vehicle body.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a positioning pin in FIG. 7.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state where the front end module of FIG. 7 is brought still further closer to the front section of the vehicle body.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the positioning pin taken along line X-X of FIG. 9.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of the temporarily holding device in FIG. 9.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 12A is an enlarged perspective view showing a relative position of a front bracket of the headlamp and a front headlamp bracket provided on the radiator core support in FIG. 5.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12B is an explanatory perspective view showing a relative position of the front bracket of the headlamp and the front headlamp bracket. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0024]    An embodiment of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings, wherein like members are designated by like reference characters.  
         [0025]    As shown in FIG. 1, a front end module  3  is put together with a front section of avehiclemain body  1 . An assisting device or a robot with a mounting jig (not shown) for gripping the front end module  3  may be used for bringing the front end module  3  closer to the vehicle main body  1 .  
         [0026]    The front end module  3  includes a radiator core support  5  which has lamp attachments  7  on upper portions of outer ends in a vehicle transverse direction thereof. Headlamps  9  are attached onto the lamp attachments  7  in a state of being held temporarily. On both transversely outer sides of the front section of the vehicle main body  1 , there are front fenders  13  fixed to hood ridges  11 . On lower part of the front section of the vehicle main body  1 , on both transversely outer sides thereof, there are front side members  15  extending frontward.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a left side of the front section of the vehicle main body  1  when the front end module  3  of FIG. 1 is brought close to the front section of the vehicle main body  1 . A right side of the front section is symmetrical to the left side thereof. Description will be made only on this left side, and explanation of the right side will be omitted.  
         [0028]    A round bar-shaped pin  17  for temporally holding the headlamp  9  is formed to extend downward from a lower portion of the headlamp  9 . Below the headlamp  9 , a substantially horizontal planar portion  19  is formed on the radiator core support  5 . On the planer portion  19 , a hole  21  is provided. The pin  17  is inserted into the hole  21  and temporarily held by the hole  21 . These pin  17  and hole  21  constitute a temporarily holding device for the headlamp  9 .  
         [0029]    As shown in FIG. 3, the pin  17  is formed to have a groove portion  17   b  having a width larger than a plate thickness of the planar portion  19  on an outer circumferential surface thereof at a position apart from a tip portion (lower end)  17   a  by a predetermined distance. Moreover, the pin  17  is formed to have on the outer circumferential surface above the groove portion  17   b,  a disc flange  17   c  extending from the outer circumferential surface. The hole  21  is constituted of a rectangular opening  21   a  and a holder portion  21   c  provided on a rear side of the opening  21   a.  The holder portion  21   c  communicates with the opening  21   a  through a communicating portion  21   b,  and extends rearward therefrom.  
         [0030]    The holder portion  21   c  is an inner edge of the planar portion  19  formed in a semicircular shape, and an inner diameter thereof is set larger than an outer diameter of the groove portion  17   b  of the pin  17 , and smaller than an outer diameter of a portion  17   d  above the groove portion  17   b.  Accordingly, if the groove portion  17   b  of the pin  17  is inserted into and engaged with the holder portion  21   c,  the headlamp  9  is temporarily held by the front end module  3 .  
         [0031]    The communicating portion  21   b  is formed to have an opening width W 1  somewhat smaller than the outer diameter of the groove portion  17   b.  This makes it difficult for the groove portion  17   b  in the holder portion  21   c  to move into the opening  21   a  through the communicating portion  21   b.  Thus, the headlamp  9  is not released easily from the temporal holding thereof. When the groove portion  17   b  is inserted into the holder portion  21   c,  opening edges  21   d  of the communicating portion  21   b  are elastically deformed to some extent to allow the groove portion  17   b  to get through the communicating portion  21   b.    
         [0032]    The temporarily held headlamp  9  is thus located in the rear of a normal attachment position thereof on the front end module  3 , and is movable frontward relative to the front end module  3  while being kept in this state.  
         [0033]    Moreover, the flange  17   c  of the pin  17  is formed larger than the opening  21   a.  Thus, in case the temporal holding of the headlamp  9  is undone, the flange  17   c  is caught on the planar portion  19 , preventing the headlamp  9  from falling beyond a limited extent.  
         [0034]    A front bracket  23  is formed on a front part of a transversely inner side of the headlamp  9 . The radiator core support  5  is provided with a front headlamp bracket  25 , which is located in front of the front bracket  23  of the temporarily held headlamp  9  at a predetermined interval. A front fixing bolt  26  is inserted into the front headlamp bracket  25  from the front, and a rear end of the front fixing bolt  26  is temporarily fastened to the front bracket  23 .  
         [0035]    On a rear part of the transversely inner side of the headlamp  9 , a rear bracket  27  is provided which extends rearward. On this rear bracket  27 , a bolt insertion hole  27   a  and a clip insertion hole  27   b  are made, into which a rear fixing bolt  28  and a clip  29  are respectively inserted.  
         [0036]    On an upper inner edge of the front fender  13 , a rear headlamp bracket  31  formed with a bolt insertion hole  31   a  and a clip engagement hole  31   b.  On a lower side of the rear headlamp bracket  31 , at a location corresponding to the bolt insertion hole  31   a,  a nut (not shown) is fixed for fastening the rear fixing bolt  28  thereto.  
         [0037]    Furthermore, a fixing block  33  is provided on an outer lower portion of the headlamp  9 . FIG. 4A is an enlarged perspective view showing the fixing block  33 . The fixing block  33  includes a block-shaped fender bracket  35 , and a plate-shaped fender guide member  37  horizontally extending from an upper part of the fender bracket  35 .  
         [0038]    On a transversely outer side face  35   a  of the fender bracket  35 , a screw hole  35   b  is provided. On a front lower end of the front fender  13 , a lower bracket  39  is provided, on which a bolt insertion hole  39   a  is provided. A bolt  41  is inserted into the bolt insertion hole  39   a,  and is fastened to the screw hole  35   b  of the fixing block  33 .  
         [0039]    The fender guide member  37  extends from the upper portion of the fender bracket  35  transversely outward and has a part extending rearward. A guide groove  37   a  is formed on the fender guide member  37  to extend frontward from a rear end thereof. The guide groove  37   a  is formed on a rear end thereof with a tapered notch  37   b  progressively widening rearward. An entrance  37   d  of the guide groove  37   a  opens with a width W 2 .  
         [0040]    The guide groove  37   a  receives and guides the lower bracket  39  of the front fender  13 , which has a thickness t 1 . As shown in FIG. 4B, an inner sidewall  37   c  of the guide groove  37   a  and the side face  35   a  of the fender bracket  35  are set substantially flush with each other.  
         [0041]    Specifically, the fender guide member  37  guides the front edge of the lower bracket  39  of the front fender  13  into the guide groove  37   a,  providing inner edges of the guide groove  37   a  as slidable on both transversely outer and inner sides of the vertically extending lower bracket  39 .  
         [0042]    Moreover, the headlamp  9  has a rear side face extending upward and rearward from a lower part thereof where the fixing block  33  is provided. On the rear side face, a positioning pin  45  is provided to protrude rearward. The positioning pin  45  is tapered to have at a tip thereof a width W 3  in the horizontal direction.  
         [0043]    Meanwhile, substantially in the middle of a front edge in the vertical direction of the front fender  13 , at a location corresponding to the positioning pin  45 , a pin receiver  47  is provided, which is formed to protrude transversely inward from the front edge and to have an inclined face to be matched to the aforementioned rear side face of the headlamp  9 . The positioning pin  45  is inserted into a positioning hole  47   a  with a horizontal width W 4 , provided on the pin receiver  47 . The headlamp  9  is thus positioned on the vehicle main body  1 .  
         [0044]    Next, an operation will be described. First, the headlamp  9  is temporarily held on the radiator core support  5 . This temporal holding is achieved by inserting the temporarily holding pin  17  into the opening  21   a  of the hole  21 , pushing the pin  17  rearward to have the groove portion  17   b  of the pin  17  fitted into the holder portion  21   c,  as shown in FIG. 3, and inserting the front fixing bolt  26  into the front headlamp bracket  25 , and fastening the rear end of the front fixing bolt  26  temporarily to the front bracket  23  of the headlamp  9 .  
         [0045]    The front end module  3 , with the headlamp  9  temporarily held on the radiator core support  5 , is moved from the position shown in FIG. 2, and brought closer to the front section of the vehicle main body  1 .  
         [0046]    When the front end module  3  and the vehicle main body  1  are brought into a state shown in FIG. 5 by the above mentioned operation, first, the front edge of the lower bracket  39  of the front fender  13  starts entering the guide groove  37   b  of the fender guide member  37  as shown in FIG. 6. Specifically, the fender guide member  37  catches the front edge of the lower bracket  39  and guides the lower bracket  39  into the guide groove  37   b  with the inner edges thereof sliding on transversely inner and outer sides of the lower bracket  39 . Here, the notch  37   b  is formed at the entrance of the guide groove  37   a,  and accordingly, the lower bracket  39  can be easily guided to enter the guide groove  37   a.    
         [0047]    When the front end module  3  is brought further closer to the vehicle main body  1  from the position shown in FIG. 5, the lower bracket  39  of the front fender  13  moves into a deep front part of the guide groove  37   a  as shown in FIG. 7, and then the positioning pin  45  starts engagement with the positioning hole  47 a as shown in FIG. 8.  
         [0048]    The lower bracket  39  of the front fender  13  is guided into the guide groove  37   a  before the positioning pin  45  starts engagement with the positioning hole  47   a,  and the positioning pin  45  is tapered at its leading end. Accordingly, the positioning pin  45  can easily engage with the positioning hole  47   a.    
         [0049]    When the front end module  3  is brought still closer to the vehicle main body  1  from the position shown in FIG. 7, a contact face  49  provided around a base end portion of the positioning pin  45  comes into contact with front side of the pin receiver  47  as shown in FIG. 10. The headlamp  9  is thus naturally positioned on the vehicle main body  1  in the vehicle longitudinal, transverse and vertical directions.  
         [0050]    At this moment, the rear bracket  27  of the headlamp  9  is placed on the rear headlamp bracket  31  of the front fender  13 . The bolt insertion holes  27   a  and  31   a  are aligned to be match with each other, and the clip insertion hole  27   b  and the clip engagement hole  31   b  are aligned to be match with each other.  
         [0051]    When the front end module  3  is further moved towards the vehicle main body  1  from the position shown in FIG. 10, the headlamp  9  moves together with the vehicle main body  1 , and accordingly the radiator core support  5  moves rearward relative to the headlamp  9 . By this relative movement, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 11, the temporarily holding pin  17  is detached from the holder portion  21   c,  and moves into the opening  21   a.  Thus, the temporal holding of the headlamp  9  is undone.  
         [0052]    In this case, the flange  17   c  of the pin  17  is brought into contact with a peripheral edge of the opening  21   a,  and prevents the headlamp  9  from falling beyond the limited extent.  
         [0053]    With the headlamp  9  released from the temporal holding, the front headlamp bracket  25  provided on the radiator core support  5  moves further rearward relative to the headlamp  9 . Motions in this case are shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B. Specifically, the front headlamp bracket  25  moves rearward from the position shown in FIG. 12A, then comes into contact with the front bracket  23  of the headlamp  9 , as shown in FIG. 12B, with the front fixing bolt  26  protruding frontward from the front headlamp bracket  25 .  
         [0054]    In this state, by tightening the front fixing bolt  26 , the front bracket  23  is fastened to the front headlamp bracket  25  of the radiator core support  5 . As shown in FIG. 9, the clip  29  is inserted into the clip insertion hole  27   b,  and the rear fixing bolt  28  is inserted into the bolt insertion hole  27   a  and tightened. Thus, the rear bracket  27  of the headlamp  9  is fastened to the rear headlamp bracket  31  of the front fender  13 .  
         [0055]    Furthermore, the bolt  41  is inserted from transversely outer side into the bolt insertion hole  39   a  of the lower bracket  39  of the front fender  13 , and screwed into the screw hole  35   b  of the fender bracket  35 . The fixing block  33  of the headlamp  9  is fixed to the lower bracket  39 , whereby the headlamp  9  is positioned on the front fender  13 .  
         [0056]    According to the embodiment, the headlamp  9  is temporarily held on the radiator core support  5  in a position at the rear of the normal attachment position thereof relative to the front end module  3 . Then, the front end module  3  is brought closer to the front section of the vehicle main body  1  from the front of the vehicle main body  1 , to be put together with the front section. The head lamp  9  comes into contact with the front section of the vehicle main body  1  and is positioned on the front section, at a time when the front end module  3  is moved rearward. Thereafter, the headlamp  9  moves frontward relative to the radiator core support  5 .  
         [0057]    Since the headlamp  9  is positioned on the front fender  13 , affection of misalignments of the radiator core support  5 , hood ridge  11 , headlamp  9  and front fender  13  are eliminated. The headlamp  9  and the front fender  13  are aligned, and gaps and steps formed on a surface thereof can be even and smooth, improving the appearance of the front section of the vehicle body.  
         [0058]    Moreover, at the aforementioned positioning work, even if the front end module  3  is somewhat deformed by weight of its own, the headlamp  9  can be securely positioned on the front fender  13  since the headlamp  9  is set movable relative to the front end module  3  in the state of being temporarily held.  
         [0059]    Furthermore, the headlamp  9  is incorporated in the front end module  3  while being temporarily held on the radiator core support  5 . Accordingly, work of installing the headlamp  9  is eliminated, thus reducing the number of steps in the manufacturing process.  
         [0060]    Moreover, when the front end module  3  is put together with the vehicle main body  1 , the upper portions of transversely outer ends thereof are fixed to the hood ridges  11 , as shown in FIG. 1, and the lower portions thereof are fixed to the front ends of the front side members  15 .  
         [0061]    When the front end module  3  is brought close to the vehicle main body  1 , the guide groove  37   a  of the fender guide member  37  and the lower bracket  39  of the front fender first start engagement with each other, before the positioning pin  45  and positioning hole  47   a  starts engagement therebetween. Therefore, allowable relative positional shift between the engaging positioning pin  45  and positioning hole  47   a  may be set smaller than that of the headlamp  9  and the front fender  13 . For example, a difference between the tip width W 3  of the positioning pin  45  and the opening width W 4  of the positioning hole  47   a  may be set smaller than a difference between the entrance width W 2  of the guide groove  37   a  of the fender guide member  37  and the thickness t 1  of the lower bracket  39  of the front fender  13 .  
         [0062]    The preferred embodiment described herein is illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention may be practiced or embodied in other ways without departing from the spirit or essential character thereof. The scope of the invention being indicated by the claims, and all variations which come within the meaning of claims are intended to be embraced herein.  
         [0063]    The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-179551, filed on Jun. 24, 2003, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.