Patent ID: 8033700

Claim:
An automobile headlamp adjuster comprising: a housing; a shaft extending through said housing and having at least one end protruding outwardly of said housing, said shaft having a thread provided along a portion of a length of said shaft, said shaft being axially moveable relative to said housing between first and second axially extreme adjusted positions relative to said housing; first and second O-rings on said shaft on opposite sides of said housing, one of said O-rings being compressed in said first axially extreme adjusted position of said shaft, and the other of said O-rings being compressed in said second axially extreme adjusted position of said shaft; first and second collars on said shaft axially outward from said first and second O-rings; an adjustment gear disposed rotatably in said housing, said adjustment gear engaging said thread of said shaft between said first and second axially extreme adjusted positions of said shaft, said adjustment gear being in a substantial axially fixed and rotatable position in said housing so that rotation of said adjustment gear causes axial movement of said shaft between said first and second axially extreme adjusted positions; said thread on said shaft and said adjustment gear being drivingly disengaged at said axially extreme adjusted positions of said shaft; and biasing structures activated when said thread on said shaft and said adjustment gear are disengaged at said first and second axially extreme adjusted positions, said biasing structures urging said shaft toward re-engagement of said thread on said shaft with said adjustment gear.