Patent Document

TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention generally relates to a headlight assembly and, more specifically, to a headlight assembly having a vertical headlight adjustment mechanism. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     It is well known to use adjustment mechanisms to align the vertical and horizontal position of a vehicle&#39;s headlight with respect to the vehicle itself. Known adjustment mechanisms use complex, multi-component systems. 
     One such system, generally known as a “right angle adjuster”, includes two shafts positioned perpendicular to each other, joined by a gear box and attached to the reflector. One disadvantage of this type of system is that it is more likely to bind due to the horizontal displacement of its pivot in a constant vertical plane. Other known systems utilize constant adjusters that are accessed from the rear of the headlight housing. These types of systems are difficult to access due to the tight packaging of the components under the hood of the vehicle. 
     In view of the above and other disadvantages, there exists a need for an improved headlight assembly with a simplified adjustment procedure and mechanism. It is an object of this invention to provide such an assembly. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of prior designs by providing a less complex adjustment mechanism for a headlight assembly. The headlight assembly of the present invention includes a headlight housing, a reflector positioned within and pivotally connected to the housing by at least two connection or pivot points, an adjuster clip connected to the reflector, and an adjuster screw that is partially received within the clip and threadably engaged with the assembly&#39;s housing. For convenience and ease of use, the adjuster is accessible from the top of the headlight assembly. As torque is applied to the adjuster screw, the entire reflector radially pivots about a transverse horizontal pivot axis, which is defined by the connection points. Accordingly, the aim of the headlight is vertically adjusted. 
     To ensure that the assembly does not bind during adjustment, a lower most head of the adjuster screw is received and rides within an arc shaped channel in the adjuster clip. The arc of the channel is such that pivoting of the adjuster clip with the headlight will not cause binding on the generally vertically oriented adjuster screw in the clip. 
     Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art after a review of the following description, with reference to the drawings and claims that are appended to and form a part of this specification. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a headlight assembly embodying the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view generally taken along line  2 — 2  of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the adjuster screw and clip generally encircled by line  3 — 3  in FIG.  2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  generally illustrates a headlight assembly  20  embodying the principles of the present invention and specifically adapted for use in a motor vehicle (not shown). The headlight assembly  20  includes as its primary components, a housing  22 , a reflector  24 , an adjustment assembly  26  and a pair of pivots  40 . Preferably, two headlight assemblies  20  are mounted to the front of a vehicle, one located on each side thereof. 
     The housing  22  is connected to the frame of the vehicle through one or more mounting bores  31 . Accordingly, the housing  22  is fixed in a stationary position relative to the vehicle. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the housing  22  defines a recessed cavity  32  for receipt of the reflector  24 . The reflector  24  itself is defined by a top wall  34 , a bottom wall  36 , and a curved rear wall  38  extending between the top and bottom walls  34 ,  36  that also defines the sides of the reflector  24 . (Directional references used herein are relative to the orientation of the vehicle and are solely intended to aid in clarity.) As shown in  FIG. 1 , the headlight assembly  20  is provided for mounting on the passenger side, or right side, of the vehicle. A headlight assembly mounted to the driver&#39;s side, or left side, of the vehicle would be a mirror image of the assembly  22  seen in FIG.  1 . 
     Located immediately below the bottom wall  36  of the reflector  24  are the pivots  40 , which include a pivot clip  44  and a pivot screw  46  that are more readily seen in FIG.  2 . As seen in  FIG. 2 , the pivot clip  44  is snap fit or friction mounted to a mounting bracket  48  generally extending from the bottom wall  36  of the reflector. The central portion of the pivot clip  44  defines a socket  50  which retainingly engages and receives a ball shaped head  52  of the pivot screw  46 . Opposite the head  52 , the pivot screw  46  is provided with a fastening end  54 . In the preferred embodiment, the fastening end  54  is provided with threads or other means enabling the pivot screw  46  to be engaged with a mounting boss  56  located on the housing  22  so as to be generally adjacent to the mounting brackets  48  of the reflector  24 . The utilization of two pivots  40  helps to restrict movement of the reflector  24  to rotation about a pivot axis  42  while illustrated as having a ball-and-socket type construction. As will be obvious to one skilled in the art, the specific construction of the pivots  40  need not be limited to a ball-and-socket joint construction. Other constructions, such as those utilizing axles, pins or other means, would equally be acceptable, so long as the pivots permit rotation of the reflector  24  about the pivot axis  42 . 
     The reflector  24  also includes portions  58  defining an aperture  60  for receipt of a light source, hereafter bulb  62 . Preferably, the aperture  60  is located on the rear wall  38  of the reflector  24 , generally near the center thereof. Mounting of the bulb  62  in the aperture  60  may be achieved by any now known, such as a twist-lock engagement mechanism or hereafter developed method. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the adjustment assembly  26  as seen therein includes an adjustment clip  64  and an adjustment or aiming screw  28 . The adjustment clip  64  is secured to the reflector  24  by way of a mounting bracket  68  integrally formed with the reflector  24 . Any suitable engagement mechanism can be utilized to retain the adjustment clip  64  with the mounting bracket  68 , including without limitation, frictional, interference, snap-fit, adhesive and others. Formed in the adjustment clip  64  is a channel  70  which is generally U shaped in cross-section having a more narrow opened end  72 , as seen in  FIG. 1 , oriented in the direction of the top wall of the housing  22 . As such, two opposed shoulders  74  define the open end  72 . Along its length, the channel  70  is curved or arc shaped as seen in FIG.  3 . The nature and orientation of this curve or arc is such that the rear most portion  76  of the channel  70  is generally vertically lower than the forward most portion  78  of the channel  70 . The reasons for the arced shape of the channel  70  will become apparent from the discussion which follows below. While it may be provided with a fixed lower wall, the lower most wall  80 , as illustrated, is provided as a cantilevered member from the remainder of the adjustment clip  64 , enabling the lower most wall  80  to resiliently deflect relative to the remainder of the clip  64 . 
     The aiming screw  28  includes a threaded middle section  82  that is received within a threaded bore  84  defined in a boss:  86  of the housing  22 . The aiming screw  28  may be provided with a self-tapping screw thread such that the threaded bore is formed in the boss  86  when the screw  28  is installed. The first end or the upper end  83  of the aiming screw  28  is formed with a driving head  88  suitably shaped to receive a driving tool (not shown) form imparting rotation to the aiming screw  28 . The opposing or second end  85  of the screw  28  is provided with a generally round or ball head  32 . The aiming screw  28 , boss  86  and channel  70  of the adjustment clip  64  are all oriented such that when fully assembled, the driving head  68  of the aiming screw  28  extends generally vertically through the top wall  73  of the housing  22 , while the ball head  92  is received within the channel  70 . 
     For ease of assembly, the diameter “d” of the ball head  92  is less than the diameter “D” of the threaded bore  84 . As such the bull head  92  can be inserted through the threaded bore  84  as the aiming screw  28  is mounted therein via the threaded middle section  82 . 
     With the aiming screw  28  in the boss  86 , the reflector  24 , with the clip  64  attached, is positioned within the housing  22  such that the ball head  94  is received through the rearward end  76  of the clip  64 . Thereafter, the ball head  94  is upwardly restrained within the channel  70  by the shoulders  74  that define a reduced width slot above the ball head  94 . 
     Assembled as such, when further torque is applied to the driving head  88  of the aiming screw  28 , be it advancement or retraction of the aiming screw  28 , the engagement between the ball head  92  and the channel  70  will cause pivotal movement of the reflector  24 . Advancement, downward rotation of the aiming screw  28 , causes the ball head  92  to apply a downward force against the lower wall  80  of the channel  70 . In response to the downward force, the reflector  24  pivots about the pivot axis  42  in a downward direction and the ball head  92  slides toward the rearmost portion  76  of the channel  70 . Upon retraction, upward rotation of the aiming screw  28 , the ball head  92  exerts an upward force on the shoulders  74  of the channel  70  causing the reflector  24  to pivot about the pivot axis  42  in an upward direction. During upward pivoting, the ball head  92  slides within the channel toward the forward most portion  78  thereof. From this, it is seen that the arc shape of the channel  70  provides for nonlinear vertical displacement of the reflector  24  in response to torque applied to the aiming screw  28 . Further, while the aiming screw  28  only moves along a linear axis, the arc shape of the channel  70  prevents binding with the ball head  92  as the reflector  24  pivots relative to the aiming screw axis  96 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, the adjustment clip  64  is unitarily formed with the reflector  24  and is such that the channel  70  is directly incorporated into a portion of the reflector  24 . 
     Constructed in this manner, the orientation of the adjustment clip  64  and its channel  70 , relative to the reflector  24 , is not critical to the operation of the headlight assembly  20 . This in turn frees design and construction possibilities from the normal constraints related thereto. 
     As a person skilled in the art of vehicle headlight systems will recognize from the previous detailed description and from the figures and claims, modifications and changes can be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of this invention defined in the following claims.

Technology Category: b