‘US00S707133A United States Patent 119 (1) Patent Number: 5,707,133 Burton 14s) Date of Patent: Jan. 13, 1998 [54] AUTOMOBILE HEADLAMP ADJUSTER SITY 682 DIINO 5343372 8/1994 Shira oa 302166 [75] Inventor: John E. Burton, Ludington, Mich. 5.351.170 9/1994 Nagengast et al. .. 362066 S381313 11995. Chop = 32065 73] Assignee: Burton Technologies, Ludington, Mich. 5452185 9/1995 Addon et al 3166 Primary Examiner—Alan Caviaso 21) Appl. No: $84,693 ‘Attome, Agent, or Firm Warner Norcross & Judd (22) Filed: Jan. 11, 1996 6 ABSTRACT {51} Int. CLS .. “ - B60Q 1/68 An adjuster mechanism having an aiming device carried on (52) _~ 362/66; 362/267; 362/273, the shaft of the ball stud. The adjuster mechanism includes $3286: 116/281; 116/285 a gear housing having a tack for guiding the aiming device [58] Field of Search . 362/66, 267, 273, and an indicator for reading the position of the aiming "60285, 387, 280,416, 427.438.3468, device. The adjuster mechanism also includes a gland for 288; 116281. 283,285. 390, 309, 318, sealing the headlamp housing, The gland is fitted over the 321.323 shaft of the bal stud and is squeezed between the headlamp housing sealing bore and the ball stud shaft. The bearing (56) References Cited surfaces of the gear housing and sealing bore are slanted to. . . automatically center the ball stud. The adjuster mechanism ‘US. PATENT DOCUMENTS: further includes an anti-rotation insert seated within a cover. 45143691986 Iu suo 360166 The Insert engages a groove in the shaft ofthe ball std to S3n1700 noes Rid e079 prevent rotation ofthe ball stud within the gear housing. 5023759 6/991 Eckearde "162/66 51068769 11/1991. Umeda ea 25 Claims, 6 Drawing SheetsUS. Patent Jan. 13, 1998 Sheet 1 of 6 5,707,133 154US. Patent Jan. 13, 1998 Sheet 2 of 6 5,707,133US. Patent Jan. 13, 1998 Sheet 3 of 6 5,707,133 176 30US. Patent Jan. 13, 1998 168 162172 170 I72 840 164 am Cio Sheet 4 of 6 5,707,133 160 FIG. 7US. Patent Jan. 13, 1998 Sheet 5 of 6 5,707,1335,707,133 1 AUTOMOBILE HEADLAMP ADJUSTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ‘The present invention selates to adjuster mechanisms, and ‘more particularly to a headlamp adjuster mechanism for an automobile. ‘There isa growing trend in the automobile industry to use internally adjustable reflector headlamps. Internally adjust- able headlamps include a reflector and bulb socket assembly enclosed within a sealed headlamp housing and lens. The ‘orientation of the reflector within the housing is adjustable to control the direction of the light beam cast by the ‘Typically, the adjustable reflector is supported by three ball studs that extend from the rear of the headlamp hhousing and ft within sockets located in three corners of the reflector. The middle ball stud is secured directly to the headlamp housing to provide a fixed pivot point for the reflector. The other two ball studs are connected to a pair adjuster mechanisms secured to the rear of the headlamp housing. By operating the adjuster mechanisms, these two ball studs can be extended and retracted to control the horizontal and vertical orientation of the reflector. ‘A conventional adjuster mechanism includes a pair of bevel gears supported within a gear housing. The first gear is rigidly connected toa drive shaft extending from the gear ‘housing. The second gear surrounds and threadedly engages the ball stud. The two gears are meshed s0 that movement of the drive shaft esults in rotational movement of both bevel gears. The ball stud is mounted so that it can not rotate ‘Within the gear housing. As a result, the ball stud moves linearly as the scoond gear rotates. Several techniques are used in commercially available adjuster mechanisms to prevent the ball stud from rotating within the gear housing. ‘The first technique is to specially adapt the bead of the ball stud and the reflector socket so that the ball stud cannot rotate within the socket. Tis arrangement requires specially ‘manufactured reflectors and is not possible in many designs because of assembly restrictions. ‘A second technique is to adapt the geometry of the ball stud and gear housing to prevent relative rotation between ‘them, For example, in one commercially available adjuster mechanism, a fat is milled along the shank of the ball stud to provide a D-shaped cross-section. The D-shaped threaded shank then fits into a D-shaped guide hole in the modified ‘gear housing, The two flat surfaces engage and restrain rotation of the ball stud within the gear housing. ‘This technique has a number of disadvantages. First, ‘machining a lat along the shank of the ball stud reduces its ‘ross sectional area and weakens the ball stud. Second, machining the flat and tapping internal threads into the gear which receives the ball stud are costly second- ary operations which must be performed prior to assembling the adjuster mechanism. Tapping the gear before assembly is, necessary because the torque forces which would be required to efficiently form threads while assembling the ball, stud would be too great. Torque's forces equal to those ‘generated atthe gearfall stud interface during thread form- ing would also act onthe housing atthe D-shaped guide hole ‘which constrains rotation of the ball stud. Such elevated torque levels could distort the threads of the ball stud and the ‘gear housing at the guide hole interface. ‘And third, tapping the threads into the gear prior to assembly results in a lower resistance to vibration. Tapped threads, unlike formed threads. provide a non-interference fit, allowing ball stud threads to engage the threaded bore of 1s as ss 2 the gear with clearance between the mating threads. The clearance space minimizes friction between the members ‘and allows the gear to rotate about the ball stud with very litte resistance. This ease of operation becomes a detriment ‘when the adjuster assembly is expected to hold the headlamp reflector in a given position under vibration. ‘tis important to completely seal the headlamp housing to ‘prevent the accumulation of moisture. The adjuster mecha- fism ball stud penetrates the rear wall of the headlamp housing and therefore must be sealed. Typically this area is sealed by an o-ting seated between the gear housing and the headlamp housing, an o-ring seated around the drive shaft within the gear housing, and by a cap mounted to the gear housing over the free end of the ball stud by sonic welding. ‘The drive shaft o-ring and ball stud cap significantly increase the cost and complexity of the manufacturing process. They also provide additional seals that are subject to failure. Alternatively. the headlamp housing can be sealed by an o-ring seated between the gear housing and the headlamp housing and by grease injected into the gear ‘housing, Grease increases the cost of manufacture and may seep from the gear housing, possibly contaminating the headlamp housing and breaching the seal. Federal law requires each adjuster mechanism to be equipped with a vehicle headlamp aiming device (VAD). ‘A vehicle headlamp aiming device displays the angular position of the reflector. The graduations on the VHAD are ‘subject to certain visibility requirements. One commercially available headlamp adjuster includes a disc-shaped VHAD fit over the drive shaft. The disc-shaped VHAD includes raised graduations spaced around its circumferential edge. ‘When the drive shaft is rotated, the disc rotates resulting in rotation of the graduations. An indicator is provided on the gear housing from which to gauge movement of the VHD. ‘This VHAD only works with adjuster mechanisms that can be properly adjusted in less than a single rotation of the drive shaft. The raised graduations can also be difficult to read in low light conditions. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION “The aforementioned problem are overcome by the present invention in which an adjuster mechanism is provided with ‘an aiming device carried by the ball stad. The aiming device is guided by a track on the gear housing and preferably includes a clothes pin style clip that clamps to the shaft of the ball stud, The clip also performs a locating function. To install the aiming device, the clip is pinched to fit over the shaft and the aiming device is slid into the track. The pinched clip abuts the from of the track when the aiming ‘device is properly located. When the clip is released. it opens ‘enough to clear the track and allow the aiming device to ‘wavel in both directions along the track. ‘The aiming device is notched to provide graduations, and ‘preferably contrasts in color with the gear housing so thatthe ‘graduations are plainly visible. The gear housing includes an Indicator for reading the graduations. The indicator prefer- ably extends over the contrasting aiming device so that it highly visible. The aiming device also includes directional designators for indicating whether the reflector is left or right of center (or above or below horizontal). The direc- tional designators are preferably cored through the aiming, device so that the gear housing is visible therethrough. ‘The aiming device is simple to manufacture, easy to install, and includes highly visible graduations. Further, the indicator and graduations are located adjacent the drive shaft ‘where they are easily viewed. Additionally, the clip and track