Koito Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

Fujihiko Sugiyama

Kazuhiro Yamazaki

Kazuo Akiyama

Michihiko Suzuki

Shigeyuki Soga

Ryosuke Yasuda

Masahiko Nishizaki

Hiroyuki Kageyama

Haruo Otani

Chiharu Matsunaga

Seiichi Gyotoku

Toshitaka Naito

Masahiko Koizumi

Tomoki Kumayama

Masahiro Enoki

A welding apparatus is provided with a lamp unit having a light source such as a halogen lamp and a multiple reflection surface. The light source applies incoherent electromagnetic waves that belong to a visible region and a near-infrared region in which a wavelength is 500 nm (nanometer) or more. The multiple reflection surface reflects and collects the light from the light source in the shape of a desired dot or line. The housing and the transparent cover are superimposed, and the light from the light source is collected by the multiple-reflection surface on the portion where the housing is superimposed on the transparent cover.

Welding apparatus and welding method

A vehicle lighting device manufacturing method, for joining a transparent cover with a housing ray welding, includes: a preliminary heating step of preparing welding portions of the transparent cover and the housing, and of forming, on part of the welding portion of the transparent cover and/or the housing, a built-up portion, which overlays a welding portion in a design, and heating and softening the built-up portion; a pressure-bonding step of pressure-bonding the welding portion of the transparent cover to the welding portion of the housing; and a welding step of welding the transparent cover and the housing that are pressure-bonded together by the emission of a light beam that irradiates the welding portion of the transparent cover and the housing along the entire length of edges.

Vehicle lighting device manufacturing method for positioning and welding a cover to a housing

In a lamp including a lamp housing and a lamp cover, the lamp cover is laser-beam welded to an opening edge portion of the lamp housing. There exists no trace of fusion on the opening edge portion of the lamp housing in any other areas than a surfaces abutment portion where the lamp cover is brought into abutment. A method for fabricating a lamp includes bringing a lamp cover into abutment with an opening edge portion of a lamp housing; and emitting a laser beam to a surfaces abutment portion of the lamp housing with the lamp cover so as to laser-beam weld the lamp housing and the lamp cover together. The emission of the laser beam is implemented while blocking the laser beam so that the laser beam is not emitted to at least any other areas of the opening edge portion than the surfaces abutment portion. An apparatus for fabricating a lamp includes support means for rotatably supporting a lamp housing and a lamp cover that is brought into abutment with an opening edge portion of the lamp housing in an abutment state; laser beam emitting means for emitting a laser beam to a surfaces abutment portion of the opening edge portion where the lamp housing is in abutment with the lamp cover; and laser beam blocking means for blocking the emission of a laser beam to at least any other areas of the opening edge portion than the surfaces abutment portion.

Lamp and method and apparatus for fabricating lamp

A beam welding apparatus for welding a housing and transparent cover of a vehicular lighting device via beam welding has a cover fixing jig having a beam transmitting part, configured to fix a position of a transparent cover and configured to press the transparent cover toward a housing with a welding part of the transparent cover overlaid on a welding part of the housing while it is arranged on the transparent cover. The beam welding apparatus also has a beam irradiating part configured to irradiate beams onto the welding part of the housing through the beam transmitting part and the transparent cover to excite and heat the welding part of the housing. The beam transmitting part has a shielding part configured to shield unnecessary luminous flux among the beams irradiated toward the welding part of the housing from the beam irradiating part.

Beam welding apparatus and beam welding method

A vehicle lamp includes an outer lens and an inner lens disposed inside the outer lens. The inner lens covers an area narrower than the outer lens and is supported with the body by laser welding. The inner lens and the body respectively have joint areas. A laser absorber is contained in an interface between the joint areas. The joint areas are overlapped and laser beam is emitted to the laser absorber from behind the joint area of the inner lens.

Production method of vehicle lamp

A beam welding method in a vehicular lighting device where a transparent cover is mounted on a housing so as to cover its front face is characterized in that a transparent cover and a housing each includes a joining part. The method includes a step of integrating an elastic member with the joining part of the transparent cover, a step of bringing the elastic member into contact with the joining part of the housing, and a step of irradiating beams onto the joining part of the housing to weld the elastic member and the housing.

Vehicular lighting device and beam welding method

A vehicular headlamp includes a lamp body having an opening, a first reflector disposed within the lamp body, a lens, and a second reflector. The second reflector serves as an extension reflector to cover a gap between the opening of the lamp body and the first reflector. The lens and the second reflector are joined together at an edge portion thereof by laser welding. The second reflector has a leg portion on a back surface thereof. An edge portion of the opening has a groove to receive the leg portion, and seal material having a predetermined adhesibility, which can be pulled off, is injected into the groove. The second reflector joined to the lens is mounted on an edge of the opening of the lamp body via the seal material.

Vehicular lamp having a removable lens with an extension reflector

A vehicular lamp includes a lamp source, a lamp body accommodating the lamp source, and a lens attached to the lamp body. The lamp body has an abutment surface on the top portion of a peripheral wall, which is configured to rise in a direction of an optical axis of the light source along a peripheral edge of the lamp body. The abutment surface of the lamp body is configured to incline to the optical axis. Similary, the lens has an abutment surface corresponding to the abutment surface of the lamp body along a peripheral portion of the lens. In this case, the abutment surface of the lens is configured within the dimention of an outer surface of the lens so as not to protrude over the outer surface. The abutment surfaces of the lamp body and the lens are integrally jointed together by laser walding.

Vehicular lamp and method of manufacturing same

A vehicular lamp with improved appearance quality (i.e., having no burrs or the like) around the joint interface between a front lens and a lamp body, and sufficient joint strength even in regions where the joint interface shape changes three dimensionally. A sealing leg, formed on the front lens, has a tip face which abuts and is joined by laser welding to a receiving face formed on the lamp body. To carry out the welding operation, a laser beam is irradiated from the front side of the front lens to the receiving face through the sealing leg. Therefore, even if the laser beam enters diagonally, it can be reflected internally by both side faces of the sealing leg so that the beam reliably reaches the tip face. As a result, the energy of the laser beam is not reduced, making it possible to efficiently heat the lamp body.

Vehicular lamp and method for producing same

A vehicular lamp in which bonding failure between a front lens and a lamp body is prevented while enhancing the bonding strength and improving the quality of the outer appearance around the bonded surface therebetween. An edge surface of a seal leg of the front lens and a receiving surface of a lamp body are bonded together by laser beam welding so as to improve the quality of the outer appearance of the portion around the bonded surfaces. The bonded surface is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a plane perpendicular to the bonding direction. Even if the edge surface of the seal leg or the receiving surface has a wave-like irregularity such that gaps are created in areas therebetween, the pressure in the bonding direction acting on the members to be bonded causes slippage between them, resulting in sealing the gaps. The beam spot diameter of a laser beam irradiated onto the receiving surface is increased in an amount corresponding to the angle of inclination of the bonded surface, thus increasing the bonding width and enhancing the bonding strength.

Vehicular lamp unit and method for manufacturing same

A vehicular lamp in which bonding failure between a front lens and a lamp body is prevented while enhancing the bonding strength and improving the quality of the outer appearance around the bonded surface therebetween. An end surface of a seal leg of a front lens and a receiving surface of a lamp body are bonded through laser beam welding so as to improve the outer appearance quality of the area around the bonded surfaces. The end surface is formed on an end portion of the seal leg that is bent and extended outward at a predetermined angle with respect to the bonding direction. The laser beam is irradiated onto the receiving surface through the end portion from a direction substantially orthogonal to the end surface. The resultant permeation distance of the laser beam is made short, resulting in a sufficient amount of irradiation energy. When pressure is applied to the base end portion of the seal leg by pressing on the front lens, the end surface and the receiving surface are brought into abutment in the width direction with uniform pressure.

An apparatus of welding a plurality of parts comprises a plural pairs of jigs, a plurality of heating plates, a working region, a heating-plate stocker, a heating-plate standby region, and a heating-plate slider. The pairs of jigs supports a plurality of parts, and each pair of the jigs has a shape different from another pair of jigs. The heating plates respectively correspond to each pair of the jigs. The working region is for welding the parts with the jigs and the heating plates. The heating-plate stocker stocks and heats the heating plates. The heating-plate standby region is for standing by for moving the heating plates with heating between the working region and the heating-plate stocker. A heating-plate slider is for sliding the heating plates between the heating-plate standby region and the heating-plate stocker.

Welding method using heating plate and welding apparatus using the same

A vehicular lamp lens having integrated lens members with a boundary therebetween. The front surface of the boundary portion side of at least one of the lens members is displaced in the rearward direction as the surface becomes closer to the boundary.

Vehicular lamp lens having an indented front surface

A method and apparatus for low-cost production of a lens for a vehicular lamp formed by integrally joining a plurality of synthetic resin lens members through vibration welding. The s apparatus includes a fixed portion and a vibrating portion, each have a lens fixing jig composed of a pair of respective holding jigs. The method includes the steps of supporting the respective lens members with one of the jigs, holding a lens member between a pair of holding jigs located close together, bringing each welding portion of the respective lens members into contact with each other by moving the vibrating portion and the fixed portion close together, and integrally welding the lens members by vibrating the vibrating portion.

Method and apparatus for producing lens for vehicular lamp

A vibration welding apparatus and a vibration welding method in which the weight of a vibrating member is reduced and large synthetic resin members can be vibration welded. A vibration welding apparatus for joining two synthetic resin members, such as vehicular lamp lens members, through vibration welding is provided with a vibration generating mechanism, a vibrating member vibrated in a predetermined direction by the vibration generating mechanism, a base, a fixed-side jig disposed on the base for holding a first synthetic resin member, a holding jig composed of a holding jig part fixed to the vibrating member, and a holding part slidably mounted on the base so as to be slidable in the direction of vibration of the vibrating member such that the second synthetic resin member vibrates synchronously with the vibrating member.

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Shizuoka, Japan

Fujihiko Sugiyama