摘要 |
ONE-PIECE THERMALLY RESISTANT GIMBAL GIMBAL DEVICE FOR A REPLACEABLE HEADLAMP BULB A replaceable headlamp bulb for automotive applications comprising a discharge light source, a gimbal device, and a plastic lamp bass in which the gimbal device is a one-piece construction that allows the light source to be precisely aligned and locked in a specific position with respect to the lamp base. The gimbal device is a cylindrically shaped member made of glass-mica material with a metallic ring fitted in a castellated circumferential groove at one end of the glass-mica member. The light source is mounted at the opposite end of the gimbal device to the ring fitted portion. The plastic base contains an internal cylindrical opening into which the ring-fitted end of the glass-mica gimbal is inserted and aligned with respect to the plastic base. The gimbal device is locked inside the plastic base by heating of the metallic ring using Radio-Frequency (RF). During the RF heating the mica material reacts in the vicinity of the metallic ring which is seated inside the castellated groove to lock the gimbal to the ring. Ring sizing tolerance can be relaxed because the gaps between the castellations on each side of the groove walls serve to accommodate an oversized ring so that the ring is contained within the groove.
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