AIR VENT Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional air vent mounted on an automobile lamp; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of another conventional air vent; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an air vent according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the coupled state of an air vent according to the present invention; and FIGS. 5a and 5b are sectional views of FIG. 4, wherein FIG. 5a is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG.

4 and FIG. 5b is taken along the line B-B of FIG. 4.

<Reference numerals of essential elements in the drawings> 10 : Housing 50 : Body 54 : Receiving groove 55 : Airflow hole 56 : Position fixing hole 60 : Fixing cap 61 : Disc 62 : Fixing pin 63 : Guide passageway 70 : Ventilating and waterproofing filter Technical Field The present invention relates to an air vent, and more particularly, to an air vent that is mounted to the devices like automobile outdoor lamps requiring ventilation and waterproofing functions simultaneously.

Background Art As well known, the housings for devices such as car electric/electronic components like headlights, rear lights, fog lamps, direction indicating lights, motors, various pressure sensors, pressure switches, and electric control <BR> <BR> unit (ECU) 's cases, cellular phones, cameras, electric razors, electric toothbrushes, and outdoor lamps are <BR> <BR> necessarily provided with a ventilative cap (i. e. , an air vent).

Typically, the housings of the devices have the ventilative cap disposed on an opening part which is formed for communicating the interior of the housing with the exterior thereof so as to prevent foreign substances such as water, dirt, dust, and other debris from being introduced into the interior of the housing. In addition, the ventilative cap serves to reduce a variation in the pressure within the housings due to a change in temperature, and the same time, discharge the gas generated within the housings.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a conventional air vent as ventilative cap mounted on an automobile lamp. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional air vent 20 into which an irregular structure is formed is mounted on a housing 10 of a device like an automobile outdoor lamp that is always exposed to contaminants like rainwater, muddy water, oil and so on. The air vent 20 is coupled to a mounting opening 11 formed on the neck portion of the housing 10. This is to prevent the polluting materials from directly flowing into the housing 10 through the mounting opening 11. With the installation of the air vent 20, therefore, the mounting opening 11 ensures the ventilating and waterproofing capabilities without being blocked.

Even though the housing 10 is coupled with the air vent 20, however, it fails to completely prevent the water and dust from flowing into the interior thereof. In the case where the air vent 20 is designed to make a cylindrical body's length large for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problem, there are some defects in that it needs a relatively large space portion to mount the body of the air vent, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost of the body.

In addition, a filter member may be provided to prevent introduction of foreign substances such as water, <BR> <BR> dust, etc. , into the housing, but in this case, there is a problem in that the coupling of the air vent body must be followed by the mounting of the filter member.

To address the above-described problem, there has been provided another air vent as shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional air vent is provided with a generally cylindrical cover member 30 that is closed at the lower portion thereof and is opened at the upper portion thereof, with a generally cylindrical body 40 disposed in the interior of the cover member 30, and with an air passageway 43 formed between the inner wall of the cover member 30 and the outer wall of the body 40 and between the bottom surface of the cover member 30 and the lower end of the body 40. The body 40 has an opening part 41 that is protruded from the opened portion of the cover member 30, into which a mounting opening 11 of a housing 10 is inserted.

The body 40 is further provided with a ventilating filter member 42 that is attached on the bottom portion thereof, for covering the opening part thereof, wherein the filter member 42 has a ventilating area of 5 x 10-6mu or more, so that air can pass through the filter member 42

with a small amount of pressure loss.

In the case where the mounting opening 11 of the housing 10 is strongly inserted through the opening part of the body 40, however, there is a disadvantage in that the end portion of the mounting opening 11 gives a damage to the filter member 42, so that the filter member 42 may lose its original function.

Upon coupling of the cover member 30 with the body 40, in addition, the body 40 except the upper portion opened of the cover member 30 should be completely inserted into the cover member 30, which causes the work for coupling to be hard, and further, they may be eccentrically coupled.

To resolve the above problems, if the body 40 is loosely inserted into the cover member 30, there is a problem in that the cover member 30 may be deviated from the body 40 when the air vent is handled or after mounting the air vent on the housing 10.

Especially, if the prior art air vent is mounted on the device generating a substantially high heat like a headlight, the cover member 30 that is made of a synthetic resin is very much expanded and transformed when compared with the body made of rubber, due to the high temperature generated from the device housing, which results in the deviation of the cover member 30 from the body 40 Disclosure of Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems occurred by the conventional ventilative cap as an air bent, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air vent that is capable of preventing a mounting opening of a housing from giving a damage to a ventilative waterproofing filter, exactly and easily assembling a

body and a cover, and keeping the parts at their fixed state without separation of the parts due to movements or heat.

To accomplish the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air vent that includes: a body with a plurality of airflow holes vertically formed on the outer periphery of a centering hole passed through the central portion thereof and with a receiving groove formed on the bottom end thereof; a ventilative waterproofing filter adapted to be attached with an adhesive material to the bottom surface of the centering hole of the body with the insertion with the receiving groove of the body; and a fixing cap adapted to be inserted into the receiving groove of the body, while being attached to the edge of the ventilative waterproofing filter, in such a manner as to communicate with the centering hole of the body, the ventilative waterproofing filter, and the plurality of airflow holes, on the lower portion thereof.

Best mode for Carrying Out the Invention Now, an explanation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be given hereinafter with reference to accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an air vent according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the coupled state of an air vent according to the present invention, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are sectional views of FIG. 4.

The air vent of the present invention is provided with a generally cylindrical body that is penetrated through at

the central portion thereof so as to be connected with a mounting opening of a housing, at the top portion thereof; with a ventilative waterproofing filter that is disposed on the lower passageway portion of the central portion of the body, so that it allows air flow between the inner side and the outer side of the body, while preventing water from flowing to the interior of the body; and with a fixing cap to coupled to the lower portion of the body.

According to the present invention, an air vent includes: a body 50 with a plurality of airflow holes 55 vertically formed on the outer periphery of a centering hole 51 passed through the central portion thereof and with a receiving groove 54 formed on the bottom end thereof; a ventilative waterproofing filter 70 adapted to be attached with an adhesive material to the bottom surface of the centering hole 51 of the body 50 through the insertion into the receiving groove 54 of the body 50; and a fixing cap 60 adapted to be inserted into the receiving groove 54 of the body 50, while being attached to the edge of the ventilative waterproofing filter 70, in such a manner as to communicate with the centering hole 51 of the body 50, the ventilative waterproofing filter 70, and the plurality of airflow holes 55, on the lower portion thereof.

In more detail, the body 50 is made of a rubber material and is provided with the centering hole 51 that is

vertically penetratingly formed therethrough at the central portion thereof, a protrusion part 52 that is upwardly protruded from the top portion of the centering hole 51, stopping projections 53 that are protruded on both sides of the lower end of the centering hole 51 in such a manner as to be opposite to each other, a receiving groove 54 that is formed on the bottom portion thereof in such a manner as to be stepped inwardly at the edge thereof and downwardly opened, and a plurality of airflow holes 55 and a plurality of position fixing holes 56 which are vertically penetratingly formed on the edge of the receiving groove 54 in such a manner that they are radially opposite to each other, respectively, and are alternately disposed.

The ventilative waterproofing filter 70 takes a generally round shape that has a diameter of at least 1 mm or more larger than the inner diameter of the centering hole 51. This is attached on the edge of the lower end of the centering hole 51 with an adhesive material.

The ventilative waterproofing filter 70 is made of a natural/synthetic woven or non-woven fabric, a net, or a porous material or blowing agent made by sintering powder.

The fixing cap 60 is made of a plastic material that exhibits excellent durability and adhesion, and it includes a disc 61 that has such the diameter and thickness as to be inserted into the receiving groove 54 of the body 50, a

plurality of fixing pins 62 that are provided on the edge of the top surface of the disc 61 to vertically correspond to the plurality of position fixing holes 56 of the body 50 in such a manner as to be inserted thereinto, and a guide passageway 63 that is provided on the central portion of the top surface of the disc 61, the guide passageway 63 adapted to be concaved by a predetermined depth in the same diameter as the inner diameter of the centering hole 51 of the body 50 and extended outwardly in such a manner as to be intervened between the plurality of fixing pins 62. In this case, the extended portions of the guide passageway 63 vertically correspond to the plurality of airflow holes 55 of the body 50.

Now, an explanation of the assembling process for the parts of the air vent of the present invention will be given.

First of all, the protrusion part 52 of the body 50 is directed downwardly, and in this state, an adhesive material is applied to the periphery of the bottom surface of the centering hole 51. In this case, the adhesive material does not exhibit any deformation upon the application of heat of 150 °C or less. Subsequent to the application, the ventilative waterproofing filter 70 is secured on the top surface where the adhesive material is applied. At that time, the central portion of the

ventilative waterproofing filter 70 corresponds to that of the centering hole 51, and the periphery thereof is attached to that of the bottom surface of the centering hole 51.

After the mounting of the ventilative waterproofing filter 70, the fixing cap 60 is inserted into the receiving groove 54. At that time, the plurality of fixing pins 62 are inserted into the corresponding position fixing holes 56 formed on the inner side of the receiving groove 54, so that the extended portions of the guide passageway 63 formed radically among the plurality of fixing pins 62 meet correspondingly with the airflow holes 55 of the body 50.

At this state, if the fixing cap 60 is depressed, disc upper surfaces 64 with the fixing pins 62 formed on the top portion thereof, which are disposed between the extended portions of the guide passageway 63, come in close contact with the edge of the ventilative waterproofing filter 70 and are thus bonded therewith. If a predetermined period of time elapses, the adhesive material becomes solid, so that the body 50, the ventilative waterproofing filter 70, and the fixing cap 60 are attached to each other as a unitary body, without any deviation of the fixing cap 60 from the body 50.

The protrusion part 52 of the body 50 of the air vent as constructed above corresponds with the housing mounting

opening 11 of an automobile lamp or a device for ventilating, at the central portion thereof, and the housing mounting opening 11 is inserted into the centering hole 51. If the insertion depth is big, the end portion of the mounting opening 11 is locked to the stopping projections 53 on the lower end of the centering hole 51.

In this state, the air within the housing 10 flows into the centering hole 51 via the mounting opening 11 and is passed through the ventilative waterproofing filter 70.

Next, the air that has been passed through the ventilative waterproofing filter 70 is passed through the guide passageway 63 and through the airflow holes 55 communicating with the top portion of the guide passageway 63 and finally ejected to the outside.

The external air enters the housing 10 through the centering hole 51 that is penetratingly formed through the body 50 along the edge of the body in the reverse order relative to as mentioned above, and at that time, the dust, water, and other debris in the air is removed by means of the ventilative waterproofing filter 70, such that only pure air flows into the housing 10.

Industrial applicability As set forth in the foregoing, the air vent of the present invention is provided with a body with a plurality of airflow holes vertically formed on the outer periphery

of a centering hole passed through the central portion thereof, a ventilative waterproofing filter adapted to be attached with an adhesive material to the bottom surface of the centering hole of the body with the insertion with the receiving groove of the body, and a fixing cap adapted to be inserted into the receiving groove of the body, while being attached to the edge of the ventilative waterproofing filter, in such a manner as to communicate with the centering hole of the body, the ventilative waterproofing filter, and the plurality of airflow holes, on the lower portion thereof. Therefore, the invention has some advantages in that the mounting opening of a housing can be inserted strongly by a predetermined depth with the body of the air vent, while not giving any damage to the ventilative waterproofing filter, in that the body and the cover member can be exactly and easily assembled, and in that the parts can be kept at their fixed state, even though they are moved or heated.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiment, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention.