JPH0237655Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <<Industrial Application Field>> The present invention relates to a joint cover that covers a joint portion of a steering shaft that penetrates a partition wall between a passenger compartment and an engine compartment of an automobile.

<<Prior Art>> Fig. 3 shows a general conventional example. A partition wall 52 between the vehicle compartment B and the engine compartment A is provided at the front lower part of the instrument panel 51 in the direction of travel, and a joint 54 provided in the vehicle interior portion of the steering shaft 53 passing through these is covered by a joint cover 55. has been done. A groove 56 is formed on the side of the joint cover 55 along the entire length in the longitudinal direction, and a flange 57 is formed on one end. The flange 57 is fixed to the partition wall 52 with a clip or the like, and surrounds a shaft hole 58 provided in the partition wall 52. This joint cover 55 not only improves the appearance of the joint 54 portion, etc., but also blocks the noise of the engine 59 from entering the vehicle compartment B from the engine room A via the shaft hole 58.

In addition, Utility Model Publication No. 56-33761 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 58-78864
The column cover or shaft cover is also mentioned in the issue. In the former case, there is shown a cover that is divided into two parts in the longitudinal direction, and the end surfaces of the covers are butted against each other to be integrated. In the latter, a slit is provided along the entire length of the side of the cylindrical body consisting of a two-layer structure of a rubber skin and a felt sound absorbing material, and when the cover is attached to the shaft, the end surfaces of the sound absorbing material along the slits are butted against each other, If the slit is open (hereinafter,
When a gap (referred to as a gap) occurs, both ends of the skin close this gap by elastic deformation to prevent noise leakage.

<<Problems to be solved by the invention>> By the way, the joint cover 5 shown in FIG.
The dividing groove 56 of No. 5 may be deformed and opened due to deformation during installation and heat or vibration during use. In this case, the noise generated by the engine 59 enters the joint cover 55 from the engine compartment A through the shaft hole 58 as shown by arrow C, and further leaks into the passenger compartment B through the split groove 56, making the occupants uncomfortable. There are things to do. For this reason, a structure that is difficult to open during installation and use is desired.

On the other hand, in JP-A-58-78864,
Even if the ends of the butted sound absorbing materials open, they can be closed by the ends of the rubber skin, resulting in an improvement in preventing noise leakage. However, the part that closes the mouth opening is not the sound-absorbing material that mainly prevents noise, but is the skin, and the edges of the skin cannot necessarily be in close contact with each other, so there is a risk of noise leaking from some parts. Other issues remain.

In addition, since the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 56-33761 abuts the end faces of the divided bodies against each other, there is a possibility that the gap may open at a part of the mating part.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve this problem by making it difficult for the divided portion to open, thereby more reliably preventing noise leakage.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The joint cover of the present invention is for covering the joint part in the passenger compartment of the steering shaft that penetrates the partition wall between the engine room and the passenger compartment, and is made of elastic material. A substantially cylindrical main body portion is divided at one side along the entire length in the longitudinal direction to form two edges along the divided portion,
These two edges are integrally extended from the main body portion so as to overlap with each other, and the tip of the outer edge projects in the radial direction from the inner edge and extends along the entire length in the longitudinal direction. It is characterized by being brought into contact with the protrusion.

《Operation》 Since the divided parts form an overlapping part of a double structure, when engine noise that has entered the joint cover from the engine compartment tries to leak into the passenger compartment from the overlapping part, the inner edge first Since the tip is covered by the outer edge, noise leakage is prevented. Even if an opening occurs between the tip of the inner edge and the outer edge side, it is blocked by the double portion of the inner and outer edges at the overlapping portion. In addition, since the inner and outer edges are each integrally formed to extend from the main body portion, it is difficult for noise to pass through, so that more reliable sound insulation is possible. Furthermore, even if there is a gap in a part of this double portion, the tip of the outer edge is in contact with the protrusion that protrudes from the inner edge in the radial direction and extends over the entire length in the longitudinal direction, so that this abutting area In this case, noise leakage is finally stopped.

Therefore, leakage of noise from the overlapping portion is prevented by a two-stage structure including the double portions of the inner and outer edges and the abutting portion between the tip of the outer edge and the protrusion.

Furthermore, even if some deformation occurs in a portion of the overlapping portion, the overlapped edges only need to be slightly shifted relative to each other, so that opening of the overlapping portion is less likely to occur.

<<Example>> An example of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the steering shaft 10, which is an attached member, is provided with a joint 12 made of a universal joint in the middle, and a shaft hole 16 formed in a partition wall 14 between the engine room and the passenger compartment. penetrates through. Moreover, at least one of the joints 12 is arranged on the inside of the vehicle interior. Note that a mounting hole 18 is formed in advance around the shaft hole 16. Reference numeral 20 in the figure,
Reference numerals 22 denote a column cover and a steering wheel, which are respectively attached to the ends of the steering shaft 10.

The joint cover 24 is a substantially cylindrical member bent at an obtuse angle in the middle corresponding to the bent shape of the joint 12, and is made of synthetic resin such as polyethylene by an appropriate method such as injection molding or blow molding. It is formed by molding. However, it may also be made of other suitable elastic materials such as metal. An overlapping portion 26 is provided on the side portion of the joint cover 24 along its entire length in the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the overlapping portion 26 is formed in a portion obtained by dividing the side portion of the joint cover 24 over the entire length in the longitudinal direction. Reference numeral 28 in the figure indicates one of the grooves. Both end edges 30 and 32 formed by this division are formed so as to extend integrally from the main body portion of the joint cover 24 so as to overlap each other toward the other side, and are overlapped in a double-layered manner. Of these two edges, the outer edge 30 is provided with an outwardly projecting step 34, which overlaps onto the inner edge 32. Further, a protrusion 36 is formed on the inner edge 32 and protrudes in the radial direction and extends along the entire length in the longitudinal direction. The protrusion 36 is provided at a portion where the tip of the outer edge 30 is located when superimposed, and serves as a stopper for the tip of the outer edge 30. On the other hand, the tip of the inner edge 32 faces a bent portion 35 of the stepped portion 34, and this bent portion 35 serves as a stopper for the inner edge 32.

A mounting flange 38 is formed on the partition wall 14 side of the longitudinal end of the joint cover 24, and a plurality of mounting clips 40 are provided at appropriate positions and engage with the mounting holes 18. The flange 38 is attached to the shaft hole 16 when attached to the bulkhead 14.
surrounding. The other end 42 of the joint cover 24
is closely attached to the steering shaft 10 using a clip (not shown) or the like.

Next, how to use the joint cover 24 will be explained. As shown in Figure 1, the joint cover 2
4 over the joint 12 along the steering shaft 10, first, the edges 30 and 32 are elastically deformed to enlarge and open the overlapping part 26,
When the steering shaft 10 and joint 12 are aligned and pressed against this overlapping portion 26, the joint 12 and the steering shaft 10 in front and behind it are removed.
is easily stored into the main body portion of the joint cover 24 from the overlapping portion 26. Therefore, if the force that was pushing the overlapping part 26 apart is removed, the overlapping part 26 will recover due to the elasticity of the material of the joint cover 24 itself.
The edges 30 and 32 return to the overlapping state, and the tip of the edge 30 comes into contact with the protrusion 36. In this state,
When the clip 40 is engaged with the mounting hole 18, the elasticity of the clip 40 presses the flange 38 against the partition wall 14 around the shaft hole 16 and fixes it.
At this time, a suitable elastic material may be interposed between the flange 38 and the partition wall 14. Finally, the other end 42 is brought into close contact with the steering shaft 10.

In this way, the attached joint cover 24 does not have any gaps between the flange 38 and the bulkhead 14 and between the other end 42 and the steering shaft 10, so that no air can enter into the joint cover 24 from the engine room. The noise is caused by the polymerization part 2.
6 and tries to leak into the passenger compartment. However, the overlapping portion 26 has a double structure in which the edges 30 and 32 overlap, and the split groove 28 that may be formed between the tip of the inner edge 32 and the main body portion
The groove 28 is closed off from the outside by the groove 28.
Even if it opens further, it will still be closed by the edge 30, thus preventing noise leakage.

Furthermore, if the edges 30 and 32 do not come into close contact with each other and a slight space is formed, the split groove 2
Noise from 8 tries to leak through this space, but since the tip of the edge 30 abuts against the protrusion 36, the abutment finally prevents the noise from leaking.

Therefore, the noise that is about to leak from the split groove 28 is transmitted to the edge 3 in addition to the double portion of the edges 30 and 32.
This is prevented by a two-stage arrangement between the tip of the 0 and the abutting portion of the protrusion 36.

Moreover, even if the joint cover 24 or its overlapping part 26 is slightly deformed due to installation work, vibration, heat, etc., the overlapping part 26 is double, so the open mouth condition as in the conventional case is prevented. be done.

Further, since the deformation in the direction of reducing the radius of the joint cover 24 is regulated by the bent portion 35 and the protrusion 36, which are stoppers, the overlapping portions 26 do not overlap more than necessary, and as a result, the joint cover The side of 24 is the steering shaft 10
There is no interference with the joint 12 or joint 12.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.
The structure of the overlapping portion 26 can be modified in various ways. For example, without providing the stepped portion 34 of the edge 30, the edges 30 and 32 may simply be overlapped. Further, this portion may have a fitting structure so that the overlapping portion 26 is difficult to separate.

Further, the joint cover 24 may have a rectangular cross section.

《Effect of the idea》 In the divided part of the joint cover, we provided an overlapping part in which both ends of the joint cover overlap each other by extending from the main body part so that they overlap each other. The noise that has entered the vehicle can be prevented from leaking into the vehicle interior through the space between the tip of the inner edge and the main body portion, and the transmission of noise can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the tip of the outer edge is brought into contact with the protrusion that protrudes in the radial direction from the inner edge and extends over the entire length in the longitudinal direction, this abutment allows the gap between the inner and outer edges that constitute the overlapping part to Even if a gap occurs between the two, leakage of noise can be ultimately prevented.

Therefore, leakage of noise from the overlapping portion can be prevented in two stages.

Moreover, since the overlapping part has a double structure, it is difficult to open the opening, making the installation work easier and improving durability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 2 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional example. Explanation of symbols, 10... Steering shaft,
12... Joint, 14... Bulkhead, 16... Shaft hole, 18... Mounting hole, 24... Joint cover, 26... Overlapping part, 28... Division groove, 3
0, 32...Edge, 36...Protrusion, 38...Flange, 40...Clip.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It is intended to cover the joint 12 portion in the vehicle interior of the steering shaft 10 that passes through the partition wall 14 between the engine room A and the vehicle interior B, and the elastic, substantially cylindrical main body portion is attached to one side portion. In the one in which two edges 30 and 32 are formed along this divided part by dividing the entire length in the longitudinal direction,
These two end edges 30 and 32 are integrally extended from the main body portion and overlapped with each other so as to overlap each other, and the tip of the outer end edge 30 is made to protrude in the radial direction from the inner end edge 32. A joint cover 24 characterized in that it comes into contact with a protrusion 36 extending along the entire length in the longitudinal direction.