JP2001262896A - Steering lock device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dispense with a lid having the possibility of canceling locking due to destruction and to improve the theft preventing function of a steering lock device. SOLUTION: A lock shaft 5 and a spring 6 biasing the lock shaft in the direction of a steering shaft are inserted into a housing 1 from an opening hole 1a provided on the steering shaft side of the housing. A slip-off preventing member (stopper pin) 5b provided in s state wherein it can project to and withdraw from one side of the lock shaft or housing side and is biased in the direction of projection is made to engage with a holding part (engaging part) 7d provided on the other side of the lock shaft or housing side and thereby the lock shaft is fitted to the housing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved structure for mounting a lock shaft in a steering lock device for an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Steering lock devices for automobiles are:
By projecting the lock shaft in the direction of the steering shaft from an opening hole provided on the steering shaft side of the housing, the lock shaft is engaged with the steering shaft so that the steering shaft cannot rotate. In a conventional steering lock device, a structure is generally used in which the lock shaft is inserted into a housing from a side opposite to an opening hole together with a spring for urging the lock shaft in the steering shaft direction, and then a lid is attached to close a storage opening. is there.

[0003] However, in the above-described conventional structure, the spring and the lock shaft in the housing can be removed by destroying the lid and the fixing portion thereof. For this reason, there is a possibility that the locking action is released by an illegal act and the anti-theft function is impaired.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of this point, the present invention has been made to eliminate the lid and to further improve the reliability of the steering lock device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a lock shaft and a spring for urging the lock shaft in the direction of the steering shaft are provided in an opening hole provided in the housing on the steering shaft side. From the lock shaft or the housing side, and the retaining member provided so as to be able to protrude and retract in one of the lock shaft or the housing side and urged in the protruding direction is attached to the holding portion provided on the other of the lock shaft or the housing side By locking, the lock shaft is assembled to the housing. With such a configuration, the lid becomes unnecessary, and the lid cannot be broken to remove the lock shaft, so that the anti-theft function of the steering lock device is not impaired.

Further, a swing bar driven by a motor is provided, and the lock shaft is immersed in the housing by the swing bar. This configuration is applied to an electric steering lock device.

In the above-mentioned electric apparatus, a lock member is provided on the lock shaft, a holding portion on the housing side is formed on the swing bar, and the holding portion is engaged with the lock member to lock the lock shaft. Of the housing and immersion operation into the housing.

[0008]

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electric steering lock device will be described. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part in an assembled state, FIG. 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the main part, FIG. 3 is a front view of the entire steering lock device in which a housing is cut away, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a driving mechanism of the apparatus, and FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

First, the overall schematic structure will be described with reference to FIGS. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing, 2 denotes a mounting recess, 3 denotes a mounting cover, and 4 denotes a steering shaft. The steering shaft column and the like are sandwiched between the recess 2 and the cover 3 at predetermined positions. It is attached. The fixing bolt is not shown. Reference numeral 5 denotes a lock shaft, and 6 denotes a spring for urging the lock shaft. The lock shaft 5 and the spring 6 are housed in the lock shaft housing portion 1b through an opening 1a formed in the housing 1.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a fulcrum 7a, which is a sector gear type swing bar which is swingably mounted on the housing 1, 8 is a driving motor, 9, 10, and 11 are reduction gears, and 12 is a micro for a limit switch. The switch is a swing bar 7
The gear 7b is a small-diameter gear 11a of the final stage reduction gear 11.
And swings within a certain range. Reference numeral 13 denotes a lock solenoid of a drive mechanism including the motor 8 and the gears 9 to 11, and the like. The lock solenoid 13 includes a lock member 13a urged in the direction of the gear 11 by a spring 13b.

The lock shaft 5 is urged by a spring 6 in the direction of the steering shaft 4. When the lock shaft 5 protrudes from the opening 1a, the lock shaft 5 engages with the steering shaft 4 to lock it so that it cannot rotate. Demonstrate. In addition, the swing bar 7 engages with the lock shaft 5, and has an effect of releasing the lock by immersing the lock shaft 5 into the housing 1. Next, an assembling structure of the lock shaft 5 and a locking operation will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lock shaft 5 is, for example, a prism having a rectangular cross section, and a pin insertion hole 5a is provided on one side surface of the lock shaft 5 in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and serves as a retaining member. A stopper pin 5b and a biasing spring 5c are inserted. The tip end of the stopper pin 5b is freely retractable from the side surface of the lock shaft 5, and is urged in the projecting direction. On the other hand, the swing bar 7 is provided with a protruding piece 7c facing downward at an intermediate portion, and a lower portion of the rear surface thereof is cut out in a step shape to form an engaging portion 7d. Of the housing 1 in such an arrangement that the part of
Attached to.

The shape and structure of each member are as described above.
When assembling the lock shaft 5, first, the spring 5c and the stopper pin 5b are inserted into the pin insertion hole 5a in this order. When the spring 6 and the lock shaft 5 are inserted from the opening 1a into the lock shaft storage portion 1b in this order while holding the stopper pin 5b so as not to protrude, the engagement of the swing bar 7 as shown in FIG. When the stopper pin 5b is inserted to the position of the portion 7d, the stopper pin 5b projects and is locked by the engaging portion 7d, so that the stopper pin 5b is prevented from falling in the direction of the opening 1a. That is, in this example, the engagement portion 7
d serves as a holding portion on the housing 1 side, and the assembly is completed.

Next, the operation will be described. FIGS. 1 and 3 are views showing a locked state, in which the swing bar 7 rotates upward and abuts against the upper stopper 1c of the housing 1, and the lock shaft 5 can move upward. The steering shaft 4 is locked by projecting the tip 5d from the opening 1a by the urging force of the spring 6.

Here, when an unlocking operation such as insertion of a key into a key switch (not shown) is performed, this is detected, the motor 8 is driven, and the reduction gear 9 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. The reduced rotation is transmitted from the small-diameter gear 11a to the gear portion 7b of the swing bar 7, and the swing bar 7 is rotated clockwise. This rotation causes the engaging portion 7d to move downward, so that the stopper pin 5b locked to the engaging portion 7d is also pushed down, and the lock shaft 5d is pressed.
Is immersed in the opening 1a and the lock of the steering shaft 4 is released. The swing bar 7 itself is a sector gear having a deceleration function, so that the drive mechanism is simplified. Further, since the engaging portion 7d is provided between the fulcrum 7a and the gear portion 7b, the lock shaft is provided. 5, a sufficient pushing force is obtained.

When the rocking bar 7 rotates to the position where the lock is released, the actuator of the micro switch 12 is pressed, and a signal that the lock shaft 5 has entered the housing 1 is transmitted to a controller (not shown). For example, the engine can be driven. At this time, the energization of the motor 8 is stopped after a lapse of a required time until the swing bar 7 contacts the lower stopper 1d of the housing 1. In this unlocked position,
The gear 11 rotates just half a turn from the state shown in FIG. 3, and its lock hole 11b is located at the bottom of the figure, and the solenoid 13 is arranged at a position corresponding to the lock hole 11b at this time. For this reason, the lock member 13a, which has been in sliding contact with the gear 11 by the urging force of the spring 13b, is inserted into the lock hole 11b as shown in FIG. 5, and the drive mechanism including the swing bar 7, the motor 8 and the like It is kept in the unlocked state.

In this unlocked state, if a lock operation is performed by a key operation or the like, the solenoid 13
Is excited, the lock member 13a is pulled out of the lock hole 11b, and the drive mechanism can operate. At the same time, the motor 8 is driven to rotate the reduction gear 9 clockwise, and this rotation is reduced and transmitted to the swing bar 7,
Rotates counterclockwise until it contacts the upper stopper 1c. Since the engaging portion 7d moves upward with this rotation, the lock shaft 5 urged by the spring 6 can be moved accordingly, and finally the tip 5
d protrudes from the opening 1a. 1 and 3 in which the steering shaft 4 is locked, and this locked state is maintained by the urging force of the spring 6.

Solenoid 13 for the above lock operation
Is temporarily performed for a time sufficient to pull out the lock member 13a, and the energization of the motor 8 at this time is stopped after a lapse of a required time until the swing bar 7 comes into contact with the upper stopper 1c. It has become.

Although the above-described example is a case where the present invention is applied to an electric steering lock device, the present invention is also applicable to a steering lock device of a type in which a lock shaft is directly driven by operating a key. Of course. In the above example, the lock shaft 5 is provided with the stopper pin 5b which is a retaining member and the swing bar 7 is provided with the engaging portion 7d. Although it has a structure that also serves as a function, the housing 1
, Or a structure in which a retaining member is provided on the housing side and a holding portion is provided on the lock shaft side.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, the steering lock device according to the present invention has a lock shaft and a spring for urging the lock shaft in the direction of the steering shaft. From the lock shaft or the housing side, and the retaining member provided so as to be able to protrude and retract in one of the lock shaft or the housing side and urged in the protruding direction is attached to the holding portion provided on the other of the lock shaft or the housing side By locking, the lock shaft is assembled to the housing.

Therefore, the lid in the conventional device becomes unnecessary, and the lock is not released by an illegal act of removing the lock shaft by destroying the lid and the fixed portion thereof, and the anti-theft function of the device is improved. , High reliability is obtained. In addition, the number of parts is reduced because no rim is required, and the assembling is easy, so that the number of steps required for the assembling operation can be reduced, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the case where the rocking bar driven by the motor is provided, the driving mechanism is simplified and a sufficient driving force can be exerted on the lock shaft.
It is easy to obtain a relatively small, electrically-operated steering lock device that operates reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a steering lock device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded sectional view of a main part of the device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the whole of the same device in which a housing is cut away.

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded front view of the whole of the above-mentioned device, in which the housing of the device is cut away.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a driving mechanism of the above device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a Opening hole 1b Lock shaft storage part 4 Steering shaft 5 Lock shaft 5b Stopper pin (prevention member) 5c Spring 6 Spring 7 Swing bar 7d Engaging part (holding part) 8 Motor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A structure in which a lock shaft is protruded in a steering shaft direction from an opening hole provided on a steering shaft side of a housing, so that the lock shaft is engaged with the steering shaft so that the steering shaft cannot be turned. In the steering lock device, a lock shaft and a spring for urging the lock shaft in the direction of the steering shaft are inserted into the housing from the opening hole side, and are attached to one of the lock shaft and the housing side so as to be able to protrude and retract in a protruding direction. A steering lock device, wherein a lock shaft is assembled to a housing by locking a retaining member provided in a biased state to a lock shaft or a holding portion provided on the other side of the housing. 2. The steering lock device according to claim 1, wherein a swing bar driven by a motor is provided, and the lock shaft is immersed in the housing with the swing bar. 3. A locking member is provided on the lock shaft, and a holding portion on the side of the housing is formed on the swinging bar, and the holding portion is engaged with the locking member to prevent the lock shaft from falling off and into the housing. 3. The steering lock device according to claim 2, wherein an immersion operation is performed.