JP2001273827A - Switch for steering wheel and steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance an operational feeling of a switch for the steering wheel in which a pad body is used as a switch control, to simplify construction and to reduce the manufacturing cost. SOLUTION: An elastic body 30 is disposed at three locations between an air bag device 4 and a steering wheel body 2. The elastic body 30 is formed by bending a leaf spring material into U-shape. The elastic body 30, which is held in such a state that an elastically deformed section 33 is compressed by a restriction section 36 which is integrally formed with the elastically deformed section 33, has a prescribed energizing force even as a single elastic body 30. For the elastic body 30 to be incorporated into the steering wheel 1, a satisfactory operational feeling can be realized by only slightly compressing the elastic body 30 to give an additional energizing force.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel switch provided as a horn switch on a steering wheel of an automobile, for example, and a steering wheel provided with the steering wheel switch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a horn switch structure of a steering wheel of an automobile, a configuration using a pad body provided on a steering wheel body as an operation unit is known. In such a configuration, fixed contacts are provided on the steering wheel body side, movable contacts are provided on the pad body side, and these contacts are separated by elastic bodies such as a plurality of coil springs that support the entire pad body. It is energizing. Further, a large-diameter head of a screw for screwing the screw portion to the steering wheel main body or the pad body is used as a stopper to regulate a moving range of the movable contact and set an interval between the contacts. By pressing the pad body, the contact is closed and the horn is blown.

Also, at present, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-2070
As shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-209, an airbag device is incorporated in a pad body, and therefore, the pad body is larger and larger than before.
Therefore, the switch is designed to support such a heavy pad body, and to prevent the horn from malfunctioning due to vibration caused by the engine or running of the vehicle and to cause malfunction of the horn, or to generate abnormal noise due to rattling. The elasticity of the elastic body is set to be relatively large, and a high rigid component is used as a component for supporting the pad body.

[0004]

As described above, the structure in which the pad body in which the airbag device is incorporated is supported by the switch as described above has a complicated structure, is difficult to miniaturize, increases the number of parts, and is manufactured. It is difficult to reduce costs. That is, there is a demand for the pad body to be lightweight and small in size for designability, visibility of meters provided in the instrument panel, or operability of the steering wheel. It is not always easy to reduce the weight and size of the switch and the steering wheel incorporating the switch.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a switch for a steering wheel and a steering wheel, which can be easily reduced in size and weight, and can be easily reduced in manufacturing cost. I do.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a switch for a steering wheel, wherein a fixed contact provided on a portion to be mounted and a fixed contact provided on an operation portion are relatively movable to face the fixed contact. A movable contact provided; a stroke regulating means for regulating a separation dimension of the movable contact from the fixed contact within a predetermined range; an elastically deforming portion for urging the contact in a direction away from each other; and an urging force of the elastically deformable portion And an elastic body provided with a restricting portion for restricting the distance between the contact points to substantially the predetermined range.

[0007] In this configuration, when the elastic body is assembled between the attached portion side and the operation portion side, an urging force close to a predetermined urging force is generated in the elastic deformation unit by the regulating unit. It is not necessary to adjust the elastically deformable portion by the stroke restricting means after assembly to generate a predetermined urging force from a state in which no urging force is generated, so that the assembling workability is improved and the manufacturing cost of the steering wheel is reduced. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steering wheel switch according to the first aspect, wherein the stroke restricting means includes a reducing means for reducing a distance between the contacts against the urging force of the elastic body. It is provided.

In this configuration, the operability is easily improved by reducing the distance between the contacts against the urging force of the elastic body by the reducing means and increasing the elastic force.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steering wheel switch according to the first or second aspect, wherein the elastic body is integrally formed of a leaf spring material, and is fixedly mounted to abut on the portion to be mounted. Part, a movable-side mounting portion that abuts on the operation portion side, an elastically deformable portion that connects the fixed-side mounting portion and the movable-side mounting portion, and one of the fixed-side mounting portion side and the movable-side mounting portion side. And a restricting portion which is connected to and comes into contact with the other so as to be able to come and go.

In this configuration, the operating portion is urged and supported by the elastic body, and the structure is simplified.
The number of parts is reduced, manufacturing cost and size are reduced,
Weight reduction becomes easy.

[0012] The steering wheel according to claim 4 is
A steering wheel body, a steering wheel switch according to any one of claims 1 to 3, attached to the steering wheel body, and a pad attached to the steering wheel body via the steering wheel switch. And a body.

In this configuration, claims 1 to 3 are provided.
Since the steering wheel switch according to any of the above aspects is provided, the manufacturing cost is reduced, the operational feeling is easily improved, and the size and weight are easily reduced.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a steering wheel according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a steering wheel (handle) for steering an automobile. The steering wheel 1 includes a steering wheel body 2 as an attached portion, and an occupant of the steering wheel body 2. An airbag device (airbag module) 4 which is a pad body as an operation unit mounted on the side, and the like. The steering wheel 1 is normally used in a state of being inclined at a predetermined angle. Hereinafter, the front side of the airbag device 4, that is, the occupant side, will be referred to as the upper side, and the rear surface side of the airbag device 4, ie, the vehicle body side, will be described. The lower side is referred to as the front upper side of the vehicle, that is, the windshield side is referred to as the front side, and the rear lower side of the vehicle is referred to as the rear side.

The steering wheel body 2 is
An annular rim portion 5, a boss portion 6 located inside the rim portion 5, and a plurality of, in this embodiment, three spoke portions 7 connecting the rim portion 5 and the boss portion 6, are provided. It is composed of A substantially cylindrical boss 8 fitted to the steering shaft is provided at a lower portion of the boss portion 6, and the boss 8 constituting a core body which is a hub core formed by die-casting a magnesium alloy is provided on the boss 8. The plate 9 is formed integrally. Then, from the boss plate 9, the core metal 7a of the spoke portion 7 constituting the core is integrally extended or fixed by welding or the like, and further,
The core metal 5a of the rim part 5 is fixed to the core metal 7a of the spoke part 7 integrally or by welding or the like. A skin portion 10 made of a soft foamed polyurethane or the like is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the core metal 5a of the rim portion 5 and the outer peripheral portion of the spoke metal 7 on the rim portion 5 side of the core metal 7a. I have.

The boss portion 6 has a lower cover (back cover) 11 made of resin, and a boss plate 9 provided with a fastener 11c having a large diameter and projecting and formed integrally with the lower cover 11. The boss 6 is attached to the mounting holes 6a, 6a, 6b by being inserted and engaged therewith, and the lower portion of the boss 6 is covered. Further, on the inner side or lower side of the lower cover 11, there is provided a ring-shaped cable called an electrical connection device for electrically connecting the vehicle body side and the steering wheel 1 side, such as a clock spring or a cable type connector device. A reel device is attached. In addition, working openings 11a are provided on both sides of the lower cover 11, and the working openings 11a are openably and closably covered by a lid 11b which is engaged and detachable. Further, a column cover is provided to cover a part of the steering shaft and the cable reel device.

The boss plate 9 has bridge portions 9a, 9a formed on both sides thereof so as to connect the front spoke portions 7, 7 with the rear spoke portions 7, respectively. 9a has a contact portion 14 which is located slightly behind the boss 8 and has a semi-circular cross section which bulges upward with both sides in the axial direction.
Are formed. On the inner peripheral surface, that is, the lower surface of each abutting portion 14, an inclined surface 15 constituting a reducing means which descends from both outer sides toward the boss 8 side is formed.

Further, at the base end of each core bar 7a of the spoke portion 7, that is, at a portion connected to both side portions and the rear side portion of the boss plate 9, a main body side elastic body mounting portion 16 is provided.
Each body-side elastic body mounting portion 16 includes a block-shaped seat portion 16a, a pin-shaped positioning portion 16b protruding from the upper surface of the seat portion 16a, a fixed contact support portion 16c, and the like. Is formed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the airbag device 4 includes a base plate 21 as a base body, a bag-shaped airbag 22, a resin cover (module cover) 23 covering the airbag 22, Combination of an inflator 25 for injecting gas, a belt 27 as a fixed body for fixing the cover body 23 to the base plate 21, a lead wire 28, a nut 29, a substantially hairpin-shaped elastic body 30 constituting the steering wheel switch S, and the like. It is mounted on the boss 6 of the steering wheel body 2 and is locked by a pair of bolts 31 on both sides constituting a stroke regulating means.

The base plate 21 is formed integrally by press-forming a steel plate or the like, and is bent downward from a substantially polygonal plate-like substrate portion 21a and a substantially entire periphery of the substrate portion 21a. And a peripheral plate portion 21b as a peripheral wall. A circular hole-shaped inflator through-hole 21c is formed in the substrate portion 21a, and bolt through-holes 21d are formed at a plurality of positions on the outer periphery of the inflator through-hole 21c. . A recess 21e, which is an elastic body attaching portion, is formed on both sides of the front part and the center part of the rear part of the peripheral plate part 21b. The recess 21e is formed such that the peripheral plate portion 21b is recessed one step toward the inner peripheral side. Each recess 21e is formed with a rectangular through hole 21f serving as an engagement receiving portion. Further, a substantially central portion on both sides of the peripheral plate portion 21b is extended downward to form a bracket portion 21g as a mounting piece. A nut 21h to which the bolt 31 is screwed is fixed to these bracket portions 21g with both sides in the axial direction. The bolt 31 is integrally formed with a flange-shaped washer portion 31a.

The airbag 22 is, for example,
Two circular base cloths made of a nylon woven cloth are overlapped and formed into a bag shape by sewing or the like on the outer periphery, and a through hole 22a for an inflator is formed in the center of the bottom. Bolt through holes 22b are formed at four locations on the outer periphery of the hole 22a.

Further, the cover body 23 is formed integrally by, for example, injection molding an olefin-based elastomer, and covers a part of the boss part 6 and the spoke part 7 of the steering wheel body 2, and a cover part 23a. And a mounting piece 23b, which has a substantially polygonal cylindrical shape and protrudes downward from the lower surface of the mounting member. Then, a portion surrounded by a bottomless box-shaped portion composed of the covering portion 23a and the mounting piece portion 23b and a base plate 21 mounted on the lower side of the cover body 23 forms an air storing the folded airbag 22. Becomes a bag storage part, facing this airbag storage part, covering part 23a
On the back surface, a fragile tear line 23c formed in a thin thickness is formed in a substantially H-shaped plane. On the upper surface of the covering portion 23a, a display portion such as an emblem is formed integrally with the boss portion 6 at the center thereof as necessary, and a covering portion such as a portion covering the front spoke portion 7 is formed. At the end of the portion 23a, an operation display section having a pattern showing dot-like irregularities and a horn is integrally formed. Further, the mounting piece 23b is formed with an engagement receiving portion 23f which is recessed or opened at an inner peripheral side or an outer peripheral side at a predetermined interval.

The inflator 25 has a substantially cylindrical inflator body (container) 25a filled with a propellant or the like.
Gas injection ports 25b are formed at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction on the upper part of the inflator body 25a, and a flange portion is formed on the outer peripheral side from a substantially central part in the height direction of the inflator body 25a. 25c is protruded, and the flange portion 25c has four mounting bolts 25d which face downward.
Is fixed. From the bottom of the inflator body 25a, a lead wire 25e having a connector at the tip is led out, and power for starting is supplied. Further, if necessary, a synthetic resin inflator cover is attached so as to cover the bottom of the inflator body 25a and the lead wires.

The belt 27 is formed in an annular shape by abutting both ends of a conductive ribbon-shaped steel plate and connecting them with a fixing tool such as caulking, welding, or rivets. The belt 27 includes a belt main body 27a having a substantially flat plate shape. The lower end of the belt main body 27a is bent horizontally upward on the inner peripheral side at the front sides and at the rear center of the belt main body 27a. 27b is formed. Furthermore, the belt body 27a
In this case, engaging pieces 27c are formed at predetermined intervals at an intermediate position in the height direction, that is, in the width direction, and are formed integrally with the inner peripheral side so as to protrude. Further, a terminal 27d is cut and raised at one position at the lower end of the belt body 27a so that a connector 28a provided on the lead wire 28 is electrically and mechanically connected to the terminal 27d. Has become. The edge of the upper end of the belt main body 27a is bent so as to incline toward the outer periphery and expand.

On the other hand, the elastic body 30 constituting the horn switch structure can be called a spring, and is integrally formed of a metal plate of a spring steel material having elasticity and conductivity. In other words, this elastic body 30 is provided in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, an elastically deformable portion 33 formed in a substantially hairpin shape in a side view, a movable-side mounting portion 34 continuously bent at one end of the elastically deformable portion 33, and an elastically deformable portion 33 A fixed-side mounting portion 35 continuously bent at the end, and an elastic deformation portion 33
And a restricting portion 36, which is a locking piece continuously cut and raised on the other end side. And the elastic deformation part
Reference numeral 33 denotes an upper plate portion 33a and a lower plate portion 33b connected by an arc-shaped connection portion 33c having a central angle of 180 degrees or more. The movable-side mounting portion 34 includes three mounting pieces 41, 42, and 42 that are bent upward in a substantially L-shape from the upper plate portion 33a. The mounting pieces 42, 42 located on both sides are formed in a vertical plate shape, and are arranged flush with each other. On the other hand, the mounting piece 41 located at the center is arranged parallel to the mounting pieces 42 located on both sides and shifted by one step. Furthermore, the tip of the central mounting piece 41 is folded back to the other mounting piece 42 side,
A locking portion 41a, which is a folded portion, is formed. A substantially rectangular through hole 43 penetrating vertically is formed at a base end of the movable side mounting portion 34 on the elastic deformation portion 33 side. The fixed-side mounting portion 35 has a standing wall portion 45 that is bent in a crank shape on the distal end side and rises substantially vertically, and a fixed contact that is horizontally bent from the upper end of the standing wall portion 45. A portion 46 is formed. A fixed contact 47 is formed on the fixed contact portion 46 so as to protrude upward. Further, a circular positioning hole 48 is formed at the base end of the fixed side mounting portion 35 on the elastic deformation portion 33 side. Further, the restricting portion 36 is continuous with a base end portion of the fixed-side mounting portion 35 on the elastic deformation portion 33 side, and a locking portion in which a central portion in the width direction of the elastic deformation portion 33 is vertically cut and raised along the longitudinal direction. Piece 51 and this locking piece
A locking restricting portion 52 is formed by bending the distal end of the 51 toward the elastic deformation portion 33 in a substantially U-shape.

The elastic deformation portion 33 of the elastic body 30
In the natural state of the original form, where no force is applied,
As shown in (a), the upper plate portion 33a is viewed from the connecting portion 33c side.
And the lower plate portion 33b are formed so as to expand. Then, in the assembling process, when the upper plate portion 33a is pushed down to the lower plate portion 33b side against the urging force of the elastically deforming portion 33, the locking piece portion 51 is elastically deformed and the regulating portion 36 is moved through the through hole 43a. And the locking piece 51 is returned and deformed, so that the locking regulating
Is locked to the edge of the through hole 43, and is held in a single product completed state shown in FIG. In the completed state of this single item, the upper plate 33a
The lower plate portion 33b and the lower plate portion 33b are provided with an urging force to separate them from each other, so to speak, a bias elastic force. The upper plate portion 33a, the lower plate portion 33b, and the fixed contact portion 46 are substantially parallel to each other. The mounting pieces 41, 42, 42 are substantially vertical. Furthermore, in this separately completed state, the upper plate portion 33a and the separation dimension D ₁ of the between the lower plate portion 33b is the upper plate portion 33a and the lower plate portion 33 in a state where the elastic body 30 is incorporated in the steering wheel 1
It is set so as to be substantially equal to, and more preferably about 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm, the separation dimension D2 between the first and _second parts.

The airbag device 4 is also capable of rapidly injecting an inert gas such as nitrogen gas from the inflator 25 into the airbag 22 when an impact such as a collision is applied to an automobile, thereby forming the folded airbag. Inflate bag 22 quickly,
The pressure of this expansion causes the cover body 23 to move to the predetermined tear line.
The airbag 22 is broken at 23c to form a projecting opening, from which the airbag 22 projects and inflates and deploys widely in front of the occupant to protect the occupant.

Next, an assembly process of the airbag device 4 will be described.

First, the inflator 25 is inserted into the inside of the airbag 22 from the inflator through hole 22a, and each mounting bolt is
The airbag 22 and the inflator 25 are fixed to the base plate 21 by inserting the nut 25d into the through holes 22b and 21d for bolts of the airbag 22 and the base plate 21 and screwing a nut 29 as a fixing tool from below. In this state, the lower half of the inflator body 25a protrudes below the substrate portion 21a of the base plate 21 via the inflator through hole 22a and the inflator through hole 21c of the airbag 22.

Further, the airbag 22 extends from the horizontally extended flat plate toward the inflator 25 at the peripheral portion 22c.
In the center 22d. Then, the shape of the airbag 22 is temporarily held by a holding jig (not shown).

Further, in this state, the elastic body 30 is engaged with and attached to the three concave portions 21e of the base plate 21.
That is, when the elastic body 30 is fitted into the recess 21e from below,
A mounting piece 41 located at the center of the movable side mounting portion 34 of the elastic body 30
Is in contact with the outer peripheral side of the concave portion 21e, and the engaging portion 41a is engaged with the through hole 21f from the outside. At the same time, the mounting pieces 42 located on both sides are in contact with the outer peripheral side of the concave portion 21e, and the concave portions 21e are alternately sandwiched between the mounting pieces 41 and 42 and are prevented from falling off.

Next, a cover body 23 is put on the airbag 22 from above so as to cover the airbag 22.
b so that it is completely hidden by the mounting piece 23b of the cover body 23.

Further, the outer peripheral portion of the mounting piece 23b of the cover body 23 is press-fitted into the belt main body 27a of the belt 27, so that the mounting piece 23b is attached to the peripheral plate 21b of the base plate 21 and the belt main body of the belt 27. And the engaging piece 27c of the belt 27 is engaged with the engaging receiving part of the mounting piece 23b.
The cover body 23 is fixed to the base plate 21 by engaging with 23f.

In this state, the mounting piece 41 of the elastic body 30 is sandwiched between the base plate 21, the cover body 23, and the belt 27, and the engagement between the locking portion 41a and the through hole 21f is firmly made. The elastic body 30 is held by the base plate 21 firmly.

Next, a process of assembling the airbag device 4 thus formed into the steering wheel 1 will be described.

First, the pin-shaped positioning portion 16b projecting from the steering wheel body 2 is inserted into the positioning hole 48 of each elastic body 30 of the airbag device 4 configured as described above. Positioning is performed in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, that is, in the height direction. And in this state, the elastic body
By setting the dimensions of the above-described single-unit completed state, the airbag device 4 is positioned about 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm closer to the occupant than a predetermined position.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, bolts 21 are attached to nuts 21h of brackets 21g on both sides of the base plate 21.
31 is screwed together. Then, the tip of the bolt 31 advances in the direction of arrow Y shown in FIG. 4, and this tip is the inclined surface 15 of the contact portion 14 of the boss plate 9 of the steering wheel body 2.
The airbag device 4 is pushed down in the direction of the arrow Z shown in FIG. 4, that is, downward, against the urging force of the elastic body 30. FIG. 4 shows an intermediate state of the screwing operation. The bolt 31 is screwed until the flange-shaped washer portion 31a comes into contact with the end face of the nut 21h.

When the bolt 31 is screwed to the final position, as shown in the final state of the horn switch shown in FIG. The steering wheel 1 provided with the airbag device 4 and the steering wheel switch S is configured such that the urging force is applied to the tip of the bolt 31 and the inclined surface 15 of the boss plate 9.

The lead wire 28 connected to the belt 27, that is, the terminal 27d of the movable contact 27b, is connected to a positive circuit of the horn device via a cable reel device or the like. The belt 27 is insulated from the base plate 21, the inflator 25, and the like using the cover body 23 as an insulator. Accordingly, the metal parts of the entire airbag device 4 include the fixed contacts 47 of the elastic body 30 and have the same potential as the vehicle body, that is, the ground, except for the belt 27.

In the steering wheel 1, when no operating force is applied to the airbag device 4, the airbag device 4 is held at a predetermined position with respect to the steering wheel body 2 by the biasing force of the elastic body 30. Then, the movable contact 27b and the fixed contact 47 are held in a state where they are separated from each other with a predetermined interval.

When the operator pushes the cover body 23 of the airbag device 4, the airbag device 4 is pushed down against the urging force of the elastic body 30, and at least one movable contact 27b and a fixed contact 27b. With the 47 in contact, the circuit is closed and the horn is blown. At this time, a biasing force, that is, a bias elastic force is applied to the elastic body 30 in advance, and the initial load is set, so that a natural operation feeling without a sudden change in the load with respect to the pushing stroke can be obtained. And
Operation feeling can be easily improved.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the steering wheel switch S having the pad body as the operation unit is used.
Steering wheel 1 with horn switch
As for the switch, the operability of the switch is improved, the structure is simplified, the assembly workability is improved, the number of parts and the number of assembly steps are reduced, the production cost can be reduced, and the pad body is lightened. In addition, the size of the instrument panel can be reduced, and the visibility of the instrument panel can be easily improved.

That is, the size of the elastic body 30 is regulated by the regulating portion 36 in the completed state of a single product, and the size of the elastic body 30 is close to that of the assembled state. When assembling, there is no need to generate a predetermined urging force by compressing and elastically deforming the elastic body 30 from a state where there is no urging force,
Good assembling workability can be achieved.

Further, by screwing the bolt 31,
The elastic body 30 can be further compressed to easily increase the bias elastic force, and the operational feeling can be improved by only slightly reducing the dimension between the contacts.

The elastic body 30 is formed by bending a leaf spring material into a substantially U-shape. One side is the steering wheel body 2, that is, the vehicle body side, and the other side is a pad body.
It is configured to contact the side. Therefore, the pad body can be elastically urged and supported by a leaf spring, so that the configuration can be simplified, the number of parts can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the steering wheel 1 as a whole can be reduced.

Further, the elastic deformation portion 33 of the elastic body 30
Due to the arc shape exceeding the degree, the variation in the load can be easily suppressed and the operation feeling of the switch can be easily improved as compared with, for example, a configuration of a substantially U shape curved by 180 degrees.

The airbag device 4 has a structure in which the rear side, which is one end, is held by one elastic body 30 and the front side, which is the other end, is held by two elastic bodies 30. The effects of stably holding the bag device 4 and reducing the manufacturing cost by simplifying the configuration can be easily achieved.

The pad body does not necessarily have to have the airbag device 4.

The arrangement of the elastic body 30 is not limited to three places, but may be set to only two places on both sides or four or more places. Further, it is not necessary to provide a switch mechanism for all the elastic members 30, and only some of the elastic members may be used as switches. Further, a switch can be provided separately from the elastic body 60.

In the above-described embodiment, the lower surfaces of the contact portions 14 of the boss plate 9 with which the bolts 31 slide are all inclined surfaces 15, but for example, as shown in FIG. A horizontal surface 15a is formed on the back side of the lower surface of the airbag device so as to be continuous with the inclined surface 15, so that the airbag device 4 can be easily and stably supported as a line contact.

Further, it is not always necessary to increase the bias elastic force by the bolt 31 as the stroke restricting means. For example, as shown in an elastic body 30 shown in FIG. It can also be fixed to a core of the steering wheel main body 2 with screws 62 via a bracket 61 provided separately. In this configuration, the regulation
The height 36 and the bias elastic force of the airbag device 4 are regulated by the regulation section 36.

The stroke restricting means includes an airbag device 4 as a pad body, like a bolt 31 shown in FIG.
In addition to the configuration in which it is screwed in a direction intersecting with the moving direction of the airbag device and attached to the steering wheel body 2 side or the airbag device 4 side, it is arranged coaxially with the moving direction of the airbag device 4 and has a large diameter head. While restricting the range of movement,
The direction of movement of the airbag device 4 can also be guided by the shaft.

In each of the above embodiments, the steering wheel body and the airbag device can also have various configurations. For example, the steering wheel body is not limited to the one having four spokes. It can also be applied to a three-spoke steering wheel. Further, the airbag device may be configured by using a retainer provided with mounting bolts, and sandwiching the airbag and the base plate between an inflator mounted from below the base plate and the retainer.

[0055]

According to the steering wheel switch according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the elastic body is assembled between the mounted part side and the operation part side, the predetermined urging force is applied to the elastic deformation part by the regulating part. Since there is a biasing force close to, it is not necessary to adjust the elastically deforming portion by the stroke restricting means by the stroke restricting means after the assembling to a predetermined biasing force from a state in which the biasing force is not generated, thereby improving the assembling workability, The manufacturing cost of the steering wheel can be reduced.

According to the steering wheel switch of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the distance between the contacts is reduced by the reduction means against the urging force of the elastic body, and the elastic force is increased. By doing so, the operational feeling can be easily improved.

According to the steering wheel switch of the third aspect, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect,
The operating portion can be urged and supported by the elastic body, and the structure can be simplified, the number of parts can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the size and weight can be easily reduced.

According to the steering wheel according to the fourth aspect, since the steering wheel switch according to any one of the first to third aspects is provided, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, the operational feeling can be easily improved, and the size can be reduced. Lightening can be easily achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a steering wheel including a steering wheel switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the steering wheel according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the steering wheel according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view at a position corresponding to IOIO of FIG. 2 showing a manufacturing process of the steering wheel.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an elastic body of the steering wheel switch.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an elastic body of the steering wheel switch at a position corresponding to II-II in FIG. 5; (A) is a manufacturing process (b) is a manufacturing process following (a)

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view showing the steering wheel according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering wheel 2 Steering wheel main body as a to-be-attached part 4 Airbag device which is a pad body as an operation part 15 Inclined surface which constitutes reduction means 27b Movable contact 30 Elastic body 31 Bolt which constitutes stroke regulation means 33 Elastic deformation part 34 Movable side mounting part 35 Fixed side mounting part 36 Regulation part 47 Fixed contact S Steering wheel switch

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01H 9/02 H01H 9/02 A 13/14 13/14 A

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A fixed contact provided on a portion to be mounted, a movable contact provided on an operation unit and provided to be relatively movable in opposition to the fixed contact, and a movable contact of the movable contact with respect to the fixed contact. A stroke restricting means for restricting a separation dimension within a predetermined range; an elastically deforming portion for urging the contacts in a direction away from each other; and a separation dimension between the contacts substantially against the urging force of the elastically deforming portion within the predetermined range. And a resilient member provided with a restricting portion for restricting the steering wheel. 2. The switch for a steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the stroke restricting means includes a reducing means for reducing a distance between the contacts against the urging force of the elastic body. 3. The elastic body is integrally formed from a leaf spring material, and has a fixed mounting portion abutting on the mounted portion side, a movable mounting portion abutting on the operating portion side, and the fixed mounting portion and the movable mounting portion. An elastically deforming portion connecting the side mounting portions, and a regulating portion connected to one of the fixed side mounting portion side and the movable side mounting portion side and abutting on the other so as to be capable of coming and going. The steering wheel switch according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 4. A steering wheel main body; a steering wheel switch according to claim 1 attached to the steering wheel main body; and a retractable / retractable body with respect to the steering wheel main body via the steering wheel switch. And a pad body attached to the steering wheel.