JP2002193111A - Steering device and vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively use the space of a vehicle compartment in the case of using the indoor for a purpose except for driving, for example, by applying a steering device to a passenger car. SOLUTION: A steering wheel 2 is stored at a specified storing position from a position at the time of steering and it is reversely returned to the position at the time of steering from the storing position by specified operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering apparatus, and more particularly, to a steering device in which a steering wheel is stored in a predetermined storage position from a steering position by a predetermined operation, and conversely, a steering wheel is moved from a storage position to a steering position. By returning, when the inside of the vehicle is used for a purpose other than driving, the space in the vehicle compartment can be effectively used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a steering apparatus in which a steering wheel is contracted by an impact in order to reduce a driver's damage at the time of a collision. Also, depending on the driver ’s posture,
There have also been proposed steering wheel positions that can be adjusted. On the other hand, for security purposes, the steering wheel cannot be moved unless a key is operated.

[0003]

However, in practice, some users use the inside of the vehicle for purposes other than driving, such as eating and sleeping. In this case, in a conventional car, the steering wheel becomes an obstacle, and eventually,
There was a problem that the space in the passenger compartment could not be used effectively.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to propose a steering device that can effectively utilize the space in a vehicle compartment when the interior of the vehicle is used for purposes other than driving. It is.

[0005]

According to the first or seventh aspect of the present invention, the present invention is applied to a steering device or a vehicle to reduce the amount of protrusion toward the driver's seat by a predetermined operation. Then, a steering wheel storage mechanism that stores the steering wheel in a predetermined storage position from the steering position and increases the amount of protrusion toward the driver's seat side to return the steering wheel from the storage position to the steering position. To have.

According to the first or seventh aspect of the present invention, the amount of projection toward the driver's seat is reduced by a predetermined operation, and the steering wheel is stored in a predetermined storage position from the steering position. By increasing the amount of protrusion to the driver's seat side and having a steering wheel storage mechanism that returns the steering wheel from the storage position to the steering position,
When the inside of the vehicle is used for a purpose other than driving, the steering wheel can be stored in the storage position by a user's operation, so that the space inside the room is not restricted by the steering wheel, and thereby, the purpose other than the driving When using the interior of the vehicle, the space in the vehicle compartment can be effectively used.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) First Embodiment FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a driver's seat of an automobile to which a steering device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. The steering device 1 transmits an operation of a steering wheel 2 by a driver to steered wheels via a steering shaft 3 covered by a cover, and thereby can steer the automobile.

Here, the steering shaft 3 is disposed so as to protrude obliquely from the floor side to the driver's seat side, and the steering wheel 2 is disposed at the tip of the steering shaft 3 and the outer shape is substantially formed in a ring shape. Is done. The steering wheel 2 is formed with spokes so as to extend in the horizontal direction while maintaining the vehicle in a straight line, and to extend downward at substantially the center of the horizontally extending portion. Is done. As a result, when viewed from the driver side, the steering wheel 2
3 large openings to see the dashboard side
It is made to be formed in places.

[0010] Further, the steering wheel 2 has an operating element 4 for storing the steering wheel by a push button on the right hand side of the spoke extending in the horizontal direction, substantially at the base of the ring-shaped portion. The steering wheel 2 is pulled along the steering shaft 3 by the pressing operation of the operation element 4. Thus, in the steering device 1, the amount of protrusion of the steering wheel 2 toward the driver's seat side is reduced, and the steering wheel 2 is stored in a predetermined storage position that is located on the bonnet side of the steering position. It has been done.

The steering wheel 2 has a fingerprint detection sensor 6 disposed above the operation element 4 stored in the steering wheel. Here, the sensor 6 uses fine electrodes arranged in a matrix on a semiconductor substrate, for example, and sequentially detects a change in the capacitance of each electrode in the raster scanning order, thereby generating irregularities on the fingerprint. It is composed of elements capable of detecting corresponding black and white image data. In the steering device 1, individual authentication is performed using fingerprints using the fingerprint detection sensor 6, so that each user can authenticate each individual using characteristics on different biometrics. Is returned to the steering position.

Further, the sensor 6 has a fine pressure sensor, and detects and outputs a pressing force of a finger by the pressure sensor. The steering device 1 determines whether or not the fingerprint detected by the fingerprint detection sensor 6 is from a living body by determining the pulsation of the pressing force detected in this manner, and reflects the determination result in personal authentication. It has been made like that.

The steering wheel 2 further incorporates a fingerprint authentication system 6A for performing individual authentication by the fingerprint detection sensor 6 and outputting an authentication result. That is, the fingerprint authentication system 6A monitors the output signal of the sensor 6, and detects the placement of the finger based on a change in the signal level of the output signal. The fingerprint authentication system 6A starts the operation with the placement of the finger as a trigger, performs signal processing on an output signal obtained from the sensor 6, and performs fingerprint processing between, for example, fingerprint data registered in advance by feature point detection. Collate. Fingerprint authentication system 6
A further processes the output signal of the pressure sensor to determine whether or not pulsation due to blood flow is detected. The fingerprint authentication system 6A outputs an authentication result indicating that the fingerprint has been correctly collated when it can be determined that the fingerprint of the user has been registered in advance based on the fingerprint collation result and pulsation due to blood flow is detected. Note that the fingerprint data registered in advance in this way is registered in the fingerprint authentication system 6A at a store, for example, when a car is delivered.

In the steering apparatus 1, when the steering wheel 2 thus configured is stored in the storage position, the projections 8A and 8 project from the dashboard side so as to fit into the openings of the steering wheel 2, respectively.
B and 8C are formed at three places.

FIG. 1 shows a steering device 1 cut out by a plane substantially passing through a center axis of a steering shaft 3.
Is a cross-sectional view, and a cross-sectional view partially indicated by reference
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the steering wheel 2 is stored in a storage position in comparison with FIG. 1. Thus, in the steering apparatus 1, when the steering wheel is stored, the projections 8A, 8B, and 8C strike the spokes of the steering wheel 2, thereby making the steering wheel 2 difficult to rotate.

Thus, in the steering apparatus 1, the steering wheel 2 is moved along the steering shaft 3 by a mechanism of a gear driven by the motor 10, whereby the steering wheel 2 protrudes to the driver's seat side. In this state, the steering position is set to a steering position for normal driving, and the storage position is set at the most retracted position.

System controller (syscon) 12
Is a computer that controls the operation of the whole car,
Various data necessary for controlling the entire operation are transmitted to and received from the steering control circuit 14.

The steering control circuit 14 is a computer for controlling the operation of the steering device 1. When a pressing operation of the stored operation element 4 is detected while the steering wheel 2 is held at the steering position, FIG. The processing procedure shown in is executed. That is, the steering control circuit 14
When the operation element 4 is operated, the operation proceeds from step SP1 to step SP2, and the operation state data is received from the system controller 12, whereby the engine is stopped and the side brake is operated (parking). Is determined).

If a negative result is obtained here,
If the user accidentally presses the operation element 6 during driving, the process proceeds to step SP3 without any processing and ends this processing procedure. On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP2, the steering control circuit 14 proceeds to step SP4, and provides a message to the user that the steering wheel 2 is stored in the storage position, thereby prompting the user to be warned. .

Subsequently, the steering control circuit 14 drives the motor 10 to pull the steering wheel 2 to the stowed position, moves to step SP3, and ends this processing procedure. The steering control circuit 14 issues a warning to the user by exchanging data with the system controller 12 when the steering wheel 2 is not operated in the direction in which the vehicle travels straight. Further, when the user changes the direction of the steering wheel 2 in a direction in which the user goes straight, the driving of the motor 10 is started.

As a result, in this steering device 1,
When the inside of the vehicle is used for purposes other than driving, the space in the vehicle compartment can be effectively used. The protruding portions 8A to 8C make the steering wheel 2 difficult to rotate, thereby improving security. By the way, if the projections 8A to 8C protrude into the opening of the steering wheel 2 in the state where the steering wheel 2 is stored in the storage position in this manner, it can be seen that the steering wheel 2 is difficult to rotate at first glance. Can be. As a result, crime can be suppressed from a psychological aspect and security can be improved as compared with a case where it is difficult to operate the steering wheel only if personal authentication is not performed.

On the other hand, when the placement of the finger is notified from the fingerprint authentication system 6A in the state of being stored in the storage position in this way, the steering control circuit 14 executes the processing procedure shown in FIG. That is, the steering control circuit 1
In step 4, from step SP11 to step SP12
The process waits for the fingerprint collation processing in the fingerprint authentication system 6A, and receives the authentication result from the fingerprint authentication system 6A. The steering control circuit 14 performs the following step SP1
At 3, it is determined whether or not a result of authentication with a registered user has been obtained. If a negative result is obtained here, the process proceeds to step SP14 and this processing procedure ends.

On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP13, the steering control circuit 14 proceeds to step SP15 and drives the motor 10 to cause the steering wheel 2 to fly out. Steering control circuit 14
When the steering wheel 2 jumps out to the steering position in this manner, the process proceeds to step SP16, in which an instruction to start the engine is issued by exchanging data with the system controller 12, and then the process proceeds to step SP14 to end the processing procedure. I do.

According to the above configuration, the steering wheel 2 is stored in the predetermined storage position from the steering position by operating the predetermined operation member 4, and conversely, the steering wheel 2 is moved from the storage position to the steering position. By returning, when the inside of the vehicle is used for a purpose other than driving, the space in the vehicle compartment can be effectively used.

At this time, the protrusions 8A to 8
The security can be improved by holding the steering wheel so that it is difficult for the C to protrude into the opening of the steering wheel 2 and rotate the steering wheel.

Further, the security can be improved by returning the steering wheel 2 to the position at the time of steering by an operation of a specific user based on the authentication result by fingerprint collation.

In particular, by executing this authentication process by a fingerprint collation process, which is an authentication process utilizing different biometric characteristics for each user, security is significantly improved as compared with the conventional case. be able to.

(2) Second Embodiment FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a steering apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention in comparison with FIG. In this steering device 21, the steering wheel 2
Is stored in the storage position, and is concealed by the cover 22, thereby further improving security. Note that the steering device 21 is
Except for the configuration related to 2, the steering device 1 according to the first embodiment has the same configuration. In the configuration of FIG. 5, the corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and are duplicated. Description is omitted.

That is, the cover 22 is formed by sequentially connecting elongated plate-like members having a length corresponding to the width of the cover 22 by a flexible member in the width direction thereof, and is wound to the back of the meter panel. Stored. When the steering wheel 2 is retracted to the storage position, the cover 22
It is pulled out of the dashboard above the instrument panel and is guided by guide grooves formed in the dashboard so as to sandwich the steering wheel 2 therebetween, and is arranged so as to completely cover and hide the steering wheel 2.

By concealing the steering wheel 2 with the cover 22 in this manner, the steering device 21 is provided with a fingerprint detection sensor separately at a predetermined position on the dashboard, and the cover 22 is provided with the fingerprint detection sensor. According to the authentication used, it is stored in the original storage position.

As shown in FIG. 5, if the steering wheel stored in the storage position is covered by the cover 22, the security can be further improved.

(3) Other Embodiments In the above-described second embodiment, the case where only the steering wheel is simply covered with the cover has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. ,
A side brake or the like may be additionally covered.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which fingerprint matching is performed by detecting feature points. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various fingerprint matching methods can be widely applied.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a method using fingerprint collation is applied as an authentication mechanism utilizing different biometric features for each user. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and palm prints are not limited thereto. ,retina,
Authentication may be performed using other biometric techniques such as voiceprint, handwriting, face shape, and the like.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described where each user authenticates a user using different biometric features. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It can be widely applied to user authentication.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the steering wheel is stored in the storage position by the operation of the operating element has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The steering wheel may be stored in the storage position in conjunction with the above. In this case, the operation of the operator for tilting the seat and the operation of the operator for rotating the seat are directly or indirectly detected, and the steering wheel is stored.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the protrusion protrudes from the opening of the steering wheel to make the steering wheel difficult to rotate has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained even if rotation is difficult due to various lock mechanisms.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the steering wheel is retracted along the steering shaft to store the steering wheel in the predetermined storage position has been described. The present invention can be widely applied to a steering wheel using a steering column of a steering wheel type, a steering column of a steer-by-wire type, or the like.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, by a predetermined operation, the steering wheel is stored in a predetermined storage position from the position at the time of steering, and conversely, the steering wheel is moved from the storage position to the position at the time of steering. By returning, when the inside of the vehicle is used for a purpose other than driving, the space in the vehicle compartment can be effectively used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a steering device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the steering device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a steering control circuit in the steering device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of fingerprint collation of a steering control circuit in the steering device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a steering device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 21 steering device, 2 steering wheel, 3 steering shaft, 4 operator
6 ... Fingerprint detection sensor, 8A-8C ... Protrusion, 14 ...
Steering control circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Chigasaki 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Satoshi Shinada 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Katsuhiko Nukawa 6-35, Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Inside (72) Inventor Hiroaki Okajima 6-35, Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony (72) Inventor Kota Nezu 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Motor Corporation F term (reference) 3D030 DB13 DD13 DD15 DD23

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A steering device for steering by transmitting an operation of a steering wheel to a steered wheel via a steering shaft.
A steering wheel storage that stores the steering wheel in a predetermined storage position from a position at the time of steering and increases the amount of protrusion toward the driver's seat side to return the steering wheel from the storage position to the position at the time of the steering. A steering device having a mechanism. 2. The steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the steering wheel storage mechanism holds the steering wheel in the storage position so that the steering wheel is difficult to rotate. 3. The steering wheel storage mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the steering wheel is returned to the steering position by an operation of a specific user based on an authentication result by a predetermined authentication mechanism. A steering device as described. 4. The steering device according to claim 3, wherein the authentication mechanism outputs the authentication result by using biometric features that are different for each user. 5. The authentication mechanism outputs the authentication result based on a fingerprint of the user obtained by a predetermined sensor, and the steering wheel storage mechanism determines that the sensor is disposed at a predetermined position of the steering wheel. The steering device according to claim 3, wherein 6. The steering wheel storage mechanism, wherein when the steering wheel is stored in the storage position, the cover is movable so as to cover at least the steering wheel with a predetermined cover. 2. The steering device according to claim 1. 7. A vehicle in which a steering wheel operation is transmitted to a steered wheel via a steering shaft and steering is performed.
A steering wheel storage that stores the steering wheel in a predetermined storage position from a position at the time of steering and increases the amount of protrusion toward the driver's seat side to return the steering wheel from the storage position to the position at the time of the steering. A vehicle having a mechanism. 8. The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the steering wheel storage mechanism holds the steering wheel in the storage position so as not to rotate. 9. The steering wheel storage mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the steering wheel is returned to the steering position by an operation of a specific user based on an authentication result by a predetermined authentication mechanism. The vehicle described. 10. The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the authentication mechanism outputs the authentication result using characteristics on biometrics that are different for each user. 11. The authentication mechanism outputs the authentication result based on a fingerprint of the user obtained by a predetermined sensor, and the steering wheel storage mechanism determines that the sensor is arranged at a predetermined position of the steering wheel. The vehicle according to claim 9, wherein: 12. The steering wheel storage mechanism, wherein, in a state where the steering wheel is stored in the storage position, the cover is movable so as to cover at least the steering wheel with a predetermined cover. 8. The vehicle according to 7.