JP2005283198A - Revolution testing arrangement for steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rotate a steering wheel in a similar state to an actual rotation operation by a driver. <P>SOLUTION: A support plate 13 is assembled rotatably in a power shaft of an electric motor 11, supports a rotation plate 16 rotatably at the right end and allows up and down movement of the rotation plate 16. By the rotation of the electric motor 11, the rotation plate 16 is rotated and driven via a drive plate 12 and a lever 17. Arms 18a, 18b are rotatably connected to both left and right ends of the rotation plate 16 at their lower ends and rotatably connected to the steering wheel WL at their upper ends. The steering wheel WL are driven to the circumferential direction by the arms 18a, 18b during rotation of the rotation plate 16. A bob 15 is connected via a connection rod 14 to the support plate 15 and cancels the mass of rotation plate 16, arms 18a, 18b and the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering wheel rotation test apparatus for rotating a steering wheel in a manufacturing process or a vehicle test after manufacturing.

Conventionally, this type of device is placed on a vehicle seat, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, and is arranged so that the rotating shaft of the electric motor is perpendicular to the rotating surface of the steering wheel. In addition, the rotational force of the electric motor is transmitted to the steering wheel via the universal joint so that the steering wheel is rotated.
JP 2000-2104050 A

  However, in the conventional rotation test apparatus, the rotating shaft of the electric motor is positioned substantially coaxially with the main shaft connected to the steering wheel at the upper end. On the other hand, in driving the vehicle, the driver grips the outer periphery of the steering wheel by hand and rotates the steering wheel in the circumferential direction. Therefore, in the conventional rotation test device, the steering wheel is rotated in a manner different from that during driving of the vehicle. Therefore, in the rotation of the steering wheel by the rotation test device, the actual rotation operation of the steering wheel by the driver is taken into consideration. Test data could not be obtained.

  The present invention has been made to address the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel rotation test apparatus that rotates a steering wheel in a manner similar to an actual rotation operation by a driver.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by comprising an arm mounted on the outer peripheral portion of the steering wheel and a drive device for driving the arm, and the steering wheel is arranged in the circumferential direction via the arm by the drive device. This is because it is driven to rotate. In this case, for example, the arm is attached to the steering wheel so as to extend in the tangential direction, the drive device has an actuator and a link mechanism, and the arm is driven by the actuator in the axial direction via the link mechanism. It is good to. Moreover, a pair of arms can be provided. However, it is also possible to simulate one-handed operation of the steering wheel by removing one of the pair of arms.

  Specifically, a feature of the present invention is that a rotating member that can rotate around a fulcrum, a lower member that is rotatably assembled to the rotating member, and an upper end that is rotatably attached to the outer periphery of the steering wheel. And a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the rotating member about the fulcrum, and the rotation of the rotating member can rotate the steering wheel in the circumferential direction via the arm.

  According to this, since the steering wheel is rotated in the same manner as when driving the vehicle, it is possible to obtain test data in consideration of the actual rotation operation of the steering wheel by the driver.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the specific structure further includes a support member that is rotatable about a fulcrum and rotatably supports the rotation member at the fulcrum of the rotation member. According to this, even if an error occurs when the arm is mounted on the steering wheel, the movement of the rotation center of the rotating member due to the rotation of the support member absorbs the mounting error. As a result, the mountability of the rotation test apparatus to the steering wheel is improved.

  Another feature of the present invention is that a weight is provided opposite to the fulcrum of the rotating member with respect to the fulcrum of the support member to counteract the mass of the rotating member and the arm. According to this, since the mass of the rotating member and the arm does not affect the steering wheel, the steering wheel can be rotated under a condition more similar to the actual rotation operation by the driver.

  Another feature of the present invention is that a physical quantity sensor for detecting a physical quantity that changes in accordance with the rotation of the steering wheel is further provided. In this case, the physical quantity is, for example, a rotation angle of the steering wheel or a force for rotating the steering wheel. Thereby, the characteristic of the part which operates in conjunction with the rotation of the steering wheel and the physical quantity for determining the steering characteristic associated with the rotation of the steering wheel during driving of the vehicle are obtained, and a good test is realized.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows a main part of a rotation test apparatus for a steering wheel according to the present invention.

  The rotation test apparatus includes an electric motor 11. The electric motor 11 is assembled to a support device 30 to be described in detail below, and rotates an output shaft provided perpendicular to the paper surface around the axis via a built-in reduction mechanism. On the output shaft of the electric motor 11, a drive plate 12 and a support plate 13 are assembled in this order in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface. The drive plate 12 is configured by a plate formed in a substantially oval shape, and is fixed to rotate integrally with the output shaft of the electric motor 11 at the upper portion. The lower portion of the drive plate 12 is shown by a solid arrow in FIG. Rotate left or right.

  The support plate 13 is configured by a plate formed in an approximately oval shape, and is rotatably assembled to the output shaft of the electric motor 11 at the left side in the figure. The right end of a connecting rod 14 extending horizontally is fixed to the left end of the support plate 13. A disc-like or spherical weight 15 is fixed to the left end portion of the connecting rod 14, and the support plate 13, the connecting rod 14 and the weight 15 are arranged on the axis of the output shaft of the electric motor 11 as indicated by the broken arrow in the figure. It is designed to rotate around.

  A rotating plate 16 is assembled to the right end portion of the support plate 13. The rotating plate 16 is configured by a plate formed in a substantially triangular shape, and is supported on an outer periphery of a shaft 13a provided on the supporting plate 16 at an upper central position in the left-right direction so as to be rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the paper surface. . Reference numerals 16 a and 16 a indicate through holes provided in the rotary plate 16. A front end portion (that is, a right end portion) of a lever 17 that extends in the horizontal direction is assembled at the central position in the left-right direction below the rotation plate 16 so as to be rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the paper surface. The base end portion (that is, the left end portion) of the lever 17 is assembled to the lower portion of the drive plate 12 so as to be rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the paper surface. The drive plate 12, the rotation plate 16 and the lever 17 constitute a link mechanism, and the lever 17 is displaced in the left-right direction by the left-right rotation of the lower portion of the drive plate 12, and the rotation plate 16 is moved in the left-right direction of the upper portion It rotates around the axis of the shaft 13a at the center position as shown by the solid line arrow in the figure.

  At both ends in the left and right direction of the rotating plate 16, the lower ends of the linear arms 18a and 18b extending vertically are assembled by ball joints or Fuchs joints. Mounting portions 22a and 22b are assembled to the upper ends of the arms 18a and 18b via ball joints 21a and 21b. The mounting portions 22a and 22b are detachably mounted on the left and right ends of the outer peripheral portion of the steering wheel WL. The ball joints 21a and 21b allow free rotation of the tip portions of the arms 18a and 18b with respect to the mounting portions 22a and 22b. With this configuration, when the rotating plate 16 rotates around the center position in the left-right direction as described above, the arms 18a and 18b are displaced in opposite directions to drive the steering wheel WL in the circumferential direction.

  The rotation test apparatus includes a rotation angle sensor 23 and load sensors 24a and 24b. The rotation angle sensor 23 is mounted on the outer periphery of a shaft 13 a that is provided at the right end portion of the support plate 13 and rotatably supports the center position in the left-right direction of the upper portion of the rotation plate 16, and rotates the rotation plate 16 relative to the support plate 13. Detect corners. The rotation angle sensor 23 is composed of, for example, a rotary encoder, a potentiometer and the like. The load sensors 24a and 24b are interposed in the arms 18a and 18b and detect loads applied to the arms 18a and 18b, respectively. These load sensors 24a and 24b are constituted by, for example, load cells, strain gauges and the like.

  The rotation angle sensor 23 and the load sensors 24a and 24b are connected to the controller 25. The controller 25 is constituted by a computer circuit having CPU, ROM, RAM and the like as main components, and inputs rotation angles and loads detected by the rotation angle sensor 23 and the load sensors 24a and 24b, respectively. The controller 25 also controls the rotation of the electric motor 11.

  The electric motor 11 of the rotation test apparatus for the steering wheel WL configured as described above is assembled to the support device 30 as shown in FIG. Note that a block indicated by BL in FIG. 2 represents the entire mechanism disposed between the electric motor 11 and the arms 18a and 18b in FIG. Further, the support device 30 includes a mechanism for fixing the electric motor 11, displaces the mechanism BL including the electric motor 11 in the illustrated X, Y, and Z axis directions, and rotates around the X and Z axes. It also has a drive mechanism that rotates it.

  The rotation test device including the support device 30 configured as described above is placed on a base 41 fixed on the floor FL of the vehicle body. Then, the drive mechanism of the support device 30 is operated so that the upper end portions of the arms 18a and 18b are aligned with the left and right end positions of the outer peripheral portion of the steering wheel WL, and the mounting portions 22a and 22b are connected to the outer peripheral portion of the steering wheel WL. Attach to both left and right ends. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the controller 25 is connected to an analysis terminal device (personal computer) 42. In the state where the seat is assembled to the vehicle body, the support device 30 may be placed on the seat.

  In the rotation test apparatus for the steering wheel WL configured as described above, the support plate 13 can rotate around the output shaft of the electric motor 11, and the rotation center of the rotation plate 16 is displaced up and down by the rotation of the support plate 13. Is possible. Accordingly, even if an error occurs when the mounting portions 22a and 22b are mounted on the steering wheel WL, the vertical movement of the rotation center of the rotating plate 16 due to the rotation of the support plate 13 absorbs the mounting error. The mountability of the device with respect to the steering wheel WL is improved. Further, since the weight 15 cancels out the mass of the rotating plate 16 and the arms 18a and 18b, the mass of the rotating plate 16 and the arms 18a and 18b does not affect the rotation of the steering wheel WL.

  In this state, the inspector operates the analysis terminal device 42 to instruct the controller 25 to rotate the steering wheel WL, that is, instruct to rotate the electric motor 11. When the controller 25 rotates the electric motor 11 according to this instruction, the lower end portion of the drive plate 12 rotates left and right by the rotation of the electric motor 11. The rotation of the drive plate 12 is transmitted to the rotary plate 16 through the lever 17, and the rotary plate 16 rotates around the center position in the left-right direction at the upper part thereof. As a result, the arms 18a and 18b are displaced in directions opposite to each other, and rotationally drive the steering wheel WL in the circumferential direction at their upper ends. As a result, the steering wheel WL is rotated in the same manner as when driving the vehicle.

  During the rotation operation of the steering wheel WL, the rotation angle and the load detected by the rotation angle sensor 23 and the load sensors 24a and 24b are supplied to the analysis terminal device 42 via the controller 25. Then, the analysis terminal device 42 analyzes the characteristics of the steering device of the vehicle accompanying the rotation of the steering wheel WL, using the rotation control state of the steering wheel WL and the input detected rotation angle and load. As a result, the characteristics of the steering device are analyzed based on the test data obtained by the rotation of the steering wheel WL in the same manner as when driving the vehicle, so that a good test is realized.

  Such a test is performed after completion of the vehicle and in the manufacturing process of the vehicle. The test performed in the manufacturing process of the vehicle will be described with specific examples. As shown in FIG. 3, in the step before mounting the wheel, the reaction force generator 43 provided with the elastic member 43a and the friction damping member 43b is mounted on the outer end of the tie rod TL. In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 described later, the block BL represents the entire mechanism disposed between the electric motor 11 and the arms 18a and 18b in FIG. Next, the displacement of each part of the vehicle steering device is measured by a three-dimensional measuring device or the like while rotating the steering wheel WL using the rotation test device of the above embodiment. The measurement result is input to the analysis terminal device 42. The analysis terminal device 42 takes into account the rotation angle and the load detected by the rotation angle sensor 23 and the load sensors 24a and 24b, respectively, to the measurement result. The rigidity of each part of the vehicle steering device is analyzed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a linear vibration device 44 is attached to the outer end of the tie rod TL. Next, the linear vibration device 44 is operated to vibrate the tie rod TL in the axial direction. At this time, the electric motor 11 may be controlled to apply a restraining force to the rotation of the steering wheel WL. In this case, the acceleration sensor 45 is also attached to the upper end of the arm 18b or the steering wheel WL, and the acceleration of the steering wheel WL is also detected. Then, the analysis terminal device 42 receives the signal indicating the vibration state from the linear vibration device 44, the acceleration of the steering wheel WL, the rotation angle and the load detected by the rotation angle sensor 23 and the load sensors 24a and 24b, respectively. By inputting, it is possible to analyze the transmission characteristic of the reaction force from the tie rod TL to the steering wheel WL.

  In the above-described embodiment, one of the arms 18a and 18b can be removed and various tests as described above can be performed. According to this, it is possible to analyze the characteristics of the vehicle steering device in a state where the driver operates the steering wheel WL with one hand.

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and various modifications, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention.

It is the schematic which shows the principal part of the rotation test apparatus of the steering wheel which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the example of mounting of the rotation test apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic which shows an example of the test by the rotation test apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic which shows the other example of the test by the rotation test apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Electric motor (actuator), 12 ... Drive plate, 13 ... Support plate (support member), 15 ... Weight, 16 ... Rotating plate (rotating member), 17 ... Lever, 18a, 18b ... Arm, 22a, 22b ... Installation Part, 23 ... rotation angle sensor (physical quantity sensor), 24a, 24b ... load sensor.

Claims (8)

An arm attached to the outer periphery of the steering wheel;
A drive device for driving the arm,
A steering wheel rotation test apparatus in which the steering wheel is rotationally driven in the circumferential direction by the drive device via the arm. The arm is attached to the steering wheel so as to extend in the tangential direction,
The drive device has an actuator and a link mechanism,
The steering wheel rotation test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arm is driven in the axial direction by the actuator via the link mechanism. A rotating member rotatable around a fulcrum;
An arm that is rotatably attached to the rotating member at a lower end portion and is rotatably attached to an outer peripheral portion of a steering wheel at an upper end portion;
A rotation drive mechanism for rotating the rotating member around the fulcrum,
A steering wheel rotation test apparatus configured to rotationally drive a steering wheel in a circumferential direction through the arm by the rotation of the rotating member. The steering wheel rotation test apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:
A steering wheel rotation test apparatus comprising a support member that is rotatable about a fulcrum and that rotatably supports the rotation member at a fulcrum of the rotation member. The steering wheel rotation test apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:
A steering wheel rotation test apparatus comprising a weight that is provided in a direction opposite to the fulcrum of the rotating member with respect to the fulcrum of the support member and counteracts the mass of the rotating member and the arm.   6. The steering wheel rotation test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pair of the arms are provided. The steering wheel rotation test apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:
A steering wheel rotation test apparatus provided with a physical quantity sensor for detecting a physical quantity that changes in accordance with the rotation of the steering wheel. The steering wheel rotation test apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the physical quantity is a rotation angle of a steering wheel or a force for rotating the steering wheel.

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