JP2007055467A - Shaft seal structure of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seal of a shaft of a vehicle capable of improving workability in vehicle assembling work, and reducing cost by simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: A shaft seal 1 has a large diameter part 2 engaging with the peripheral edge of an insertion hole 102 of a dash panel 101, and a small diameter part 3 abutting to the outside diameter of a steering shaft 16, and the inner surface of the shaft seal 1 is made to a continuous shape so as to slidingly guide the steering shaft 17 from the inside diameter of the large diameter part 2 to the inside diameter of the small diameter part 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle shaft seal structure suitable for use in an insertion hole provided in a dash panel through which a steering shaft is inserted.

  In a steering device such as a passenger car, a steering shaft is a member that connects a steering gear in an engine room and a steering column on the vehicle compartment side, and is inserted into a dash panel that partitions the engine room and the vehicle compartment side. The dash panel is provided with an insertion hole through which the steering shaft is inserted, and a shaft seal is attached to the periphery of the insertion hole so that water, dust, noise, and the like do not enter the vehicle interior. The shaft seal is sandwiched between the periphery of the insertion hole provided in the dash panel and a groove formed in the shaft seal, or the shaft seal is provided with a flange portion and screwed into a screw hole disposed in the vicinity of the insertion hole. And fix.

  When assembling the steering shaft, first, the steering frame and the sub-frame unit on which the tie rods and the like arranged on the left and right in the wheel axis direction are connected to the steering shaft by a universal joint or the like. Then, an insertion hole of the shaft seal fixed to the dash panel is aimed at, and the steering shaft extends through the vehicle compartment side.

  After the steering shaft is inserted and extended to the passenger compartment side, a connection joint is attached, and positioning in a predetermined position and an appropriate rotation direction is performed to connect the steering column.

  As a prior art of this type of shaft seal structure, there are one with improved sealing performance (Patent Document 1) and one with improved work efficiency (Patent Document 2).

JP 2000-16308 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-129507

  The above-described operation of inserting the steering shaft is performed by lifting the subframe unit coupled with the steering shaft from below with the lift while the vehicle is lifted. At that time, the worker must hold the steering shaft and guide it to the insertion hole of the shaft seal, and at the same time, it is necessary to align the vehicle with other parts mounted on the subframe unit. This is not easy for the user. In addition, if the alignment cannot be performed properly, there is a possibility that a problem may occur such that each component part interferes at a position other than the predetermined position.

  Further, the inner surface of a conventional shaft seal is often formed with an irregular shape due to a bellows shape or a stepped shape. For this reason, when the steering shaft is inserted, the steering shaft may be caught in a concavo-convex shape and assembly may not proceed smoothly.

  In view of the actual situation, the present invention provides a steering shaft seal that eliminates the above-mentioned troublesome work problems in vehicle assembly work, improves workability, has a simple structure, and can reduce costs. The purpose is to do.

  The present invention relates to a steering shaft that connects a steering gear outside a passenger compartment and a steering column in the passenger compartment, a dash panel provided with an insertion hole through which the steering shaft is inserted, and a gap between the steering shaft and the insertion hole of the dash panel. A shaft seal structure for a vehicle having a shaft seal that closes the outer diameter of the steering shaft on the vehicle side of the dash panel and a large diameter portion that engages with a peripheral edge of the insertion hole of the dash panel And a continuous shape so that the steering shaft is slidably guided from the inner diameter of the large diameter portion to the inner diameter of the small diameter portion at least a portion of the inner surface of the shaft seal on the upper side of the vehicle. It is characterized by.

  The small-diameter portion includes an inner end portion in which a groove is formed in the inner peripheral direction of the opening side, a bellows portion formed on the dash panel side from the inner end portion, and a dash panel side end portion of the bellows portion. It has a throttle part formed in the inner diameter almost the same as the inner end part.

  Furthermore, a thin-walled portion is formed at least on a part of the shaft seal on the lower side of the vehicle.

  According to the present invention, the steering shaft can be smoothly inserted while being slidably contacted along the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the shaft seal, and the workability of the assembly work is improved. In addition, by forming a groove in the opening side inner end of the small diameter portion described above, the sliding resistance and sliding noise of the steering shaft are reduced, and the bellows portion is formed on the dash panel side from the inner end. Ensures flexibility and variable followability of shape, and improves sealing performance. In addition, by forming a narrowed portion having the same inner diameter as the inner end portion at the end portion of the bellows portion on the dash panel side, the positional alignment between the two is achieved, and the steering shaft is smoothly guided to the inner end portion. It can be inserted and workability is further improved.

  Furthermore, by forming a thin wall part at least on the lower part of the vehicle on the shaft seal, the steering shaft is operated in the connection work between the connection joint and the steering column after the steering shaft is inserted into the vehicle compartment. It is possible to guide to an easy-to-use space and improve workability.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a vehicle shaft seal structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an outline of a steering device 100 inside a vehicle will be described. A steering gear 10 converts the rotational movement of the steering wheel 11 into the reciprocating movement of the tie rods 12 and 13 arranged on the left and right. The tie rods 12 and 13 reciprocally move in synchronization with each other, and are connected to the wheels 14 and 15 through knuckle arms or the like (not shown) at their respective ends. A plurality of components such as the steering gear 10 and the tie rods 12 and 13 are mounted on a subframe (not shown). In the present embodiment, a unit in which components are mounted on the subframe is referred to as a subframe unit 16.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a steering shaft, one end of which is connected to the steering gear 10 and the other end is connected to one end of the steering column 18. The other end of the steering column 18 is fixed to the steering wheel 11.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the steering device 100. In FIG. 2, one end of the steering shaft 17 is connected to the end of the steering gear 10 mounted on the subframe unit 16 via the universal joint 19. Further, the other end is connected to one end of the steering column 18 via the steering joint 20.

  Reference numeral 101 denotes a dash panel that partitions the engine room A (the vehicle front side Fr) and the vehicle compartment B (the vehicle front side Rr). An insertion hole 102 through which the steering shaft 17 is inserted is provided, and a shaft seal is formed around the insertion hole 102. 1 is arranged. The shaft seal 1 has a substantially frustoconical shape composed of a large-diameter portion 2 and a small-diameter portion 3, and an engagement groove 4 that engages with the periphery of the insertion hole 102 is formed on the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 2. When attaching the shaft seal 1 to the insertion hole 102, the small diameter portion 3 is inserted from the engine room A side toward the vehicle compartment B side, the surface position of the large diameter portion 2 is aligned with the insertion hole 102, and the insertion groove 4 inserts the insertion hole. The shaft seal 1 is fixed to the dash panel 101 by sandwiching the periphery of 102.

  FIG. 3 shows a front view, a side view, a bottom view, and a side sectional view of the shaft seal 1. In FIG. 3, the shaft seal 1 has a substantially frustoconical shape composed of a large diameter portion 2 and a small diameter portion 3. An engagement groove 4 that engages with the periphery of the insertion hole 102 is formed on the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 2.

  Further, the inner surface of the shaft seal 1 is formed in a continuous straight line shape (side view) from the inner diameter of the large-diameter portion 2 to the inner diameter of the small-diameter portion 3 (inner diameter of the throttle portion 7 described later). Although the details will be described later, by adopting such a continuous shape, when the steering shaft 17 is inserted, the tip of the steering shaft 17 is guided to the opening side of the small diameter portion 3 so as to be guided along the inner surface shape. As a result, it can be smoothly inserted and the workability of the assembly work is improved.

  In addition, referring to FIG. 3 (d), the groove 5 is continuously formed on the inner side casing side (inner end portion) of the small diameter portion 3. The crest diameter P1 of the groove 5 is set so as to contact the outer diameter of the steering shaft 17 to reduce sliding resistance against the rotation of the steering shaft 17 and to prevent sliding noise. Further, the bellows portion 6 is formed on the dash panel 101 side of the groove 5 so as to be thinner than the inner and outer surfaces. The narrowed portion 7 is formed at the end of the dash panel 101 further than the bellows portion 6. The inner diameter of the throttle portion 7 is formed to have the same diameter P2 as the inner diameter of the small diameter portion 3. That is, “P1≈P2”.

By forming the bellows portion 6 to be thin, flexibility and variable followability of the shape can be obtained, and shape errors that can occur when the steering shaft 17 is connected to the steering column 18 after insertion. It is possible to improve the sealing performance by absorbing gaps and the like. Further, by forming the throttle portion 7 so that “P1≈P2”, when the steering shaft 17 is inserted, the angle through which the steering shaft 17 is inserted is limited to some extent, so that the guide is guided to the opening side of the small diameter portion 3. In this way, the insertion can be performed smoothly, and the workability is further improved without interfering with the concave portion (inner surface side) of the bellows portion 6.
Further, the thin portion 8 is formed in a concave shape in a part of the outer surface of the shaft seal 1. With reference to FIG. 5A, the thin portion 8 is positioned on the vehicle lower side when the shaft seal 1 is mounted.

  Based on FIGS. 4-6, the assembly | attachment operation | work of the steering shaft 17 is demonstrated. In FIG. 4A, the dash panel 101 is provided with the insertion hole 102 at the lower side of the vehicle as described above. The shaft seal 1 is inserted from the small diameter portion 3 in the direction of the arrow in the figure. After the insertion, as described above, the engaging groove 4 provided in the shaft seal 1 and the peripheral edge of the insertion hole 102 are engaged and sandwiched and fixed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, in a state where the shaft seal 1 is fixed to the dash panel 101 and the steering shaft 17 is connected to the subframe unit 16, the subframe unit 16 is lifted by a lift or the like. A steering shaft 17 is inserted into the shaft seal 1 from the direction of the arrow.

  Here, FIG. 5 shows a state when the steering shaft 17 is inserted while being slidably contacted. In FIG. 5A, the shaft seal 1 according to the present invention is fixed to the dash panel 101. As shown in the figure, the shaft seal 1 is fixed so that the large-diameter portion 2 faces the engine room A side and the small-diameter portion 3 faces the vehicle compartment B side and the vehicle upper side.

  The inner surface of the shaft seal 1 is formed with a substantially linear surface that is a continuous shape from the inner diameter of the large diameter portion 2 to the inner diameter of the small diameter portion 3 (inner diameter of the throttle portion 7). With such a shape, the operator guides and holds the tip of the steering shaft 17 to the position where the large-diameter portion is opened, and then the steering shaft 17 follows the substantially linear inner surface as the lift rises. Therefore, even if the operator removes his / her hand from the steering shaft 17, it is smoothly guided to the position where the small diameter portion 3 is opened, and the workability of the assembling work is improved.

  In addition, the substantially linear surface is preferably formed on a portion where the steering shaft 17 is likely to come into contact, at least on the surface above the vehicle. However, the lower surface of the vehicle may have a continuous shape, and even when the steering shaft 17 first comes into contact with the lower surface of the vehicle, the same guidance and smooth insertion are possible. Further, the steering shaft 17 is supported in the vicinity of a normal position (position after assembly) in the vehicle interior by the rigidity of the shaft seal 1 after being inserted into the shaft seal 1 and kept in an upright state. As a result, it is possible to avoid contact with other parts (for example, pedals, instrument panel, etc.) and breakage of the other parts.

  Here, the case of a conventional shaft seal will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5B, the conventional shaft seal 30 is fixed to the dash panel 101. It has a substantially cylindrical shape from the large-diameter portion 31 to the step portion 32, and is shaped so that the diameter converges from the step portion 32 to the small-diameter portion 33. In the fixing position, the large-diameter portion 31 faces the upper side of the vehicle on the engine room A side and the small-diameter portion 33 faces the vehicle compartment B side.

  In the case of the shape like the conventional shaft seal 30, when inserting the steering shaft 17, the operator must hold the steering shaft 17 by hand up to the small diameter portion 33 and align it. Further, when the position of the steering shaft 17 is deviated, the steering shaft 17 is caught on the convex portion on the inner surface of the stepped portion 32 so that it cannot be smoothly inserted, and the steering seal 30 may come off. On the other hand, since the inner surface of the shaft seal 1 according to the present invention is formed in a substantially linear shape, the steering shaft 17 is smoothly inserted to the opening side of the small diameter portion 3 so as to be guided along the surface. In assembly work, workability is dramatically improved.

FIG. 6 shows how the shaft seal 1 is deformed. FIG. 6A shows a state in which the steering shaft 17 is extended to the passenger compartment B side. Since the steering shaft 17 protrudes into a narrow space in front of the driver's seat in the passenger compartment, it is difficult to attach the steering joint 20 for connecting to the steering column 18.
FIG. 6B shows a state after the shaft seal 1 is deformed. As described above, by making a concave cut at the approximate center of the outer surface of the shaft seal 1 to form the thin portion 8, deformation is facilitated due to a partial reduction in rigidity. The steering shaft 17 is guided while being gripped in the center direction of the thin portion 8 (in the direction of the rotation arrow), so that the thin portion 8 is easily deformed as a deformation starting point, and the operator can work at a position where it can be easily attached. It can be carried out. That is, when the steering shaft 17 is inserted and after insertion, the steering shaft 17 can be kept upright in the vicinity of the normal position in the vehicle interior due to the rigidity due to the shape of the shaft seal 1, and at the time of assembly on the vehicle interior side. It can be easily deformed, and the steering shaft 17 can be moved to a position where it can be easily operated.

  The position of the thin portion 8 in the shaft seal 1 is preferably provided at a position where the steering shaft 17 can be guided forward (rear side of the vehicle) on the vehicle compartment B side. That is, the shaft seal 1 is formed at a position arranged below the vehicle in a state where the shaft seal 1 is fixed to the dash panel 101. Further, since the thin portion 8 is partially formed, the substantially conical shape of the shaft seal 1 is maintained, and the rigidity in the free state can be secured. As described above, the shaft of the steering shaft 17 can be secured. The upright state can be maintained in the state after insertion into the seal 1.

  In the present embodiment, the shape of the inner surface of the shaft seal is substantially linear, but any shape that can be easily guided, for example, a gentle arc shape, can be applied.

1 is a perspective view of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing a steering device concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is the front view, side view, bottom view, and side sectional view of a shaft seal concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure which shows the mode of the assembly | attachment operation | work of the vehicle which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the mode of the assembly | attachment operation | work of the steering shaft which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the mode of a deformation | transformation of the shaft seal which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shaft seal 2 Large diameter part 3 Small diameter part 4 Engagement groove 5 Groove 6 Bellows part 7 Restriction part 8 Thin part 10 Steering gear 11 Steering wheel 12 Tie rod 13 Tie rod 14 Wheel 15 Wheel 16 Subframe unit 17 Steering shaft 18 Steering column 19 Universal joint 20 Steering joint 100 Steering device 101 Dash panel 102 Insertion hole

Claims (4)

A steering shaft that connects a steering gear outside the vehicle interior and a steering column in the vehicle interior, a dash panel provided with an insertion hole through which the steering shaft is inserted, and a shaft seal that closes a gap between the steering shaft and the insertion hole of the dash panel A shaft seal structure for a vehicle having
The shaft seal has a large-diameter portion that engages with the periphery of the insertion hole of the dash panel, and a small-diameter portion that abuts the outer diameter of the steering shaft on the passenger compartment side of the dash panel,
A shaft seal structure for a vehicle characterized in that at least a portion of the inner surface of the shaft seal on the upper side of the vehicle has a continuous shape so that the steering shaft is slidably guided from an inner diameter of a large diameter portion to an inner diameter of a small diameter portion.   The vehicle shaft seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the continuous shape is a linear shape.   The small diameter portion includes an inner end formed with a groove in the inner circumferential direction of the opening side, a bellows portion formed on the dash panel side from the inner end portion, and a dash panel side end portion of the bellows portion on the inner side. The shaft seal structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a throttle portion having an inner diameter substantially the same as the end portion.   The vehicle shaft seal structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a thin wall portion is formed at least on a part of the shaft seal on the lower side of the vehicle.

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