JP2007296923A - Steering device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering device capable of easily re-adjusting a fastening volume without the need of caulking for preventing slack of a screwed york plug. <P>SOLUTION: A reinforcement ring 10 having a tapered screw part n at an inner periphery is arranged between a york plug 8 and a housing hole 21, and a york plug 8 is fastened in the screw part n, so that an outer periphery g of the reinforcement ring 10 presses the housing hole 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle steering apparatus used in a vehicle such as an automobile.

A rack and pinion type steering device (vehicle steering device) is rotatably supported with respect to a housing, and includes a pinion shaft provided with a pinion and a rack shaft that meshes with the pinion shaft. There is a demand to ensure meshing and to move the rack shaft smoothly. Therefore, a support yoke (rack guide) that supports the rack shaft is accommodated in the accommodation hole, and the yoke plug is inserted in a state where the urging means that urges the support yoke toward the rack shaft is interposed between the support yoke and the support yoke. A device in which a (cap) is screwed into the accommodation hole is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-182613 A

In the device of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is necessary to perform caulking processing on the peripheral portion of the accommodation hole by punching to prevent the yoke plug from loosening. Further, since a part of the housing protrudes into the accommodation hole due to the caulking process, the protruding caulking portion must be removed in order to readjust the tightening amount of the yoke plug. Therefore, the housing is damaged and it is difficult to readjust.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and provides a vehicle steering apparatus that does not require caulking to prevent loosening of a screwed yoke plug and that allows easy adjustment of the tightening amount. Objective.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means.
That is, the present invention provides a pinion shaft that is rotatably supported with respect to a housing and provided with a pinion, a rack shaft that meshes with the pinion shaft, a housing hole that is formed in the housing, In a vehicle steering apparatus including a support yoke to be supported and a yoke plug that closes the accommodation hole, a tapered thread portion that decreases in diameter toward the rack shaft side is provided between the accommodation hole and the yoke plug. An auxiliary ring having an inner periphery is disposed, the yoke plug is fastened to the screw portion, and the outer periphery of the reinforcing ring presses the receiving hole.

  According to the vehicle steering apparatus of the present invention, the yoke plug is fastened to the threaded portion of the auxiliary ring disposed between the accommodation hole and the yoke plug, and the outer peripheral portion of the reinforcing ring presses the accommodation hole. Since it is in a state, the reinforcing ring is fixed and the yoke plug can be prevented from loosening. Therefore, it is not necessary to caulk the peripheral edge of the accommodation hole, and when the amount of tightening of the yoke plug is readjusted, the housing is not damaged and readjustment is easy.

  The present invention also includes a pinion shaft that is rotatably supported with respect to the housing and provided with a pinion, a rack shaft that meshes with the pinion shaft, and a housing hole that is formed in the housing. In a vehicle steering apparatus having a support yoke to be supported, and a yoke plug that has a flange portion that abuts the opening end surface of the housing hole at one end and closes the housing hole, the housing hole has a rack shaft side. A taper portion having a diameter increasing toward the taper portion is formed, and a taper-like shape having an inclination angle larger than that of the taper portion and the inner thread portion and the taper portion is formed between the taper portion and the yoke plug. An auxiliary ring having an outer peripheral portion is disposed, and the yoke plug is fastened to the screw portion with the flange portion in contact with the opening end surface, and the outer peripheral portion of the reinforcing ring Characterized in that it presses the tapered portion.

  According to the vehicle steering apparatus of the present invention, the yoke plug is fastened to the screw portion of the auxiliary ring disposed between the tapered portion of the accommodation hole and the yoke plug, and the tapered outer peripheral portion of the reinforcing ring is Since the tapered portion of the accommodation hole is pressed, the reinforcing ring is fixed and the yoke plug can be prevented from loosening. Accordingly, since it is not necessary to caulk the peripheral edge of the accommodation hole, the readjustment of the yoke plug is easy without being damaged when readjusting the tightening amount of the yoke plug.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the yoke plug is tightened via the auxiliary ring, the yoke plug is prevented from being loosened, so that the caulking process for preventing the yoke plug from being loosened is not required. It is easy to readjust the tightening amount.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an embodiment of a rack and pinion type steering device as a vehicle steering device according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the rack and pinion type steering apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. The rack and pinion type steering device 1 is rotatably supported with respect to the housing 2 by a housing 2 and bearings 3 and 4, and is supported in a direction orthogonal to the pinion shaft 5, on which a pinion 51 is formed. A rack shaft 6 having a rack 61 meshing with the pinion 51 formed on the side surface, a support yoke 7 that supports the rack shaft 6, and a yoke plug 8 adjacent to the support yoke 7 are provided.

  A steering wheel (not shown) is connected to one tip of the pinion shaft 5. The rack shaft 6 is extended in a direction perpendicular to the drawing sheet, and left and right steered wheels (not shown) are connected to both ends of the rack shaft 6. The housing 2 is provided with a cylindrical accommodation hole 21 orthogonal to the rack shaft 6. In addition, four notches 21k extending in the axial direction at equal intervals in the circumferential direction are formed in a predetermined range in the axial direction at the opening end of the accommodation hole 21, and the notches in the predetermined range are formed. A screw portion 21n is provided in a portion where the portion 21k is not provided. Inside the accommodation hole 21, the substantially cylindrical support yoke 7 that supports the rack shaft 6 on the back side of the rack 61, the yoke plug 8 that closes the accommodation hole 21, and the support yoke 7 and the yoke plug 8, A compression coil spring 9 is provided between the two.

  The support yoke 7 is held in the accommodation hole 21 so as to be slidable within a slight range in the axial direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1). One end of the compression coil spring 9 is in contact with the bottom surface of the spring hole 71 formed in the support yoke 7, and the other end is in contact with the spring hole 81 formed in the yoke plug 8. It is in a compressed state with the plug 8. The support yoke 7 is pressed against the rack shaft 6 by the urging force of the compression coil spring 9, and the rack 61 and the pinion 51 are engaged with each other with a predetermined pressure.

A resin auxiliary ring 10 is provided between the opening end of the accommodation hole 21 and the yoke plug 8. The auxiliary ring 10 has an annular portion 101 having substantially the same outer diameter as the opening end portion of the accommodation hole 21, and is arranged on the upper portion of the annular portion 101 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction around the midpoint of the annular portion 101. And four side pillars 102 (see FIGS. 3A and 3B).
Each side column part 102 is formed in a size that can be inserted into the cutout part 21k of the accommodation hole 21 and is directed to the rack shaft side (lower side in FIG. 3B) while being fitted in the housing 2. Accordingly, the inner peripheral portion has a threaded portion n that is tapered to reduce the diameter. In a state where the reinforcing ring 10 is fitted in the accommodation hole 21, the yoke plug 8 having a male screw portion around it can be screwed into the screw portion n.

  The auxiliary ring 10 is provided at the opening end portion of the accommodation hole 21 in a state where the four side column portions 102 are respectively fitted in the notches 21k. In the state without the yoke plug 8 (see FIG. 2), only the inner diameter side of the lower end portion of each side column portion 102 protrudes slightly inward from the inner peripheral surface of the accommodation hole 21, and this portion is a protrusion portion 102t. It has become. As shown in FIG. 1, the yoke plug 8 is screwed into the screw portion 21n of the receiving hole 21, and at the same time, the tip portion of the yoke plug 8 is screwed into the screw portion n of the protruding portion 102t, and the protruding portion 102t is moved outward. It is deformed to. Note that the shape of the auxiliary ring 10 in FIG. 1 is that before the deformation. In this state, the yoke plug 8 closes the accommodation hole 21. That is, when the yoke plug 8 is tightened until the tip portion of the yoke plug 8 comes into contact with the protruding portion 102t, the protruding portion 102t is gradually deformed, and the outer peripheral portion g of the side column portion 102 presses the receiving hole 21. It becomes a state. Thereby, the looseness of the yoke plug 8 is stopped by the reaction force that deforms the side column portion 102.

  According to the rack and pinion type steering device of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to caulk the peripheral edge of the accommodation hole as in the prior art in order to stop the looseness of the yoke plug 8. Therefore, when readjusting the tightening amount of the yoke plug, readjustment is easy without damaging the housing. Further, if the yoke plug 8 is tightened, the tightening torque gradually increases depending on the inclination angle of the screw portion n. Therefore, if the relationship between the tightening torque and the gap dimension between the yoke plug 8 and the support yoke 7 is obtained, the tightening torque The clearance between the yoke plug 8 and the support yoke 7 can be managed by torque, which is convenient.

  FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the rack and pinion steering device according to the present invention. In addition, the same point as said 1st Embodiment attaches | subjects the same code | symbol, and abbreviate | omits the description. In the present embodiment, a tapered portion 21t whose diameter increases toward the rack shaft side is formed at the opening end portion of the accommodation hole 21, and a resin auxiliary ring 30 is provided on the tapered portion 21t. The auxiliary ring 30 has a tapered outer peripheral surface 31 that is inclined at a larger angle than the tapered portion 21t and an inner peripheral threaded portion n (see FIGS. 5A and 5B). A part of the surface 31 is in a deformed state by pressing the tapered portion 21t. In addition, the shape of the auxiliary | assistant ring 30 of FIG. 4 is a state before a deformation | transformation. In addition, a flange 82 that abuts against the opening end surface 211 of the accommodation hole 21 is formed at one end of the yoke plug 8.

  When the yoke plug 8 is tightened into the threaded portion n of the auxiliary ring 30 with the flange portion 82 in contact with the opening end surface 211, the outermost portion of the outer peripheral portion 31 in contact with the tapered portion 21t is Deforms and gradually increases from there. When the yoke plug 8 is tightened, the outer peripheral portion 31 of the auxiliary ring 30 is pressed against the tapered portion 21t, and the yoke plug 8 is tightened by the reaction force, so that the yoke plug 8 is prevented from loosening. .

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the first embodiment, the number of side column portions in the auxiliary ring may be increased or decreased, and a ring-shaped side wall portion may be used instead of the rod-shaped side column portion. Further, a screw portion may be provided on the outer periphery of the auxiliary ring, and the auxiliary ring may be fixed to the accommodation hole. Moreover, you may comprise the reinforcement ring of 2nd Embodiment by an annular part and a side pillar part like the reinforcement ring of 1st Embodiment. The material of the auxiliary ring is not limited to resin.

It is principal part sectional drawing which shows one Embodiment of a rack and pinion type steering device. FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from above (without a yoke plug). (A) is a top view of a reinforcement ring, (b) is the sectional view on the AA line of (a). It is principal part sectional drawing which shows 2nd Embodiment of a rack and pinion type steering device. (A) is a top view of a reinforcement ring, (b) is the sectional view on the AA line of (a).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rack and pinion type steering device 2 Housing 21 Accommodating hole 5 Pinion shaft 51 Pinion 6 Rack shaft 61 Rack shaft 7 Support yoke 8 Yoke plug 10, 30 Reinforcement ring n Screw portion 21t Taper portion

Claims (2)

A pinion shaft that is rotatably supported with respect to the housing and provided with a pinion; a rack shaft that meshes with the pinion shaft; a support yoke that is housed in a housing hole formed in the housing and supports the rack shaft; In a vehicle steering apparatus comprising a yoke plug that closes the accommodation hole,
Between the housing hole and the yoke plug, an auxiliary ring having a taper-shaped threaded portion that decreases in diameter toward the rack shaft side is disposed,
The vehicle steering apparatus, wherein the yoke plug is fastened to the screw portion, and an outer peripheral portion of the reinforcing ring presses the accommodation hole. A pinion shaft that is rotatably supported with respect to the housing and provided with a pinion; a rack shaft that meshes with the pinion shaft; a support yoke that is housed in a housing hole formed in the housing and supports the rack shaft; In the vehicle steering apparatus having a flange portion that contacts the opening end surface of the accommodation hole at one end, and a yoke plug that closes the accommodation hole,
In the accommodation hole, a tapered portion is formed which expands toward the rack shaft side,
Between the tapered portion and the yoke plug, an auxiliary ring having an inner peripheral threaded portion and a tapered outer peripheral portion facing the tapered portion and having a larger inclination angle than the tapered portion,
The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the yoke plug is tightened to the screw portion with the flange portion being brought into contact with the opening end surface, and an outer peripheral portion of the reinforcing ring presses the tapered portion.

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