JP2008168812A - Assembling device for steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a steering wheel removable at a neutral position of rotation for preventing problems such as the breakage of a connection cable of a steering roll connector and the generation of an abnormal sound caused by rotating operation after reassembling. <P>SOLUTION: On the steering wheel 9 provided with a steering wheel body 10, and a pad unit 11 which can be installed by means of a screw (removable fastener) 16 to cover an installation part to a steering shaft 2, a gear (rotating body) 18 which rolls accompanied by the rotation of the steering wheel body 10 is provided. In the gear 18, a hole 20 for the insertion of the screw 16 is formed to fit to a hole 17 for the insertion of the screw in the steering wheel body 10 at the neutral position of the rotation of the steering wheel body 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering wheel assembly apparatus having an improved structure for attaching a pad unit to a steering wheel main body.

Conventionally, a steering wheel of a vehicle such as an automobile has a steering wheel main body and a pad unit, and the steering wheel main body of the steering wheel and the rotator of the steering roll connector are rotated integrally with them. And can be removably attached. On the other hand, the pad unit is attached to the steering wheel main body by a detachable fixture such as a screw so as to cover the portion of the steering wheel attached to the steering shaft (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-341651 A (FIG. 8)

  In the case of the above conventional one, when the pad unit is removed from the main body of the steering wheel while the steering wheel is rotated, and the main body of the steering wheel is further removed from the steering shaft, the steering shaft and the steering roll connector rotated together with the main body of the steering wheel. Both rotators remain in their rotated positions.

After that, if the wheel (front wheel) whose direction is changed with the rotation of the steering shaft is returned to the original straight direction, the steering shaft returns to the original rotation neutral position, but the rotator of the steering roll connector does not return. , Stay in the rotated position.
For this reason, when the steering wheel main body is subsequently attached to the steering shaft and attached to the rotator of the steering roll connector, the steering wheel main body is attached with the rotator of the steering roll connector remaining in the previously rotated position.

  Here, in the steering roll connector, a rotator is rotatably assembled to a stator attached to the column tube side through which the steering shaft is inserted, and a connection cable is formed in a spiral shape in a housing portion formed by the stator and the rotator, for example. Is connected to the stator, and the other end is connected to the rotator to electrically connect the electrical component provided on the steering wheel and the electrical component on the vehicle body side. To do.

  Therefore, if the rotator rotates, the connection cable is stretched in the rotation direction, and if the rotator stays in the rotated position, the connection cable also remains stretched in the rotation direction. Even if the steering shaft is returned to the original rotational neutral position, if the steering wheel main body is attached to the rotator that remains in the rotational position, the connection cable that is still stretched when the steering wheel is rotated for subsequent use. Further, it may be stretched to cause a problem of disconnection from the connecting portion with the rotator or the connecting portion with the stator or causing abnormal noise.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances. Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to disconnect the steering roll connector connection cable by a rotational operation after reattaching the steering wheel so that the steering wheel can be removed only at the rotational neutral position. Another object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel assembling device that can prevent the occurrence of abnormal noise.

  In order to achieve the above object, an assembly device for a steering wheel according to the present invention includes a steering wheel main body that is attached to a rotator of a steering shaft and a steering roll connector so as to rotate integrally therewith, and the steering wheel. A rotating body that rolls with the rotation of the steering wheel main body is provided for a steering wheel that includes a pad unit that is attached to the main body by a detachable attachment covering the mounting portion of the steering shaft. A hole through which the fitting is passed is formed in the rotating body so as to coincide with a hole through which the steering wheel mainly through the steering wheel is passed at a rotation neutral position mainly through the steering wheel.

  According to the above means, when removing the steering wheel, first, it is necessary to remove the pad unit covering the mounting portion of the steering wheel main body with respect to the steering shaft. For this purpose, the mounting tool for attaching the pad unit to the steering wheel main body is removed, the pad unit is removed from the steering wheel main body, and then the steering wheel main body is removed from the steering shaft.

  Therefore, first, it is necessary to remove the fixture that attaches the pad unit to the steering wheel main body. At that time, if the steering wheel is not in the rotation neutral position, the hole through which the rotating body fitting is passed does not match the hole through which the steering wheel main fixture is passed, and the fitting cannot be removed. As a result, the steering wheel main body cannot be removed from the steering shaft.

On the other hand, if the steering wheel is in the rotation neutral position, the hole through which the mounting member of the rotating body passes matches the hole through which the steering wheel main fixture passes, and the mounting tool can be removed. As a result, the steering wheel main body can be removed from the steering shaft.
Thus, the steering wheel can be removed only at the rotational neutral position and can be re-installed at the rotational neutral position. The problem of occurrence can be prevented.

Hereinafter, an example (one embodiment) of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, FIG. 1 shows a column tube 1 of a vehicle, particularly an automobile, and a steering column 3 is formed by inserting a steering shaft 2 therethrough.

  A steering roll connector 4 is assembled on the outer periphery of the column tube 1. The steering roll connector 4 is housed, for example, in a spiral shape in a stator 5 attached to the column tube 1, a rotator 6 rotatably assembled to the stator 5, and a housing portion 7 formed by the stator 5 and the rotator 6. It consists of a connection cable 8 (partially omitted) such as a flexible flat cable. The connection cable 8 has one end connected to the stator 5 and the other end connected to the rotator 6.

  A steering wheel 9 is attached to the steering shaft 2. Specifically, the steering wheel 9 includes a steering wheel main body 10 and a pad unit 11. Among them, the steering wheel main body 10 further includes a central hub portion 12a, a plurality of spoke portions 12b projecting outward from the hub portion 12a, and an annular rim portion 12c connected to the hub portion 12a by the spoke portions 12b. The core 12 made of metal as a whole, and the outer side in the radial direction of the hub 12a of the core 12 and the cover 13 made of, for example, a synthetic resin in which the rim 12c is tightly coated from the spoke 12b of the core 12 Is formed of a back cover 14 that is spaced apart from the hub portion 12a.

  The hub portion 12a of the steering wheel main body 10 is provided with a mounting boss 15 at the center, and a hole (screw through hole) 17 through which a screw 16 is passed at an intermediate portion between the hub 12a and the spoke portion 12b. Further, a gear (pinion) 18 corresponding to a rotating body is provided at an intermediate portion of the hub portion 12a so that a part thereof overlaps with the outside of the screw hole 17 of the steering wheel main body 10 at the tip of the shaft portion 18a. The claw portion 19 is rotatably inserted, and the gear 18 is also formed with a hole (screw through hole) 20 through which the screw 16 is passed. Further, a hole (screw through hole) 21 through which the screw 16 passes is formed in the back cover 14 at a position facing the screw through hole 17 of the steering wheel main body 10. The cap 22 that closes it is attached by the claw portion 23.

  Thus, the steering wheel main body 10 fits the mounting boss 15 to the proximal end portion of the steering shaft 2 protruding from the column tube 1 to form a spline connection 24, and then the steering shaft protruding from the mounting boss 15. The nut 25 is screwed and tightened to the base end thread portion 2a of the second base 2 so as to be attached to the steering shaft 2. As a result, the steering wheel main body 10 and the steering shaft 2 rotate integrally.

At the same time, the steering wheel main body 10 is attached to the rotator 6 of the steering roll connector 4 by an engagement structure (not shown), whereby the steering wheel main body 10 rotates together with the rotator 6 of the steering roll connector 4. It is like that.
Furthermore, teeth (rack) 26 are formed on the stator 5 of the steering roll connector 4 on the entire peripheral edge of the peripheral side wall 5a on the steering wheel main body 10 side as shown in FIG. The gear 18 is meshed with the teeth 26.

  As a result, if the steering wheel main body 10 (steering wheel 9) is rotated, the steering shaft 2 rotates to change the direction of the wheel (front wheel) (not shown), and the gear 18 is connected to the screw-through hole 17 of the steering wheel main body 10. Rolling along the teeth 26 (the stator 5 of the steering roll connector 4) while overlapping, the position of the screw-through hole 20 changes around the shaft portion 18 a of the gear 18.

  Then, the screw-through hole 20 of the gear 18 whose position is changed in such a manner is the screw position of the steering wheel main body 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 at the rotation neutral position of the steering wheel main body 10 (steering wheel 9). The through-hole 17 (screw 16) and the screw-through hole 20 of the gear 18 are matched with each other, and the screw-through hole 17 of the steering wheel main body 10 is hidden by a portion other than the screw-through hole 20 of the gear 18 in other cases. .

  On the other hand, the pad unit 11 has an inflator 28 attached to the center portion of the base plate 27, an airbag 29 is provided above the inflator 28, and a cover 30 covering the airbag 29 is attached to the base plate 27 by claw portions 31. When the vehicle collides, the air bag 29 is inflated by pushing off the cover 30 by the high-pressure gas generated from the inflator 28.

  The base plate 27 of the pad unit 11 has a leg portion 27a that follows an intermediate portion of the hub portion 12a of the steering wheel main body 10, and a hole (screw hole) into which the screw 16 is screwed into the leg portion 27a. ) 32, and the screw 16 is passed from the screw hole 21 of the back cover 14 through the screw hole 17 of the steering wheel main body 10 and screwed into the screw hole 32 to be tightened, whereby the pad unit 11 is fixed to the steering wheel main body 10. Installed on. Accordingly, the screw 16 is a fixture that attaches the pad unit 11 to the steering wheel main body 10. Further, in the mounted state, the pad unit 11 covers the mounting portion (nut 25 portion) of the steering wheel main body 10 with respect to the steering shaft 2.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 33 denotes a column cover that covers the steering roll connector 4 from the steering column 3. One end of the connection cable 8 connected to the stator 5 of the steering roll connector 4 is connected from the connection of the stator 5 to a connection (not shown) for electrical components on the vehicle body side. The other end of the connection cable 8 connected to 6 is connected from the connection portion of the rotator 6 to a connection portion for an electrical component such as the inflator 28 or a horn switch (not shown) included in the steering wheel 9 (also not shown). Connected to.

  In the case of the configuration as described above, when the steering wheel 9 is removed, it is first necessary to remove the pad unit 11 that covers the mounting portion (nut 25 portion) of the steering wheel main body 10 with respect to the steering shaft 2. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 3, the screw 16, which is a fixture for attaching the pad unit 11 to the steering wheel main body 10, is removed, the pad unit 11 is removed from the steering wheel main body 10, and then the steering wheel main body 10. The nut 25 attached to the steering shaft 2 is removed, and the steering wheel main body 10 is removed from the steering shaft.

  Therefore, first, it is necessary to remove the screw 16 that attaches the pad unit 11 to the steering wheel main body 10. At this time, if the steering wheel 9 is not in the rotation neutral position, the screwing hole 20 of the gear 18 which is a rotating body provided in the steering wheel main body 10 is aligned with the screwing hole 17 of the steering wheel main body 10 as described above. Since the gear 18 hides the screw hole 17 (screw 16) of the steering wheel main body 10 at a portion other than the screw hole 20, the screw 16 cannot be removed. As a result, the steering wheel main body 10 cannot be removed from the steering shaft 2.

On the other hand, if the steering wheel 9 is in the rotation neutral position, the screw hole 20 of the gear 18 matches the screw hole 17 of the steering wheel main body 10 and the screw 16 can be removed as shown in all the drawings. . As a result, the steering wheel main body 10 can be detached from the steering shaft 2.
Thus, since the steering wheel 9 is removed only at the rotation neutral position, the reattachment can be performed at the rotation neutral position, and the connection cable 8 of the steering roll connector 4 is disconnected due to the rotation operation after the reattachment. And the problem of abnormal noise generation can be avoided.

Note that the attachment structure of the pad unit 11 with the screw 16 to the steering wheel main body 10 is also present on the side opposite to the illustrated side, and the same structure as the gear 18 may be employed. It may be on one side only.
Further, the fixture exemplified by the screw 16 may be a snap pin or the like, and the rotating body exemplified by the gear 18 is a simple disk or the like that rolls on the stator 5 of the steering roll connector 4 while rotating by friction. May be.

Further, the rotating body may roll not on the stator 5 of the steering roll connector 4 but on another stationary member.
In addition, the pad unit 11 may not have the inflator 28 and the airbag 29.
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range not departing from the gist.

1 is a longitudinal side view of one half of a steering wheel assembled state showing an embodiment of the present invention. Side view of main parts Longitudinal side view of one half of the steering wheel removed

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 2 is a steering shaft, 4 is a steering roll connector, 6 is a rotator, 9 is a steering wheel, 10 is a steering wheel main body, 11 is a pad unit, 16 is a screw (attachment), 17 and 20 are screw holes ( Reference numeral 18 denotes a gear (rotary body).

Claims (1)

A steering wheel main body which is attached to the steering shaft and the rotator of the steering roll connector so as to rotate integrally with the steering shaft and to be detachable, and a mounting tool which covers the mounting portion of the steering wheel main body with respect to the steering shaft and is removable. For a steering wheel comprising a pad unit to be attached,
A rotating body that rolls with the rotation of the steering wheel main body is provided,
An assembly for a steering wheel, characterized in that a hole for passing the fitting is formed in the rotating body so as to coincide with a hole for passing the fitting for the steering wheel main body at a rotation neutral position of the steering wheel main body. apparatus.

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