JP2009208571A - Steering device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering device for a vehicle capable of preventing leaving of a garnish from a spoke part and a steering pad by a simple structure with easy manufacturing. <P>SOLUTION: A steering body is provided with a boss part, an annular rim part and a plurality of spoke parts, and on an approximate center at a front surface side of the boss part, a steering pad 30 facing to a driver's seat side is provided. The garnish 26 is arranged at an outer peripheral area of the steering pad 30 and is engaged so as to be laid on the plurality of spoke parts. In such a steering device, a fragile part 40 is formed on the garnish 26 so as to be laid approximately along an outer shape of the steering pad 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering apparatus for a vehicle in which a garnish is mounted so as to surround a peripheral area of a steering pad.

  In a vehicle steering device, a boss portion coupled to a steering shaft is provided at a center position of an annular rim portion gripped by a driver, and the boss portion and the rim portion are connected by a plurality of spoke portions. In many vehicles, an airbag module including a horn device is attached to the front side of the boss portion, and the front side of the airbag module facing the driver's seat is covered with a steering pad.

In recent years, as a steering device of this type, a device in which a substantially U-shaped or Y-shaped garnish is arranged substantially along the outer surface shape of the steering pad has been developed from the viewpoint of design.
In this steering apparatus, the garnish is disposed across the front surfaces of the plurality of spoke portions, and is locked to the spoke portions by fitting with locking claws or screwing.

  In a steering device, it is conceivable that the rim inclination angle changes in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body due to the input of a large load from the driver's seat side to the rim part. At this time, the plurality of spoke parts for locking the garnish are individually provided. Due to the bending deformation, the garnish locking position of each spoke part changes relatively. And if the garnish locking position of each spoke part changes relatively in this way, there is a concern that separation occurs between the garnish and some of the spoke parts, or between the garnish and the steering pad.

As a steering device capable of coping with this, a device in which the rigidity of each spoke portion is set so that all the spoke portions are similarly bent and deformed when a large load is input to the rim portion from the driver's seat side is proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-280499 A

  This conventional steering device eliminates garnish separation by managing the deflection of the spoke part. However, since the load and the direction actually acting on the spoke part are not constant, each spoke part is passed as desired. It is difficult to bend. Moreover, in order to bend the spoke part as desired, there is a concern that the spoke frame has a complicated structure and the manufacturing cost increases.

  Therefore, the present invention is intended to provide a vehicle steering apparatus that can prevent the garnish from separating from the spokes and the steering pad with a simple structure that is easy to manufacture.

According to the first aspect of the present invention for solving the above problem, a steering body (for example, a steering body 10 in an embodiment described later) is connected to a boss portion (for example, a boss portion 13 in an embodiment described later). ), An annular rim portion (for example, a rim portion 14 in an embodiment described later), and a plurality of spoke portions (for example, spoke portions 15A, 15B, 15C in an embodiment described later) that connect the boss portion and the rim portion. And a steering pad (for example, a steering pad 30 in an embodiment described later) facing the driver's seat is provided at a substantially central front side of the boss portion, and a garnish (for example, an outer peripheral area of the steering pad) The garnish 26) in the embodiment described later is disposed, and the garnish is disposed on the plurality of spoke portions. The steering apparatus for a vehicle is locked I, the garnish, the substantially along so fragile portion to the contour of the steering pad (e.g., fragile portion 40 in the embodiment), characterized in that the formation of the.
Thereby, when a large load is input from the driver's seat side and the spoke part is deformed, the garnish itself is bent and deformed around the weak part, and follows the change of the spoke part.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle steering apparatus according to the first aspect, the garnish has an inner side wall that faces the outer peripheral surface of the steering pad with a predetermined gap (for example, an inner side wall 34 in an embodiment described later). ) And a front design wall facing the driver's seat (for example, a front design wall 31 in an embodiment described later), and the fragile portion is in the vicinity of a boundary portion between the inner side wall and the front design wall Is formed thinly along substantially the outer shape of the steering pad.
Thereby, when the front design wall is deformed following the deformation of the spoke part, an excessive load is hardly transmitted from the spoke part to the inner side wall by bending about the thin fragile part.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle steering apparatus according to the second aspect, the garnish is a first locking portion that is locked to the one spoke portion (for example, an engagement in an embodiment described later). A second locking portion (for example, a locking protrusion 39) is provided on the front design wall and is locked closer to the center of the boss portion than the locking position of the first locking portion of the spoke portion. A locking claw 38) according to an embodiment described later is provided on the inner wall.
Thereby, when the outer end side of the spoke part is displaced in the vehicle front-rear direction due to the input of a large load, the front design wall follows the displacement of the outer end side of the spoke part by the locking by the first locking part. In addition, the inner wall is locked near the center of the boss portion by the second locking portion.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the fragile portion is formed in the garnish so as to substantially follow the outer shape of the steering pad, and the garnish itself is bent and deformed around the fragile portion when a large load is input from the driver's seat side. As a result, separation of the garnish from the spokes and the steering pad can be prevented with a simple structure that is easy to manufacture.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the front design wall is deformed following the deformation of the spoke portion, the bending load is hardly transmitted to the inner wall side by bending about the thin fragile portion. Therefore, the interference between the inner wall and the steering pad can be prevented.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, when a large load is input, the front design wall follows the displacement on the outer end side of the spoke portion via the first locking portion, and the inner side wall is the second wall. Since it is locked near the center of the boss part via the locking part, it is possible to prevent the garnish from separating from both the spoke part and the steering pad. Further, even if one of the locking portions is disengaged due to an input of a large load, excessive separation of the garnish can be prevented by the remaining locking portions.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a steering apparatus 1 employing the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are perspective views of main components constituting the steering apparatus 1.
The steering device 1 includes a steering body 10 that forms a skeleton, an airbag unit 11 that is disposed on the center front side (driver's seat side) of the steering body 10, and a lower cover 12 that covers a lower part on the back side of the center portion of the steering body 10. And.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the steering body 10 includes a boss portion 13 coupled to a steering shaft (not shown), an annular rim portion 14 held by a driver during steering, a boss portion 13 and a rim portion. The three spoke portions 15A, 15B, 15C connecting the fourteen are provided.

  The boss portion 13 is formed with a shaft fixing hole 16 for attaching a steering shaft at the center, and provided with extending portions 17a, 17b, and 17c that project in three directions in a substantially T shape around the shaft fixing hole 16. It has been. Spoke portions 15A and 15B are continuous with the extending portions 17a and 17b extending in the opposite direction centering on the shaft fixing hole 16, respectively, and the remaining extension extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the extending portions 17a and 17b. The spoke portion 15C is continuous with the outlet portion 17c.

The spoke portions 15A and 15B are set so that the vehicle body width direction is left and right when the steering is in a straight-ahead steering state, and at this time, the spoke portion 15C is directed downward. In the following, unless otherwise specified, left and right and up and down directions for steering mean directions in a straight-ahead steering state.
The left and right spoke portions 15A and 15B have a bent wall 19 that is bent in a stepped manner from the connecting portion with the boss portion 13 toward the driver's seat, and the distal end side of the bent wall 19 is integrally formed radially inward from the rim portion 14. It is connected to the extending rim side connecting wall 20. The lower spoke portion 15 </ b> C has a pair of parallel frame pieces 21 a and 21 b that gently bend toward the driver's seat from the connecting portion with the boss portion 13, and the front end side of these frame pieces 21 a and 21 b extends from the rim portion 14. It is connected to a rim-side connecting wall 22 that extends integrally in the radially inner side. The airbag unit 11 is accommodated in a concave space surrounded by the left and right bent walls 19 on the front side of the boss portion 13 and the lower frame pieces 21a and 21b.

  Further, stepped notches 23 and 24 are respectively provided on the front surfaces of the rim-side connecting walls 20 and 22 of the spoke portions 15A, 15B and 15C, and air is provided in the notches 23 and 24. Various control switches 25a and 25b and a garnish 26 on the back unit 11 are arranged.

  A protruding portion 51 having a bolt hole 50 for fixing the garnish 26 protrudes from the extending portions 17a and 17b located on the root side of the left and right spoke portions 15A and 15B. A protruding portion 53 having a locking hole 52 for locking the garnish protrudes from the notch portion 23.

A pair of frame portions 21a and 21b constituting the lower spoke portion 15C is provided with a locking piece 27 for locking the garnish 26, and the notch portion 24 similarly locks the garnish 26. The three engagement holes 28 are formed.
Note that the lower cover 12 shown in FIG. 4 is attached to the steering body 10 so as to cover a part of the boss portion 13 and the spoke portions 15A and 15B from the back side.

  The airbag unit 11 includes an airbag body (not shown) made of a base fabric, an inflator, etc., various control switches 25a, 25b, 25c, 25d such as a driving support system and an audio system, and a warning horn switch ( (Not shown), and the front side of the airbag body and the horn switch is covered with a steering pad 30. The steering pad 30 is formed in a substantially pentagonal outer shape with smoothly curved corners. A garnish 26 having a substantially Y-shape in front view is disposed at a portion surrounding the lower portion and both side portions of the steering pad 30, and the spoke portions 15 </ b> A, 15 </ b> B, A garnish 26 is interposed between the 15C rim-side connecting pieces 20 and 22 and the steering pad 30.

5 is a front view of the airbag unit 11, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a mounting portion of the garnish 26, and FIG. 7 is a view of the garnish 26 as seen from the back side.
As shown in these drawings, the garnish 26 is formed in a substantially Y shape so that the front design wall 31 on the front side facing the driver's seat straddles the lower spoke portion 15C and the left and right spoke portions 15A, 15B. Enclosure windows 32 that cover the periphery of the control switches 25a and 25b are provided at both edges that cover the front surfaces of the left and right spoke portions 15A and 15B. Further, the upper edge of the central region of the front design wall 31 is formed in a curved shape so as to substantially follow the outer shape of the steering pad 30, and the upper edge flange 33 is bent downward in a stepped manner in the curved region. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 6, the bent wall between the front design wall 31 and the upper edge flange 33 forms an inner wall 34 that faces the outer peripheral surface of the steering pad 30 with a predetermined gap.

In addition, leg portions 35 projecting toward the boss portion 13 are extended from the left and right edge portions of the upper edge flange 33, and fastening pieces 36 are provided at the tip portions of the leg portions 35. The leg portion 35 is disposed along the bent walls 19 of the left and right spoke portions 15A and 15B, and the fastening piece 36 is bolted to the raised portion 51 on the base portion side of the left and right spoke portions 15A and 15B. Yes. Reference numeral 37 denotes a bolt insertion hole formed in the fastening piece 36. Furthermore, a locking claw 48 projects from the back side of the outer edge of the surrounding window 32 on both sides of the front design wall 31, and this locking claw 48 is located in the notch 23 of the left and right spoke portions 15A, 15B. It is adapted to be engaged with the locking hole 52.
A substantially L-shaped locking claw 38 (second locking portion) that is engaged with the locking piece 27 of the lower spoke portion 15C extends on the back surface of the lower end central region of the garnish 26, and Three locking projections 39 (first locking portions) that are fitted into the engagement holes 28 in the notch portion 24 project.

By the way, the vicinity of the boundary portion between the inner wall 34 on the upper edge side of the garnish 26 and the front design wall 31 is formed thinly so as to substantially conform to the outer shape of the steering pad 30, and the thinned portion is easily bent. It is said that.
The locking claw 38 that is locked to the locking piece 27 of the spoke portion 15C protrudes from the inner wall 34, and the locking projection 39 that is fitted to the engaging hole 28 in the notch 24 sandwiches the weak portion 40. It protrudes from the back surface of the front design wall 31.

  When the airbag unit 11 is attached to the steering body 10, the airbag body is bolted to the boss portion 13, and the fastening pieces 36 on both sides of the garnish 26 are attached to the raised portions 51 on the root portions of the spoke portions 15 </ b> A and 15 </ b> B. Bolts are fixed, and the locking claws 38 of the left and right surrounding windows 32 of the garnish 26 are engaged with the locking holes 52 in the notches 23 of the spoke portions 15A and 15B. At the same time, the engaging claw 38 at the center of the garnish 26 is engaged with the engaging piece 27 of the lower spoke portion 15C, and the three engaging protrusions 39 are engaged with the corresponding engagement in the notch 24. Fits into the hole 28.

  When the airbag unit 11 is thus attached to the steering body 10, the space between the center steering pad 30 and the rim side connection walls 20, 22 of the spoke portions 15 </ b> A, 15 </ b> B, 15 </ b> C is filled with the garnish 26. The side design becomes continuous with the garnish 26.

  When a large load is input to the steering device 1 from the driver's seat side at the time of a frontal collision or the like, the lower spoke portion 15C of the steering body 10 is greatly bent and deformed compared to the left and right spoke portions 15A and 15B. As shown by the arrow in the middle, the tilt angle of the steering body 10 changes back and forth. At this time, the upper edge of the garnish 26 is locked to the left and right spoke parts 15A and 15B with small bending deformation, and the lower edge part of the center is locked to the lower spoke part 15C with large bending deformation. Therefore, the central lower edge portion is bent and deformed with the thin fragile portion 40 as a boundary due to the stress corresponding to the bending deformation of the spoke portion 15C. This bending deformation is reversed between the case where the outer end of the lower spoke portion 15C is bent and deformed toward the front side of the vehicle and the case where the outer end is bent and deformed toward the rear side.

As described above, the garnish 26 is bent around the fragile portion 40 and maintains the positional relationship between the inner wall 34 and the outer peripheral surface of the steering pad 30 while maintaining the front design wall 31 at the lower spoke portion 15C. Follow the deformation.
Therefore, in the steering apparatus 1, it is possible to prevent the lower edge portion of the center of the garnish 26 from separating from the steering pad 30 and the spoke portion 15C when a large load is input.

  In particular, in this steering device 1, since the fragile portion 40 is formed in the vicinity of the boundary portion between the front design wall 31 and the inner wall 34 of the garnish 26, the load due to the bending deformation of the spoke portion 15 </ b> C is applied to the inner wall 34. Transmission is prevented by the fragile portion 40, and the inner wall 34 and the steering pad 30 can be prevented from interfering with each other.

  Further, in the case of this steering apparatus 1, the front design wall 31 and the inner wall 34 of the garnish 2 are provided with a locking projection 39 and a locking claw 38, respectively, and the locking projection 39 on the front design wall 31 side is the spoke portion. The engaging claw 38 of the inner wall 34 is engaged with the engaging piece 27 near the root portion of the spoke portion 15C (near the center of the boss portion 13). Therefore, when the outer end side of the spoke portion 15C is displaced in the vehicle front-rear direction due to the input of a large load, the front design wall 31 is connected to the spoke portion 15C by the locking portion formed by the locking protrusion 39 and the engagement hole 28. The inner wall 34 can be locked near the center of the boss portion 13 by the locking portion formed by the locking claw 38 and the locking piece 27.

  Specifically, in the case of this embodiment, when the outer end side of the spoke portion 15C is displaced to the vehicle front side, the outer end of the spoke portion 15C tends to be separated from the front design wall 31. The locking portion by the locking projection 39 and the engagement hole 28 is mainly restricted, and the locking claw 38 prevents the inner wall 34 from floating when the outer end side of the spoke portion 15C is displaced to the vehicle rear side. The locking portion by the locking piece 27 is mainly regulated. Therefore, in this steering device 1, the garnish 26 can be reliably prevented from separating with respect to both the spoke portion 15C and the steering pad 30.

  Further, since the garnish 26 is locked to the spoke portion 15C at two positions, that is, a locking portion formed by the locking protrusion 39 and the engaging hole 28, and a locking portion formed by the locking claw 38 and the locking piece 27, a large load There is an advantage that even if one of the locking portions is released by the input of, the separation of the garnish 26 can be regulated by the other locking portion.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, A various design change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

1 is a front view of a steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the component of the steering device of the embodiment. The perspective view of another component of the steering device of the embodiment. The perspective view of another component of the steering device of the embodiment. The front view of the component of the steering device of the embodiment. Sectional drawing corresponding to the AA cross section of FIG. 5 which shows the same embodiment. The perspective view which looked at the garnish of the embodiment from the back side.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Steering device 10 ... Steering body 13 ... Boss part 14 ... Rim part 15A, 15B, 15C ... Spoke part 26 ... Garnish 30 ... Steering pad 31 ... Front design wall 34 ... Inner side wall 38 ... Locking claw (2nd Locking part)
39: Locking protrusion (first locking portion)
40 ... Vulnerable part

Claims (3)

The steering body
A boss coupled to the steering shaft;
An annular rim,
A plurality of spoke parts connecting the boss part and the rim part,
A steering pad facing the driver's seat side is provided in the approximate center of the front side of the boss part,
In a steering apparatus for a vehicle in which a garnish is disposed in an outer peripheral area of the steering pad, and the garnish is locked across the plurality of spoke portions,
A vehicle steering apparatus, wherein a weak portion is formed in the garnish so as to substantially follow an outer shape of the steering pad. The garnish includes an inner wall facing the outer peripheral surface of the steering pad with a predetermined gap, and a front design wall facing the driver's seat side,
2. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fragile portion is formed to be thin in the vicinity of a boundary portion between the inner wall and the front design wall substantially along the outer shape of the steering pad. .   The garnish is provided with a first locking portion locked to the one spoke portion on the front design wall, and the boss has a position closer to the boss portion than the locking position of the first locking portion of the spoke portion. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the inner wall includes a second locking portion that is locked near the center.

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