JP2010006112A - Steering lock device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering lock device capable of reducing dimensions in the radial direction of a steering shaft. <P>SOLUTION: A linear motion actuator 200 has permanent magnets 1A and 1B fixed to a steering rod 12, a coil part 4 incorporated with a coil and oppositely arranged to the permanent magnets 1A and 1B, and a guide member 3 arranged in the permanent magnets 1A and 1B and guiding the coil part 4. A lock bar 5 is installed in the coil part 4. When carrying an electric current to the coil of the coil part 4, resiliency or attraction force is generated between the permanent magnets 1A and 1B in response to its current-carrying direction, and this becomes driving force for moving the coil part 4. When the coil part 4 moves in the steering 11 direction, the tip of the lock bar 5 is fitted in one of grooves 20 of a lock bar receiving part 2 installed on the steering rod 12, and becomes a steering locked state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering lock device for locking steering of a vehicle such as an automobile.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to prevent theft and the like in an automobile, a steering lock device that locks a steering wheel when a key is not used during parking or the like is provided. In recent years, instead of a mechanism that mechanically locks the steering by engaging a lock pin in a groove provided on the side surface of the steering shaft in conjunction with the attachment and detachment of the key, an electric motor that performs the steering lock using a motor as a drive source A steering lock device of the type is also used.

  For example, a worm gear driven by the rotation of the rotating shaft of the motor, a helical gear rotating by the rotation of the worm gear, a lock arm and a cam operating in conjunction with the rotation of the helical gear, and a steering shaft On the other hand, there is a steering lock device in which a lock stopper, a lock bar, and the like that move between a lock position and an unlock position are accommodated in a lock body (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

These steering lock devices are configured such that the lock bar moves with respect to the steering shaft, that is, moves between the lock position and the unlock position, according to the forward / reverse rotation of the DC motor.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-231123 JP 2006-36107 A

  However, according to the conventional steering lock device, since the movable part including the lock bar moves in the radial direction with respect to the steering shaft, the overall shape becomes larger in the radial direction than in the axial direction of the steering shaft.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a steering lock device that can reduce the size in the radial direction of the steering shaft.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following steering lock device.
[1] A movable portion that is displaced in the axial direction of the steering rod in response to energization, a linear motion actuator that is installed on the steering rod, and a lock member that is movable in the axial direction and coupled to the movable portion And a lock bar receiving portion fixedly installed on the steering rod and capable of engaging or fitting the tip end portion of the lock member.

[2] The steering lock device according to [1], wherein the linear motion actuator includes a coil in which the energization is performed and a plurality of permanent magnets arranged to face the coil. Good.

[3] The plurality of permanent magnets are fixedly installed on the steering rod, and the coil is installed as a movable part on a guide member fixedly installed on the plurality of permanent magnets. 2] may be used.

  According to the steering lock device of the present invention, the size of the steering shaft in the radial direction can be reduced.

[Embodiment]
1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a steering lock device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the steering lock device shown in FIG. 1, taken along line AA, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of the BB line of the steering lock apparatus shown. In FIG. 1, the steering is shown in a reduced size compared to the actual size.

(Configuration of Steering Lock Device 100)
As shown in FIG. 1, the steering lock device 100 includes permanent magnets 1A and 1B that are externally attached in a connected state in the middle of a steering rod 12 that is attached to an upper end of a steering wheel 11 that forms a part of a steering device for a vehicle. The lock bar receiving portion 2 fitted on the steering rod 12 adjacent to the permanent magnet 1A, the guide member 3 disposed on the outer surface of the permanent magnets 1A, 1B, and the guide member 3 on the energized state A coil part (movable part) 4 that moves, a lock bar (lock member) 5 that moves integrally with the coil part 4, and an elastic member 6 that biases the lock bar 5 toward the lock bar receiving part 2. It is prepared for. The steering lock device 100 is covered with a cover (not shown) so that the interior of the steering lock device 100 cannot be seen by a passenger such as a vehicle user.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the permanent magnets 1 </ b> A and 1 </ b> B, the guide member 3, and the coil portion 4 constitute a linear motion actuator 200.

  The permanent magnets 1A and 1B are both cylindrical, and as shown in FIG. 2, the polarities are different between the outer side and the inner side. In this embodiment, the permanent magnet 1A has an S pole on the outer side and N on the inner side. The permanent magnet 1B is magnetized with the N pole on the outside and the S pole on the inside.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lock bar receiving portion 2 has a disk shape, and a plurality of grooves 20 into which the front ends of the lock bars 5 can be fitted are provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. ing.

(Configuration of guide member 3)
The guide member 3 is made of a non-magnetic metal or the like that does not affect the formation of the magnetic flux of the permanent magnets 1A and 1B. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the guide groove 3 serves as a guide when the coil portion 4 reciprocates. The guide grooves 30A and 30B are provided with hemispherical concave portions 31 into which the balls 421 of the coil lock portion 42, which will be described later, are fitted at two locations on a straight line. Magnetic detectors 32A and 32B are provided on 30B so as to match the distance between the recesses 31 provided at positions P1 and P2 in FIG. The guide grooves 30 </ b> A and 30 </ b> B are provided so as to be in the axial direction of the steering rod 12.

  The magnetic detectors 32A and 32B include, for example, a GMR (Giant magnetoresistive effect) element, an MR (Magnetoresistive effect) element (magnetoresistance effect element), a Hall element, a Hall IC, and the like. Among these, since the GMR element has the highest detection sensitivity, highly sensitive magnetic detectors 32A and 32B can be obtained.

(Configuration of coil unit 4)
The coil portion 4 has flange portions 44A and 44B that can be fitted into the guide grooves 30A and 30B, and a case 40 made of a nonmagnetic metal or the like that supports a shaft 52 of a lock bar 5 described later so as to be movable in the axial direction. And a cylindrical coil 41 disposed in the case 40 with a predetermined number of turns and diameter of copper wire or the like, and for detection installed so as to be opposed to the coil lock portion 42 and the magnetic detectors 32A and 32B. And a magnet 43.

  The coil lock portion 42 includes a storage portion 420, the ball 421, and a spring 422 that is disposed in the storage portion 420 and biases the ball 421 toward the guide member 3.

  The lock bar 5 is provided on a main body 50, one end of the main body 50, and a lock portion (tip portion) 51 that can be fitted into the groove 20 of the lock bar receiving portion 2, and an elastic member 6 made of a coil spring is externally fitted. A shaft 52 provided at the other end of the main body 50 and a cover 53 that covers the elastic member 6 and serves as a bearing portion of the main body 50 are provided.

(Configuration of control unit 10)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit of the steering lock device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 10 includes an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 7 in charge of ignition control and fuel injection control of an engine (not shown) mounted on the vehicle, power supply control of various electronic devices, and the like. And a drive unit 8 that conducts electricity. Further, the key switch 9 and the magnetic detectors 32A and 32B are connected to the ECU 7.

  The key switch 9 is provided at a position where the user of the steering rod 12 can easily operate, so that switch information corresponding to the presence / absence of a key, and positions such as “LOCK”, “ACC”, “ON”, and the like is output. It has become.

(Operation of the steering lock device 100)
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the steering lock state of the steering lock device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the coil portion shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5. The operation of the steering lock device 100 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(Steering unlock operation)
First, the steering unlock operation will be described. When a key is inserted into a key cylinder (not shown) and is in a position other than “LOCK” (“ACC”, “ON”, etc.), the coil unit 4 and the lock bar 5 are in the state shown in FIG. The coil 41 of the coil part 4 is in a non-energized state. At this time, the ball 421 of the coil lock portion 42 is fitted into the recess 31 at the P1 position shown in FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. 3, the coil portion 4 is in a fixed state, and the lock portion 51 of the lock bar 5 is locked. It is in a state of coming out of the groove 20 of the bar receiving portion 2. Therefore, the lock bar receiving portion 2 and the steering wheel 11 are in a rotatable state.

(Steering lock operation)
Next, the steering lock operation will be described. When the user of the vehicle sets the key to the “LOCK” position of the key cylinder, a signal corresponding to the position is output from the key switch 9 shown in FIG. The ECU 7 energizes the coil 41 by operating the drive unit 8 based on the fact that the key cylinder becomes “LOCK”. As shown in FIG. 6, this energization is such that a repulsive force is generated with respect to the N pole of the permanent magnet 1A and an attractive force is generated with respect to the S pole of the permanent magnet 1B.

  Due to the energization, magnetic lines of force that face the N poles are formed between the permanent magnet 1A and the lower end of the coil 41, and magnetic lines of force that face the N and S poles are formed between the permanent magnet 1B and the lower end of the coil 41. As a result, a force is generated to move the coil unit 4 to the right side in FIGS. 2 and 6, and the coil unit 4 starts to move in the right direction (F direction) in FIG. 2. In the course of the movement of the coil portion 4, the ball 421 of the coil lock portion 42 comes out of the recess 31 at the position P1 shown in FIG. 2, and the lock between the guide member 3 and the coil portion 4 is released. Further, when the detection magnet 43 is separated from the magnetic detector 32B, the ECU 7 recognizes that the coil unit 4 has moved from the home position.

  If the coil part 4 moves, the axis | shaft 52 and the lock bar 5 will move to F direction in connection with this. At this time, since the main body 50 of the lock bar 5 is pushed by the elastic member 6, the coil part 4 can be easily moved.

  When the coil unit 4 moves the distance L shown in FIG. 2, the detection magnet 43 reaches a position overlapping the magnetic detector 32A. The ECU 7 recognizes that the coil unit 4 has reached a predetermined position from the output state of the magnetic detector 32 </ b> A, controls the drive unit 8, and stops energization of the coil 41. At this time, since the ball 421 of the coil lock portion 42 is fitted in the concave portion 31 at the position P2 shown in FIG. 2, the coil portion 4 is locked to the guide member 3, and the movement of the coil portion 4 is locked. The natural fall etc. of the part 4 are suppressed.

  At this time, if the lock part 51 faces the groove 20 of the lock bar receiving part 2, the lock part 51 is fitted into the groove 20 and the steering bar is locked. In this state, even if the steering 11 is to be rotated, since the lock bar receiving portion 2 is locked by the lock bar 5, the steering 11 cannot be rotated, and theft can be prevented.

  Even if the position of the groove 20 and the lock portion 51 do not match and the steering lock cannot be achieved, when the steering wheel 11 is subsequently rotated, any one of the grooves 20 faces the lock portion 51. At that time, there is no problem because the lock bar 5 is pushed by the elastic member 6 and the lock portion 51 enters the groove 20 to realize the steering lock.

(Operation from steering lock to steering unlock)
Next, when the user of the vehicle inserts a key into the key cylinder and selects a position other than “LOCK”, key information corresponding to the position is output from the key switch 9 shown in FIG. The ECU 7 operates the drive unit 8 based on the information of the key switch 9, and starts energizing the coil 41 so that the polarity is opposite to the polarity shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, this energization is such that an attractive force is generated with respect to the N pole of the permanent magnet 1A and a repulsive force with respect to the S pole of the permanent magnet 1B, that is, an S pole is generated on the permanent magnets 1A and 1B side. To do. For this reason, power is supplied in the direction opposite to the power supply at the time of steering lock described above.

  As a result of the above energization, magnetic lines of force that face the N and S poles are formed between the permanent magnet 1A and the coil 41, and magnetic lines of force that face each other and the S poles are formed between the permanent magnet 1B and the coil 41. , 1B and the coil 41, a force is generated to move the coil part 4 to the left (R direction) in FIGS. 2 and 6, and the coil part 4 moves in the R direction in FIGS. Begin to. In the course of the movement of the coil portion 4, the ball 421 of the coil lock portion 42 comes out of the concave portion 31 at the P2 position, and the lock of the coil portion 4 with respect to the guide member 3 is released.

  When the coil portion 4 moves in the R direction, the lock bar 5 moves in the R direction along with this, and in the process, the lock portion 51 of the lock bar 5 comes out of the groove 20 of the lock bar receiving portion 2, and the steering rod 12 Is unlocked, and the steering wheel 11 can be rotated.

  When the movement of the coil unit 4 proceeds and the detection magnet 43 reaches a position where it overlaps the magnetic detector 32B, the ECU 7 recognizes that the coil unit 4 has reached the home position from the output state of the magnetic detector 32B. The drive unit 8 is controlled to stop energization of the coil 41. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the ball 421 of the coil lock portion 42 is fitted into the recess 31 near the permanent magnet 1 </ b> B, the coil portion 4 is locked to the guide member 3, and the movement of the coil portion 4 is locked. .

(Effect of embodiment)
According to the embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) A linear motion actuator (linear motor) is constituted by the permanent magnets 1A and 1B and the coil part 4, a lock bar 5 is coupled to the coil part 4, and the lock bar 5 is translated in the axial direction of the steering rod 12. By locking the steering rod 12, the amount of overhang in the steering rod radial direction can be reduced. As a result, the steering lock device 100 can be reduced in size.
(2) Since the height of the steering lock device 100 is about the total thickness of the permanent magnets 1A and 1B, the guide member 3 and the coil portion 4, the amount of protrusion in the steering rod radial direction can be reduced compared to the conventional configuration. The steering lock device 100 can be made inconspicuous.
(3) Since the linear motion actuator including the permanent magnets 1A and 1B, the guide member 3, and the coil part 4 does not have a rotating part, it can reduce operating noise.

  In the above description of operation, the case where a key (mechanical key) and a key cylinder are used is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applied to a vehicle equipped with an electronic key system, an immobilizer, and the like. Applicable.

  In the above embodiment, the linear motion actuator is composed of the permanent magnets 1A and 1B, the guide member 3 and the coil portion 4. However, a force for moving the lock bar 5 in the axial direction of the steering rod 12 is obtained. As long as the steering lock device 100 can be reduced in size, it may have any configuration and may be based on any operation principle.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the permanent magnets 1A and 1B are installed on the steering rod 12 side, and the coil part 4 is installed on the guide member 3 side, which is lighter and easier to move than the permanent magnets 1A and 1B. Although the coil part 4 was moved, these arrangements may be reversed and the permanent magnets 1A and 1B may be moved.

  In addition, the lock bar receiving portion 2 is locked by inserting the lock portion 51 of the lock bar 5 into the groove 20, but instead of the groove 20, a partition-like protrusion is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lock bar receiving portion 2. A member may be provided.

  Moreover, although the coil lock part 42 for restricting the movement of the coil part 4 other than at the time of locking / unlocking is configured to include the ball 421 and the spring 422, it is not limited to this structure. A configuration using a solenoid is also possible.

  Furthermore, although the permanent magnets 1A and 1B are cylindrical, it may be configured to have a shape other than a cylindrical shape such as a plate shape and be placed on the guide member 3.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a steering lock device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the steering lock device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of the steering lock device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit of the steering lock device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a steering lock state of the steering lock device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the coil portion shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5.

Explanation of symbols

1A, 1B Permanent magnet, 2 Lock bar receiving part, 3 Guide member, 4 Coil part, 5 Lock bar, 6 Elastic member, 7 ECU, 8 Drive part, 9 Key switch, 10 Control part, 11 Steering, 12 Steering rod, 20 groove, 30A, 30B guide groove, 31 recess, 32A, 32B magnetic detector, 40 case, 41 coil, 42 coil lock part, 43 detection magnet, 44A, 44B collar part, 50 body, 51 lock part, 52 shaft , 53 Cover, 100 Steering lock device, 200 Linear motion actuator, 420 Storage part, 421 Ball, 422 Spring

Claims (3)

A linear motion actuator installed on the steering rod, with a movable portion that is displaced in the axial direction of the steering rod in response to energization;
A locking member that is movable in the axial direction and connected to the movable part;
A lock bar receiving portion fixedly installed on the steering rod and capable of engaging or fitting the tip of the lock member;
A steering lock device comprising:   2. The steering lock device according to claim 1, wherein the linear motion actuator includes a coil to be energized and a plurality of permanent magnets arranged to face the coil. The plurality of permanent magnets are fixedly installed on the steering rod,
The steering lock device according to claim 2, wherein the coil is installed as a movable portion on a guide member fixedly installed on the plurality of permanent magnets.

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