JP2010173439A - Seal structure for column cover - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seal structure for a column cover preventing an inner structure of a steering column is seen by a driver by a simple structure without impairing aesthetic appearance. <P>SOLUTION: The seal structure for the column cover for covering a clearance between the column cover 5 of a steering device 1 penetrating through an opening 10a of an instrument panel 10 and the opening 10a of the instrument panel 10 is provided with a sheet-like seal member 20 having a soft part 21 formed by a foldable material and a hard part 22 formed by a hard material extended from a lower end of the soft part 21 to a lower side. In the seal member 20, an upper end of the soft part 21 is rotatably fixed to an inner cylinder part 10a2 of the instrument panel such that a lower end of the hard part 22 is located in the front side of the vehicle more than a front end part 5a of the column cover 5 and opposed to the front end part 5a of the column cover 5, and it is downwardly biased by the dead weight of the hard part 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a column cover sealing structure for covering a gap formed between a column cover of a steering device that passes through an opening formed in an instrument panel and an opening of the instrument panel.

  Conventionally, a tilt adjustment function (tilt function) that adjusts the position of the steering wheel by tilting up and down, and a telescopic adjustment that adjusts the position of the steering wheel by moving it in the front-rear direction (parallel to the axial direction of the steering column) A steering device having a function (telescopic function) is widely used.

As shown in FIG. 4, the steering apparatus 100 having the tilt function and the telescopic function generally includes a steering wheel 102, a steering column 104 with a steering wheel 102 attached to the tip, and a steering column 104. And an attached column cover 105. Further, the steering column 104 and the column cover 105 are structured to penetrate through an opening 110 a formed in the instrument panel 110.
Further, a gap t is formed between the column cover 105 and the instrument panel 110 so that the position of the steering wheel 102 can be adjusted in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction.

Further, in the steering device 100, the gap t is set so that the internal structure of the steering column 104 disposed on the back side (front side of the vehicle) of the gap t does not enter the driver's line of sight. Various configurations have been proposed to cover the surface.
For example, in FIG. 4, the upper end of a bendable sheet-like seal 200 (the seal 200 is formed of, for example, nonwoven fabric, vinyl chloride, rubber, or the like) is fixed to the opening edge of the opening 110a of the instrument panel 110. Thus, the gap t is covered (hereinafter referred to as “goodwill type” for convenience of explanation).

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, by attaching and attaching a flexible rubber molding member 210, which is shaped to cover the gap t, to the opening edge of the opening 110 a of the instrument panel 110, A configuration that covers the gap t (hereinafter, referred to as “molded rubber type” for convenience of explanation) has been proposed.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, one end of a seal 220 (the seal 220 is formed of, for example, a nonwoven fabric, vinyl chloride, rubber, or the like) is attached to the opening edge of the opening 110 a of the instrument panel 110. A configuration has been proposed in which the other end of the seal 220 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the column cover 105 so as to cover the gap t (hereinafter referred to as “fastening type” for convenience of explanation).

Further, in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the gap formed between the instrument panel and the column cover is not sealed with a seal, but the instrument panel, the column cover, There is disclosed a steering device configured such that a steering wheel can be adjusted in the vertical and forward / backward directions without forming a gap therebetween.
Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a steering device in which a column cover is divided into two front and rear. The front column cover that penetrates the instrument panel has an arc-shaped convex surface centered on the tilt rotation axis on the front end surface, and is linked to the tilt rotation axis only for the longitudinal movement of the steering wheel. It is made to do. The rear column cover has a rear end surface formed into an arc concave surface in curved contact with the arc convex surface of the front column cover, and is interlocked with the vertical movement of the steering wheel.

JP 2004-114721 A

However, each of the conventional techniques described above has the following technical problems.
For example, the goodwill type shown in FIG. 4 can cover the gap regardless of the position of the steering wheel 102 by increasing the length of the seal 200. It has a technical problem that it may deteriorate the above appearance.

Specifically, with the goodwill type shown in FIG. 4, in order to cover the gap no matter where the steering wheel 102 is set, it is necessary to make the seal 200 longer than a predetermined length. is there. If the seal 200 is not made longer than the predetermined length, the gap t between the instrument panel 110 and the column cover 105 cannot be completely covered as shown in FIG. This is because the internal structure of the steering column 104 disposed in the back of the gap t will enter.
However, if the seal 200 has a length greater than or equal to a predetermined length, the end portion of the seal 200 when the gap between the instrument panel 110 and the column cover 105 is reduced by the tilt function as shown in FIG. Is sandwiched between the instrument panel 110 and the column cover 105 (the upper surface portion of the column cover 105), and the seal 200 is distorted and warped, which deteriorates the appearance. In the case of rubber, it was dragged by friction with the movable column cover 105, and it was easy for dripping and warping to occur).
Further, when the seal 200 is made of rubber, noise (friction sound) is generated due to friction between the seal 200 and the column cover 105.
Note that the molded rubber type shown in FIG. 5 also has the same technical problem as the above-mentioned goodwill type.

Further, in the fastening type shown in FIG. 6, since the seal 220 is attached to both the instrument panel 110 and the column cover 105, the internal structure of the steering column 104 from the driver is not deteriorated without deteriorating the appearance. However, there is a technical problem that the mounting process is troublesome and causes an increase in cost.
Further, in Patent Document 1 described above, the column cover is composed of parts that can be moved separately by dividing the front and back into two parts. Therefore, a general column cover (one column cover configured by nail fitting of parts) is used. ), The number of parts, mold costs, assembly man-hours, etc. increase, resulting in a technical problem of increasing costs.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above technical problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a column cover and an instrument that constitute a steering device with a simple structure without impairing the appearance. An object of the present invention is to provide a column cover sealing structure that covers a gap between the panel and prevents the internal structure of the steering column from entering the driver's line of sight.

  The present invention made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem is a column cover of a steering device that is inserted through an opening formed in an instrument panel, and a column cover that covers a gap formed between the opening of the instrument panel. The instrument panel has a seat-like soft part formed of a foldable material, wherein the instrument panel is formed with an inner cylinder part extending from an opening edge of the opening toward the front of the vehicle, and the soft panel And a sealing member having a plate-like hard part formed of a hard material extending downward from the lower end of the part, wherein the sealing member has at least a lower end of the hard part than a front end part of the column cover. An upper end of the soft part on the inner cylinder part of the instrument panel so as to face the front end of the column cover on the front side of the vehicle Is rotatably fixed, by the weight of the hard portion, the lower end is characterized in that it is adapted to be urged downward.

With the above configuration, for example, when the steering wheel is pulled out to the driver's seat side by the telescopic adjustment function, and accordingly the column cover is pulled out to the driver's seat side, in front of the front end of the column cover (front side of the vehicle) Then, the seal member hangs down (because the hard portion is biased downward by its own weight, the seal member hangs down). That is, according to the present invention, when the column cover is pulled out to the driver's seat side, the gap formed between the opening of the instrument panel and the column cover is closed by the seal member. The internal structure of the steering column is not visible.
Further, for example, it is assumed that the steering wheel is pushed into the front side of the vehicle by the telescopic adjustment function, and the column cover is pushed into the front side of the vehicle accordingly.
In this case, since the hard part constituting the lower end side of the seal member is pushed by the front end part of the column cover and pushed up to the front side of the vehicle, the hard part is formed of a hard material, so the seal member is the column. There is no pinching between the cover and the instrument panel, and no dripping or warping occurs.

  Further, according to the present invention, the simple structure of attaching the seal member to the inner cylinder portion of the instrument panel prevents the internal structure of the steering column from entering the driver's eyes. Unlike Patent Document 1, it is not necessary to adopt a complicated structure, and the cost is not increased.

Moreover, as for the said sealing member, it is desirable that the said soft part is formed with a nonwoven fabric, and the said hard part is formed by impregnating this nonwoven fabric with resin.
As described above, since the seal member of the present invention does not use a rubber seal member as in the above-described prior art, no noise (friction noise) is generated between the seal member and the column cover.

  According to the seal structure of the column cover of the present invention, a simple structure covers the gap between the column cover constituting the steering device and the instrument panel without impairing the appearance, and the driver's view In addition, it is possible to prevent the internal structure of the steering column from entering.

It is the schematic diagram which showed the seal structure of the column cover of the steering device of embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which expanded and showed the seal structure of the column cover shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the seal structure of the column cover of embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the seal structure (goodwill type seal structure) of the column cover of the steering device by a prior art. It is the schematic diagram which showed the seal structure (molded rubber type seal structure) of the column cover of the steering device by a prior art. It is the schematic diagram which showed the seal structure (fastening type seal structure) of the column cover of the steering device by a prior art. It is the schematic diagram which showed the state where the dripping and the warp generate | occur | produced in the seal structure (goodwill type seal structure) of the column cover of the steering device by a prior art.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a seal structure of a column cover of a steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view showing the seal structure of the column cover shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a steering device 1 to which the column cover sealing structure of the present embodiment is applied is attached to a steering wheel 2, a steering column 4 that rotatably holds the steering wheel 2, and the steering column 4. Column cover 5. Further, the steering column 4 has a tilt adjustment function (tilt function) and a telescopic adjustment function (telescopic function), and the position of the steering wheel 2 can be arbitrarily adjusted in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction.
When the position of the steering wheel 2 is moved up and down and back and forth, the column cover 5 attached to the steering column 4 that holds the steering wheel 2 is also moved up and down and back and forth. Yes.

Further, the steering device 1 has a structure in which the steering column 4 and the column cover 5 are inserted through an opening 10 a formed in an instrument panel (hereinafter simply referred to as “instrument panel”) 10.
The opening 10a formed in the instrument panel 10 is formed with an inner cylinder portion 10a2 extending from the opening edge portion 10a1 toward the front of the vehicle (inside the instrument panel 10).
Further, in the steering device 1, a gap t is formed between the column cover 5 and the opening 10 a of the instrument panel 10 so that the position of the steering wheel 2 can be adjusted in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction.

And in this embodiment, in order to cover the clearance gap t formed between the steering apparatus 1 comprised as mentioned above and the opening 10a of the instrument panel 10, the inner cylinder part 10a2 (inner cylinder) of the opening 10a of the instrument panel The seal member 20 is attached to the upper side of the portion 10a2.
Hereinafter, the structure of the seal member 20 and the mounting position thereof will be described in detail.

First, the structure of the seal member 20 will be described.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the seal member 20 includes a sheet-like soft portion 21 formed of a foldable material (for example, non-woven fabric, vinyl chloride), and a lower portion from the lower end of the soft portion 21. And a plate-like hard portion 22 extending toward the surface.
The hard portion 22 is formed using a hard material such as resin, iron, lead, etc., and has at least a hardness that does not bend and a predetermined mass (a mass that functions as a weight). )have.
In addition, the hard part 22 should just be formed with the material which is hard and has predetermined mass, and is not limited about the material.

  The sealing member 20 only needs to have a soft portion 21 formed on the upper end side (upper end side in the vertical direction (Z direction)) and a hard portion 22 formed downward from the lower end of the soft portion 21. The ratio of 21 and the hard part 22 is not particularly limited. For example, the sealing member 20 has a soft portion 21 formed on the upper side from a substantially central portion in the vertical direction (Z direction), and a hard portion 22 formed on the lower side from the substantially central portion in the vertical direction (Z direction). Also good.

Moreover, the sealing member 20 may be manufactured by any method. For example, the resin may be impregnated in the lower part of the sheet-like nonwoven fabric to have a structure including a soft portion 21 formed of the nonwoven fabric and a hard portion 22 in which the nonwoven fabric is impregnated with the resin. .
The sheet member 20 is formed of a soft portion 21 made of vinyl chloride and a metal plate bonded to vinyl chloride by bonding a metal plate (for example, an iron plate) to the lower end side of the sheet-like vinyl. Alternatively, the structure may include a hard portion 22.

Next, the mounting position of the seal member 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
In the following, for convenience of explanation, the position of the column cover 5 when the steering wheel 2 is pulled out to the maximum in the rear direction (driver side) is referred to as “telescopic long position”, and the steering wheel 2 is directed toward the instrument panel (vehicle The position of the column cover 5 in the state where it is pushed to the maximum (front side) is referred to as “telescopic short position”.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which the column cover 5 is disposed at the “telescopic length position”.

As shown in the figure, at least the lower end of the seal member 20 (the lower end of the hard portion 22) has an opening edge 10a1 of the instrument panel 10 more than the front end (the upper end on the front side of the vehicle) 5a of the column cover 5. The upper end (soft portion) is disposed on the inner cylinder portion 10a2 of the instrument panel 10 so that the lower end (lower end of the hard portion 22) is opposed to the front end portion 5a of the column cover 5 and is disposed on the inner side (front side of the vehicle) with reference. 21) is fixed rotatably.
Note that the lower end of the seal member 20 (the lower end of the hard portion 22) is lower than the front end portion (the upper end portion on the front side of the vehicle) 5a of the column cover 5 regardless of the position of the column cover 5. It is made the length arrange | positioned in the position (lower position in FIG. 2).

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the seal member 20 is an inner cylinder portion 10 a 2 of the instrument panel 10, and the inner side of the opening edge portion 10 a 1 by a predetermined length dimension a (inner side of the instrument panel 10 (front of the vehicle) Side)), the upper end of the soft portion 21 is rotatably fixed.
Here, the position inside the opening edge portion 10a1 by the predetermined length dimension a is the front of the front end portion 5a of the steering column 5 in a state where the steering column 5 is disposed at the “telescopic length position”. The position which can arrange | position the sealing member 20 to the side is said.
That is, the “predetermined length dimension a” from the opening edge portion 10a1 to which the upper end of the seal member 20 is fixed is equal to the front end portion 5a of the steering column 5 when the steering column 5 is disposed at the “telescopic length position”. The distance from the opening edge portion 10a1 of the instrument panel 10 is larger than the “distance b” (a ≧ b).

Next, the operation of the column cover sealing structure of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the seal structure of the column cover according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the column cover 5 is disposed at the “telescopic length position”. 3B shows a state in which the column cover 5 is moved from the “telescopic long position” to the “telescopic short position”, and FIG. 3C shows the column cover 5 being moved from the “telescopic short position” to the “telescopic short position”. The state moved to the “long position” is shown.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, in a state where the steering wheel 2 (see FIG. 1) is pulled out to the driver side and the column cover 5 is disposed at the “telescopic long position”, the column The seal member 20 that hangs down from the inner cylinder portion 10a2 of the instrument panel 10 is disposed in front of the front end portion 5a of the cover 5 (front side of the vehicle). As a result, the gap formed between the opening 10a of the instrument panel 10 and the column cover 5 is closed by the seal member 20, so that the driver can remove the steering column 4 (see FIG. 1) even if the tilt is raised or lowered. The internal structure is not visible.

When the steering wheel 2 is pushed toward the instrument panel 10 (front side of the vehicle) from the state shown in FIG. 3A (telescopic short position), the column cover 5 moves as shown in FIG. 3B. To do.
In this case, the hard portion 22 constituting the lower end side of the seal member 20 is pushed by the front end portion 5a of the column cover 5 and pushed up to the front side (front side of the vehicle), but the hard portion 22 has a predetermined hardness. Therefore, even if the tilt is raised or lowered, the seal member 20 is not sandwiched between the column cover 5 and the instrument panel 10, and no dripping or warping occurs. In other words, according to the present embodiment, the appearance does not deteriorate when viewed from the driver.
Further, since the lower end of the seal member 20 is urged downward by the weight of the hard portion 22, the lower end side of the seal member 20 is in contact with the front end portion 5a of the column cover 5, Thereby, a gap formed between the opening 10a of the instrument panel 10 and the column cover 5 is closed.

When the steering wheel 2 is pulled out to the driver side (rear side of the vehicle) from the state shown in FIG. 3B, the column cover 5 moves as shown in FIG.
In this case, since the lower end of the seal member 20 is urged downward by the weight of the hard portion 22, the lower end side of the hard portion 22 moves to the vehicle rear side together with the column cover 5, thereby opening the instrument panel 10. And the gap formed between the column cover 5 is closed.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the gap between the instrument panel 10 and the column cover 5 is covered by attaching the sealing member 20 having a simple structure to the inner cylinder portion 10a2 of the opening 10 of the instrument panel 10. Can do. That is, in the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the internal structure of the steering column 4 from entering the driver's line of sight by covering the gap between the instrument panel 10 and the column cover 5 without cost.

Further, the seal member 10 of the present embodiment does not cause dripping or warping in the seal member 20 as described above even if the position of the steering wheel 2 is adjusted, and the appearance of the steering device 1 is improved. There is no worsening.
In addition, according to the present embodiment, since no rubber seal member is used, no noise (friction noise) is generated between the seal member 20 and the column cover 5.

As described above, according to the seal structure of the column cover of the present embodiment, in the steering device 1 having the tilt function and the telescopic function, the column cover 5 and the instrument panel can be obtained without impairing the appearance by a simple structure. Thus, the internal structure of the steering column 4 can be prevented from entering the driver's line of sight.
In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the range of the summary.

1 Steering device 2 Steering wheel 4 Steering column 5 Column cover 5a Front end (column cover)
10 Instrument panel (instrument panel)
10a Opening (instrument panel)
10a1 Opening edge (instrument panel)
10a2 Inner tube (instrument panel)
20 Seal member 21 Soft part (seal member)
22 Hard part (seal member)

Claims (2)

A column cover of a steering device that passes through an opening formed in an instrument panel, and a column cover seal structure that covers a gap formed between the opening of the instrument panel,
The instrument panel is formed with an inner cylinder portion extending from the opening edge of the opening toward the front of the vehicle,
A sealing member having a sheet-like soft portion formed of a foldable material and a plate-like hard portion formed of a hard material extending downward from the lower end of the soft portion;
The sealing member includes an inner cylinder of the instrument panel so that at least a lower end of the hard portion is on the front side of the vehicle with respect to a front end portion of the column cover and is opposed to the front end portion of the column cover. The column cover seal structure is characterized in that the upper end of the soft part is rotatably fixed to the part, and the lower end is urged downward by the weight of the hard part.   2. The column cover seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the soft member is formed of a non-woven fabric, and the hard portion is formed by impregnating the non-woven fabric with a resin.

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