JP2011126437A - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily correct an apparent angle of a steering wheel to cope with a problem that the angle of the steering wheel is different between an empty vehicle with light weight and a loaded vehicle with heavy weight. <P>SOLUTION: The steering wheel includes a rim 2 forming the steering wheel, a hub 3 connecting a center portion of the rim and a steering shaft, and spokes 4 holding a space between the hub and the rim. A cover 27 covering the spokes 4 is provided so that a prescribed angle range can be displaced along the rim 2. The cover 27 is provided with a cover face which can cover the spokes 4 even when the prescribed angle range is displaced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering wheel.

  As a vehicle steering device, for example, there are devices shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of the steering wheel 1 (steering wheel). The rib portion 2 forms a steering wheel, the hub portion 3 connects the central portion of the rim portion 2 to the steering shaft, the hub portion 3 and the rim portion. 2, and a horn pad (not shown) is arranged at the center of the rib portion 2 (Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2).

  In FIG. 5, reference numeral 10 denotes a steering shaft, and a steering wheel 1 is fitted to the tip of the steering shaft 1 via a serration of the hub portion 3. When the steering wheel 1 is operated, the rotational force is transmitted to the gear box 11 via the steering shaft 10, where it is decelerated and the direction of motion is changed to move the pitman arm 12. The movement of the pitman arm 12 is transmitted to the knuckle arm 14 via the drag link 13, and when the knuckle arm 14 moves, the knuckle spindle 15 rotates around the king pin so that the front wheel (not shown) is steered. It has become. The front axle 16 is attached to the frame 18 via a leaf suspension 17. A tie rod 19 connects the left and right knuckle arms.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-119049 JP 05-262237 A

  By the way, in the steering device used for such a leaf suspension type front axle, there is a possibility that the angle of the steering wheel 1 is different between an empty vehicle having a small vehicle weight and a loaded vehicle having a large vehicle weight.

  In FIG. 6, when the vehicle weight is low, the leaf suspension 17 has a small amount of deflection, and the axle 16 is in the axle position (A) when the vehicle is empty, but when the vehicle weight is heavy, the leaf suspension 17 The amount of deflection increases, the shackle 20 is rotated rearward, and the accelerator 16 moves to the accelerator position (B) at the time of loading along the locus of the arrow. Accordingly, when the drag ring 13 moves rearward and the pitman arm 12 is moved along the locus of the arrow, the steering shaft 10 is rotated.

  4 is a neutral state of the steering wheel (handle) when the vehicle is empty (the angle of the steering wheel 1 when the vehicle is traveling straight), the neutral state of the steering wheel 1 when the vehicle is loaded is shown in FIG. It becomes like this. FIG. 7B shows the angle of the steering wheel 1 during rebound in the loaded state.

  As described above, if the angle of the steering wheel 1 when the vehicle is empty and the angle of the steering wheel 1 when the vehicle is loaded are changed, the angle of the spoke portion 4 is also changed, which may give the driver a sense of incongruity. Therefore, by adjusting the fitting state between the serrations of the hub portion 3 of the steering wheel 1 and the steering shaft 10, the angle of the steering wheel 1 when loaded and the angle of the steering wheel 1 when empty are matched. However, since it is necessary to remove the horn pad or the like, there is a problem that it cannot be easily performed.

  An object of this invention is to provide an effective means for coping with such a malfunction.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rib portion that forms a steered wheel, a hub portion that connects a central portion of the rim portion to a steering shaft, a spoke portion that holds between the hub portion and the rim portion, In a steering wheel including a horn pad disposed in a central portion, a cover that covers the spoke portion is provided so as to be displaceable within a predetermined angle range along the rim portion, and the cover is formed by displacement of the predetermined angle range. Is also provided with a cover surface that covers the spoke portion.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the steering wheel according to the first aspect, the cover is restrained with respect to the rim portion by the fixing means, and when the fixing means is released, the displacement along the rim portion is allowed. And

  According to a third invention, in the steering wheel according to the first or second invention, the cover is configured integrally with the horn pad.

  In the first to third aspects of the invention, when the weight of the vehicle changes, the angle of the spoke portion of the steering wheel changes, but the vehicle weight is reduced by displacing the cover that covers the spoke portion along the rim portion. It becomes possible to easily correct the apparent angle of the steering wheel to the state before the change.

  In the second invention, the angle of the cover can be easily corrected while ensuring a sense of unity with the steering wheel of the cover.

  In the third invention, the angle of the horn pad can be corrected integrally with the cover.

1 is a schematic front view of a steering wheel showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a partial sectional view of a steering wheel. It is the XX sectional view of FIG. 1 similarly. It is a schematic front view of the steering wheel which shows background art. It is a schematic block diagram of a steering device similarly. It is explanatory drawing of background art similarly. FIG. 2 also shows a schematic front view of the steering wheel, where (a) illustrates the neutral state of the steering wheel during loading, and (b) illustrates the steering wheel angle during rebounding. .

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 25 denotes a steering wheel, which holds a rib portion 2 that forms a steered wheel, a hub portion 3 that connects a central portion of the rim portion 2 with a steering shaft, and a space between the hub portion 3 and the rim portion 2. The horn pad 26 is arranged at the center of the rib portion 2.

  A cover 27 covering the spoke part 4 is provided along the rim part 2 so as to be able to be displaced (rotated) within a predetermined angular range. The cover 27 includes a cover surface that can cover the spoke portion 4 even when the predetermined angular range is displaced along the rim portion 2. The predetermined angle range is set according to the amount of displacement of the cover 27 necessary to correct the apparent angle of the steering wheel 25 as will be described later.

  The cover surface includes left and right edges a and b and upper and lower edges c and d, and the left and right edges a and b are formed in an arc shape along the rim portion 2. The upper edge c connecting the left and right edges a and b is formed in a straight line, and the lower edge d connecting the left and right edges a and b is formed in a curved shape.

  The cover 27 includes a front portion 27a that covers the front side of the spoke portion 4, a back portion 27b that covers the back side of the spoke portion 4, and an end surface portion 27c that joins the upper edge c and the lower edge d. A horn pad 26 is integrally formed with the front portion 27a. p is the center line of the cover 27, and the cover surface is set to a symmetrical shape with the center line p as the center.

  In order to restrain displacement along the rim portion 2 of the cover 27, a fixing means 28 is provided on the back surface portion 27 b side of the cover 27. In this example, the fixing means 28 includes a long hole 30, a fastener 31, and a screw hole 32. The long hole 30 is disposed on the back surface portion 27 b of the cover 27 and is formed in an arc shape along the rim portion 2. The fastener 31 includes a head portion 31a and a shaft portion 31b movable along the long hole 30, and a screw is formed on the shaft portion 31b. The screw hole 32 corresponds to the screw of the fastener 31 and is disposed in the spoke portion 4.

  In the fastener 31, the shaft portion 31 b is inserted into the long hole 30, and a screw is screwed into the screw hole 32. When the screw of the fastener 31 is tightened, the cover 27 is fastened to the spoke portion 4, the displacement along the rim portion 2 is restrained, and when the screw of the fastener 31 is loosened, the shaft portion 31 b extends along the elongated hole 30. It becomes movable and displacement along the rim 2 is allowed.

  The horn pad 26 has a built-in horn switch, and when a central portion of the pad is pressed, the horn switch is turned on to activate a horn. A central portion of the pad 26 is configured to be deployable, and an air bag modulator 35 (see FIG. 2) is interposed inside the pad 26. The airbag modulator 35 is provided with a folded airbag and means (an ignition device or the like) for inflating the airbag. When the ignition device is activated, the airbag pushes the central portion of the horn pad 26. It opens and swells.

  The steering wheel 25 is connected to the tip of the steering shaft 10 of FIG. For example, assuming that FIG. 1 shows the neutral state of the steering wheel 25 when the vehicle is empty (the angle of the steering wheel 25 when the vehicle is traveling straight), the steering shaft 25 increases as the vehicle weight increases when the vehicle is loaded. And the angle of the steering wheel 25 in the neutral state is also different from that in FIG. 1 (see FIG. 7).

  The steering wheel 25 displaces the cover 27 covering the spoke part 4 along the rim part 2 so that the state before the vehicle weight changes, that is, the same state as in FIG. Can be corrected.

  Specifically, by loosening the screw of the fastener 31 and displacing the cover 27 along the rim portion 2, the upper edge c of the cover 27 is adjusted to a horizontal state similar to that in FIG. The cover 27 is fixed by tightening the screw of the fastener 31.

  Compared with adjusting the angle of the steering hole 25 by serration of the hub portion 3 with respect to the steering shaft 10, this operation is simple and easy without the need to remove the horn pad 26 and the airbag module 35. be able to.

  In this example, the horn pad 26 is also moved with the displacement of the cover 27, so that the state shown in FIG. 1 can be corrected efficiently.

  The cover 27 may be configured separately from the horn pad 26. The horn pad 26 is fixed to the hub 3 side, and only the cover 27 is configured to be able to be displaced (rotated) around the hub 3. In that case, it is conceivable that the horn pad 26 is formed in a circular shape so that angular correction is not necessary.

  The steering wheel according to the present invention is not limited to the steering device used in the leaf suspension type front axle, and can be applied to a steering device in which similar problems are assumed.

2 Rim part 3 Hub part 4 Spoke part 10 Steering shaft 25 Steering wheel 26 Horn pad 27 Cover 28 Fixing means 30 Long hole 31 Fastener 32 Screw hole

Claims (3)

  A rib portion that forms a steering wheel, a hub portion that connects a central portion of the rim portion to a steering shaft, a spoke portion that holds between the hub portion and the rim portion, and a central portion of the rib. And a horn pad that includes a horn pad, and a cover that covers the spoke portion is provided so as to displace a predetermined angular range along the rim portion, and the cover covers the spoke portion even when the predetermined angular range is displaced. A steering wheel comprising a cover surface.   The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the cover is restrained with respect to the rim portion by a fixing means, and when the fixing means is released, displacement along the rim portion is allowed.   The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the cover is configured integrally with the horn pad.

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